PSYCH 1X03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Slot Machine, Reinforcement, Edward Thorndike
10 Dec 2015
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Involves explicit training between voluntary behaviours and their consequences. Learning the contingency between behaviours and their consequences. Began his studies by studying cats in a puzzle box. Put the focus on overt behaviour rather than on mental elements or conscious experiences. Puzzle box was a small chamber with a door that could be opened by performing a specific behaviour such as pulling a rope. Outside the box was a small dish of food that provided motivation for the cat. At first the cat would engage in random behaviours to escape, like running around and meowing. Thorndike predicted that on trials following this discovery of the correct solution, the cat would then escape immediately when place in the same puzzle box. Long escape during initial trials would be followed by a dramatic step down in time to escape in later trials. Thorndike found that the frequency of the random behaviours gradually decreased over time.
