June 20, 2007
Pavlov's Dog, Certainly. But Pavlov's Cockroach?
Russian psychologist Pavlov demonstrated operant conditioning by showing that dogs would salivate at the sound of a bell that they had been trained to associate with food. This has also been demonstrated with other stimuli, such as other sounds, sight, smell, and touch. The conditioned response has also been amply demonstrated in people. Ask a TV advertiser. Now, in a study from a Japanese university, it has been demonstrated that the common American Cockroach also can be conditioned to salivate. In this case they used scents.