2.2 Thorndike's Law of Effect (1898)

aim

to determine the nature of the association (between a behaviour and its consequence) in animals.

method

hungry cats were placed in cages with automatic doors that could be opened by pressing a lever inside the cage. he measured how long it took the cats to escape. then he placed fish outside the cage (a reward). when cats escaped, they were returned to the cage.

key findings

prior to the reward, cats displayed unsystematic trial-error behaviours to escaping. in the presence of the reward, cats would eventually learn (after 10-12trials) that pressing the lever led to access to the fish (the reward) and time to escape decreased)

contribution to psych

thorndike's law of effect states that behaviours will increase in frequency when they are followed by a positive consequence (a reward) and decrease when followed by an unpleasant consequence (punishment)

criticisms and limitations

- thorndike was one of the first theorists to identify the effect of reinforcers on behaviour
- there are wide ranging applications of operant conditioning that apply to human and animal contexts.


- thorndike's theory views humans passively/mechanistically and overlooks the influence of cognition on behaviour. u
- using animal studies to draw conclusions about human cognition is not always valid.
- the law of effect ignores the influence of intrinsic motivation, and assumes all behaviour must be extrinsically rewarded.