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Professor and classmates,

Edward L. Thorndike was an American social psychologist. His research on animals and the learning experience led to the theory of associative learning (Miltenberger, 2016). This theory proposes that behavioral patterns in response to certain stimuli are developed via a process of trial and error that influences brain connections between the stimuli and the responses that are deemed to be the most pleasing. Thorndike's work on learning theory led to the establishment of operant conditioning within behaviorism. It is generally agreed that the modern field of educational psychology may be traced back to the work of Edward Thorndike. Among his most well-known contributions are the puzzle box experiments with cats that formed the basis of his law of effect (Nevin, 1999, p. 448). Thorndike put cats inside the puzzle box and then encouraged the cat to break out of the box in order to get a piece of fish that was placed outside. Thorndike used to test how long it would take a cat to get out of the box by putting it in there first. The cats investigated a variety of options in order to find a way out of the puzzle box and get to the fish. The cats tried several strategies to get out of the puzzle box and get to the fish (Miltenberger, 2016).

The idea of reinforcement was initially established by Thorndike, who also introduced psychological principles to the field of study. Because of his research, several learning theories and guidelines, including the practice of behavior modification, were established (Nevin, 1999, p. 447). The "Law of impact" proposed by Edward Thorndike states that actions that are met with positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated, whereas those that are met with negative outcomes are more likely to be abandoned.

Skinner followed Thorndike's lead and experimented with putting animals in cages to see whether they would learn anything (Morris et al., 2005). Thorndike's work pushed the field of comparative psychology forward for half a century and continues to have an impact on the field and individual psychologists to this day.

Question for the class

In what ways may teachers use Skinner's theory of operant conditioning to improve student performance?