Edward Thorndike Biography

Edward Thorndike, Psychologist
Born asEdward Lee Thorndike
Occup.Psychologist
FromUSA
BornAugust 31, 1874
Williamsburg, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 9, 1949
Montrose, New York
Aged74 years
Early Life as well as Education
Edward Lee Thorndike was born on August 31, 1874, in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, USA, to Edward Roberts Hebborne Thorndike and also Abbie Ladd Thorndike. He was increased in a highly informed as well as nurturing atmosphere, as his papa was a Methodist preacher and his mom was an instructor. Thorndike participated in the Roxbury Latin School in Boston and also completed his B.S. in English Literature and Mathematics from Wesleyan University in 1895.

Influenced by the jobs of William James, Thorndike went after psychology at Harvard University under the supervision of James himself. He was deeply influenced by James's groundbreaking suggestions and research methods. In 1898, he made his Master's Degree from Harvard and also subsequently signed up at Columbia University, where he completed his Ph.D. under the famous psychologist James McKeen Cattell in the list below year.

Academic Career and also Research
Thorndike's academic career started as a teacher at the Women's College of Western Reserve University in 1899. Ultimately, he returned to Columbia University and was selected as a Professor of Educational Psychology in 1904. He stayed at Columbia for the remainder of his profession, retiring in 1940 as Professor Emeritus.

Thorndike's research concentrated on the scientific research of learning, habits, as well as education and learning. He was a leader in relative psychology, as he examined the learning and also behavior of animals to clarify human cognitive procedures. His prominent challenge box experiments on cats in the late 19th and also very early 20th centuries gained him around the world recognition. His job led him to create the 'Law of Effect,' which states that actions complied with by benefits are more probable to be duplicated, while those followed by adverse effects are much less most likely to be repeated.

Thorndike was an advocate for objective testing as well as established widely-used capacity tests to determine intelligence and abilities that can be uniformly applied to various education and learning and job setups. His study in instructional psychology laid the foundation for modern-day theories of discovering as well as analysis.

Considerable Contributions
Throughout his career, Thorndike made substantial payments to the field of psychology, which additionally had a long-term influence on education and learning and instructional ideology. A few of his most notable concepts and accomplishments include:

1. The Law of Effect: As stated before, this legislation states that actions adhered to by rewards are more probable to be repeated, while those complied with by adverse repercussions are much less likely to be repeated. This principle is widely acknowledged as the basis for operant conditioning, which was later on expanded upon by renowned behaviorist B.F. Skinner.

2. Connectionism: Thorndike recommended the concept of 'Connectionism,' which emphasized the importance of organizations in between stimulations and responses in discovering. He thought that knowing is a result of forming more powerful links between these stimulations and actions with time.

3. Measurement and also analysis in education and learning: Thorndike played a pivotal role in the growth of standardized examinations for measuring intellectual abilities, abilities, and also various other elements of human knowledge. His work in this area laid the structure for the growth of modern intelligence examinations and also ability analyses.

4. Enhanced mentor approaches: As a supporter of applying clinical principles to education and learning, Thorndike's research study notified as well as enhanced mentor methods as well as educational program layouts throughout the United States. He was a solid supporter for evidence-based mentor methods and also believed that educators need to constantly seek to review and also fine-tune their training techniques.

Later On Years as well as Death
After relinquishing Columbia University in 1940, Edward Thorndike continued his research study and also consulting work throughout the 1940s. He continued to be energetic in the field of psychology and also was taken into consideration an eminent figure until his death. On August 9, 1949, Thorndike died in Montrose, New York, leaving behind an exceptional legacy in psychology as well as education and learning.

Edward Thorndike's job has actually had an extensive and enduring impact on psychology, education, and also the understanding of the human mind. His cutting-edge concepts and strenuous clinical technique provided a blueprint for numerous mental concepts and also educational methods that are still in operation today.

Our collection contains 25 quotes who is written / told by Edward.

