The conditioned reflex is not genetically set. The animal or the person get it at a combination of certain conditions, and lose at their disappearance. This feature is a basis for formation of the acquired behavior, that is allows a single organism to adapt to the changing external conditions. Great Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov is recognized as the founder of the theory of a conditioned reflex.
It is required to you
- - animal:
- - unconditional irritant (for example, food);
- - conditional irritant (sound device, bulb etc.).
Instruction
1. Choose an animal at whom you will develop a conditioned reflex. It can be a dog, a cat, hamsters, guinea pigs , etc. Check the state of health of your pets. At a sick animal the reflex can not be developed in general as it not always reacts even to very strong irritants.
2. Solve whether you will develop a natural or artificial conditioned reflex. Natural — that which is developed by means of the agents accompanying an unconditioned reflex under natural conditions. It can be, for example, a flavor of food. At emergence of such smell in an animal the increased salivation begins. The artificial conditioned reflex is developed under the influence of agents of other type. But anyway the irritant has to be rather strong.
3. Any living organism constantly reacts to various irritants. Many reactions are peculiar to animals and the person by nature. For example, if each representative of any given look did not react to food, the look would disappear pretty fast. Food causes unconditional reflex reaction. Think what unconditioned reflex you will use for development of conditional.
4. Choose a conditional irritant. It has to be stronger than unconditional and is capable to draw attention of an animal. An example of such conditional irritant — an electronic collar for a dog. When the dog does something undesirable, the owner presses a button, and the animal receives easy electric shock. At usual training thus rather not the conditioned reflex, but braking unconditional is developed, that is the animal is accustomed not to react to some irritants. For development of a reflex it is better to use a bulb or a sound signal.
5. Eliminate foreign irritants. They can distract attention of your pet. For example, if you decided to use a sound signal, in your "laboratory" in the rest of the time there has to be a silence. Otherwise the animal simply will not pay attention to a new sound. If before giving of food you use a bulb signal, all rest of the time the room has to be exactly lit.
6. Prepare an animal. Create at it motivation. If you as an unconditional irritant use food, the animal has to be hungry, otherwise it will not react as necessary. The motivation has to remain and further.
7. Make the first experiment. Include a bulb or give a sound signal, and then give to an animal food. One of rules of development of a conditioned reflex is that the unconditional irritant always has to precede conditional. Cases when the conditioned reflex is developed after the first experience are known. Usually achievement of the similar purpose requires some time and repeated repetition.
8. Repeat an experiment. Action of a conditional irritant always has to precede emergence of unconditional. That is anyway you at first give a signal, and then feed the ward. In the absence of a conditional irritant it is not necessary to apply unconditional. At an animal are gradually formed set of biochemical, neurophysiological and other communications of the central nervous system. The conditional irritant will begin to cause not only behavioural, but also biochemical reactions of an organism.