Theory of Learning

by
Edward Lee Thorndike
 • Born August 31, 1874
• Died August 9, 1949
Edward Lee Thorndike • Born in Williamsburg,
Massachusetts
• Was an American
psychologist, studied animal
behavior and the learning
process
• Led to the theory of
connectionism
• Laying the foundation for
modern educational
psychology
Connectionism
•  is a learning theory which is based on the
concept of bonds formed between stimulus and
response i.e., natural connections
between Situations (S) and Responses (R) are
formed and strengthened.
• The stimulus affects the organism which
responds to it. Thus, S-R bonds are formed
which are considered as physical conditions. 
Cat in the Puzzle Box
• At first, cat put in the cage explored restlessly, but
did not know how to escape. Eventually, they
stepped on the foot switch and the trap door
opened. On succeeding trials, they operated the
switch faster.
• This created a link between stimulus (cage) and, a
response (stepping on switch or pulling the lever).
Later, in the same stimulus situation, that response
occurred faster.
 • He produced a graph called a "learning curve" showing the
number of seconds the animal took to escape on each trial.

His findings was that cat consistently showed gradual learning.

• Thorndike concluded that all animals learn, solely by
trial and error or reward and punishment. He used the
cat’s behavior in the puzzle box to describe what
happens when all the beings learn together.
• All learning involves the formation of connection
and connections were strengthened according to law
of effect. Intelligence is the ability to form
connections and humans are the most evolved animal
because they form more connections than any other
being.
These led Thorndike to formulate
first his Principles of Learning and
then his Theory f Learning that
became the foundation of modern
education psychology.
Thorndike’s Laws
Thorndikes specified three conditions that
maximizes learning. The three major laws
are:
1. Law of Readiness
2.Law of Excercise
2.Law of Effect
 Law of Readiness
• Readiness means a preparation of action. If a person
is not prepared to learn, then learning cannot be
instilled in him/her. It includes all those preparatory
adjustments which immediately precede the activity.
• Interference with goal directed behaviour causes
frustration and causing someone to do something
they do not want to do is also frustrating.
a. When someone is ready to perform some act, to do
so is satisfying.
b. When someone is ready to perform some act, not
to do so is annoying.
c. When someone is not ready to perform some act
and is forced to do so, it is annoying.

In this way, law of readiness is related to mental

preparation for action.
Law of Exercise
The second important law has two aspects.
• The law of use “When a modifiable connection is made
between a situation and a response, that connection’s strength
is being increased”.
• The law of disuse “When a modifiable connection is not
made between a situation and response over a length of time,
the connection’s strength is decreased.”
• According to Thorndike’s S-R bond theory, the connections are
strengthened with trial and practice. Whenever, there is an
appropriate situation, the activity which is firmly entrenched,
might take place. It is the experience that whenever any action is
repeated, it becomes easy and prompts. Learning and relearning
helps in mastering the activity.
• Repetitions of activities fix knowledge and skills to be learned.
Practice makes it perfect. Lack of practice weakens memory and
skills. It may be said that longer is the period of disuse, greater is
the loss of memory and weakening of skills. 
Law of Effect
• The meaning of the law of effect is the effect of
learning. The trial or steps leading to satisfaction
stamps in the bond or connection. Satisfying states
lead to consolidation and strengthening of connection,
whereas dissatisfaction annoyance or pain lead to the
weakening or stamping out of the connection. 
• Success brings with it satisfaction and along with it a
strengthening of the relation of the experiences. Failure
increases dissatisfaction and the absence of the relation
among the experiences Weakens them. 
• The success can be compared to reward and failure to
punishment. And the desire to repeat Success or avoid
failure as the inevitable antecedents.
Subordinate Laws
• Other five subordinate laws were also mentioned by
Thorndike in relation to the three major ones.
The five subordinate laws are:
Law of Multiple Response
• A person varies or changes his/her response till an
appropriate behavior is succeeded. A person solves a
problem with his instinctive and learned behavior. There
are multiple responses in the behavior, which guide
person in achieving success and making learning
possible. The learner reaches the solution by variation in
the response.
 The Law of Set or Attitude
•  Learning is conditioned or guided by the attitude or set
of the person which determines not only what the
person will do, but what will satisfy or annoy the
person. The response of a person is dependent upon
his/her attitude towards the situation. Learning is
affected more in the individual if he/she is set to learn
more or to excel.
Prepotency of Elements
• Prepotent elements are present in the problem. The
person or learner gets greater success, if he or she bases
his/her responses on these elements and this depends on
the insight and capability of the person. 

• The person reacts selectively to the important or

essential features in the situation and neglects the other
features or elements which may be irrelevant or non-
essential.
Law of Response by Analogy
• The person uses old experiences in
responding to a situation. A person will
respond in a manner similar to the one in
which he/she has behaved previously, if
he/she finds some similarity between the
situations.
Law of Associative Shifting

• The response of person/learner shifts

in respect to the basic or associative
stimulus. The learner’s response is
shifted from one stimulus to another.
Belongingness
• If there is a natural relationship between
the need state of an organism and the
effect caused by a response, learning is
more effective than if the relationship is
unnatural.
 Educational implications of the theory are
the following:
1. The task can be started from the easier aspect towards its
difficult aspect, which will help the children to learn properly.
2. Trial and error method can be used in teaching;
3. Rewards and punishment affect the learning of the child.
4. Habits are formed as a result of repetition with the help of this
theory the wrong habits can be modified and good habits can be
strengthened.
5. Practice is the main feature of trial and error method. It helps in
reducing errors committed by children in learning a concept.
Thank you!!!
Prepared by:
Joseth Pasalo
References

https://www.slideshare.net/nithyapatrick
/learning-theories-45510844

https://www.slideshare.net/DamianGord
on1/behaviourism-6232970