L<•sson 2: ' I ho rnd i kt• 's Con n cction ism

At t he end or llw kssn n, \ \Ill \\ Ii I liv ,1h k l o·

l(knt it Lill' pn mm \ 1.m s n r ka rni11g posl u l a t t•d by Ed wa rd Thornd i k<.!;
dt"scrthL' IW\\ h1.'h<I\ io1s li t' I ,, · ' I I · ·
· ' l ,\I 1H t <lt ('ore 111p to T h0md1ke'" laws of leam ing; and
11f()\ 1d1•. 11.',ll'h lll l11l J)hl"lt 01 ) ' j''l1 1 ·1 ' ' .
, ' t n o w1 nc 11"' " laws ol

THINK

\'it hin t he first la l f of t hc 21 st Cent u ry i n t he U n i ted States, Edward L. Thornd ike (1874-1949)
Pwas rominent because of h is laws of le · · ·1 · · · ·
·
. ? . . ' ' arn1ng, pn ma n y u nder t he um brella of assoc1at 1omsm or connect10msm
(f ayer: -003). It is ma mly concerned wi t h the connection between the stim ulus and respon se (S-R).
.\ccordmg to Ka radut (2012) Tho d 'k · f' J · · ·
'. . . 1 ' rn t e is one o t 1e 1ew psychologists who focused on education. In prov
mg h1 find.mgs, T omd ike used an ex perimental approach in measuring a student 's academic
achievement.
!homdike beheed that fann i ng associat ions or connections between sen sory experiences and neural
1mpIses resu l ts. 111 t he prime type of learning. The neural impulses, called responses, are
behaviorally mamfested. He believed that learni ng often occurs by trial and error (selecting and
connecting).
Laws of Learning
. . Tho:Odike's basic ideas rest in the laws of exercise and effect. Firstly, the Law of Exercise is
divided mto two parts: the law of use and the law of disuse. The Jaw of use mean s that the frequent
recurring of the response to a stimu lus strengt hens th eir connection . Meanwhile , the law of disuse
means that when a respon se is not made to a stiryrnl us, the connection 's strength is weakened or even
forgotten .
Drills are vi ta l t o acqu i re and sustain l earni ng. I n the very words of Thomdike (1913), bonds
between stimuli and respon ses are strengt hened through bei ng exercised frequently, recently, and
"vigorously ." Learners usually learn faster when they often apply a certain skill (e.g., spelling new
terms) and tend to forget when such a response does not recur over some time (Karadut, 201 2). This
explains why piani sts, for example, repeatedly practice thei r pieces before their performances . By
practicing (law of use), they ensure that they will play correctly. I f they do not exercise playing their
pieces (law of disuse), they may encounter difficulty in smooth ly accompl ishi ng their performance s.

Thorndike later revised the Law of Exercise. He confessed that by merely practicing, one does not
bring improvement in l earning. Practic ing, according to Thorndike, is not sufficient. Hence, the constant
practice must be fol lowed by some reward or satisfaction to the learner. Jn short, the pupi l must be
motivated to learn.

The Law of Effect, meanwhile, emphasizes that if a response is followed by a "satisfying" state of
affairs, the S-R connection is strength ened ; if a response is followed by an "annoying" state of affairs,
the S-R connection is weakened. Th us, Thorndike posited that satisfiers and annoyers are critical to
learning. This explains why teachers give favora ble comments to students who show pleasant behavior
in class; when such ego-boosting com men ts sat_isfy the learners, the higher the chance that they will
repeat such behavior.

The third law of learning also has something to do with boosting human motivation. The law of
readiness states that if one is prepared to act, to do so is rewarding, and not to do so is punishing . In
short, before learning commences, one must be physically, emotionally, mentally, and psychologically
prepared. This Jaw is illustrated when a learner knows the answer to a particular question, thus raising
his or her hand. Calling him or her to recite is rewarding. However, when the teacher calls on a student
who does not know the answer may be annoying on his or her part, thus weakening the bond of stimu lus
and response. The Jaw of readiness is also used in sequencing topics. When students are ready to learn
a particular action (in terms of developmental level or prior skill acquisition), then behaviors that foster
:wr::;;;ai· :!-C!YJ.?. filanwh i le, when students are not ready to learn or do not possess
 rn is punishing and even becomes a waste of time.
:fl't.i :t:'11

