WHO IS EDWARD L. THORNDIKE?

Figure I. Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)

EDWARD L. THORNDIKE’s

CONNECTIONISM THEORY

1874-1949

Edward Lee Thorndike, is an American pioneer in

comparative psychology, was born in Lowell,

Massachusetts in 1874 to the family of a Methodist

minister.

He became interested in the field of psychology after

reading William James' "Principles of Psychology"

and after graduating from Wesleyan University, he

enrolled at Harvard in order to study under

James (1895–1897).

BIOGRAPHY

Born August 31,

1874 in

Williamsburg,

Massachusetts.

Died on August

9, 1949.

He completed his Ph.D In 1898 in Columbia University, he was awarded the doctorate for his thesis, "Animal Intelligence:

An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals", in which he concluded that an experimental approach is the only way to understand learning and

established his famous "Law of Effect”.

Thorndike spent one year at the College for Women of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. Then he became an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia

University, studying human learning, education, and mental testing. He remained at Columbia the rest of his career.

Edward L. Thorndike's pioneer investigations in the fields of human and animal learning are among the

most influential in the history of Psychology. In 1912, he was recognized for his accomplishments and elected president of the American Psychological

Association. In 1934, the American Association for the Advancement of Science elected Thorndike as the only social scientist to head this professional

organization. Thorndike retired in 1939, but worked actively until his death in 1949. His work was a major

influence on B.F.Skinner.

(Lefrancois, 1972) Kearsley, G. (n.d.) Connectionism (E. Thorndike).

The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original S-

R framework of behavioral psychology: Learning is the

result of associations forming between stimuli and

responses. Such associations or "habits" become

strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of

the S-R pairings. The paradigm for S-R theory was trial and

error learning in which certain responses come to dominate

others due to rewards. The hallmark of connectionism (like

all behavioral theory) was that learning could be adequately

explained without referring to any unobservable internal

states.

THORNDIKE’S CONNECTIONISM

THEORY

LAW OF READINESS

LAW OF EXERCISE

LAW OF EFFECT

THREE LAWS OF

LEARNING:

First primary law of learning, according to him, is the ‘Law

of Readiness’ or the ‘Law of Action Tendency’, which

means that learning takes place when an action tendency is

aroused through preparatory adjustment, set or attitude.

Readiness means a preparation of action. If one is not

prepared to learn, learning cannot be automatically instilled

in him, for example, unless the typist, in order to learn

typing prepares himself to start, he would not make much

progress in a lethargic & unprepared manner.

LAW OF READINESS

The law of exercise had two parts: (a) the

law of use and (b) the law of disuse. This

law stated that connections grow stronger

when used—where strength is defined as

“vigor and duration as well as the

frequency of its making”—and grow

weaker when not used.

LAW OF EXERCISE

Many examples of this case are found

in case of human learning. Learning to

drive a motor-car, typewriting, singing

or memorizing a poem or a

mathematical table, and music etc.

need exercise and repetition of various

movements and actions many times.

which states that responses which occur just prior to

a satisfying state of affairs are more likely to be

repeated, and responses just prior to an annoying

state of affairs are more likely NOT to be repeated.

The second contribution was his rejection of the

notion that man is simply another animal that can

reason. He believed intelligence should be defined

solely in terms of greater or lesser ability to form

connections.

LAW OF EFFECT

Figure IV. Simplified graph of the result of

the puzzle box experiment.

Figure III. Trials

Figure V. Video of a cat trying to scape from the box.

Thorndike’s Puzzle-Box. The graph demonstrates the general decreasing trend of the cat’s response times with each

successive trial

Thorndike emphasized the importance of the situation in eliciting a response; the cat would not go about making the lever-pressing movement if it was not in the puzzle box but

was merely in a place where the response had never been reinforced. The situation involves not just the cat’s location but also the stimuli it is exposed to, for example, the hunger and the desire for freedom. The cat recognizes the inside of the box, the bars, and the lever and remembers what it needs

to do to produce the correct response .

1. Multiple response or varied reaction – When faced

with a problem an animal will try one response

after another until it finds success.(Trial and Error)

-- If the individual wants to solve a puzzle, he is to

try in different ways rather than mechanically

persisting in the same way. Thorndike’s cat in the

puzzle box moved about and tried many ways to come

out till finally it hit the latch with her paw which

opened the door and it jumped out.

