# What's something you have a Pavlovian reaction to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071 "2014-10-21T20:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/21 "2014-10-22T11:27:02Z")
The smell of red clay mud means “home,” “safe,” “nurturing.” From my grandparents’ dug out basement that opened out onto the slope of the backyard, filled with canned food and gourds and the wringer washer, among other things. I guess that’s why even though clay smells dank it also makes me think of warm sunlight, too. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/22 "2014-10-22T12:05:25Z")
Embroidered things remind me of my grandmother’s. The smell of kapusta immediately makes me happy. Due to some previous domestic violence, I get horribly aggressive when someone I don’t know or like gets in my personal space. ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/23 "2014-10-22T12:11:13Z")
When I hear a morning dove “who who who” I think of my Grandmothers house in Van Horn Iowa from 50 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/24 "2014-10-22T12:54:45Z")
Taylor Swift or young girls like her in provocative cloths and poses. The smell of weed when I walk thru a concert parking lot. Channel #5, preferably on a young girl (like Taylor Swift). Certain songs (but strangely not Taylor Swift songs) So basically if I came across a scantily clad Taylor Swift smoking a joint, rocking to Aerosmith, bent over suggestively in lingerie and caught a whiff of Channel #5 on her I would just dehydrate from excessive drool right then and there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/25 "2014-10-22T13:16:23Z")
Apologizing to a woman gives me a boner. (Or the beginnings of one anyway.) That’s because when I was married, we basically did this on a weekly basis: Argue\>Aopologize\>Have sex. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/26 "2014-10-22T16:09:48Z")
This one’s probably common: Driving home from wherever, tiny urge to pee. The closer I get to home, the greater the urge. By the time the garage door comes down and I close that car door, I’m thinking **Am I going to make it to the can**? The wife has this, too; it’s a good thing we have two bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/27 "2014-10-22T16:28:24Z")
Dentists - in or out of their offices. I had a friend die in the chair way back when I was a kid and since then I’ve just had a total phobia. I was friends in college with a family of eight kids; even went out with a couple of the sisters. Knew the mom well and used to give her rides when she was hung up and needed to get somewhere. Didn’t even meet the dad until I was 28. He was a dentist and just the thought of seeing him or being under the same roof creeped me out. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/28 "2014-10-22T16:30:34Z")
Sour Patch Kids. Instant salivation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/29 "2014-10-22T16:41:31Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > A car horn used as a ‘hurry up’ signal always makes me dismount my bicycle/leave my car and get into the driver’s face (the KILL impulse having subsided when I have got to him/her) When a driver waiting to make a turn HONKS! HONKS! because the car in front isn’t turning, because there are pedestrians in the crosswalk with a WALK signal, I reflexively give a one-fingered salute. In my mind, the honker is saying “Run them over! Run them over!” :eek: Ironically, the driver is probably having a Pavlovian reaction to stopping when he has the green light. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/30 "2014-10-22T18:45:03Z")
Well, there was this one time when the taste of a madeleine cake dipped in tea… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/31 "2014-10-22T19:22:12Z")
The sound of the guy in front of me at work starting to tell another horrible joke makes me want to smack him with a keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/32 "2014-10-22T19:49:41Z")
There are several perfumes that override my ability to reason. When a woman wears any of these scents, I can refuse her nothing. Regardless of her looks, she automatically becomes attractive. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/33 "2014-10-22T20:04:39Z")
Garlic frying in good olive oil instantly transports back to my grandmothers kitchen 40 years ago. > [@stolatt](#): > > The smell of kapusta immediately makes me happy. I had to look this up and DAMN do I want to make it now 😃 Can you put boiled potatoes in it or is that a sin? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/34 "2014-10-23T07:45:27Z")
It’s not my Pavlovian reaction, but I have to tell this. My roommate in college was taught about the Pavlovian reaction by a demonstration. The teacher had them eat a sour candy every time he said the word Pavlov. Eventually, the word Pavlov would make them salivate. I find that just remembering that story makes me salivate every time someone mentions Pavlov. I’m not sure what type of reaction that is. It’s not quite learned, I don’t think, as I was never taught. It’s just the memory of the story associated Pavlov with salivating. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/35 "2014-10-23T08:25:12Z")
In college my roommates and I had this orange-scented deodorant spray that was for masking marijuana odor (it worked). To this day, any time I get the faintest whiff of a synthetic orange scent, it takes my lizard brain a second to realize that I’m not actually about to get high. This is weird: for some reason, the anticipation of pain or something unpleasant kicks my salivary glands into overdrive. I’ve never heard of anyone else having this. The only consequence seems to be that I keep dental assistants very busy. “Jesus, it’s like a swamp in there.” _Whatever, just shut up and crank the nitrous, please._ > [@erysichthon](#): > > When I hear the droning sound of a small airplane passing overhead, I immediately get the feeling that I’m wasting the day and should get to work immediately. The sound makes me think guiltily of all the stuff I’ve put off doing. I think it’s because I only notice the sound when I’m sitting around doing nothing. Now that’s a thought that’s gonna fester… ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/36 "2014-10-23T09:16:26Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Well, there was this one time when the taste of a madeleine cake dipped in tea… Can you summarise it? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/37 "2014-10-23T12:04:34Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Can you summarise it? They would almost have to, given that [the source text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time) is roughly 9 million pages long. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/38 "2014-10-23T13:27:27Z")
When I was in an unhealthy relationship as a teenager my then-bf and all his loser friends used to smoke pot in our house (against my wishes.) For YEARS the smell of pot gave me flashbacks of being angry, hurt and frustrated. Until 10 years later when a neighbour moved in below my apartment who smoked pot in his house and the smell of course would seep into mine. (150 year old building.) He was a great guy and adored me and we would have coffee every Sunday morning. Now the smell of pot makes me think of Ronnie and those happy times. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/39 "2014-10-23T18:28:59Z")
Radio, TV, CD, doesn’t matter… The sound of Ringo Starr’s speaking voice always brings a hint of a grin to my face, and gives me a gentle little surge of warm fuzziness. (I was a teenager in the 60’s.) ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071/40 "2014-10-23T20:42:48Z")
When I was little, every Saturday we’d go swimming with my cousins, and buy fish 'n chips on the way home. This effectively makes swimming useless for weight loss for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-something-you-have-a-pavlovian-reaction-to/702071.md?page=3)