Final answer:
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his research on the digestive system in dogs, which inadvertently led to the discovery of classical conditioning.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Russian scientist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his work on digestion in dogs was Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov's research on the digestive system of dogs unexpectedly led to the discovery of the classical conditioning process. In his famous experiment, Pavlov demonstrated that his dogs began to drool, which is a part of the digestive process, in response to the sound of a bell, which acted as a conditioned stimulus. This conditioning showed that the digestive response could be triggered by an external stimulus through learned association, intertwining the fields of physiology and psychology.
Pavlov was a physiologist primarily interested in digestive processes but his work had a profound impact on the understanding of learning. The salivation response he observed did not occur naturally at the ringing of a bell, indicating that his dogs had learned to associate the bell with feeding. The implications of this work have extended beyond biology, making a significant mark on the field of psychology and earning Pavlov recognition in the form of a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking findings. Although not specified in the question, it should be noted that Ivan Pavlov received the award in 1904.