ADDITIONAL LAWS AND PRINCIPLES OF

THORNDIKE'S LEARNING THEORY

2. Set or attitude –Learning is guided by a total set or

attitude of the organism, which determines not only

what the person will do but what will satisfy or

annoy him. For instance, unless the cricketer sets

himself to make a century, he will not be able to

score more runs. A student, similarly, unless he sets

to get first position and has the attitude of being at

the top, would while away the time and would not

learn much. Hence, learning is affected more in the

individual if he is set to learn more or to excel..

3. Partial activity or prepotency of elements –

According to this law, the learner reacts selectively to

the important or essential in the situation and

neglects the other features or elements which may be

irrelevant or non- essential. The ability to deal with

the essential or the relevant part of the situation,

makes analytical and insightful learning possible. In

this law of pre-potency of elements, Thorndike is

really anticipating insight in learning which was more

emphasized by the Gestaltions.

4. Law of Response by Analogy-

According to this law, the individual makes use of old experiences or acquisitions while learning a new situation. There is a tendency to utilize common

elements in the new situation as existed in a similar past situation. The learning of driving a car, for

instance, is facilitated by the earlier acquired skill of driving a motor cycle or even riding a bicycle because

the perspective or maintaining a balance and controlling the handle helps in stearing the car

.

5.The Law of Associative Shifting-

According to this law we may get a response, of which a

learner is capable, associated with any other situation to

which he is sensitive. Thorndike illustrated this by the act of

teaching a cat to stand up at a command. A fish was dangled

before the cat while he said ‘ stand up’. After a number trails

by presenting the fish after uttering the command ‘stand up’,

he later ousted the fish and the over all command of ‘stand

up’ was found sufficient to evoke the response in the cat by

standing up or her hind legs.

1) According to this theory the task can be started from the easier aspect towards its difficult side. This approach will

benefit the weaker and backward children.

2) A small child learns some skills through trial and error method only such as sitting, standing, walking, running etc. In teaching also the child rectifies the writing after committing

mistakes.

3) In this theory more emphasis has been laid on motivation. Thus, before starting teaching in the classroom the

students should be properly motivated.

IMPLICATIONS

4) Practice leads a man towards maturity. Practice is the

main feature of trial and error method. Practice helps in

reducing the errors committed by the child in learning any

concept.

5) Habits are formed as a result of repeitition. With the

help of this theory the wrong habits of the children can be

modified and the good habits strengthened.

6) The effects of rewards and punishment also affect the

learning of the child. Thus, the theory lays emphasis on the

use of reward and punishment in the class by the teacher.

7) The theory may be found quite helpful in changing the

behaviour of the deliquent children. The teacher should cure such

children making use of this theory.

8) With the help of this theory the teacher can control the negative

emotions of the children such as anger, jealousy etc.

9) The teacher can improve his teaching methods making use of

this theory. He must observe the effects of his teaching methods on

the students and should not hesitate to make necessary changes in

them, if required.

10) The theory pays more emphasis on oral drill work. Thus, a

teacher should conduct oral drill of the taught contents. This help in

strengthening the learning more.

Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner. (2011). "Psychology Second Edition" New York: Worth Publishers.

"Law of Effect". eNotes.com. Retrieved 2012-08-02.

Nevin, John (1999). "Analyzing Thorndike's Law of Effect: The Question of Stimulus -Response Bonds". Journal of the Experiment Analysis of Behaviour. p. 448.

Connectionism. Thorndike, Edward.Q Retrieved Dec 10, 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BDujDOLre-8

(Lefrancois, 1972) Kearsley, G. (n.d.) Connectionism (E. Thorndike). Retrieved November 9, /2002 from http://tip.psychology.org/thorn.html

(Merriam & Caffarella, 1991)

(Lefrancois, 1972) Kearsley, G. (n.d.) Connectionism (E. Thorndike). Retrieved November 9, /2002 from http://tip.psychology.org/thorn.html

(Merriam & Caffarella, 1991)

Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-

109.

REFERENCES