The "Pavloc" is Using the Wrong Psychology

I usually only review products I like, but sometimes I talk about products to avoid, too. Regardless, I am always honest.

I saw the Pavloc Shock Clock on Shark Tank and, having studied psychology for over 2 decades, I immediately recognized that the inventor was applying Pavlovian principles incorrectly. Mark Cuban (one of my chat buddies) made the point that the presenter just borrowed aversion therapy studies from other researchers. I agree with that, but worse than this is the fact that the creator apparently doesn't even understand what Pavlovian psychology is about.

Pavlov was a Russian psychologist who performed a number of studies that showed that dogs could be trained to salivate in association with the sound of a bell ringing after creating a "conditioned response" by ringing the bell everytime he fed the dogs. He then removing the unconditioned stimulus (the food) to show that the dogs still salivated when they heard the bell because they had made the connection to the conditioned stimulus (the bell) even when there was no food. This is known as "Classical Conditioning," a different kind of training from pure behaviorism or operant conditioning (rat psychology).

In contrast, the creator of the "PAVLOC" inventions utilizes B.F. Skinner's pure "behaviorism" techniques of REWARD AND PUNISHMENT by producing a shock when someone does something wrong (the bad habit) and removing the negative reinforcement when they refrained from the negative behavior. So this invention of his is connected to Skinnerian psychology (pure behavioral techniques), or "operant conditioning" like we do when we train rats in the lab, not Pavlovian techniques. If he wanted to name it more appropriately, he would name it "The Rat Zapper" or something like that. While classical conditioning is a type of behavioral training, it is not the same thing when applying it to the real world. Not only that, it promotes mind control.

And, for that reason, I'm out!