All Quiet On The Western Front Classical Conditioning Analysis

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In psychology, one of the most notable achievements in the behavioral field was that of Ivan Pavlov and his experiments on classical conditioning. Many are familiar with his experiments, for they are highly referenced, even today. In Pavlov’s discoveries, he found dogs would salivate to the sound of a bell (an unconditioned stimulus) in association that there was food (the conditioned stimulus) paired with it. Therefore, every time the dogs heard the bell they would salivate (the conditioned response) even if there was food present or not. They just associated the ringing of the bell with the assumption food would appear shortly after. This notion of conditioning is not true only for animals, but is feasible for humans, too. It may seem …show more content…
Paul and many of his schoolmates decide to join the army to show their sense of patriotism and heroism. They soon learn, however, that war is not as glorifying as it is proclaimed to be. After training and facing the war head first the band of young men experience the physical and emotional trauma of a soldier; war is no longer seen as an honorable occupation in their eyes. Throughout the story, the diminishing crew deals with hardships such as rationing and scavenging for resources. At one point in the story Paul is sent to a training camp that is near a base, where Russian prisoners-of-war are kept. Even though the Russians are the supposed enemies, Paul does not feel any difference towards them than he would feel towards his own countrymen. After all, they are just humans like him. He even feels sorrow towards them, since they are being kept, locked up, in such conditions. This is an example of Paul’s humanity he displays towards the people he is supposed to hate, just like the readers demonstrate towards him. Much like Das Boot, the audience feels for Paul and his hardships, even though he is fighting for the opposing side. This is just another model of the human ability for
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