Thorndike's Early Years and Education:
· E. L. Thorndike was born in Williamsburg, MA, on August, 31, 1874.
· He was the son of a Methodist Minister, Edward R. Thorndike, and Abby
Thorndike.
· Thorndike was fortunate because his father was a minister and during this
period of time it was more likely that children of ministers or pastors would
receive a higher education.
· Thorndike, even as a young student, was a very dedicated to his studies.
· When attending college, Thorndike's first area of interest was English.
· Received his BS from Wesleyan University in 1895.
· After receiving a Bs from Wesleyan, he decided to attend Harvard.
· Harvard is where Thorndike found his love for psychology. (in his first
graduate year.)
· Received his MA from Harvard University in 1897.
o worked under and with William James at Harvard.
· Received his PhD from Columbia University in 1898.
o worked under James M. Cattell at Columbia.
Carriers and Nominations earned throughout his life:
· Same year that he received his PhD he accepted a position as
Assistant Professor at Western Reserve University.
· At the age of 26, married Elizabeth Moulton on August 29,1900.
· James E. Russel approached Thorndike after one of his class exercises offering
a position at Teachers College of Columbia University.
· Remained teaching there until he retired in 1940.
· Became president of APA in 1912.
· Became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in
1934.
Major Publications:
· Thesis on Animal Intelligence. (1898) (he was 24 at the time)
· Educational Psychology. (1903)
· Introduction to the Theory of Mental and Social Measurements. (1904)
· The Elements of Psychology. (1905)
· Animal Intelligence. (1911)
· A Teacher's Workbook. (1921)
· The Measurement of Intelligence. (1927)
· The Fundamentals of Learning. (1932)
· The Psychology of Wants, Interests and Attitudes. (1935)
· Human Nature and The Social Order. (1940)
· Published more than 50 books and more than 400 articles.
Research:
· Thorndike's first research project pertained to "mind reading ability" in
children.
o In this experiment, Thorndike would think of a number, letter or object and
the child in front of him would try to guess what he was thinking of.
· After the failure of the "mind reading" experiments, Thorndike decided to do
an experiment on the instinctive and intelligent behavior of chickens.
o While doing the experiment, Thorndike kept his chickens in his room up until
the point were his landlady began to protest.
o No space at Harvard, so William James took his chickens in.
· The Puzzle Box Experiments.
o The animal (often a cat) is put into a box and tries to find its way out.
o The box consists of ropes, levers, and latches that the animal could use as a
means of escape.
o Once the cat escapes, a reward is given.
o Thorndike through his observation realized that after time, the cat would use
a trial and error technique.
o Thorndike also realized that with more trials the less time it took the cat to
escape.
o Thorndike concluded that the cat learned through trial and error as do humans
in similar circumstances.
· Became less interested in animal research and decided to devote himself to
research with humans.
· Law of Effect:
A situation that was followed by a positive response would strengthen the
response.
Contributions:
· Thorndike was viewed as a man who changed the way children were educated.
· Revised dictionaries in order to make it easier for children to read by using
simpler word and offering pictures.
· Studied animal intelligence with the Puzzle Box.
· Applied the knowledge learned from his studies with animals to humans.
· Designed a scale to measure children's handwriting. reading, drawing and
arithmetic.
· Designed a scale to measure intelligence called:
C- sentence completion
A- arithmetic ability
V- Vocabulary
D- ability to follow directions
· CAVD became the foundation of IQ tests.
· Devised IQ tests for the U.S. Army during WWI.
· Died August 9, 1949 .
References
Teachers College, Columbia University, (2003). E. L. Thorndike.
Retrieved March 12, 2003, from http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~newsbureau/insideTC/jan03/0103thorndike.htm
Joncich, M.G., (1968). The sane positivist; A biography of Edward
L. Thorndike. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Morin, L., (1997). Edward Lee Thorndike. Retrieved March 12,
2003, from
http://www.gmu.edu/depts/psychology/homepage/thorndike.html
Plucker, J., (1998). E. Thorndike. Retrieved March 10, 2003,
from
http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ethorndike.htnl
Thorne, B. M., & Henley, T. B., (2001). Connections in the history and
systems of psychology (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company.
Kimble, G.A., Wertheimer, M., & White, C. L., (1991). Portraits of pioneers
in psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Hove and London.
