Chapter 1. Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

Short Description

Thorndike wondered how a new skill is learned. In attempting to answer that question, he constructed puzzle boxes in which cats could only escape by operating latches.

Long Description

Thorndike wondered how a new skill is learned. In attempting to answer that question, he constructed puzzle boxes in which cats could only escape by operating latches.

Using its paw to operate the latch, the cat seemed clever in engineering its escape. However, Thorndike did not believe animals understood the consequences of their behavior. The cat’s successful actions in escaping the puzzle box seemed to appear by chance. Thorndike used graphs to measure the rate of learning.

A well practiced cat placed in the puzzle box quickly recalls the actions that help it escape to its food reward. Thorndike believed that if an action leads to reward, the action becomes stamped into the mind. He concluded that behavior changes because of its consequences and he called this the law of effect. The law explains how even wild creatures develop new habits.

Questions