77
·1 h
Other La'\\S of Lea rning . Jearned has th strongesteS-R bond and is almost inerasabl
t thmg
.k ob erved that the firs . concept or skill . 1s
agam . d" 1fficu1t th e· resplln
Thornd1 e a 1 0 . It implies that learnmg a h h · anmore should
this as the Law of Primacy
Hee, aIIs' time . Th. explains
. . h t chers correct students w o ave llmisconception
. opport L
one has learned w ylaneaor daily lesson log is strateg1ca
. y s before
student
. t . part m a lesson P h d ts · rt ·
t.h first w n is .
new lesson. The appI i ca it. . understandings of e stu en situated
ce am lesson
skill is
ma th t chers can detect th e mis t h b" fi m t " I .
-generalizing a concept· so at
When the misconcept1 0n i s n· eaot correctedr th fi t time that may lead to a it onna ion. n English
1or e rs . alled fiossilization (DemJ·rezen & Topa l , 2015)
'
Lanauaae Teaching, a . .stake among 1earners is c students ortime-consummg
even . . Hence th . e
recumng m1 fu . t the
Rele0arning the correct concp t later will be confu sm.g 0 · · " bl '
1 and as posi ti ve as posst e so th at it
as precise,
first IJJrime) learning expenence should be nct10 a ces to follow. pave the way to J
the more comfortable learnmg expene
. · · · that come with extreme relevance to the learners w ho a
As much as possible, teachers _ provide adct.1v1Tt1hes dike's Law of Intensity . Thorndike believed La,,s
. h . ogmwithin the real context of the students would
Th' 1 s teac g Princip.le is primanlydrarmoote. "satis
m m
that exciting immediate, or even at1c 1earnm . th tud .
tremendousl;facilitate learning. Hence, the Law of Intensity implies that exposmg e s ets m real. world applications of 78
the skills and concepts makes them .mos likely to remember the expen nce . The current K to 12 curriculum of the
country immerses semor high school students to a short-tt e real. world application called "on-the-job training" or
OJT. They receive a foretaste of how_ the skill and concepts they learn in class are applied in the real workplace. In
that sense, the learnmg expenence
becomes more intense and will most likely be remembered.
The concepts or skills most recently learned are least forgotten. This is the gist of the Law of Recency. Thus, when
learners are isolated in time from learning a new concept, the more difficult it is for them to remember. For instance, in a
foreign language class (e.g., French), it is easier to recall and recite those which are learned minutes ago than those which
were taught the other month. This implies that teache should facilitate learning by providing the learners with a clear
connection between the previous and the current karning experience. Letting the students mention or apply the fonnerly
learned skill or concept in the new learning experience may refresh their memory, thus the higher the probability of
forgetting.
Thorndike also mentioned that humans tend to show an almost similar response to an entirely different stimulus
if'. on reurrig instances, that stimulus has slight changes compared to the previou ly known one. Th dtke coms this as
the Principle of Associative Shifting. For example, to teach pupil o add three-d1g1t numr, te.achers let them master the
adding of a one-digit number first . As they oh e mcreasmg numbers, pupils will tend to associate the response to the
previously paired S-R.

Figure 17. Thorndike's connectio .

sm and teaching. 0
 f\
the st prepa

fram more conn is on

Act i Col
 ·1 lit' l rn n fer occurs \\' h1..•n. 111 , • •
rcspu
· n:-cs. rhornd i kc "llkd t ontc \ t s ol k ·m · , ,
. , 1.. i 1 11:1111ca l cle ments and ca l l for sim i la r
. • ' 1 .1s gl'ncral ion ' mg i.ivc tl 1 . . .
.· 11

wll ( . I k . 19
1
shou l d be t a ui.!h t i n n nl' isl.) hl L' 1 t. , l H I. ). I h is 1mpl1cs l hal not only sk il ls
1.. .
1011
·
. ..... ' ' t op1c. 1lll a lso ti nt )t h , · ··I· 1 . l . I · · ·
011port u
n111L'S l or t he studen ts t ) . .' t . ci I t: d cc Sll 1JCcls or topics shou l d provide
1 11c111 I11 ·1 So ··I St f t · ·
t •'PP ) t
st uden ts to n.ad nni1s t1u t 1·t ·, b .. · • ' c i.i lit ics t ass. 1. t i s not enough to teach t he
- 1 II . · · 1· · d ' I - · ts cttcr 11 t he)' arc·a I'
so tang 1l1 to ca lcula te m .iles from 11i<:hes. Later' that
""' IS I 'Ill OI L'C \\ lcn t 1lt:) w 1'll ' "" "' h .
- L:re.1k t cir ma ps and ma p problems to solve.

EXPERIENCE

Jou rnal ing has hen a perennial wri ting enhancement strategy. Hight (201 3) found out that studen ts
w ho a re_ cngagd contm u_ously in journaling have improved wri ting skills. In Hight's study, he used
1
the L a \\:s t E,;erc1se and Eff ect as theoretical bases. He proved tha t correct, constant practice cou pled
wi th "sat isfiers such as appreciati ve praises and good grades could improve learni ng.

Meanw hil e, motivating the students before the fonnal introd uction of the lesson is vital in directing
t he students to learn. The Law of Readiness is highly noticea ble in this situation. Ifthe students are well
prepared to learn new concepts, learning becomes easier.

ln cond uct ing classes. teachers are advised to use activities that are within the mental and contextual
frame of the students. By exposing them into real-world act ivities like simulations and immersions. the
more they w ill consider the learni ng experience as an "intense" one; hence, the easier they create a strong
connection between the stimulus and the response, the least they forget the skill or concept learned. This
is one appl ica tion of the Law of Intensity.

ASSESS

Acti vity 1 : Match the statements u nder Column A to the oncepts being defined descri bed o:
under Column B. Write the letter of your choice on the space provided before each number m Colum n
A.

B
A
1
Exciting, enjoyable ,and immed
. iate learning experience can facilitate learning.
a. Law of Recency
Teachers should ensure that students are fre from any anxieties before they are
2
engaged m the
. b. Law of Exercise
learning process.
Teacher JC leads his class to a short rcv is t of
3 the salient concepts tackled yesterday before the
. c. Law of Primacy
continuat ion of the lesson for the day.
Teacher X provides the short, u nrecorded dri lls
4
at the middle of his class. d. Generalization
.

5
Law of Intensity e.
ak use of student-centered activities
h
Teacher
d t tJoy m es
misconceptions of her class. Later, s e f. Principle of
iltc rect such misconceptions to ensure that Associative Shifting
her students had grasped the concepts correctly. Law of Readiness
g.