Pavlov trained his dogs to salivate anytime a bell rang. Â The way he did it was to ring a bell and then feed the dogs. Â Eventually, they salivated at the sound of the bell even when food was not provided. Â This is now called a Pavlovian response.
A bonus piece of kibble should be provided to anyone who currently has this song stuck in their head.
As humans in this modern society, we have Pavlovian responses as well. Â After I finish ordering at a drive thru, whatever they try to sell me afterwards if met with, “no thank you.” Â They could literally ask me, “Would you like to add the right to be the deity of a tribe in South Pacific with Alyssa Milano as your bride for only a dollar?” Â I would respond, “no thank you” and pull around.
Unfortunately, restaurant guests do the same thing when you drop their food and ask, “Is there anything else I can get for you?” Â It is a Pavlovian response to send the server away without even a thought about the question. Â Afterwards they will often look down and see they have no silverware, their drink is empty, and the steak they ordered looks suspiciously like a lobster. Â This is inevitably followed by flagging down the first person they see that looks like they might work at the restaurant and asking for their server.
I have written about this before on other blogs. Â I even talk about it in my book. Â Each time I edited the chapter in the book I even got this song (which yes, I am listening to right now for the second time) stuck in my head. Â I know it is a Pavlovian response. Â In spite of all of this, I still find myself doing the same thing when I am a guest. Â Then I flag someone down, ask them for a fork, and hope that at some point I will get that damn song out of my head.
No comments yet.