Edward Lee Thorndike's Connectionism Theory | Free LET Reviewer and Drill

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Lesson 24: Edward Lee Thorndike's Connectionism Theory

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Edward Lee Thorndike lived from 1874 to 1949. He is known as the Founder of Behavior Psychology. Thorndike was an American psychologist who came before John Watson. While Watson focused on observable behavior, Thorndike focused on understanding how learning happens through the connections between stimuli and responses. He believed that learning is about forming habits. When we repeat something over and over, we create connections or associations in our mind that make us more likely to repeat that behavior again and again.

Connectionism Theory 

(Learning Theory)

Connectionism is a learning theory that Thorndike developed. The word "connection" is key here. Thorndike believed that learning happens when we form connections. These connections are between a stimulus and a response. A stimulus is something that happens in the environment. A response is what we do in reaction to that stimulus.

Think of it like this. When you learn to ride a bicycle, you are forming connections. The stimulus is the feeling of the bike moving. The response is the way you balance your body. At first, riding a bike is difficult because these connections are new and weak. But the more you practice, the stronger the connections become. Eventually, you can ride a bike without thinking about it. The connections have become automatic.

Connectionism says that all learning works this way. Whether you are learning to read, learning to do math, or learning to be a good friend, you are forming connections between stimuli and responses. These connections are built through repetition and practice.

Thorndike's Experiment with Cats

To understand connectionism, we need to know about Thorndike's most famous experiment. In the 1890s, Thorndike conducted an experiment with hungry cats. Here is what he did.

Thorndike put a hungry cat inside a puzzle box. This puzzle box had a door that was locked. The only way to open the door and get out was to press a lever or move a latch in a specific way. Outside the puzzle box was food. The cat could smell the food, but it could not reach it.

What happened next was interesting. The cat moved around randomly inside the box. It scratched, jumped, and tried different things. After a while, completely by accident, the cat pressed the lever. The door opened, and the cat got out and ate the food. This was the reward.

Thorndike repeated this experiment many times with the same cat. Here is what he discovered. The first time, it took the cat a long time to escape. But each time the cat was put back in the box, it took less time to escape. The cat was learning. After many trials, the cat could escape almost immediately by pressing the lever.

Why did this happen? Thorndike explained that the cat was forming a connection between the stimulus (being in the puzzle box) and the response (pressing the lever). The cat did not understand the puzzle box. The cat did not think about how to escape. Instead, through repetition, a connection formed between the situation and the action that led to food. This is connectionism in action.

 Thorndike's Laws of Learning

From his puzzle box experiments and other studies, Thorndike developed three important laws of learning and eight subordinate laws. These laws explain how habits form and how learning happens.

1. The Law of Effect

• The Law of Effect says that when a response is followed by a satisfying consequence, that response is more likely to be repeated in the future. When a response is followed by an unsatisfying consequence, that response is less likely to be repeated.
• In simple terms, we repeat behaviors that lead to good outcomes. We avoid behaviors that lead to bad outcomes.
• Let's use a classroom example. If a student raises their hand to answer a question and the teacher says "Good job," that is a satisfying consequence. The student is likely to raise their hand again. But if a student raises their hand and gets laughed at by other students, that is an unsatisfying consequence. The student is less likely to raise their hand again.
• Another example is when a child touches a hot stove and gets burned. The hot stove is followed by pain, which is very unsatisfying. After this happens, the child learns not to touch hot stoves. The connection between "touching a hot stove" and "pain" becomes very strong through this one experience.

2. The Law of Exercise

• This law says that when a stimulus and response are connected through repetition, the connection becomes stronger. The more you practice something, the better you get at it. Practice makes perfect.
• Think about learning to type on a keyboard. The first time you try to type, you are slow and make many mistakes. But each time you practice, your fingers learn where the keys are. The connection between seeing a letter and pressing the right key becomes stronger. After a lot of practice, you can type without thinking about where each key is.
• The same applies to any skill. The more you practice a musical instrument, the better you become. The more you practice math problems, the faster you can solve them. Repetition and practice are key to learning according to Thorndike.

3. The Law of Readiness

• This law says that learning is easier when you are ready to learn. Readiness means that you have the basic skills needed, you are interested in the topic, and your brain is prepared to learn.
• For example, a student cannot learn to read if they do not know the alphabet. The student is not ready. But once the student knows the alphabet, they are ready to start learning to read. A student cannot learn to multiply if they do not understand addition. The student is not ready. But once they understand addition, they are ready to learn multiplication.
• Readiness also includes being emotionally and mentally prepared. If you are tired and hungry, you are not ready to learn. If you are interested and focused, you are ready to learn. As a teacher, understanding readiness means knowing your students and making sure they have the foundation they need before teaching new things.

The Eight Subordinate Laws of Learning

Note: Actually, only five subordinate laws are recognized in mainstream educational psychology texts as the official set under Thorndike’s learning theory. However, for the sake of the LET, we will cover all eight, since the exam can be unpredictable.

