Edward Thorndike 

was an influential psychologist who is often referred to as the founder of

modern educational psychology. He was perhaps best-known for his famous puzzle box
experiments with cats which led to the development of his law of effect.

His great contributions to psychology were largely in the methods he devised to test and
measure children's intelligence and their ability to learn. 

Through his study on animal behaviour and the learning process of cats Thorndike
founded the theory of connectionism. This learning theory represents the original
Stimuli-Response framework of behavioural psychology, which states that learning is the
result of associations forming between stimuli and responses. Such associations or
"habits" become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R
pairings.

The paradigm for S-R theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses
come to dominate others due to rewards. The hallmark or the main principle of
connectionism was that learning could be adequately explained without referring to any
unobservable internal states.

The Puzzle Box

The classic example of Thorndike's S-R theory was developed with the use of what
Thorndike called a puzzle box. A typical puzzle box consisted of ropes levers and latches
that an animal (usually a cat) could use as a means for escape. The cat was locked in
the puzzle box and enticed to escape using food that was placed just out of reach from
the box. Thorndike then observed the cat's attempts to gain access to the food. The cats
used many strategies for escape, including trying to squeeze through the bars of the box
or meowing incessantly for help.

After determining that none of these strategies would set him free, Thorndike began to
notice in the cat, the typical trial and error behaviour that led to eventual freedom and
reward. The cats learned quickly (typically within 3 minutes) how to escape from the
box, but their first success was generally "accidental". Successive trials however showed
that they took less and less time to escape.

Thorndike concluded that cats do not learn by developing insight into a problem, much
like the chimpanzees in Kohler's (1927) experiments, but learn through trial and error.

Thorndike likened this process of trial and error to the way that humans learned.
From these experiments, Thorndike formulated the 'laws of acquired behaviour or
learning,' which he applied to teaching and education. Through this Thorndike had aided
in the birth of educational psychology.

Thorndike's theory consists of three primary laws: (1) law of effect (2) law of readiness
and (3) law of exercise

Law of effect

Thorndike is perhaps best-known for the theory he called the law of effect, which
emerged from his research on how cats learn to escape from puzzle boxes.

It is determined by consequences
Ex. Getting an A on a test (it will encourage them to study in the future) and a F (learn from
their mistake and study next time)

Multiplication (law of exercise) (it gets faster the cat)

Cannot ask their mental process and find out the reason of their behavior (cat)