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The pavlovian “principle of strength”

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Abstract

The Pavlovian principle of strength assumed that the magnitude of the conditional response is a linear function of the intensity of the external conditional stimulus. But experiments failed to provide evidence for the universality of the principle. The Pavlovians tried to identify conditions that distorted the linearity of this relationship. Some of the disturbing conditions were external and some were internal intervening variables. It is possible that the relation between the strength of the conditional stimulus and the magnitude of the conditional response is not linear but logarithmic. Pavlov acknowledged the lack of experimental evidence to support the principle of strength in its original form.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 28223, Charlotte, NC

    George Windholz

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  1. George Windholz
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All translations from Russian were made by the author.

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Windholz, G. The pavlovian “principle of strength”. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 30, 228–236 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02698577

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