Edward Thorndike
American psychologist who pioneered connectionism and educational psychology.
Edward Lee Thorndike was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to his theory of connectionism and helped lay the scientific foundation for educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems, such as employee exams and testing.
- born
- August 31, 1874
- died
- August 9, 1949
- field
- Psychology
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Theory of connectionism, law of effect, puzzle box experiments
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Thorndike was born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, the son of Edward R and Abbie B Thorndike, a Methodist minister in Lowell, Massachusetts. He graduated from The Roxbury Latin School (1891) and Wesleyan University (B.S. 1895), earned an M.A. at Harvard University in 1897, and completed his PhD at Columbia University in 1898 under James McKeen Cattell. While at Harvard, he worked with William James and became interested in how animals learn. After a year at the College for Women of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, he became an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University in 1899, where he remained for the rest of his career. He married Elizabeth Moulton on August 29, 1900, and they had five children, among them Frances, who became a mathematician. During the early stages of his career, he purchased a wide tract of land on the Hudson and encouraged other researchers to settle around him, forming a colony with him as its 'tribal' chief.
Reader's Guide
Thorndike's significance lies in his foundational contributions to behaviorism and educational psychology. His puzzle box experiments with cats—boxes approximately 20 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 12 inches tall—demonstrated that learning occurs through trial and error, not insight. He found that cats showed gradual learning curves, not sudden drops, and that observing other animals or having their paws placed on levers did not improve their escape times. This led to his law of effect: behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are strengthened, while those followed by annoying states are weakened. He also identified three main areas of intellectual development: abstract, mechanical, and social intelligence. During World War I, he put his testing expertise to work for the United States Army, participating in the development of the Army Beta test used to evaluate illiterate, unschooled, and non-English speaking recruits. A 2002 survey ranked him the ninth-most cited psychologist of the 20th century. He served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1912 and became the second President of the Psychometric Society in 1937.
Did You Know?
- Thorndike's doctoral dissertation, 'Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals,' was the first in psychology where the subjects were nonhumans.
- He believed the ability to learn did not decline until age 35, and only then at a rate of 1 percent per year.
- His two brothers, Lynn and Ashley, also became important scholars—Lynn a medievalist specializing in the history of science and magic, Ashley an English professor and noted authority on Shakespeare.
- Thorndike was a member of the board of the Psychological Corporation and served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1912.
- He purchased a wide tract of land on the Hudson and encouraged other researchers to settle around him, forming a colony with him as its 'tribal' chief.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Edward Thorndike?
Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) was an American psychologist who spent virtually his whole professional life at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is best remembered for turning the study of learning into a rigorous, experimental science and for founding the field of educational psychology.
What is Edward Thorndike's connectionism theory?
Connectionism is the idea that learning occurs when a stimulus and a response become linked through repeated experience, with the strength of that link shaped by the consequences that follow. His famous 'law of effect' states that responses followed by satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, while those followed by discomfort are weakened.
What were Thorndike's puzzle box experiments?
Thorndike placed cats inside locked boxes with a simple latch and timed how long it took them to escape over repeated trials. The results showed that learning was not sudden insight but a gradual, trial-and-error process in which successful actions were 'selected' over unsuccessful ones.
Why is Edward Thorndike important to education?
Before his work, teaching was largely guided by tradition and intuition; Thorndike insisted that instructional methods be tested empirically and that learning follow measurable, predictable principles. His research gave educators a scientific vocabulary and framework that still underpins modern pedagogy.
Did Thorndike apply his ideas outside the classroom?
Yes. He extended his interest in standardized measurement to the workplace, designing employee aptitude exams and performance tests for industrial settings. This work helped launch the field of industrial-organizational psychology and showed that his learning principles had practical value well beyond schools.
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