Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Russian: Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов, IPA: [ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ
ˈpavləf] (About this soundlisten); 26 September [O.S. 14 September] 1849 – 27
February 1936)[3] was a Russian physiologist known primarily for his work in
classical conditioning.
From his childhood days, Pavlov demonstrated intellectual curiosity along with an
unusual energy which he referred to as "the instinct for research".[4] Inspired by
the progressive ideas which Dmitry Pisarev, a Russian literary critic of the 1860s,
and Ivan Sechenov, the father of Russian physiology, were spreading, Pavlov
abandoned his religious career and devoted his life to science. In 1870, he
enrolled in the physics and mathematics department at the University of Saint
Petersburg to study natural science.[1]
Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904,[4][5] becoming the
first Russian Nobel laureate. A survey in the Review of General Psychology,
published in 2002, ranked Pavlov as the 24th most cited psychologist of the 20th
century.[6] Pavlov's principles of classical conditioning have been found to
operate across a variety of behavior therapies and in experimental and clinical
settings, such as educational classrooms and even reducing phobias with systematic
desensitization.[7][8]
Ivan Pavlov, the eldest of eleven children,[10] was born in Ryazan, Russian Empire.
His father, Peter Dmitrievich Pavlov (1823–1899), was a village Russian orthodox
priest.[11] His mother, Varvara Ivanovna Uspenskaya (1826–1890), was a devoted
homemaker. As a child, Pavlov willingly participated in house duties such as doing
the dishes and taking care of his siblings. He loved to garden, ride his bicycle,
row, swim, and play gorodki; he devoted his summer vacations to these activities.
[12] Although able to read by the age of seven, Pavlov was seriously injured when
he fell from a high wall onto a stone pavement. As a result of the injuries he
sustained[13] he did not begin formal schooling until he was 11 years old.[10]
Pavlov attended the Ryazan church school before entering the local theological
seminary. In 1870, however, he left the seminary without graduating to attend the
university at St. Petersburg. There he enrolled in the physics and math department
and took natural science courses. In his fourth year, his first research project on
the physiology of the nerves of the pancreas[14] won him a prestigious university
award. In 1875, Pavlov completed his course with an outstanding record and received
the degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences. Impelled by his overwhelming interest
in physiology, Pavlov decided to continue his studies and proceeded to the Imperial
Academy of Medical Surgery. While at the academy, Pavlov became an assistant to his
former teacher, Elias von Cyon.[15] He left the department when de Cyon was
replaced by another instructor.
After some time, Pavlov obtained a position as a laboratory assistant to Konstantin
Nikolaevich Ustimovich at the physiological department of the Veterinary Institute.
[16] For two years, Pavlov investigated the circulatory system for his medical
dissertation.[10] In 1878, Professor S. P. Botkin, a famous Russian clinician,
invited the gifted young physiologist to work in the physiological laboratory as
the clinic's chief. In 1879, Pavlov graduated from the Medical Military Academy
with a gold medal award for his research work. After a competitive examination,
Pavlov won a fellowship at the academy for postgraduate work.[17] The fellowship
and his position as director of the Physiological Laboratory at Botkin's clinic
enabled Pavlov to continue his research work. In 1883, he presented his doctor's
thesis on the subject of The centrifugal nerves of the heart and posited the idea
of nervism and the basic principles on the trophic function of the nervous system.
Additionally, his collaboration with the Botkin Clinic produced evidence of a basic
pattern in the regulation of reflexes in the activity of circulatory organs.
