The Office Pavlov Episode

(Student’s name)
(Professor’s name)
Psychology
21 September 2018
The Pavlov Theory in The Office
In this particular episode of The Office, the Pavlov Theory or the Pavlovian conditioning is applied. The origin of this theory sprung from the idea about small things dogs have to learn. For instance, it is not necessary for them to learn to salivate when there is food in sight. This reflex is innate in a dog, which is a conditioned response. In addition, if there is an object that a dog will associate with food, it will salivate or even ask for it.
The same thing is happening with Dwight in this episode because Andy offers him Altoids every day right after he turns on his computer. Andy did this for a couple of days consecutively and conditioned Dwight that he will offer him Altoids every time that moment comes. In the episode, Andy’s experiment worked because on the day when he did not offer Dwight Altoids, he automatically held out his hand to ask for Altoids after he heard the sound of the computer booting.
Similar to what Pavlov did to the dogs when he taught them to associate an object with food. The dog’s response is triggered whenever there is an object it linked to food. Dwight must have learned the response to extend his hand to receive the Altoid from Andy after being offered.
The sound of the computer turning is like the bell Pavlov used to ring when...