Psychologists
Edward Thorndike
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American psychologist whose doctoral research on cats escaping puzzle boxes, published as Animal Intelligence in 1898, founded the experimental study of animal learning and produced the Law of Effect: a response followed by a satisfying outcome is strengthened, one followed by discomfort is weakened. Thorndike spent most of his career at Teachers College, Columbia University, extending his connectionist account of learning to human education and mental testing, and his stimulus-response framework became a direct forerunner of B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning and behaviorism generally.
Facts
Birth YearSourced to the subject's own account Death YearSourced to the subject's own account Nationality / CultureSourced to the subject's own account Defining ContributionSourced to the subject's own accountThe Law of Effect and the puzzle-box method, founding experimental studies of animal learning and anticipating operant conditioning. 1 Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own accountAnimal Intelligence (1898) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, biography sectionQuote, Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, biography section
Edward Lee Thorndike was born on August 31, 1874, in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, the son of a Methodist minister.
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, Law of Effect sectionQuote, Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, Law of Effect section
Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation.
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, publication sectionQuote, Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, publication section
His doctoral dissertation, Animal Intelligence (1898), reported the puzzle-box experiments described above.
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyStudies Conducted: Thorndike's Puzzle Box Experiments, Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, puzzle box sectionQuote, Studies Conducted: Thorndike's Puzzle Box Experiments, Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, puzzle box section
The experiments proved that animals, in this case, cats, don't learn through sudden moments of 'insight' or human-like reasoning.
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