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Conditioning

You remember Pavlov's dog? Mr. Pavlov did some experiments with his dog where he would bring the dog food and ring a bell. Eventually, he would just ring the bell and the dog would start to salivate, thinking food was coming. This concept is known as conditioning.

Well, apparently it works with humans, too. Joash and I were out and about yesterday morning and we were on our way home again right around nap time. I had taken a snack for Joash with me in hopes that I could keep him awake on the way home and then he would take a nice morning nap like usual. (This plan failed miserably. He stayed awake on the way home, and the rest of the morning, but he had a good afternoon nap, so that was nice). I gave him a few crackers when I put him in his car seat. Then, as we were driving home, I handed him a cracker every now and then. When I would reach in the bag to grab a cracker, it made a nice crinkling sound. One time, I glanced in the rear view mirror while getting a cracker for Joash and as soon as the bag crinkled, his little hand shot straight up in the air, ready to get a cracker. I laughed a little and then tried to see if it was just a fluke. But no, every time Joash heard the sound of the bag crinkling, he stuck his hand (hands) up in the air, waiting for his cracker.

It is amazing what he learns and understands each day.
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