Edward Thorndike

theories that didn’t look at the consciousness and looked at observable behavior. Skinner did a lot of work developing the operant conditioning theory. Operant conditioning in the learning of new behaviors through positive or negative reinforcers. Like Thorndike, Skinner put animals, specifically pigeons, into boxes and observed them. The difference was that Skinner was looking for the observed behaviors. Skinner’s operant conditioning theory is what most people think of today when they hear the…

They examined the way in which human behavior is formed through association, reward, punishment, experience, etc. The social learning theory, a theoretical approach that expanded on the early work of Watson, Thorndike, and Pavlov was developed by Clark Hull in 1943 (Robbins et al, 2012). Hull focused on the internal or external variables that may elicit behavioral responses and how this behavior is shaped. Hull proposed that behavior is not contingent on simply…

was born on 20th March 1904 and died on 18th August 1990. He was, and remains, one of America’s most influential behavioural scientists. Skinner’s work and ideas what based on his experiments with the ‘Skinner Box’, but instead of using cats like Thorndike, Skinner used rats and pigeons which were rewarded with food pellets. To receive the food pellets they had to touch a small lever. From the results of Skinners experiment, he believed that after a person performs a behaviour there can be one…

Classical and instrumental conditioning are both used and applied to gain a desirable response. Whilst both forms show several similarities, the two differ in their respective ways. Both mechanisms show effectiveness in explaining learning to an extent. Classical conditioning states that there is no requirement for the animal to show a response. Unlike instrumental conditioning, this form is passive. This mechanism is a learning method which was discovered by Ivan Pavlov and since has had…

The Connectionism Theory of Learning was introduced by a prominent psychologist, Edward Thorndike. His theory was based on creating stimuli that would generate responses, and called these bonds the stimuli-response connections. Thorndike wanted to apply his laws to mathematics and other fields for humans, but he began with his puzzle-box studies. Around 1900, he conducted a series of experiments where he placed a hungry cat in puzzle box with food outside the cage. The cage could be opened by a…

's actions is operant conditioning. Parents use rewards and punishments with their children because they want their child to learn to ultimately make good, educated decisions, and to become responsible grown-ups. Operant conditioning pioneer, Edward Thorndike, established the “Law of Effect” which states that “human behavior is…

The Halo Effect is the effect of an observation of a viewer on his/her feelings and thoughts about a person, object or brand’s personality or properties. The term ‘Halo Effect’ was coined by a psychologist, Edward Thorndike, in allusion to the person or brand having a halo. The term ‘halo’ is used in comparison to the religious concept, wherein, ‘a glowing circle’ can be seen floating above the heads of pious, saintly people in old Renaissance paintings. The saintly face is seen to be bathed in…

The halo effect can be understood as a type of cognitive bias where our overall impression of someone influence the way we feel about their character. The term first originated by psychologist Edward Thorndike who used it in his study in 1920 to explain the way officers rated their soldiers. It is a phenomenon in which highly influences first impressions. The halo effect uses global characteristics (such as attractiveness or likeable) to make judgments about specific personality traits (such as…

Psychologist Leta Sutter Hollingworth was a pioneer in challenging the scientific theory of the inferiority of women’s intelligence to man, especially during their menstrual cycles. She also contributed greatly to the study of emotional and educational needs of intelligent and gifted children, but I will focus on her studies of women (O’Connel & Russo, 1990). Born Leta Anna Sutter in the small farm town of Chadron, Nebraska, on May 25, 1886, Leta would unfortunately be no stranger to heartache…

6.3). The law of effect by Edward Thorndike was the one who inspred B.F Skinner into oursuing the belief that learning is the result of consequence (Speilman, 2014, sect. 6.3).A good consequence would make a dog want to continue the behavior, while a bad consequence can make the dog discontinue…