Ivan Pavlov & Classical Conditioning

Explanation:
Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), originally a physiologist, discovered classical conditioning while studying digestion in dogs. He found that neutral stimuli (bells) paired repeatedly with unconditioned stimuli (food) eventually produced conditioned responses (salivation).
This demonstrated that learning occurs through association. Pavlov’s work laid the foundation for behaviorism and influenced therapeutic interventions such as exposure therapy and systematic desensitization.

Example:
A fear of dogs may develop if a child is bitten (unconditioned stimulus) while hearing barking (neutral stimulus)—later, barking alone triggers fear.

Citation:
Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes. Oxford University Press.