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trial-and-error

Question
Trial-and-error learning (Thorndike's Experiment).
Thorndike made major contributions to psychology. He was a very significant pioneer investigating the psychology of learning.
Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a 'puzzle box' with a plate of food outside the box. The cat was keen to escape but the only way out of the box was to pull a string that opened the door.
After making random movements attempting to escape (trial-and-error), the cat eventually pulled the string and was rewarded by being able to eat the food.
When the cat became hungry again, Thorndike put it back in the box with the food outside and again timed how long it took the cat to escape. He repeated this many times.
There was no sudden drop in the time taken to escape: in trial 11 it took over eight for the cat to escape although trial 1 took less than three minutes.
Instead, the average reduction in time taken was gradual as trial-and-error learning took place.
Thorndike reasoned that if the animals were showing insight, then the time taken to escape would suddenly drop to a neglible period, which would be shown in the learning curve as an abrupt drop.
If the cat was using a more ordinary method of trial and error, the drop in time would be more gradual. His finding was that cats consistently showed gradual learning.
Thorndike specified three 'laws' that maximise learning:
1. the 'law of effect' that states the behaviour becomes controlled by its consequences - if it feels good, we do it again; if it feels bad (or has no outcome at all), we don't. This law is now accepted as the definition of operant conditioning.
2. the 'law of recency' that states that the most recent response is the one with the greatest effect.
3. the 'law of exerice' that states that stimulus-response connections are strengthened through repetition.
Created by: phoebe 4
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