Pavlovian
[pav-loh-vee-uh n, -law-, -lov-ee-]
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Pavlov or his work, especially of experiments in which he elicited predictable responses from laboratory animals.
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Origin of Pavlovian
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pavlovian
Contemporary Examples
But this Pavlovian trigger cannot be effective indefinitely.
Could it just be that prison itself conditions a sort of pavlovian reaction to carve chess pieces?
Contrary to the Pavlovian GOP notion of Clinton, she is generally centrist in her views and approach.
Receiving a coffee-related gift triggers a Pavlovian response – elation, anticipation, a faux caffeine rush.
I can assure you that already in the Pavlovian swamps of the nutso right, the glands are swelling.
Pavlovian
- of or relating to the work of Ivan Pavlov
- (of a reaction or response) automatic; involuntary
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for pavlovian
Pavlovian
adj.
1931, from the theories, experiments, and methods of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), especially in connection with the salivary reflexes of dogs in response to mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (attested from 1911, in Pavloff [sic] method).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper