The irradiation of conditioned reflexes

Abstract

The present communication is a result of an investigation upon the irradiation of cutaneous conditioned reflexes established by different methods. Under the name of conditioned reflexes are recognised all reflexes peculiar to individual animals and acquired by them in the course of their existence. The organism at birth presents merely greater or lesser possibilities for the formation of these reflexes, and their formation depends only on the conditions under which the animals live. The word “conditioned” is merely used in order to denote an important property which these reflexes exhibit, namely, their very great dependence on innumerable conditions. It distinguishes them also from all other reflexes which act through the lower centres, work with a remarkable regularity, and are, in fact, “unconditioned,” and exist in the animal from birth to death.