Pavlov’s Dog and Our Brains 
Pavlov and his dog are a famous psychology experiment about stimulus – response loops.
Pavlov would ring the bell and then feed the dog and he kept repeating this. Soon the dog became conditioned to expect that when the bell rang, he would be fed. As soon as the bell rang (stimulus), the dog would start to salivate (response) whether or not there was food.
We have stimulus response loops too. These can be positive or negative.
A client of mine had a negative stimulus response loop to a person in her life. Just the mention of this person’s name (stimulus) would cause her to constrict (response). However, we rewired the stimulus – response loop.
Now the mention of that name causes her to imagine that person wearing a bunny suit. This makes her smile and laugh rather than constrict. This will make a big difference in her life.
You can rewire your stimulus – response loops by simply imagining the stimulus and then instead of going with the automatic response, you imagine a different response. Then you repeat this many times and it starts to create a new neural pathway. Then if you fall into the old loop, you just repeat this process.
Much Love,
Jonathan
Help me out please ~ if this Daily Dose spoke to you, forward it to someone who would benefit from this message. Even better, invite them to subscribe. Help me in my mission to help people to do better and to live better. Thanks!
photo credit: San Diego Shooter Dog splash! via photopin (license)
Speak Your Mind