Word: braine
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...modifying the conditions, the simple reflexes may be changed, becoming more complicated, or conditioned. The process of changing an unconditioned reflex into a conditioned reflex was clearly demonstrated to an audience of psychiatrists at the Academy of Medicine last week, in a cinema entitled "The Mechanics of the Brain...
...unconditioned reflex is the simplest nervous reaction. A dog will smell food and turn in its direction. Nature believes in preparedness and the dog will secrete saliva as he goes for the food. Only the lower parts of the brain are concerned in this reaction. But, if a bell is rung every time the food appears, there will come a time when the dog will secrete saliva at the sound of the bell when there is no food in sight...
...simple reflex has been conditioned by the bell; the dog has associated the food with the sound; the power house of the upper brain has gone into action, and the intelligent animal now reacts to an idea. This is the learning mechanism in its elementary form. If the upper brain is now removed, the learned reaction will be lost...
...evolution of the animal depends on the development of the upper brain: the greater the development the more complicated the conditioned reflexes become. The ability to learn by experience, which is simply a matter of conditioning the reflexes, increases; the animal can adjust to ever more varied environments. Man has the most intricately convoluted upper brain of the whole animal kingdom and can therefore adapt himself to a wide range of conditions...
Pavlov's researches have revolutionized the study of human psychology. Man is now regarded as a higher member of the animal kingdom psychologically as well as physiologically. On account of the greater complexity of the human brain, more types of reaction are possible but the underlying mechanics are the same. The recent work on shell shock has demonstrated what harm can arise from badly conditioned reflexes...