Related authors: William James (Philosopher), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

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25 Famous quotes by Edward Thorndike

Small: This growth in the number, speed of formation, permanence, delicacy and complexity of associations poss
"This growth in the number, speed of formation, permanence, delicacy and complexity of associations possible for an animal reaches its acme in the case of man"
Small: There is no reasoning, no process of inference or comparison there is no thinking about things, no putt
"There is no reasoning, no process of inference or comparison; there is no thinking about things, no putting two and two together; there are no ideas - the animal does not think of the box or of the food or of the act he is to perform"
Small: The dog, on the other hand, has few or no ideas because his brain acts in coarse fashion and because th
"The dog, on the other hand, has few or no ideas because his brain acts in coarse fashion and because there are few connections with each single process"
Small: Some statements concern the conscious states of the animal, what he is to himself as an inner life othe
"Some statements concern the conscious states of the animal, what he is to himself as an inner life; others concern his original and acquired ways of response, his behavior, what he is an outside observer"
Small: Psychology helps to measure the probability that an aim is attainable
"Psychology helps to measure the probability that an aim is attainable"
Small: On the whole, the psychological work of the last quarter of the nineteenth century emphasized the study
"On the whole, the psychological work of the last quarter of the nineteenth century emphasized the study of consciousness to the neglect of the total life of intellect and character"
Small: The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, per
"The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, permanence and speed of formation of such associations"
Small: So the animal finally performs in that situation only the fitting act
"So the animal finally performs in that situation only the fitting act"
Small: Psychology is the science of the intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man
"Psychology is the science of the intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man"
Small: Human education is concerned with certain changes in the intellects, characters and behavior of men, it
"Human education is concerned with certain changes in the intellects, characters and behavior of men, its problems being roughly included under these four topics: Aims, materials, means and methods"
Small: Dogs get lost hundreds of times and no one ever notices it or sends an account of it to a scientific ma
"Dogs get lost hundreds of times and no one ever notices it or sends an account of it to a scientific magazine"
Small: Human folk are as a matter of fact eager to find intelligence in animals
"Human folk are as a matter of fact eager to find intelligence in animals"
Small: Amongst the minds of animals that of man leads, not as a demigod from another planet, but as a king fro
"Amongst the minds of animals that of man leads, not as a demigod from another planet, but as a king from the same race"
Small: The restriction of studies of human intellect and character to studies of conscious states was not with
"The restriction of studies of human intellect and character to studies of conscious states was not without influence on a scientific studies of animal psychology"
Small: It will, of course, be understood that directly or indirectly, soon or late, every advance in the scien
"It will, of course, be understood that directly or indirectly, soon or late, every advance in the sciences of human nature will contribute to our success in controlling human nature and changing it to the advantage of the common weal"
Small: For origin and development of human faculty we must look to these processes of association in lower ani
"For origin and development of human faculty we must look to these processes of association in lower animals"
Small: To the intelligent man with an interest in human nature it must often appear strange that so much of th
"To the intelligent man with an interest in human nature it must often appear strange that so much of the energy of the scientific world has been spent on the study of the body and so little on the study of the mind"
Small: Nowhere more truly than in his mental capacities is man a part of nature
"Nowhere more truly than in his mental capacities is man a part of nature"
Small: When, instead of merely associating some act with some situation in the animal way, we think the situat
"When, instead of merely associating some act with some situation in the animal way, we think the situation out, we have a set of particular feelings of its elements"
Small: The un-conscious distortion of the facts is almost harmless compared to the unconscious neglect of an a
"The un-conscious distortion of the facts is almost harmless compared to the unconscious neglect of an animal's mental life until it verges on the unusual and marvelous"
Small: The function of intellect is to provide a means of modifying our reactions to the circumstances of life
"The function of intellect is to provide a means of modifying our reactions to the circumstances of life, so that we may secure pleasure, the symptom of welfare"
Small: Human beings are accustomed to think of intellect as the power of having and controlling ideas and of a
"Human beings are accustomed to think of intellect as the power of having and controlling ideas and of ability to learn as synonymous with ability to have ideas. But learning by having ideas is really one of the rare and isolated events in nature"
Small: The real difference between a mans scientific judgments about himself and the judgment of others about
"The real difference between a man's scientific judgments about himself and the judgment of others about him is he has added sources of knowledge"
Small: Just as the science and art of agriculture depend upon chemistry and botany, so the art of education de
"Just as the science and art of agriculture depend upon chemistry and botany, so the art of education depends upon physiology and psychology"
Small: From the lowest animals of which we can affirm intelligence up to man this type of intellect is found
"From the lowest animals of which we can affirm intelligence up to man this type of intellect is found"