PSYC 2145 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Edward Thorndike, Operant Conditioning Chamber, Puzzle Box

• School: CU-Boulder
• Department: Psychology and Neuroscience
• Course: PSYC 2145
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Antecedents to behaviorism: edward lee thorndike(1874-1949, read james principles of psych, left engineering and began studying psychology, attended harvard, met james and earned his masters in 1895. James allowed thorndike to perform animal studies in his basement: earned phd in 1898 at columbia from james mckeen cattell. initial genetic inheritance research with chicken dissertation=1st scientific study on learning. D. connectionism: study of associations( connections in learning ) Major conclusions of research: a) learning is incremental, b) learning occurs automatically-no thinking is involved, c) principles of learning apply to all mammals. Law of exercise- connections are strengthened by practice and weakened by disuse: a)law of use-practice alone will strengthen an association, b) law of disuse-infrequently used associations become weak over time. Law of effect: frequent reward strengthens connections whereas punishment weakens connections: reward= satisfying state of affair , punishment= annoying state of affairs .