Chapter 3 The Effects of Behavior
Edward L. Thorndike’s Connectionism
Connectionism
Do animals have humanlike capacities of thought and reason?
People want to find intelligence in animals.
Thorndike didn’t think so, and he went about conducting controlled experiments to that end.
Puzzle Boxes and Animal Intelligence
Thorndike devised puzzle boxes
Insight or trial and error?
No demonstrated high-level reasoning
The organism makes a number of responses, one or more of which leads to a solution or, in Thorndike’s
words, to “a satisfying state of affairs.”
Subsequently, a connection is formed between the response and the situation. This connection is
learned, or “stamped in” as Thorndike puts it.
To get out of the box, the cat has to pull a string to release one of the door locks, step on the lever to
release the second, and then flick one of the door latches.
The behavior of one cat in Thorndike’s puzzle box. The cat took almost 3 minutes to escape the first
time, but almost always less than 1 minute after the first successful escape.
Reinforcement or Contiguity
How does the “stamping in” occur?
Learning theories that look at the formation of connections or associations (conditioning theories),
typically rely on one of two different explanations for learning: contiguity or reinforcement.
Contiguity: an association is formed between stimuli, or between stimuli and responses, because they
occur simultaneously or nearly simultaneously
Reinforcement: learning occurs because of the consequences of the behavior—more specifically,
because the behavior leads to pleasant consequences or the elimination of something unpleasant (or
both)
Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)
Being the son of a minister meant a strict upbringing; emphasizing hard work and good manners
Started studying English at Wesleyan, but switched to psychology at Harvard
Earned his PhD in psychology at Columbia
He tried to establish, through experimentation, that animals learn through a gradual process of trial and
error that eventually leads to the “stamping in” of the correct response
Thorndike wrote extensively, publishing more than 78 books and in excess of 400 articles
Defined and established educational psychology
Served as president of the American Psychological Association
Thorndike's Early Theory: Principal Laws
Thorndike emphasize experimentation rather than introspection, and behavior rather than thought
He did not consider himself a behaviorist but, rather, a connectionist
Learning consists of the formation of bonds between stimuli and responses—bonds that take the form
of neural connections
Learning involves the stamping in of stimulus-response (S-R) connections; forgetting involves stamping
out connections
Practice: The Law of Exercise
Bonds between stimuli and responses are strengthened through being exercised “frequently,”
“recently,” and “vigorously”
“Exercising” S-R connections encouraged the repetitive “drill” approaches to learning
Law of Effect
Thorndike’s most important law
Responses just before a satisfying state of affairs are more likely to be repeated
Responses just before an annoying state of affairs are more likely not to be repeated
Instrumental learning
Law of Readiness
Deals mainly with learner motivation
Readiness, Thorndike explains, is closely related to the learner’s maturation and to previous learning,
and it has much to do with whether an activity is satisfying or annoying.
A pleasant state of affairs results when a learner is ready to learn and is allowed to do so; conversely,
being forced to learn when not ready—or prevented from learning when ready—leads to an annoying
state of affairs.
Subsidiary Laws
Multiple responses: in any given situation, the organism will respond in a variety of ways if its first
response does not lead immediately to a more satisfying state of affairs
Set or attitude: applies to satisfiers and annoyers and to the nature of the responses that will be
emitted by a person
Prepotency of elements: it is possible for a learner to react only to the significant (prepotent) elements
in a problem situation and be undistracted by irrelevant aspects of the situation.
Response by analogy: a person placed in a novel situation may react with responses that might be used
in other similar situations
Associative shifting: it is possible to shift a response from one stimulus to another
Thorndike’s Later Theory: Emphasis on Reinforcement
Beginning around 1930, Thorndike admitted he had been wrong about some things.
Repeal of Law of Exercise
Half a Law of Effect
Learning by Ideas
The theory began to hint at cognitive concerns
Principle of Belongingness
Spread of Effect
Repeal of Law of Exercise
3 Median lengths of 3,000 separate lines drawn by a single subject with eyes closed, over 12 sessions,
when instructed to draw a line 4 inches long.
Half a Law of Effect
The influence of two consecutive “Rights” or “Wrongs” on the next choice of possible word meanings for
an unknown word for nine subjects in six experiments.
An Appraisal of Thorndike's Connectionism
Learning consists of the formation of physiological bonds or connections between stimuli and responses.
The bonds are stamped in because of the satisfying nature of their consequences, influenced as well by
the individual’s sense of what goes with what—what belongs.
Humans arrive at appropriate responses largely through trial and error.
