Edward Thorndike’s Law of Effect

The essential idea of ​​Edward Thorndike’s law of effect is that behavior can be modified by its consequences. Thus, according to this principle, behavioral responses that are more closely followed by a satisfactory outcome are more likely to become established patterns and occur again in response to the same stimulus.

Therefore, The law of effect reinforces the idea that behavior is more firmly established through frequent stimulus-response connections. It is this repetition that would end up generating the association (“learning”).

The American psychologist Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) was one of the first psychologists who attempted to interpret learning by linking stimuli and responses. Thorndike observed that the most distinctive forms of science are learning by trial and error, both in humans and in the animal kingdom. This type of learning is evident when a person has a problematic situation that must be resolved and/or overcome to achieve a specific objective.

Edward Thorndike’s law of effect is one of the so-called stimulus-response theories., fundamental theories for the principles of conditioning. These theories are based on the assumption that human behavior is learned. This theoretical postulate, published by Thorndike in 1905, had an important influence on the conditioning theories on which behavioral psychology is based, especially on BF Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning.

Development of Edward Thorndike’s law of effect

Thorndike used puzzle boxes for his experiments; His goal was to study how animals learn.. These boxes, although closed, contained a small lever that allowed the animal to escape when pressed.

Thorndike put a cat inside the puzzle box and then placed a piece of meat outside the box with the intention of seeing what effort the animal made to escape and obtain food. Although the first time the cats pressed the lever was by accident, they later repeated the action since the first time they had obtained a reward.

With each test Thorndike noticed that the cats became much faster when opening the door. Because pressing the lever had achieved a favorable outcome, the cats were more likely to repeat the behavior later. Thorndike called this the law of effect.

Thorndike emphasized the importance of the situation in getting a response. In this sense, the cat would not have made the movement of pressing the lever if it had not been in the puzzle box. That is, if he had simply been in a place where the response had never been reinforced.

The situation involves not only the location of the cat, but also the stimuli to which it is exposed, for example, hunger and the desire for freedom. The cat recognizes the inside of the box, the bars and the lever and remembers what he must do to produce the correct response. This shows that learning in the law of effect is closely related to context.

There are two key aspects of the law of effect. On the one hand, behaviors with favorable consequences are more likely to occur again. On the other hand, and consequently, behaviors are less likely to occur again when they are followed by unfavorable consequences.

However, this last aspect was modified by Thorndike years later. Actually, Rewards for a behavior always strengthen the associations between the behavior and other elements. On the other hand, punishments for inappropriate responses often decrease the strength of the association at a much slower rate than it was created.

Considerations on Edward Thorndike’s law of effect

Thorndike’s early work is considered the first laboratory study of animal learning. His emphasis on quantitative measurement and analysis of data, as opposed to merely descriptive accounts of experiments, has greatly influenced modern psychology. In particular, he has influenced the behaviorist movement and its interest in experimentation.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Thorndike was the first to introduce the concept of reinforcement. He was also the first to apply psychological principles in the area of ​​learning. As we have already anticipated, Thorndike’s research gave rise to many theories and laws of learning, such as Skinner’s operant conditioning and Clark Hull’s learning theory. Thorndike’s research influenced comparative psychology for several decades.

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