Ivan Pavlov is one of the most famous characters in psychology . Together with John B. Watson, he is the greatest exponent of what is known as classical conditioning, an introductory theme to the career of psychology and one of the bases of learning and human behaviour.

  • If you want to know more about this theory, in this article we explain it: “Classical conditioning and its most important experiments”

Pavlov’s Phrases and Behaviorism

Since Pavlov’s contributions marked a before and after in behavioural science , we wanted to make a list of his best phrases .

You can find them below. Enjoy!

1. Never think you know everything. No matter how high you value yourself, always have the courage to say to yourself: I am ignorant

One must be humble in this life and think that there is still much to learn. It is the best way not to relax and continue to acquire knowledge.

2. I am convinced that an important stage of human thought will have been reached when the physiological and the psychological, the objective and the subjective, are really united

Pavlov was a great character who contributed a lot to psychology and to understanding how we learn. Although, in reality, he was a Russian physiologist.

3. Science demands great tension and passion from man. Be passionate in your work and in your research

Investigations must be rigorous and objective, and researchers are the first to ensure that this is the case.

4. Perfect as a bird’s wing can be, it will never allow the bird to fly if it is not admitted by the air. The facts are that air is like science. Without them, a man of science cannot rise.

Pavlov, as a good behaviorist, put a lot of emphasis on observation and the scientific method. His contributions were key to the development of psychology as a science.

5. Learn the ABC’s of science before trying to reach its peak

Before carrying out research, you need to master the scientific method. No mistakes should be made in the investigations.

6. I always stay on the ground of facts: all my conjectures are tested experimentally and thus I always rely on the solution provided by the facts.

Rigorous observation of the facts is one of the characteristics of the experiments of this famous character. Along with Watson, he is one of the great exponents of Classical Conditioning.

7. It is clear to all that the animal organism is a very complex system consisting of an almost infinite series of parts connected both to each other and, as a whole, to the surrounding world, with which it is in a state of equilibrium.

Pavlov was always a passionate researcher, a lover of the search for the causes of nature

8. To be disciplined and go to the heart of the cause

In reference to how a good researcher should be when conducting experiments.

9. Studying, experimenting, observing, try not to stay on the surface of the facts. Do not become archivists of the facts. Try to penetrate the secret of their origin. Seek tenaciously the laws that regulate them.

In order to investigate, it is necessary to get to the bottom of the question, it is necessary to investigate and control the intervening variables well.

10. For the naturalist everything is in the method

A quote from this behaviouralist character that invites deep reflection.

11. . When I dissect and destroy a living animal, I hear within me the bitter reproach that with a brutal and clumsy hand I am spoiling an incomparable artistic mechanism

Pavlov was a researcher who conducted his experiments on animals. One of the best known is that of his dogs. That’s how he discovered classical conditioning.

12. Learn, compare, collect the facts!

Another allusion to how the experiments need to be carried out in order to obtain reliable conclusions.

13. It is often said, and not without reason, that science advances by leaps and bounds, which depend on the successes obtained with the research method. At each step forward in the methods, it seems as if we are ascending a new step, from which a wider horizon opens up to us, discovering objects previously invisible. For this reason, our first task has been to develop the method

Pavlov’s research was pioneering in his time, especially because of the rigor of his investigations and his passion for learning knowledge.

14. Condition people not to expect anything, and you will have everyone excited with the least amount you can offer them

Classical Conditioning consists of presenting an originally neutral stimulus along with a repeatedly conditioned stimulus. In this way it will be possible to provoke a conditioned response.

15. Authentic scientific theory must not only embrace all existing material, but must also open up wide possibilities for further study and – let us express ourselves thus – for unlimited experimentation.

There must be no restrictions on research if we are to find the true knowledge.

16. Thanks to our current surgical methods of physiology we can demonstrate at any time almost all phenomena of digestion without losing a single drop of blood, without a single cry from the animals subjected to the experiment

Initially, the experiment of the Pavlov peoples, sought to understand the digestion mechanisms of animals and humans.

17. Man has yet another powerful resource: natural science, with its strictly objective methods

Another mention of the scientific method. Pavlov was a proponent of behavioral observation to understand the mind.

18. Do not forget that science demands from the individual his whole life. If we had two lives, they would not be enough either.

A quote that says that a good researcher must put everything on his side in the service of science.

