Thorndike’s principle suggests that responses immediately followed by positive consequences are more likely to recur.
The law of effect also suggests that behaviors followed by dissatisfaction or discomfort will become less likely to occur.
He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1895 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
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Thorndike then enrolled at Harvard University to study English and French literature.
Eventually, Thorndike transferred to Columbia University where he studied under the guidance of psychologistJames McKeen Cattell.
It was in his doctoral dissertation that he first introduced his law of effect.
In the year 1900, Thorndike married Elizabeth Moulton.
He died on August 9, 1949.
What Is the Law of Effect?
Conversely, responses followed by negative outcomes become more weakly associated and less likely to reoccur in the future.
Adult Learning Research
Thorndike’s work also focused on the study of adult learning.
He described three primary components of intellectual development: abstract intelligence, mechanical intelligence, and social intelligence.
Thorndike also introduced a number of different principles related to how people learn.
Such learning takes place incrementally, and that readiness can influence how learning occurs.
His contributions also had a tremendous impact on education and our understanding of learning in childhood and adulthood.
Through his work and theories, Thorndike became strongly associated with the American school of thought known as functionalism.
Other prominent functionalist thinkers included Harvey Carr, James Rowland Angell, andJohn Dewey.
During his graduate studies at Columbia, Thorndike also studied the transfer of learning.
His research was also significant for becoming some of the first lab research on animal learning.
Despite these contributions, it is important to note that his work was not without criticism.
He was also known for holding sexist, racist, and antisemitic views.
In 2020, Teachers' College in New York voted to rename the school’s Thorndike Hall.
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