Though never really deemed a “psychologist,” Ivan Pavlov is always studied in basic psychology classes. His most well-known achievement included measuring the amount of saliva emitted from dogs in reaction to different types of foods, as well as withholding of food–known commonly as the conditioned reflex. He would later go on to conduct this experiment on children, too. Pavlovian
In spite of the psychological connotations of his major life’s work, involving both positive and negative reinforcement through the giving and taking away of food, Pavlov is viewed, above all, as a physiologist. The behaviorism behind the analysis was useful not just from a factual, technical standpoint, but also one serving to better understand the triggers and drives of animals and, in turn, most humans. A studious man
Pavlov did, indeed, hold weekly meetings in his later career during the study that addressed his own sentiments and opinions on psychology. Nonetheless, it was for Physiology and Neuroscience that he won the Nobel Prize in 1904. Pavlov took his research on reflexes to the next level with his inquiry into the concept of transmarginal inhibition, the emotional and physical conditions of closing off when exposed to trauma or shock. Research
Carl Jung would eventually go on to continue Pavlov’s studies for his own theories about introverted and extroverted personality types. And so, Pavlov showed, once again, his propensity toward the psychological.
