pavlov's dogs

You know about Pavlov's dogs, right? Well, just in case you didn't have the same psych class as I did in college, I'll give you a brief description of it. Why, you ask? Because I said so. I'm a mother. It is a mother's right to use this phrase when they really just don't have a decent answer.

Pavlov was a Russian scientist who discovered/coined the term "conditioned reflex." He experimented with dogs at meal time. He rang a bell just before feeding them. The dogs learned that the bell meant food and after a period of time, the ringing bell--which meant the prospect of food--would make them salivate even if it wasn't feeding time and there was no food in sight. If I've just whetted your appetite and you really just want to know more, or perhaps become a pysch major because of my titillating description, go to the Internet to learn about Pavlov's Dogs in more detail.

I know you're wondering how this is pertinent to anything. See, here's what happened. I was sitting at my computer working away. As I recall, I was inputting recipes for my website. I was troubling with something that had gone awry, and when this happens I just can't get it out of my head until I get the problem fixed. I had started the dishwasher before I sat down to this task, and I was there long enough for the dishwasher to finish. When my dishwasher finishes, a little bell sounds. This is annoying, but no one has had the gumption to go read the manual to figure out how to turn it off. Manual? Who reads manuals anyway?

Bell? Yes, you see somehow this is going to relate to Pavlov's dogs. But how? As that bell rang, I realized that I was really thirsty. However, in my bullheaded determination to fix whatever the issue was on my site, I couldn't seem to rise from my seat to get a drink. Step two of annoying dishwasher is that it continues to ring every few minutes until you go tell it to shut up. Telling it to shut up involves pushing a button while muttering under your breath how stupid a ringing dishwasher is.

The dishwasher continued to ring every few minutes, and every time it did, I realized I was really thirsty. It took several cycles of this before I realized what was happening. I had just become one of Pavlov's dogs! So did that make me jump up and go get a drink of water? Sure. Actually, nope, I just kept right on working until I fixed my site issue, thus solidifying this conditioned response. I'm pretty sure I came within about an inch of dying of dehydration before I finally crawled to the dog dish to have a sip. And now I have to wonder. Was this conditioning permanent?

Excuse me. I've gotta go. The dishwasher bell just rang. I'm suddenly feeling extremely thirsty.