ABSTRACT
In late 1957 the Soviet earth satellite Sputnik began whizzing over our heads several times a day. On board was a female dog named Laika, which means “lucky.” Half a century earlier another Russian dog, another Laika, was the alleged star of Pavlov's laboratory for the study of the conditioned reflex. Laika's star quality was controversial. Although many dogs were used by Pavlov and his students, Professor Vladimir Bechterev, the leading Russian psychologist of the day (Pavlov was defiantly a physiologist), dismissed much of the findings because “Professor Pavlov bases his conclusions solely on his observations of one lively dog with abundant and spontaneous salivation.” 1 And so we had the first public discussion of the single-case controversy — even though there were other dogs used. More important, it is suggested here that misunderstandings in the United States of Pavlov's work inhibited the study of the learning of likes and dislikes. Some new emphases for such studies will therefore be recommended.
