Final answer:
The type of reflex observed when Pavlov's dogs salivated in response to the ringing of a bell is a conditioned reflex. This is established via classical conditioning, whereby the dogs learned to associate a bell's ringing with food, making salivation a conditioned response.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of reflex that occurs when Pavlov's dogs salivated in response to the ringing of a bell is a conditioned reflex. This response was the result of a process known as classical conditioning. Initially, the dogs salivated naturally upon sensing food, which is an unconditioned response to an unconditioned stimulus, the food.
Pavlov then introduced a neutral stimulus—the bell—and sounded it whenever the food was presented. After repeated pairings of the bell and the food, the dogs began to salivate upon hearing the bell alone, turning the bell into a conditioned stimulus and the salivation into a conditioned response.
These experiments by Pavlov illustrated that the digestive system could be activated by the nervous system through a conditioned stimulus, effectively demonstrating the pavlovian response. The salivation was not simply a digestive reaction but also a psychological one, where the dogs had learned to associate the sound of the bell with the forthcoming food.