Humans may also respond in given ways because of a predetermined set, or attitude, perhaps
determined by culture or by more immediate aspects of the situation.
Some responses will be based on behavior learned in other, somewhat similar situations.
Other responses may have resulted from a conditioning procedure.
In many cases, humans will engage in behavior only in response to the most important aspects of a
situation.
Critics point out that much of Thorndike’s theorizing was based on informal observation.
Critics also point out that Thorndike often appealed to vague, internal states as a basis for explaining
learning.
The notion that the effects of reinforcement are central in learning has largely dominated psychology
since Thorndike.
Thorndike made significant contributions in the practical application of psychological principles,
particularly in teaching.
Clark Hull: A Hypothetico-Deductive System
Hull proposed to develop a logical, scientific, and mathematical system that would fully explain human
learning and behavior.
17 postulates
133 theorems
Numerous corollaries
Describe relationships among the many variables thought to be involved in human behavior.
Clark Leonard Hull (1884–1952)
Missed much school to work on the family farm
Initial aspiration was to be a mining engineer
Obtained a PhD in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1918
Early interests included:
Systematic investigations of human and animal aptitudes
Thinking machines (robots)
Hypnosis
Effect of tobacco on intellectual functioning
In 1929, he went to Yale as a research professor and developed his hypothetico-deductive system
Served a term as president of the American Psychological Association
Components of Hull's System
Derive specific, testable hypotheses from the postulates
Verify the hypotheses in laboratory situations
Hull was convinced that environmentally conditioned responses underlie behavior
Stimuli = input variables (objective)
Responses = output variables (objective)
Relationships between input and output variables = intervening variables (hypothetical)
Graphic Summary of Hull’s System
The main goal was to arrive at values and formulas so that it would be possible to predict the output
variables given sufficient knowledge about important input variables,. While input and output variables
are objective and can be measured, intervening variables are hypothetical and can only be inferred.
Input Variables: Predictors
Input variables (stimuli): the information the psychologist needs to correctly predict how a person will
respond
Independent variables
Intervening Variables
Important for understanding what Hull’s theory is really about
Determine whether a response will occur for a stimulus
A mathematical description of S-R relationships
Most important of Hull’s intervening variables:
Habit strength
Drive
Stimulus-intensity dynamism
Incentive motivation
Reaction potential: Decreased drive after too many hours of deprivation (or satiation)
Output Variables: The Predicted
Output variables (responses): what is predicted
Dependent variables
Response variability:
Response latency
Response amplitude
Reaction threshold
A Hypothetical Habit-Family Hierarchy
The stimulus input “bear” can lead to a number of different responses associated with the goal of not
being molested by this animal. Each is linked to the stimulus “bear” by a chain of conditioned internal
responses (called fractional antedating goal responses) arranged hierarchically in terms of the
individual’s previous learning history. The preferred response—that which is highest in the hierarchy—is
the one that has become associated with a higher probability of being reinforced (that is, of leading to
the desired goal). So the individual is most likely to run. If that is impossible (his “friends” have tied him
to a tree), he will yell. If they’ve also gagged him, he may resort to praying. . .
Summary and Appraisal of Hull’s Formal Behaviorism
Basically, the theory says that behavior is lawful and predictable
The main purpose of the theory is to discover the relationships that exist between stimuli (input
variables) and responses (output) so as to be able to predict output given knowledge about input.
The mathematical formulas Hull invented to describe links between input and output variables are
complex.
To the extent that Hull’s system reflects valid observations about input and output, it does reflect the
facts well
The intervening variables are immensely useful in providing a compelling logic that is the hallmark of the
system
Hull’s system contributed in many tangible ways to the advancement of psychological theory,
foreshadowing cognitive concerns
Hull profoundly influenced how psychological investigations are conducted
Hull is often credited with popularizing and systematizing the notion that reinforcement is one of the
most important forces in shaping behavior
Hull provided very little research to validate his theories and support his corollaries
Educational Implications of Thorndike and Hull
Thorndike:
defined and established educational psychology
popularized the use of tests and statistical methods in education
changed child psychology into an objective discipline
stressed rewards and punishments need to follow correct trials
emphasized tailoring rewards and punishments to the situation
considered the child’s readiness
Thorndike’s subsidiary laws stress:
taking students’ attitudes into consideration
drawing attention to the most important aspects of a situation
teaching for transfer
teachers can facilitate transfer by pointing out how different situations are similar
Thorndike and Hull:
conducted many experiments on learning
recognized the importance of the consequences of behavior—of behavior’s effects—profoundly
affected practices in schools
Hull is largely credited with popularizing the notion that reinforcement is centrally involved in learning.