1. Law of Primacy

• The Law of Primacy says that things we learn first are easier to remember and more powerful than things we learn later. The word "primary" means "first." When you learn something first, it becomes strong. When you learn the same information later in a different way, it does not replace what you learned first as easily.
• Ex. If you learn to type and you learn the keyboard in a wrong way the first time, it is very hard to change. The wrong way stays strong in your mind because it was first. If you later learn the correct way to type, it will take a lot of practice to replace the wrong way. This is why it is so important to teach things correctly the first time.
• Another example is learning your native language. You learned it first when you were a baby. It is very strong in your brain. Even if you learn another language very well later, your first language stays dominant and powerful.

2. Law of Recency

• The Law of Recency says that things we learn most recently are stronger and more easily remembered than things we learned a long time ago. The word "recent" means "recent" or "new." This is almost the opposite of the Law of Primacy, but they both matter.
• When you take an exam, what do you remember best? Probably the things you studied last night or this morning. You remember things that are fresh in your mind. If you studied something three weeks ago, you probably have forgotten some of it.
• Think about what you did last week. You probably remember what happened more recently, like what happened yesterday or today, better than what happened early last week.

3. Law of Intensity of Stimulus

• The Law of Intensity of Stimulus says that strong, vivid, exciting stimuli create stronger learning than weak, boring stimuli. The word "intensity" means "how strong something is."
• Imagine you hear a loud noise. You notice it and remember it. But if you hear a quiet sound, you might not even pay attention to it. Imagine seeing a bright red light. You notice it. But if you see a pale pink light, you might not notice it as much.
• Strong stimuli catch our attention and create stronger connections in our brain. This is why emotional or exciting experiences are remembered better than boring ones. If something dramatic happens in class, students will remember it. If you teach something in a boring, quiet way, students might not pay as much attention or remember it as well.

4. Law of Multiple Response

• The Law of Multiple Response says that when a learner faces a new situation, they try many different responses. They do not just try one thing. They try many things until they find one that works. This is connected to trial and error learning.
• When a baby tries to pick up a toy, they do not know exactly how to do it. They try moving their hand in many different ways. They try different amounts of force. They try different angles. Eventually, one of these responses works, and they successfully pick up the toy. Through this trial and error with many responses, the baby learns.
• In Thorndike's puzzle box experiment with cats, the cat did not just try one way to escape. The cat tried many different things. It scratched, it jumped, it moved around, until one response worked. Then that response became stronger through the Law of Effect.

5. Law of Associative Shifting

• The Law of Associative Shifting says that a response which is made to one stimulus can be made to a different stimulus. You can move a response from one situation to another situation. This is like transfer of learning, where learning in one area helps you learn in another area.
• Ex. A child learns to fear a white rat in Thorndike's time. But remember the Little Albert experiment? Little Albert learned to fear the white rat, but then the fear shifted to other things like cotton, a fur coat, and other fuzzy things. The fear response moved from just the rat to other stimuli.
• Here is another example. You learn to use a computer program at work. Later, you use a similar computer program at home. The skills you learned at work have shifted to a new situation. The response learned in one context moved to another context.

6. Law of Set or Attitude

• The Law of Set or Attitude says that what you expect and what attitude you have affects how you learn. "Set" means the state of mind you have before you learn. "Attitude" means your feelings about something.
• If you expect to do well on an exam and you have a positive attitude, you will probably learn better. Your mind is ready and willing. If you expect to fail and you have a negative attitude, you might not try as hard or learn as well.
• Think about how you feel when you go to eat your favorite food. You have a positive attitude. You are excited. You will enjoy it more. Now think about how you feel when you have to eat something you hate. You have a negative attitude. You are not excited. You do not enjoy it.
• The same is true for learning. If a student has a positive set and attitude about math, they will learn math better. If a student has a negative set and attitude about reading, they might not try as hard to read.

7. Law of Pre-potency of Elements

• The Law of Pre-potency of Elements says that when you face a situation, you naturally focus on the important parts and ignore the unimportant parts. The word "pre-potency" means "having special power." The "important elements" have special power and catch your attention.
• Imagine you are in a classroom and there are many things happening. There is a fan blowing. There is a clock on the wall. There is a teacher talking. There are other students around. What do you focus on? You probably focus on the teacher talking because that is the most important element in that situation. You do not focus on the fan or the clock because they are not important to your learning in that moment.
• When you read a textbook, there might be many words, but you focus on the main ideas and important sentences. You do not focus on every single word equally.
• This is a natural ability we have. Our brains are smart enough to pick out what is important. Thorndike called this the Law of Pre-potency of Elements because the important elements have the power to attract our attention and learning.

8. Law of Response by Analogy

• The Law of Response by Analogy says that what we have learned in the past affects how we learn new things. When we face a new situation that is similar to something we have already experienced, we tend to respond in the same way because the two situations share common or “identical” elements. The more similarities there are between the old and new situations, the easier it is to transfer what we already know.
• In simple terms, past learning helps new learning when both have things in common.
• Ex. If you already know how to speak English and then start learning Spanish, you might find it easier because both languages share similar sentence structures, alphabets, and some vocabulary. Your knowledge of English helps you understand Spanish faster since both languages have “identical elements.”

Connectionism Theory Quiz: click here

“If you truly understand, comment your reflection in at least 3-5 sentences or more about this lesson.”
With God’s grace, you’ll surely pass the upcoming board exam! 🙏

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