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If you always pair a neutral sound with something pleasant, the body can learn, without meaning to, to react to the sound as if the pleasant thing were already there.

Ivan Pavlov · Conditioned Reflexes · 19271 minute readpublic domain

The body can automatically learn to associate a neutral stimulus with a pleasant response.

Pavlov studied dogs' saliva and noticed something unexpected: after always ringing a bell before feeding them, the dogs began salivating just from hearing the bell, even with no food present. Their bodies had learned a new connection completely automatically, with no dog ever consciously deciding to do so.

Why it mattersHis discovery explains why advertisements always pair products with pleasant music or images today.

Neutral StimulusRepeated PairingConditionedResponse
The chain of conditioned reflex formation.

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