You've probably been through high school science, so we'll assume you know who Pavlov was. He was the guy with the dogs and the bells who trained dogs to want food when he rang a bell, bringing to light the notion that animals can be trained to react a certain way when placed in certain situations.

Anyway, the point is that there are several circumstances in the dating world that work the same way.

Allow us to demonstrate.

1. Happy hour. By definition, happy hour doesn't welcome sad sacks determined to cry in their beer. That's not cool. You're conditioned to be happy at happy hour. You're also conditioned to have at least one drink, and you're conditioned to flirt with someone.

You don't get credit for attending a happy hour (or any bar scene for that matter) unless you attempt a hookup. Don't believe us? Try going to a happy hour, ordering water and staring at the liquor bottles lining the wall behind the bar. We guarantee someone will ask you what the hell your problem is.

2. Dogs. OK, dogs and puppies we can see, especially puppies. A guy automatically gets extra hot points if we can imagine him cuddling a puppy, walking it, playing with it, making up a little bed for it and generally keeping it alive. All together now: Aww.

We're instantly attracted to a guy with a dog because we think it means he's caring and sensitive and trustworthy. It also means it's OK if we don't have any maternal instinct because he seems to have that covered.

3. Babies. But we haven't a clue why women are attracted to men with babies, although it's probably for the same reasons we like men with dogs.

What constantly amazes us, though, is that these women don't stop to think. Wherever there's a baby, a baby-mama (and baby-mama drama) can't be far behind. (Stick with dogs, if you want our advice.)

4. Clean-cut guys. As one of those women who has more than our fair share of body art, we get all kitten-with-a-whip around clean-cut boys. Give us a polo shirt, a pair of creased khakis and some loafers, and we're in. The best we can offer by way of explanation is this: Clean-cut guys make us want to get 'em dirty.

5. Rough edges. Piercings, tattoos (but, ew, nothing weird), maybe a scar, a fast car, a motorcycle, a shady past. You know what we mean by "rough edges." We're not talking about someone we'll have to bail out of jail or who wants to turn our Toyota's trunk into a meth lab. We're talking about the kind of guy our mothers warned us about. We're never too old to rebel against Mom.

While a polo shirt might make Bridgette drool, don't even try to get away with those golf visor thingies. E-mail her at brwilliams@quickdfw.com.