Edward L. Thorndike.

Edward Thorndike's Connectionism theory gave us the original S-R

framework of behavioral psychology. More than a hundred years ago he wrote a text
book entitled, Educational Psychology. He was the first one to use this term. He
explained that learning is the result of associations forming between stimuli (S) and
responses (R). Such associations or "habits" become strengthened or weakened by the
nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The model for SR theory was trial and error
learning in which certain responses came to be repeated more than others because of
rewards. The main principle of connectionism (like all behavioral theory) was that
learning could be adequately explained without considering any unobservable internal
states. Thorndike's theory on connectionism, states that learning has taken place when a
strong connection or bond between stimulus and response is formed. He came up with
three primary laws:

Law of Effect. The law of effect states that a connection between a stimulus and
response is strengthened when the consequence is positive (reward) and the connection
between the stimulus and the response is weakened when the consequence is negative.
Thorndike later on, revised this "law" when he found that negative rewards (punishment)
do not necessarily weaken bonds, and that some seemingly pleasurable consequences
do not necessarily motivate performance.

Law of Exercise. This tells us that the more an S-R (stimulus response) bond is practiced
the stronger it will become. "Practice makes perfect" seem to be associated with this.
However, like the law of effect, the law of exercise also had to be revised when
Thorndike found that practice without feedback does not necessarily enhance
performance.

Law of Readiness. This states that the more readiness the learner has to respond to the
stimulus, the stronger will be the bond between them. When a person is ready to
respond to a stimulus and is not made to respond, it becomes annoying to the person.
For example, if the teacher says, "Okay we will now watch the movie (stimulus) you've
been waiting for." And suddenly the power goes off. The students will feel frustrated
because they were ready to respond to the stimulus but was prevented from doing so.
Likewise, if the person is not at all ready to respond to a stimuli and is asked to respond,
that also becomes annoying. For instance, the teacher calls a student to stand up and
recite, and then the teacher asks the question and expects the student to respond right
away when he is still not ready. This will be annoying to the student. That is why
teachers should remember to say the question first, and wait for a few seconds before
calling on anyone to answer.

Principles Derived from Thorndike's Connectionism:

1. Learning requires both practice and rewards (laws of effect/ exercise)

2. A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action
sequence (law of readiness).

3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered. situations.

4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.