reinforcement
Early lifeEdit
Thorndike, born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts,[3] was the son of a Methodist minister in Lowell, Massachusetts.[4] Thorndike graduated from The Roxbury Latin School (1891), in West Roxbury, Massachusetts and from Wesleyan University (B.S. 1895).[3] He earned an M.A. at Harvard University in 1897.[3]
While at Harvard, he was interested in how animals learn (ethology), and worked with William James. Afterwards, he became interested in the animal 'man', to the study of which he then devoted his life.[5] Edward's thesis is sometimes thought of as the essential document of modern comparative psychology.[6] Upon graduation, Thorndike returned to his initial interest, educational psychology. In 1898 he completed his PhD at Columbia University under the supervision of James McKeen Cattell, one of the founding fathers of psychometrics.
In 1899, after a year of unhappy initial employment at the College for Women of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, he became an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University, where he remained for the rest of his career, studying human learning, education, and mental testing. In 1937 Thorndike became the second President of the Psychometric Society, following in the footsteps of Louis Leon Thurstone who had established the society and its journal Psychometrika the previous year.
On August 29, 1900, he wed Elizabeth Moulton and they had five children.[7]
During the early stages of his career, he purchased a wide tract of land on the Hudson and encouraged other researchers to settle around him. Soon a colony had formed there with him as its 'tribal' chief.[8]
ConnectionismEdit
Thorndike was a pioneer not only in behaviorism and in studying learning, but also in using animals in psychology experiments.[9] Thorndike was able to create a theory of learning based on his research with animals.[9] His doctoral dissertation, “Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative
Thorndike, born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts,[3] was the son of a Methodist minister in Lowell, Massachusetts.[4] Thorndike graduated from The Roxbury Latin School (1891), in West Roxbury, Massachusetts and from Wesleyan University (B.S. 1895).[3] He earned an M.A. at Harvard University in 1897.[3]
While at Harvard, he was interested in how animals learn (ethology), and worked with William James. Afterwards, he became interested in the animal 'man', to the study of which he then devoted his life.[5] Edward's thesis is sometimes thought of as the essential document of modern comparative psychology.[6] Upon graduation, Thorndike returned to his initial interest, educational psychology. In 1898 he completed his PhD at Columbia University under the supervision of James McKeen Cattell, one of the founding fathers of psychometrics.
In 1899, after a year of unhappy initial employment at the College for Women of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, he became an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University, where he remained for the rest of his career, studying human learning, education, and mental testing. In 1937 Thorndike became the second President of the Psychometric Society, following in the footsteps of Louis Leon Thurstone who had established the society and its journal Psychometrika the previous year.
On August 29, 1900, he wed Elizabeth Moulton and they had five children.[7]
During the early stages of his career, he purchased a wide tract of land on the Hudson and encouraged other researchers to settle around him. Soon a colony had formed there with him as its 'tribal' chief.[8]
ConnectionismEdit
Thorndike was a pioneer not only in behaviorism and in studying learning, but also in using animals in psychology experiments.[9] Thorndike was able to create a theory of learning based on his research with animals.[9] His doctoral dissertation, “Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative