Thorndike, E. L.
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Edward Lee Thorndike
BACKGROUND
Edward Lee Thorndike was born on August 31, 1874 in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. He was the second son born to Edward Roberts Thorndike, a Methodist Minister, and Abbie Ladd. Thorndike attended Wesleyan University and graduated in 1895. He then went on to study at Harvard University with William James. On August 29, 1900, E.L. Thorndike married Elizabeth Moulton. The two went on to have five children. E.L. Thorndike furthered his education in psychology by enrolling at Columbia University to work on his doctorate; he studied under James M. Cattell. E.L. Thorndike continued his career as a professor brielfy at Case Western Reserve University and then he remained at the Teachers College, Columbia University. His career spanned 55 years and in that time, his ideas were profound. He published over 500 books and articles (see career highlights). After a noteworthy career,Thorndike retired in 1939. E.L. Thorndike died ten years later on August 9, 1949.
LAW OF EFFECT
Application in the Classroom
Thorndike's tests on animal behavior has contributed to theories in the classroom. Thorndike discovered that if a behavior is followed by something pleasant, most likely the behavior will be repeated. In turn, if a behavior is followed by something unpleasant, the behavior will not be repeated. If this theory is brought into the classroom setting, we can assume that discipline can be achieved.
Evidence of Effectiveness
Thorndike believed this theory to be quite effective after many trial and error experiments with his puzzle box. Thorndike created a maze out of a box and at the end of the maze was a door with a lever and a dish of food outside the door. If the lever was pushed the door was opened and the food exposed. Thorndike put a hungry cat into the puzzle box and after many trials the cat learned that if he pushed the lever, he was able to eat.
Critics and Their Rationale
Thorndike developed ingenious methodological and conceptual alternatives to the anecdotal, anthropomorphic, nonexperimental comparisons between animal and human behavior made by many of his contemporaries. Despite his reservations about the commonalities between the minds of animals and humans, the effect of the monograph was to stimulate research and theory concerning both animal and human behavior and the relations between the two. Thorndike was philosophically of the American Functionalist school, but his positivism and commitment to objectivity in interpretation reverberate through the early work of John B. Watson that led to the behavioral revolution. In the 1930s and thereafter, Skinner (e.g., 1938, 1953, 1969) further expanded Thorndike’s legacies of objectivity and attention to method in the experimental analysis of behavior, effect, and the relations between animal and human behavior, creating a systematic approach to psychology and the foundation for the substance of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. [Thorndike Critic Kennon]
Thorndike's law of effect. Although evidence of classical conditioning was there, E. L. Thorndike did not believe that it was comprehensive because most behavior in the natural environment was not simple enough to be explained by Pavlov's theory. He conducted an experiment where he put a cat in a cage with a latch on the door and a piece of salmon outside of the cage. After first trying to reach through the cage and then scratching at the bars of the cage, the cat finally hit the latch on the door and the door opened. With the repetition of this experiment, the amount of time and effort spent on the futile activities of reaching and scratching by the cats became less and the releasing of the latch occurred sooner. Thorndike's analysis of this behavior was that the behavior that produced the desired effect became dominant and therefore, occurred faster in the next experiments. He argued that more complicated behavior was influenced by anticipated results, not by a triggering stimulus as Pavlov had supposed. This idea became known as the law of effect, and it provided the basis for Skinner's operant conditioning analysis of behavior (Schwartz & Lacy, 1982, pp. 24-26). [Law of Effect Critique]
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS & CONTRIBUTIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY
-Published about 500 books and articles
-Studied animal intelligence (from learning how fish learn, the problem-solving abilities of cats and dogs, to Cat’s Puzzle Box Experiments) and applied findings to human education
Note: In Cat’s Puzzle Box Experiment, cat would manipulate concealed latch to attain food…instrumental conditioning
-Founded Law of Effect: states that a given behavior is learned by trial-and-error…responses to a situation that lead to satisfaction are strengthened while responses followed by discomfort are weakened http://moodle.ed.uiuc.edu/wiked/index.php/Law_of_Effect
-Altered his Law of Effect: Later Thorndike clarified that punishment was slightly less effective than a reward. He stated, "In the early statements of the Law of Effect, the influence of satisfying consequences of a connection in the way of strengthening it was paralleled by the influence of annoying consequences in the way of weakening it... I now consider that there is no such complete and exact parallelism. In particular, the strengthening of a connection by satisfying consequences seems in view of our experiments... to be more universal, inevitable and direct than the weakening of a connection by annoying consequences". (Richard E. Mayer p. 246 Learning and Instruction cites Thorndike's The Fundamentals of Learning p. 276)
-Developed intelligence test, CAVD which became the foundation of modern intelligence tests. Test components included completion, arithemetic, vocabulary, and directions test. Try this Social Skills test: http://www.queendom.com/tests/relationships/social_skills_access.html Try one of these Emotional Intelligence tests: http://ei.haygroup.com/resources/default_ieitest.htm or http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/emotional_iq_r2_access.html
-Identified 3 classes of Intellectual Functioning: Abstract Intelligence (as measured by standardized testing), Mechanical Intelligence (how objects relate, how the physical world works), Social Intelligence (how one acts in interpersonal situations)
TESTIMONIES
"Of several responses made to the same situation those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be more firmly connected with the situation, so that, when it recurs, they will be more likely to recur; those which are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort to the animal will, other things being equal, have their connections to the situation weakened, so that, when it recurs, they will be less likely to occur. The greater the satisfaction or discomfort, the greater the strengthening or weakening of the bond." Thorndike, 1910
Thorndike created an intelligence test in the 1920’s. The Testing Madness continues in modern times.
ISAT (Illinois Standards Acievement Test), ACT (American College Test), SAT (Schoalstic Aptitude Test),CAT (California Achievement Test)
EDUCATIONAL TESTIMONIES
Please relate how Thorndike’s contributions have influenced education today below: I believe his 3 classes of Intellectual Functioning may have provided a basic foundation for Dr. Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories where people posess different types of “smarts". For instance, two if his multiple intelligence categories include Interpersonal and Intrapersonal learning styles. Remember, Thorndike identified Social Intelligence as interpersonal skills. Other styles of leanring include Logical-mathematical intelligence, Spatial intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence, Musical intelligence, Naturalist intelligence. The elementary school where I work promotes the incorporation of multiple intelligences in our instruction. Children are taught about the various styles of learning and intelligence. It is an integral part of our instruction. –Heidi M. Savoca
Links to Multiple Intelligences
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/front_mi.htm
Find your dominant intelligence area:
http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm
References & Links
http://fates.cns.muskingum.edu/`psych/psychweb/history/thorndike.htm
http://www.ittheory.com/thornd.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/`intell/ethorndike.shtml
http://www-distance.syr.edu/pvitaelt.html
Jonc¸ich, G. (1968). The sane positivist: A biography of Edward L. Thorndike. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press
Mayer, Richard E. 2003. Learning and Instruction. Merrill Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Review Monograph Supplement, 2 (4, Whole No. 8).
Thorndike, E. L. (1901). The human nature club: An introduction to the study of mental life (2nd ed.). New York:Macmillan.
Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler.
Thorndike, E. L Jonc¸ich, G. (1968). The sane positivist: A biography of Edward L. Thorndike. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
