SOURCE: "Toward A Theory of Conditioning," in the Psychological Review, Vol. 46, No. 5, September, 1939, pp. 425-44.

In the following essay, Irwin outlines Pavlov's general theory of conditioning, provides a critique, and presents an alternative interpretation of the subject.

The manner in which the title of this paper is worded—toward a theory—implies a conviction that aside from Pavlov there exists no fully-developed systematic theory of conditioning. There are, however, some experimental data which may be used for the beginnings of a new formulation. A great deal of incidental questioning, if not outright criticism, is current in the literature on the subject, although it has not resulted in a concerted attempt to restate the conventional viewpoint. This situation is probably due to the enormous prestige of Pavlov's name. One should not be unmindful, of course, of the possibility that whoever proposes to raise questions concerning the underlying assumptions of...