Edward Thorndike's doctoral experiments, reported in his 1898 dissertation Animal Intelligence, placed hungry cats inside wooden puzzle boxes fitted with a lever, string, or latch that released a door to food outside. Across repeated trials, a cat's escape time fell from several minutes of undirected clawing and pushing to just a few seconds, with no sudden change in method. Thorndike used the gradual, incremental shape of these learning curves as evidence against the idea that animals reasoned their way to a solution, arguing instead that a correct response was strengthened by its satisfying consequence and a failed one weakened by its discomfort. He named this pattern the Law of Effect, one of the founding principles of behaviorist learning theory and a direct forerunner of B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning.
Facts
Key FindingSourced to the subject's own accountEscape time fell from around five minutes of random activity on the first trial to a few seconds within ten to twenty trials, a gradual curve Thorndike read as trial-and-error learning strengthened by consequence, not sudden reasoning. 1 Study YearSourced to the subject's own account Partially Attested
Study DesignControlled Experiment (Lab or Field) 2 Classified as a controlled experiment because trials were timed and compared, including an observer versus non-observer comparison; the source does not describe a formal control group for the main escape trials. Method
ParticipantsSourced to the subject's own account Connections
Critiqued Here
Köhler read the chimpanzees' sudden, complete solutions as insight learning, a direct challenge to the gradual trial-and-error account Thorndike drew from his puzzle-box cats.
Source Wikipedia: Wolfgang Kohler
Conducted By
Source SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
In Branch
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Wikipedia: Edward Thorndike
Sources
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, puzzle box section
Thorndike placed a hungry cat inside a puzzle box with a bit of food outside, just out of reach. To get the food, the cat had to accidentally perform a specific action, like pressing a lever or pulling a string, which would open the door.
Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, key findings section
After roughly ten to twenty trials, the average first-escape time of about five minutes fell to around five seconds.
Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, publication section
His doctoral dissertation, Animal Intelligence (1898), reported the puzzle-box experiments described above.
Conducted By: Edward Thorndike, Page text
The experiments proved that animals, in this case, cats, don't learn through sudden moments of "insight" or human-like reasoning.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Edward Thorndike
Puzzle box experiments section, learning curve paragraphQuote, Puzzle box experiments section, learning curve paragraph
By observing and recording the animals' escapes and escape times, Thorndike was able to graph the times it took for the animals in each trial to escape, resulting in a learning curve.
Wikipedia: Wolfgang Kohler
WikipediaAssociated With: Köhler's Insight Learning Experiments, Wolfgang Köhler, Tenerife and insight learning sectionQuote, Associated With: Köhler's Insight Learning Experiments, Wolfgang Köhler, Tenerife and insight learning section
If the bananas were placed on the ground outside of the cage, they used sticks to lengthen the reach of their arms.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.