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"Get Hungry When I Smell Roses"—People Share Which Pavlovian Responses They've Been Conditioned With

Just nod and say yes....

We all fall slave to the quirks of others and life in general. There are incidents in life that have trained us to react in ways that are out of our control. A certain smell can make us cry, a significant sound can trigger the same bodily rote response, a song can make us hungry... no joke. Much like the teachings of the great manipulator Pavlov and his pooches we too are conditioned in ways we may never even recognize. Sometimes it's an unplanned behavior sparked by the mercy of life other times... people are messing with us.

Redditor u/nirvamandi was wondering what small details have we been conditioned with in life by asking.... What Pavlovian response have you developed?


It's all in the delivery.... 

My girl goes pssssst whenever she wants some. I get the most inappropriate erections now. Super weird. healthyharvestdotcom

I now have you tagged as "Aroused when someone goes 'pssssst'".

If I see you again I'm just going to comment 'pssssst.'

P.S. pssssst. PiesRLife

Kiss marks the Spot! 

My wife isn't really needy or anything so I don't want to give that impression of her, but she'll often ask for a kiss on whatever appendage is nearest to me whenever we're sitting together for a long time (long car rides, movies, etc). She used to ask, but now she just shoves her arms, legs or whatever in my face. I'm usually watching something or driving, so my focus is on that and I just started kissing on instinct at this point.

I've accidentally kissed a bald man in a queue because his head came close to my face. I once kissed a colleague on the shoulder when she was leaning in to get something. I've kissed a bag of chips because my wife handed it to me and so on. I've kissed a lot of nonsense simply because I've learned to do it automatically whenever it gets shoved in my face and my mind is preoccupied with something else. sandalcade

Soups on! 

Much like Pavlov, my grandmother always rang a dinner bell every time to call everyone in the house to the dinner table. Recently, I was at my wife's family's house and one of my new cousins rang a bell on the mantle. I immediately got hungry. Finally put the two together and realized my grandmother might have been Pavlov. boozeandarrows

Find the Pitch! 

When I was a kid we had a German Shepherd. Whenever my dad was out with us and the dog he'd whistle when it was time to go home. It sounds kinda like "wooo wit" if that makes sense.

Well my dad found that the whistle worked on his kids as well as the dog and started using it even when the dog wasn't with us. And now when I hear that whistle I stop what I'm doing and start looking for the source. KitaShika

Shut it Off! 

My fiancé had a particular song as his ring tone for a while. Whenever he was driving (or just somewhere else in the room) and it rang, he'd ask me to answer it for him. It got to the point that anytime I heard that song, I would reach for his phone. He hasn't had that ringtone for almost a year now and I still twitch when I hear it. drownednotgod

Sweet, Sweet Lavender.... 

At my old apartment we had a bad ant problem. I read that if you can mask the trail that they leave to find their way back, you can keep them away. We used the lavender Mrs. Meyers countertop spray and found that it worked pretty well. Now if I use anything lavender scented of that brand (dish soap, hand soap, room spray) my brains says "smells like ants." In my head, ants smell like lavender. juneandcleo

Listen Closer... 

Whenever I go to move even a few inches away from someone while they're talking to me, I say, "I'm listening" without consciously deciding to do so.

Growing up, almost any movement slightly away from my mom while she was talking to me was met immediately with, "Don't you walk away while I'm talking to you! Are you even listening?!" SuddenTerrible_Haiku

No Trouble Here... 

When people clear their throat I automatically assume I am I trouble. My girlfriend has gotten to the point that after she clears her throat she'll usually clarify to me that she's not upset. LexingtonLegend

Damn. You've induced a Pavlovian response in her. trifle_truffle

Clap On! 

My sister and I both get super anxious when someone slaps their hands onto their pants because that's what our mom would do when she was about to start yelling. My husband did it once while she was visiting and he said we both looked up with identical deer in the headlights looks. sugarmagzz

REDDIT

Growling Roses... 

I get hungry when I smell roses. My stomach literally growls.

I worked at a grocery store and the break room was just past the flower shop. Always got a whiff of roses on the way in with my lunch. DrkKnght1138

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