The Psychology Book

PROFITLESS

A C T S A R E

STAMPED OUT

E D W A R D T H O R N D I K E (1874–1949)

A

t much the same time as

Pavlov was conducting his

experiments on dogs in

Russia, Edward Thorndike began

researching animal behavior for

his doctoral thesis in the US.

He was perhaps the first true

“behaviorist” psychologist,

although his research took place

long before the term was adopted.

Scientific psychology was

emerging as a fresh field of study

in universities when Thorndike

graduated in the 1890s, and he

was attracted by the prospect of

applying this new science to his

interest in education and learning.

Thorndike’s original intention had

been to study learning in humans,

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

Connectionism

BEFORE

1885 In his book On Memory,

Hermann Ebbinghaus

describes the “forgetting

curve”—the rate at which

human memories fade.

1890s Ivan Pavlov establishes

the principle of classical

conditioning.

AFTER

1918 John B. Watson’s “Little

Albert” experiments apply

conditioning to a human baby.

1923 English psychologist

Charles Spearman proposes

a single general factor—the

“g factor”—in measurements

of human intelligence.

1930s B.F. Skinner develops

a theory of conditioning from

consequences—“operant

conditioning”.

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