Pavlov's Brainwashing Techniques 

by Dr. Fred C. Schwarz

"Dwell on the past and you'll lose an eye; forget the past and you'll lose both eyes."  

Old Russian Proverb

In 1924 Leningrad experienced a major flood. Pavlov’s dogs were trapped and, for several days, were cut off from human help. When finally they were rescued, their muzzles were just sticking out of the water. For several days, they had been cold, frightened, hungry, and exhausted. After their rescue, the acute observer, Pavlov, noticed a strange thing. Some of his dogs went into a state of profound depression. They lost interest in food, and in the normal activities of a dog’s life. There was no barking and no rushing about. Their movements were slow and infrequent. To them life seemed to have lost its luster. Most interesting of all was the fact that in this state their conditioned reflexes were abolished. Pavlov found that he could then condition them according to an entirely different pattern.
      Pavlov applied the information thus accidentally discovered to experiments to destroy conditioned reflex patterns. At first he continued to experiment with dogs but during the last ten years of his life, man became his experimental animal. He developed techniques which could shatter the established pattern of human personality so that the fragments could be integrated into a new structure of memory, judgement, and emotion in line with the desires of the Communist craftsmen.
      The first step in the process was to bring about a state of breakdown similar to that experienced by the dogs. Pavlov called it cortical inhibition of the higher cerebral function. This is the state commonly known as a mental breakdown, which has occurred naturally in humans for many years. Pavlov established techniques whereby he could cause an artificial mental breakdown. The four things necessary to bring about this state were present in the breakdown of the trapped dogs. They are exhaustion, confusion, chronic physical pain, and emotional tension or fear.

Exhaustion
To parody a statement of Tolstoi: "Whom the Communists wish to brainwash, they first exhaust." The first step, then, is to exhaust the individual. He is subjected to long periods of wakefulness. Various tactics are adopted to make sure that he cannot rest. He may have to snatch brief periods of sleep with a light shining in his face. If he turns over, the attendant comes along and awakens him with a command to get back into position. Sleep is short and sporadic. The techniques to induce prolonged wakefulness may vary from pleasurable, continuous excitement, to physical pain. The essential feature is to rob the body of sleep so that utter exhaustion prevails.

Confusion
With exhaustion, there is the concurrent development of confusion. While the defenses of his mind are weakened and undermined by his extreme weariness, the patient is subjected to lengthy periods of questioning. He sits facing his interrogator. A bright light shines relentlessly into his eyes. Questions are asked one after the other. There is no attorney present to warn him against loaded questions. There is no privilege of refraining from answering for fear of possible self-incrimination. Every question must be answered. At first the questions are simple. They often concern his social origin, early childhood and family. The questioner often shows a conciliatory attitude. Gradually the questions pry deeper and deeper into the hidden recesses of his mind. Questions are framed in such a way that any simple answer contains a damaging admission. Questions relative to imaginary crimes he is alleged to have committed are subtly introduced.
      One of the most frequent accusations made against missionaries in China was that they operated secret radio transmitters to broadcast the fruits of their espionage to Chiang Kai-shek or America. The questioner might suddenly ask, "Are you sorry now that you transmitted this information?" If he answers simply "Yes" or "No," he is admitting association with a "transmitter."
      If the mind is alert, the trap is seen and avoided, but this requires clear insight and lucid expression. As exhaustion develops, the defenses of the mind break down. A question containing a trap is asked; a simple answer is given; and the subject is caught. After a few more questions, they confront him with the hidden admission contained in the simple answer he gave. He denies it. They take him back to his original answer and ask, "Isn’t this what you said?" He replies that this is so.
      "Well, does this not acknowledge so and so?" He has to admit that it does.
      Relentlessly they continue. "Previously you acknowledged this; now you deny it. When were you lying, then or now?" He insists that he is speaking the truth now.
      "If you were a liar then, how can we believe you now?" they demand. He becomes so confused that the borderline of truth and falsehood becomes blurred. The connection between reality and fantasy is lost and he is no longer sure what is true and what is false. In such a condition, he becomes an easy prey for the suggestions of the Communist brainwashing therapist.

