# I pit classical conditioning. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 25, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896 "2007-08-25T16:07:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/1 "2007-08-25T16:07:19Z")
Whenever I was sick, there was always good old Pepto Bismol. Despite its wide variety of insipid add campaigns, it actually worked. For a while. But raise your hand if you’ve ever taken psych 101. Everyone? Good. Now, who can tell me what happens when a person repeatedly drinks a distinctive looking and tasting liquid every time they get sick, and only when they get sick? So now, even though I would very much like my stomach settled, the mere _sight_ of the pink chalky stuff is enough to make me want to vomit for the third time today. Damn you Pavlov and Skinner! ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/2 "2007-08-25T18:03:20Z")
Every time I walk up my stairs I **have** to go pee. Sorry, but you’re an animal and you’re gonna have to live with the rules that come with that. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/3 "2007-08-25T18:07:04Z")
I’ll second you in this one… I can’t eat anything fake-orange flavored. St. Joseph’s Aspirin for Children. Eeeeccch. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/4 "2007-08-25T19:25:46Z")
My entire childhood, I had tea when and only when I was ill. I tried it once when I was healthy, and it tasted like… well, ill. I’ve got over it now, though. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/5 "2007-08-25T19:32:03Z")
Oh, man, I can’t even do wintergreen gum because it’s too close to Pepto-Bismol. It tastes like vomit. 7-Up is another one. In my house, the only pop we ever got to drink was 7-Up, and that was only when sick, with half the bubbles stirred out of it. It tastes like sick days to me. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/6 "2007-08-25T20:23:39Z")
My father would always put ice in milk when I was sick. I think the idea was that milk isn’t good for a stuffed up head, so he was trying to thin it out. Now I can’t drink any milk less thick than Vitamin D. Also, still can’t eat cherry flavored anything due to Vick’s 44D Cough Syrup. Fresh cherries are almost tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/7 "2007-08-25T20:48:50Z")
I hear ya on this rant. I had to ban my husband’s use of some muscle cream or another because it smells like Pepto Bismol, and Pepto Bismol smells like a day sitting on the toilet with a puke bucket in my lap. He uses some other stuff now that smells like menthol, which I can tolerate. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/8 "2007-08-25T20:54:54Z")
No wonder medicine is supposed to taste bad; you’re gonna hate it anyway! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/9 "2007-08-25T22:04:03Z")
I was sick for several weeks when I was a kid (pneumonia?). I had to take two medicines. One had that icky medicine taste, the other was thick, pink, and tasted like strawberries. These days. I almost like that mediciny flavor. But I cannot, for the life of me, ever drink a strawberry shake again. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/10 "2007-08-25T22:50:43Z")
I have to wonder about the long-term implications of [musical potties](http://www.onestoppottyshop.co.uk/musical-duck-potty-blue-p-1763.html). ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/11 "2007-08-25T23:11:58Z")
I’m missing something here. You get sick. X makes you better. Wouldn’t classical conditioning make X a happy thing? Imaginary example 1 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain goes away. I \*\*love \*\*fluffy bunnies. Imaginary example 2 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain is tripled. I \*\*hate \*\*fluffy bunnies. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/12 "2007-08-25T23:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] I’m missing something here. You get sick. X makes you better. Wouldn’t classical conditioning make X a happy thing? Imaginary example 1 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain goes away. I \*\*love \*\*fluffy bunnies. Imaginary example 2 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain is tripled. I \*\*hate \*\*fluffy bunnies. [/QUOTE] It’s more of an association thing, I guess. Ever put on say, one specific artist while doing an activity? Everytime I mow my parent’s lawn, I can practically hear Nine Inch Nails’ _With Teeth_ album and taste the orange-flavoured cheving gum that I listened to and ate two summers ago, while working lawns for my grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/13 "2007-08-25T23:17:24Z")
With me it’s CJ Cherryh, the sci fi/fantasy auther. She’s good; I like her stuff. But I read a bunch of her books while having a nasty allergic reaction to penicillin - twice. Hives and a fever lasting for days. Now, just reading her stuff makes me feel vaguely feverish and brings back bad memories. I wish I’d read a **bad** author. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/14 "2007-08-25T23:23:38Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] I’m missing something here. You get sick. X makes you better. Wouldn’t classical conditioning make X a happy thing? Imaginary example 1 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain goes away. I \*\*love \*\*fluffy bunnies. Imaginary example 2 : I am in great pain. A fluffy bunny appears. The pain is tripled. I \*\*hate \*\*fluffy bunnies. [/QUOTE] This would be true, except that you don’t usually feel _immediately_ better when taking medicines. In my case, my folks would give me aspirin when I was feeling ill. I’d often barf it right back up. In my association, aspirin = barf. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/15 "2007-08-25T23:23:52Z")
[QUOTE=Gukumatz] It’s more of an association thing, I guess. Ever put on say, one specific artist while doing an activity? Everytime I mow my parent’s lawn, I can practically hear Nine Inch Nails’ _With Teeth_ album and taste the orange-flavoured cheving gum that I listened to and ate two summers ago, while working lawns for my grandparents. [/QUOTE] Fine. But why does the mere sight of Pepto Bismol induce nausea in one who was cured by Pepto Bismol? Anecdotal experience: After shoulder surgery I was allowed a Demerol shot every 4 hours. I practically drooled when the nurse showed up with the needle. And I hate shots. It seems to me that the more powerful association would be with the \*alleviation \*of distress, which is what the Pepto did. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/16 "2007-08-25T23:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=Fetchund] This would be true, except that you don’t usually feel _immediately_ better when taking medicines. In my case, my folks would give me aspirin when I was feeling ill. I’d often barf it right back up. In my association, aspirin = barf. [/QUOTE] From the OP. Emphasis mine. > [@](#): > > Whenever I was sick, there was always good old Pepto Bismol. Despite its wide variety of insipid add campaigns,\*\* it actually worked\*\*. For a while. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/17 "2007-08-25T23:36:21Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Fine. But why does the mere sight of Pepto Bismol induce nausea in one who was cured by Pepto Bismol? [/QUOTE] Because the cure isn’t instantaneous, and children (and subconsciouses of all ages) are really bad at making connections between something that happens now and something they did 20 or more minutes ago. Even if “it actually works” it doesn’t work quickly enough to feel like a cure. The cure, in fact, happens later on after I’ve brushed my teeth or drank a bunch of water and I don’t taste the Pepto any more. \*While \*I’m drinking the Pepto, I feel pukey. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/18 "2007-08-25T23:38:11Z")
I don’t have any direct associations like any medications, but when I was young I thought aspirin was supposed to put you to sleep. Because whenever I had a headache, my Mom would give me and aspirin and have me lie down in the dark; I would fall asleep, and when I woke up, the headache was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/19 "2007-08-25T23:47:02Z")
I think this is what is going on with me and soft drinks. I don’t really like soft drinks, so I only drink them when I am really tired and there is no coffee around. So now drinking soft drinks seems just to make me more tired. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896/20 "2007-08-25T23:55:53Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] 7-Up is another one. In my house, the only pop we ever got to drink was 7-Up, and that was only when sick, with half the bubbles stirred out of it. It tastes like sick days to me. [/QUOTE] Same here, 7-Up over ice, with one of those bendy straws. The taste of it makes me feel as if I should be on my mother’s couch, covered with a multi-colored hand-crocheted afghan, watching “The Price is Right” on a schoolday. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-classical-conditioning/416896.md?page=2)