Edward Thorndike

• 1. Early Life And Education

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  Edward Lee Thorndike was born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. His father Edward R Thorndike served as a Methodist minister in Lowell, Massachusetts. Abbie B Thorndike was his mother. He graduated from The Roxbury Latin School in 1891. West Roxbury, Massachusetts hosted this school. Wesleyan University awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1895. Lynn and Ashley were his two brothers who also became important scholars. Lynn specialized in the history of science and magic. Ashley worked as an English professor and noted authority on Shakespeare. Harvard University granted him a Master of Arts degree in 1897. William James mentored Thorndike while he studied at Harvard. Thorndike focused on how animals learn during this period. This interest led to his doctoral thesis at Columbia University. James McKeen Cattell supervised his PhD work. He completed this degree in 1898.

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• 2. Puzzle Box Experiments

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  Thorndike constructed wooden boxes approximately 20 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 12 inches tall. Each box contained a door pulled open by a weight attached to a string running over a pulley. A lever or button inside the box controlled the mechanism. When an animal pressed the bar or pulled the lever, the door opened. Cats served as the primary subjects for these experiments. They wandered restlessly and meowed when placed inside the cages. The cats did not know how to escape initially. Eventually they stepped on the switch by chance. The door would then open. Thorndike measured the time it took them to escape each trial. He recorded their escapes and plotted the times on graphs. These plots formed s-shaped learning curves showing gradual improvement. Cats escaped faster with each successive puzzle box trial until rates leveled off. Different species learned in the same way but at different speeds. He found no difference in learning rates between those who observed others escaping and those who did not. Placing animals' paws on correct levers produced no improvement either. This failure led him to adopt a trial and error explanation of learning.

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• 3. Laws Of Learning And Effect

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  The Law of Effect states behaviors followed by good consequences are likely to be repeated. Thorndike identified three main areas of intellectual development: abstract intelligence, mechanical intelligence, and social intelligence. Abstract intelligence involves processing concepts while mechanical intelligence handles physical objects. Social intelligence manages human interaction. His Law of Exercise included two parts: use and disuse. More frequent use strengthened associations while longer periods of non-use weakened them. The Law of Recency claimed the most recent response was most likely to reoccur. Multiple response described problem solving through trial and error. Set or attitude meant animals were predisposed to act in specific ways. Prepotency of elements allowed subjects to filter irrelevant aspects of problems. Response by analogy used responses from similar contexts in new situations. Identical elements theory stated transfer depended on similarity between situations. Associative shifting moved responses from one stimulus to another. Readiness determined whether behavior occurred easily. Availability measured how easy it was to get a specific response. Thorndike emphasized that satisfaction must follow success immediately for lessons to sink in. He later concluded reward was more effective than punishment as a motivator.

• 4. Military Testing And Application

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  Thorndike worked for the United States Army during World War I. He participated in developing the Army Beta test. This evaluation method assessed illiterate, unschooled, and non-English speaking recruits. He believed instruction should pursue specified socially useful goals. Thorndike thought ability to learn did not decline until age 35. Decline then occurred at a rate of 1 percent per year. His work solved industrial problems like employee exams and testing. He became president of the American Psychological Association in 1912. The Psychometric Society elected him its second President in 1937. Louis Leon Thurstone had established this society the previous year. Thorndike served on the board of the Psychological Corporation. A Review of General Psychology survey published in 2002 ranked him ninth-most cited psychologist of the 20th century. He joined the National Academy of Sciences in 1917. Thorndike was admitted to the American Philosophical Society in 1932. He entered the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1934. That same year he became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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• 5. Eugenics And Social Beliefs

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  Thorndike argued selective breeding could alter man's capacity to learn or keep sane. He stated there is no more certain way to improve human nature than improving original intellect. He hoped future generations would live with higher, purer sources than muddy streams of the past. Thorndike believed differences between men and women were biological rather than cultural. He claimed if environments remained absolutely similar instincts would produce sure mental differences. His belief included arguments about submission to mastery due to physical size differences. Women generally were by original nature submissive to men according to his views. These beliefs were commonplace during that era. Watson critiqued maternal instincts as learned behaviors performed with difficulty by new mothers. Thorndike's work on eugenics remains controversial today. The Board of Trustees of Teachers' College voted unanimously to remove his name from Thorndike Hall amid George Floyd protests of 2020. Critics cite his racist, sexist, and antisemitic ideals as reasons for this decision.

• 6. Educational Psychology Legacy

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  Thorndike composed three word books to assist teachers with reading instruction. The Teacher's Word Book published in 1921 started this series. A second book titled A Teacher's Word Book of the Twenty Thousand Words appeared in 1932. The third volume called The Teacher's Word Book of 30,000 Words came out in 1944. Selected sources included Black Beauty, Little Women, Treasure Island, and The Bible. Standard literature references covered Shakespeare, Tennyson, Wordsworth, and Milton. Common facts lists contained The United States Constitution and mail-order catalogues. Thorndike advised teachers to guide decisions about which words to emphasize during instruction. Some words required more emphasis than others based on frequency in standard English reading matter. His theory introduced relations between reinforcers and punishers in classrooms. Praise encouraged desired behaviors while planned ignoring weakened target behaviors. He believed learning occurred automatically through incremental steps. Thorndike's work represented a transition from functionalism to behaviorism. B.F. Skinner studied Thorndike's research as a starting point. Clark Hull synthesized learning theories from both Thorndike and Pavlov. Thorndike's influence extended to Gestalt psychologists and conditioned reflex researchers.