Our world is so inadequate that seminal psychology experiments are described in mangled, misleading ways. Inadequacy abounds, and status only weakly tracks adequacy. Even if the high-status person belongs to your in-group. Even if all your smart friends are nodding along.
It says he started with the belief. Not, that he was right, or ended with it. Keeping the idea contained to the source, so it’s clear it’s not being stated could be improved, yes.
I think Pavlov knew that food-salivation wasn’t hardwired, and IIRC he makes the point in detail in the lectures. AFAICT many (but certainly not all, and perhaps not even most) contemporaryretellings of the experiment are extremely sloppy in this way, and the quoted source doesn’t go on to correct the misapprehension.
I would put it as: At the beginning of the experiment, adult dogs salivate when they see food. Therefore, relatively speaking, food-salivation is the “unconditioned” stimulus, since you don’t have to condition the dog during the experiment in order to produce the response of salivation.
It says he started with the belief. Not, that he was right, or ended with it. Keeping the idea contained to the source, so it’s clear it’s not being stated could be improved, yes.
I think Pavlov knew that food-salivation wasn’t hardwired, and IIRC he makes the point in detail in the lectures. AFAICT many (but certainly not all, and perhaps not even most) contemporary retellings of the experiment are extremely sloppy in this way, and the quoted source doesn’t go on to correct the misapprehension.
I would put it as: At the beginning of the experiment, adult dogs salivate when they see food. Therefore, relatively speaking, food-salivation is the “unconditioned” stimulus, since you don’t have to condition the dog during the experiment in order to produce the response of salivation.