Questions about Edward Thorndike

Short answers, pulled from the story.

What did Edward Thorndike prove about animal problem solving in the late 1890s?

Edward Thorndike proved that animals do not use insight to solve problems but rather learn through a slow, mechanical process of trial and error. He demonstrated this by placing hungry cats in wooden puzzle boxes where they escaped by accidently stepping on a lever to open a door. This gradual improvement created an S-shaped learning curve that contradicted the belief that animals possessed a special faculty of insight.

What are the three laws of learning proposed by Edward Thorndike?

Edward Thorndike proposed the Law of Effect, the Law of Exercise, and the Law of Recency. The Law of Effect stated that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences would be repeated while those followed by annoying consequences would be weakened. He eventually abandoned the Law of Exercise after discovering that practice alone did not strengthen an association.

When did Edward Thorndike serve as president of the American Psychological Association?

Edward Thorndike served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1912. He was also elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1932 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1934. That same year he was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

What word books did Edward Thorndike publish to assist teachers with reading instruction?

Edward Thorndike published The Teacher's Word Book in 1921, A Teacher's Word Book of the Twenty Thousand Words Found Most Frequently and Widely in General Reading for Children and Young People in 1932, and The Teacher's Word Book of 30,000 Words in 1944. He analyzed sources ranging from children's books like Black Beauty and Little Women to standard literature such as The Bible and Shakespeare.

Why was Edward Thorndike's name removed from Thorndike Hall in 2020?

Edward Thorndike's name was removed from Thorndike Hall by the Board of Trustees of Teachers' College in New York in 2020 due to his proponent of eugenics and racist, sexist, and antisemitic ideals. He argued that selective breeding could alter man's capacity to learn and claimed that women were by original nature submissive to men.

How did Edward Thorndike apply his testing expertise during World War I?

Edward Thorndike applied his testing expertise to the United States Army by participating in the development of the Army Beta test. This assessment was designed to evaluate illiterate, unschooled, and non-English speaking recruits to prove that psychological principles could be applied to large-scale industrial and military problems.

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