Ivan Pavlov’S Classical Conditioning Theory: Links To Violence In Society
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian scientist who was interested in studying how digestion works in mammals. He observed and recorded information about dogs and their digestive processes. As part of his work, he began to study what triggers dogs to salivate. He was born on September 14th, 1849 and died on February 27th, 1936. He was educated first at the church school in Ryazan and then at the theological seminary. He received a medical degree at the age of 33 and Studied at Saint Petersburg. He was studying theology when he read Charles Darwin's book, on the origin of species and decided to abandon his religious career and devote his life to science. In 1870 he enrolled in the physics and mathematics faculty to take the course in natural science. In 1875 Pavlov completed his course with an outstanding record and received the degree of candidate of natural sciences. He completed this in 1979 and was again awarded a gold medal. He was known as the father of classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning. His studies on the digestive system won him a Nobel prize in 1904.
Pavlov’s theory which was a learning process that was associated between and environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning, which was his study on dogs and how they salivate. During his studies on the digestive systems of dogs, Pavlov noted that the animals salivated naturally upon the presentation of food. This discovery had a reverberating influence on psychology. Pavlov was also able to demonstrate that the animals could be conditioned to salivated to the sound of a tone as well. Pavlov's discovery had a major influence on other thinkers including John B. Watson and contributed significantly to the development of the school of thought known as behaviorism. He also noted that the animals began to salivate whenever they saw the white lab assistant. Due to this observation, Pavlov discovered that by associating the presentation of food with the lab assistant, a conditioned response occurs. He ran a study in which he rang a bell every time he fed the dogs. Pretty soon, just by ringing a bell made the dogs salivate. This discovery had a reverberating influence on psychology. Pavlov was also able to demonstrate that the animals could be conditioned to salivated to the sound of a tone as well. Pavlov’s discovery had a major influence on other thinkers including John. B. Watson and contributed significantly to the development of the school of the thought known as behaviorism. He rang a bell every time he fed some dogs, by pairing a bell with the arrival of food. Unlike food, which is an unconditioned stimulus, the bell became a conditioned stimulus. This is because the dogs learned (they were conditioned) that when the bell rang, food would arrive. Pavlov formed a paired association between an unconditioned stimulus (dog food), and a conditioned stimulus (a bell).
Eventually, Pavlov’s dogs began to salivate at the mere sound of the bell, even when Pavlov did not present the food. The dogs had been conditioned that meant food is on its way. Classical conditioning is when two stimuli are linked together to produce a new response in a person that may be learned. This theory is linked to violence in society by media violence, video games and child abuse. The prevalence of violence in the media can lead to increasingly violent behavior in those who are exposed to it. One explanation for this disturbing influence if the process of classical conditioning and its ability to make the violence appear more acceptable. This relates to Pavlov’s theory the way the dogs were conditioned. Classical conditioning means that a specific stimulus causes a specific response, it's an effective tool in changing the way people react to a particular stimulus, in this case the stimulus of violent imagery in the media. Violent media can also desensitize people to violence, making them less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Statistics that proves media violence causes aggression and violence in the society are: An average American youth will witness 200, 000 violent acts on television before age 18. Violence is often considerable, even in programs not advertised as violent.
Overall, weapons appear on prime time television an average of nine times each hour. An estimated 54 percent of American children can watch this programming from the privacy of their own bedrooms. Studies analyzing the content of popular cartoons noted that they contain 20-25 violent acts per hour, which is about six times as many as prime time programs. Overall, 46 percent on television occurs in cartoons. Additionally, these programs are 67 percent more likely to mix violence with humor and 5 percent less likely to show the long term consequences of violence. In the USA, children's TV shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour. On average, children watch three to four hours of TV daily. It was also noted that in 2012 popular PG-13 rated films contained significantly more gun violence than R-rated films. While Pavlov’s conditioning works by using controlled and uncontrolled stimulus to get the desired reaction, video games used to lead gamers into a certain action. Gamers might not have noticed, but the whole game mechanic of video games revolve around this psychological principle. For example, some games use this to encourage players to keep on playing by rewarding them with coins. Other games have their own reward system where the player gets a bigger and better item as he progresses. Game developers also use Pavlov’s conditioning to limit the number of hours of players used to play games. For example, some games also reward players with bonus points for every hour they are logged off from the game. Other games, give conditional items which the players need to manage carefully because if they don't they will die by it. While the rest of the games encourage people to play even more when they are rewarded just for killing and/or murdering in the game itself. Video game play has been an integral part of the lives of many people. A representative national survey indicated that about 97 percent of Americans teen play video games, with the average amount of playing time being around 13 hours per week. Other surveys show that over half of American adults play video games. Content analysis showed that the most top selling video games contain violence.
Violent video and computer games may have an even more harmful effect on children since the player can actively participate in the violent action that is presented in a highly glamirolised light. These games teach the player not only to kill but also to like it. By age 18 an American children will have watched 200, 00 acts of violence and seen 16, 000 simulated murders. Adolescents spend 9 hours per day consuming some form of entertainment media, which includes television, internet, and computer and video games (including those played on handheld devices such as cellular phones). Video games in particular have increased in popularity, with some teenagers reporting that they play more than 40 hours per week. In 2015, it is reported that a number of serious crimes were committed by American youth who played video games between age 12 and 17 years in the USA from 2000-2015 in 1000 violent crimes per year. Violence has also come to be connected with child sexual abuse and sexual excitement through the process of classical conditioning. This can be seen in the prevalence of sexually appealing. Children are murdered and disfigured while simultaneously being portrayed as sexual objects. Children are therefore, helpless and in pain which is an unconditioned stimulus that evokes unconditioned responses such as anxiety or fear.
Children who’ve experienced domestic violence often meet the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the effects on their brain are similarly, to those experienced by combat veterans. Children of domestic violence are 3 times more likely to repeat the cycle in adulthood, as growing up with domestic violence is the most significant predictor of whether someone will be engaged in domestic violence later in life. If you grow up with domestic violence, you’re 74% more likely to commit a violent crime against someone else, 5 million children witness domestic violence each year in the US. Those who grow up with domestic violence are 6 times more likely to commit suicide and 50% more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol and living with domestic violence significantly alters a child’s DNA, aging them prematurely 7-10 years.
