PSYCHOLOGY PROJECT

Topic 2: Evaluate the following Experiments– (summarize the

experiment
and give its implications)
1) Pavlov’s classical conditioning.
2) Harlow’s Experiment.

1)Pavlov’s classical conditioning:

Classical conditioning was investigated by Ivan Pavlov. In the
experiment, a dog was placed in a box setup. This experiment was
conducted in three phases.
1. In the first phase, the dog was left in the box for some time and
its saliva was collected.
2. In the second phase, a bell was sounded and meat was
presented almost immediately, due to which the dog began
salivating.
3. In the third phase, the bell was sounded but no meat was
presented. The dog still salivated immediately after hearing the
bell
This experiment result in obtaining a new response by the dog which
is salivating after hearing the bell. This is termed as conditioning.
Implications of Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning:
1) Many school subjects are taught effectively through conditioning.
2) Discipline is also imposed through conditioning.
2)Harlow’s experiment
The objective of Harlow’s experiment was to prove that infants don’t
need their mothers only for food but also for emotional and physical
comfort. In this experiment he took baby monkeys from their
mothers in 8 hours of birth and put them into three different setups:
1. The first setup contained two surrogate mothers- one made of
wood and wire, who had the food and the other was made of
cloth and foam.
2. The second setup was similar to the first one, the only
difference being that the cloth mother had the food.
3. The third setup did not contain the surrogate mothers.
Observation- The monkeys when put in a scary situation or normally
1. Went to the surrogate mother made of cloth mother, only went
to the wire mother for food.
2. Went to mother for comfort and food, would spend most of
the time cuddling.
3. The monkeys would huddle into ball and suck their thumb.
Implications of the experiment:
Harlow proved that for babies, comport is more important than
nourishment.