Chronic Physical Pain
Along with exhaustion and confusion, the "brainwashee" is subject to chronic physical pain. This is applied with great care for their goal is always clearly before them. They are not 

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aiming at torturing their victim till he confesses to something he knows to be untrue. They desire to reduce him to the state where he believes the untruth to be true. They do not want a physical breakdown before they get a mental one. Physical damage should not be permanent or leave clearly visible scars. The physical pain, therefore, is chronic in nature, and not acute torture. If the weather is cold, the victim may be left without adequate covering so that hands and feet become frostbitten. He may be made to endure hunger and thirst. Chronic sores may break out. He may be left in a position of extreme discomfort, unable to stand up and unable to sit or lie down. Physical movement may be restricted by handcuffs or chains. He longs and prays for an end to his apparently endless ordeal.

Fear
In addition to exhaustion, confusion, and chronic physical pain, there is the constant application of emotional tension or fear. The emotional personality is analyzed to determine the weakest point. If there is intense devotion to wife or family, threats to them may be held constantly before the victim’s eyes. A group may inhabit a cell. One by one they are called out at intervals of a few days. The sound of a shot is heard. The man taken out does not return. Anxiety and fear are experienced by those who remain. Each lives in constant inner emotional torment. By such processes as these, a mental breakdown is induced. The old personality pattern is shattered and the victim is ready to be molded according to the desires of the Communist Party.
      Exhaustion, confusion, chronic physical pain and emotional tension, employed in scientific balance, finally achieve the first goal. A breakdown occurs. The mind fragments. In Pavlovian language, cortical inhibition of the higher cerebral function occurs.
      The characteristics of this breakdown are as follows.

1. Physical retardation. The victim tends to remain almost motionless in the same position for long periods of time. Movements, when they do take place, are slow and ponderous. There is a total lack of vitality, interest and enthusiasm.
2. Memory fragmentation. The integrated pattern of past experience embracing memory, interpretation and judgment is shattered. Fragments of past experience are remembered dimly but without relation to other memories of events. The time sequence of events is lost. The borderline between fact and fancy, between memory and dream is blurred.
3. Melancholy. The typical pattern is one of deep melancholia. The mind is gripped by a nameless woe. There is deep and enduring depression. Frequently suicidal tendencies develop as the misery appears too heavy to be borne. If the physical means are available, the sufferer will readily end his own life.
4. Increased suggestibility. The barriers of the 

mind are down. Memory is faded. Logic is impaired. Judgement is impossible. In the absence of the restraints of the healthy mind, the power of suggestion is enhanced.

      The Communists take advantage of this weak and unresisting state, and, by suggestion, link the shattered fragments of memory into the new pattern. They suggest the new ideas that they want believed. To these ideas they attach the sense of guilt which the victim is already feeling. They remove the excess emotional depression and then identify themselves with measures to alleviate his suffering, but they are careful to leave the delusional beliefs unaltered. They now have their end product—a person with memories of things he has not done, with a sense of guilt for crimes he did not commit, and with a passionate love for those who have persecuted and tormented him.
      Suggestion is a powerful force even under normal conditions. This has been discovered by advertisers and used to considerable advantage. I myself have frequently carried out an interesting little experiment on the power of suggestion. One of the problems confronting me in my itinerant life is that perfectly well-meaning, hospitable Americans try to persuade me to drink that dark, viscous, bitter beverage called coffee. Sometimes I drink it, but sometimes I say: "I used to drink it, but I carried out some research and discovered what coffee really is. Do you know what it really is? They take the castor oil bean, soak it in shellac until it is thoroughly impregnated. They put on a great advertising racket and pretend that it comes from Brazil so that they can treble the price. They grind it up and they brew it. The castor oil gives it the flavor, the shellac gives it the color, and the idiots drink it." It is amazing how many people have looked at me with wide open eyes and said: "Is that true?" No matter how stupid the statement, if it is made with an attitude of apparent sincerity and conviction, there are always those who will be convinced of its truth.
      Once people are conditioned so that a certain word is associated with emotions of repulsion or anger, that word becomes a trigger by which those emotions may be discharged. Reason and logic are quite unnecessary. That word is used, the trigger is pulled, and out come the emotions. This was brought home to me very powerfully one evening when I was speaking upon the subject of brainwashing at a church. I used my illustration about coffee to indicate how suggestible people are. I reached the climax: the castor oil gives it the flavor, the shellac gives it the color, and the idiots drink it. To my great surprise, the whole audience broke out into loud, sustained applause. I was startled. I had thought I was telling a joke. Suddenly the truth dawned on me. The audience consisted of a group of coffee haters. This was a group to whom drinking coffee was a sin. They did not examine my argument critically; they responded to the trigger. The word became stimulus to a reflex response. Once people are conditioned like that, there is no need for logic, reason or truth. All that is needed is for the word to be said and out will come the emotions.