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 Cross-Tradition 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.
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Sources
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, puzzle box sectionQuote, Edward 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.
1. SimplyPsychology: Edward Thorndike
Simply PsychologyEdward Thorndike: The Law of Effect, key findings sectionQuote, 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.
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.
Wikipedia: Wolfgang Köhler
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.
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