19. Needless to say, the desire to perform the task with more confidence, to avoid wasting time and manpower, and to spare our experimental animals as much as possible, made us strictly observe all the precautions taken by the surgeons in respect of their patients.

As a good physiologist, Ivan Pavlov compares medicine to research, in this case, psychological research.

20. Learn to do pawn work in science. Study, confront, accumulate facts. However perfect the wings of the bird may have been, they could never have allowed it to rise if they had not been supported in the air. Facts are the air of the man of science. Without them you can never take flight. Without them your theories will be vain efforts.

Although research is a job that requires a lot of intelligence and leadership, you have to be a pawn to do the most basic things, including being disciplined.

21. I have obtained the maximum that can be expected from life: the full justification of the principles with which I began. I dreamed of finding the joy of life in intellectual work: I obtained it and I continue to enjoy it. I wished to have a person full of goodness as a companion in my life and I found it in my wife Serafima Vasilievna.

An excerpt from Ivan Pavlov’s autobiographical book: “Physiology and Psychology.”

22. The irresistible advance of the natural sciences since the time of Galileo has made its first stop before the study of the upper parts of the brain, the organ of the most complicated relations of the animal with the outside world… now is the really critical moment for the natural sciences, for the brain, in its highest complexity – the human brain – which created and creates natural science, becomes the object of this science.

Pavlov makes it clear that the study of psychological phenomena is really complex.

23. Men tend to be more easily influenced by words than by the actual facts of the surrounding reality

A statement by Pavlov that makes a lot of sense.

24. It is still open to question whether psychology is a natural science, or whether it can be considered a science at all

Psychology is a complex science, which is why it is often questioned as such.

26. From the described experiment it is clear that the mere act of eating, the food even without reaching the stomach, determines the stimulation of the gastric glands

Pavlov, in this sentence, makes clear his roots as a physiologist.

27. Gradualism, gradualism and gradualism. From the beginning of your work, instruct yourself in severe gradualism and accumulation of knowledge

The acquisition of knowledge must be gradual. You have to put in the effort and work. It must be done gradually.

28. It is not accidental that all the phenomena of human life are dominated by the search for daily bread, the oldest link connecting all living things, including man, with the surrounding nature

Human beings have always been interested in knowledge and in finding out the causes of things.

29. Don’t become a fact classifier. Try to penetrate to the bottom of the cause, pursue the search for the laws that govern them

Scratching the surface is not enough to investigate and draw conclusions. You have to get to the heart of the matter.

30. Appetite is a force that stimulates the gastric glands

A sentence about Pavlov’s work in physiology .

31. Science can be a way to get to know even what seemed private

Through scientific research it is possible to answer questions that seemed to be totally veiled.

32. The limitations of psychology are not only methodological, but also conceptual

This Russian physiologist was very critical of psychology .

33. Knowing when to leave questions for when instruments exist to answer them

A phrase from Pavlov about technological limitations in science.

34. Technology is progress only if our ideas evolve with it

Technological progress does not generate progress of ideas.

35. It is necessary to discard all ideas based on mentalism

A criticism of this philosophical trend.

  • Related article: “Mentalism in Psychology, the belief in the soul, and why it is a problem”

36. In psychology it is possible to locate beginner’s problems

Pavlov speaks critically of the psychological science of his time, which was very backward in many respects.

37. Science opposes theological dogmas because it is based on facts

A reflection on the scientific procedure and its way of adapting to reality.

38. The race to dominate human behavior cannot have a near end

For Pavlov, total control over acts is practically unachievable.

39. Researching about the nerves in the body gives some power over the most basic processes

The nerve is one of the basic extensions of the nervous system, and therefore gives rise to simple reactions.

40. A stimulus can be much more than it appears in a first test

In a form of stimulation there is potential for future learning.

41. There is a lot of potential in the experimental method

In a laboratory environment, great discoveries can be made.

42. Segmenting complex phenomena into simpler ones is necessary

A reflection on reductionism.

43. Taking a step back to examine the ideas behind a line of inquiry never hurts

There is a philosophical work that underpins all of science.

44. The data must be interpreted, and that is extra work

The information revealed by the studies does not interpret itself.

45. Reaching the ideas that best describe reality is the task of the scientist

Pavlov talks about the role of the researcher.