Confronting Your A nx iety 77
to salivate when they heard a tuning fork (or, potentially,
were exposed to any stimulus of his choosing). They then
came to equate that particular sound with food.
One of the most important things to remember about the
type of learning that Pavlov’s work illustrates, known as clas-
sical conditioning, is that the learning takes place automati-
cally and without the learner’s conscious awareness. Classical
conditioning is useful in everyday life, both for animals and
for people. If you have ever owned a pet, you have no doubt
witnessed classical conditioning in action. Cats, for example,
often show up to the kitchen whenever you use a can opener,
regardless of whether you are opening a can of cat food or
something for yourself. Farmers have used classical condi-
tioning to protect their sheep from predation by foxes by
sprinkling a powder on sheep meat that temporarily causes
digestive problems for foxes. Over time, the foxes learn to
avoid killing sheep to avoid stomachaches. In people, the
effects of classical conditioning can be found almost every-
where. Have you ever felt hungry after a TV commercial
break? Chances are you had just seen a commercial for some
type of food. Have you ever been moved to tears by an older
song? If so, it was probably because you associated the song
with a sad or happy memory. Have you ever started gagging
at the smell of something, perhaps Limburger cheese (often
described as smelling like human feet)? Past associations
with foul- smelling stimuli can sometimes instantly make us
gag or even throw up. (If you want to see an example of clas-
sical conditioning in action, the TV show The Office demon-
strates this phenomenon with two of its main characters in
episode 15 of season 3. Essentially, one of the characters
plays a prank on his colleague by training him to salivate for
a mint upon hearing the chime from a computer).