Chapter 4
Behavioral Learning Theories:
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.1 Edward Lee
Thorndyke:1874-1949,
American educational
psychologist,
? 1891-1895,studied
English literature in
Wesleyan University.
Chapter 4
Behavioral Learning Theories
?4.1 Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 1895-1897,studied psychology in Harvard
Unviversity.(James)
? 1897-1898,studied in Columbia University,
and got his PH.D.(Cattel)
? 1912,became Chairman of APA.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? Thorndike called the association between sense
impressions and impulses to action a bond or a
connection,This marked the first formal attempt to
link sensory events to behavior,Earlier brands of
associationism attempted to show how ideas
became linked together; thus Thorndike's
approach is quite different and can be regarded as
the first modern theme of learning,His emphasis
on the functional aspects of behavior is due mainly
to the influence of Darwin,In fact,Thorndyke's
theory can be understood as a combination of
associationism,Darwinism,and the methods of
science.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Thorndike's concern was not only for stimulus
conditions and tendencies to action but also for
what held the stimulus and response together,
He believed they were connected by a neural
bond,His theory is called connectionism,the
connection referred to being the neural
connection between stimuli (S) and responses
(R).
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? Experimental foundation:puzzle box
? a small confining box with a pole sticking up in the
middle or a chain hanging from its top,Pushing
against the pole or pulling on the chain enabled the
animal to escape,Some arrangements,however,
required the animal to engage in a complex series of
responses before it could escape,Different responses
were called for at different times in Thorndike's
experiments,but the idea was always the same--the
animal had to perform in a certain way before it was
allowed to leave the box,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? ﹡ Learning is incremental,not insightful
? Learning occurs in very small systematic steps
rather than in huge jumps.
? ﹡ Learning is not mediated by ideas
? Learning is direct and is not mediated by thinking
or reasoning.
? ﹡ all mammals learn in the same manner
? Learning of all mammals,including human,
followed the same laws,No special processes need to
be postulated when one is attempting to explain
human learning.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of readiness
? (1) When a conduction unit is ready to conduct,
conduction by it is satisfying.
? (2) For a conduction unit ready to conduct,not
to conduct is annoying.
? (3) When a conduction unit is not ready for
conduction and is forced to conduct,conduction
by it is annoying.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of exercise(learning by doing and
forget by not doing)
? (1) Law of use,connections between a stimulus
and a response are strengthened as they are
used.
? (2) Law of disuse,connections between
situations and responses are weaken when
practice is discontinued or if the neural bond is
not used.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of effect
? It refers to the strengthening or weakening of a
connection between S and R as the
consequences of the response,If a response is
followed by a satisfying state of affairs,the
strength of the connection is increased,If it is
followed by an annoying state of affairs,the
strength is decreased.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of effect
? The law of effect is a historical break
from traditional associationistic theory
that claims frequency of occurrence or
mere contiguity to be the determiners of
the strength of an association,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Multiple response(varied reaction),if the first
response does not solve the problem,one try
other responses,
? Set or attitude:refers to the temporal states
such as deprivation,fatigue,or various
emotional conditions,An animal’s drive state,
to a large extent,determine what’s satisfying
and what’s annoying to it.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Prepotency of elements:,the partial or
piecemeal activity of a situation”,It
refers to the fact that only some elements
of any situation will govern behavior.It
was concluded that one respond
selectively to aspects of the environment.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Response by analogy:deals with how one
respond to a new situation,One respond by
analogy,which means one respond to to it as he
would to a related situation that we had
encountered before,This is his famous identical
elements theory of transfer of training.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Associative shifting:closely related to identical
elements theory,It begins with a connection between
a certain situation and a certain response,Then,one
gradually drops stimulus elements that are part of
the original situation and adds stimulus elements that
are not part of the original situation,As long as there
are enough elements from the original situation in the
the new situation,the same response will be given,
? E.g,abcde---X,abcef---X,abcfg---X,abcfgh---X,
abjhi---X,-------,fghij---X
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Revised law of exercise,the idea that mere
repetition strengthened a connection was found
inaccurate,He discarded the entire law of
exercise after 1930.
? Revised law of effect,reinforcement increases
the strength of a connection,whereas
punishment does nothing to the strength of a
connection.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Belongingness,If the elements of an
association somehow belonged together,
the association between them was learned
and retained more readily than if the
elements did not belong together.
? In 1932,an experiment by him confirmed
the hypothesis.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Alfred Dukes and his sister
worked sadly,Edward Davis
and his brother argued rarely,
Francis Bragg and his cousin
played hard,Barney Croft
and his father watched
earnestly,Lincoln Blake and
uncle listened gladly,Jackson
Craig and his son struggled
often,Charlotte Dean and
her friend studied easily,
Mary Borah and her
companion complained dully,
Norman Foster and his
mother bought much,Alice
Hanson and her teacher came
yesterday,
? 1,What word came next after rarely?
? 2,What word came next after
Lincoln?
? 3.What word came next after gladly?
? 4,What word came next after dully?
? 5,What word came next after Mary?
? 6,What word came next after
earnestly?
? 7,What word came next after
Norman Foster and his mother?
? 8,What word came next after and
his son struggles often?
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? The results showed that the average number of
correct associations from the end of one
sentence to the beginning of the next was 2.75,
whereas the average number of correct
associations between the first and second word
combination was 21.50,Clearly,something is
operating here beyond mere continuity,
Thorndike called belongingness,that is,
subjects and verbs belong together more than
the last word in one sentence and the first in
another,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Spread of effect,a satisfying state of affairs
not only increased the probability of
recurrence of the response that led to the
satisfying state of affairs but also increased
the probability of recurrence of the
responses surrounding the reinforced one,In
other words,a satisfying state of affairs
apparently spread from the reinforced
response to neighboring responses.
? Experiment:
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Spread of effect:
? Experiment,catnap-1,debate-2,dazzle-3,… …
? If the subjects responded to word with a number
that the experiment had previously chosen to go with
the word,the experiment said,right”,otherwise,he
would say,wrong”.
? Two important results:
? (1） reinforcement(“right”)strongly increased the
probability of the same number being repeated the
next time the stimulus word was given.
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? Spread of effect:
? (2) the numbers that preceded and
followed a reinforced number also
increased in probability of recurring,
even though they were not themselves
reinforced.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.5 Thorndike on education
? A close relation between the knowledge of the
learning process and teaching practices.
? Seven rules formulated for the teaching of arithmetic,
they represent his advice for teaching in general:
? (1) consider the situation the pupil faces.
? (2)consider the response you wish to connect with it.
? (3) form the bond,don’t expect it to come by a
miracle.
? (4)other things being equal,form no bond that will
have to be broken,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.5 Thorndike on education
? (5)other things being equal,don’t form two or
three bonds when one will serve.
? (6) other things being equal,form bonds in the
way that they are required later to act.
? (7) favor,therefore,the situations which life
itself will offer,and the responses which life
itself will demand,
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndike’s theory
? Contribution
? ＊ His pioneering work provided a distinct
alternative for conceptualizing learning and
behavior and differed from earlier approaches,
? ＊ discovered and developed trial-error learning
and transfer of learning.
? ＊ first observed the consequences of behavior,e.g,
Law of effect.
?,Man’s power to change himself,that is,to learn,
is perhaps the most impressive thing about
him.”(Thordike,1931)
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndyke’s theory
? criticism
? ＊ reducing human learning to automatic reactions to
the environment destroys human values.
? ＊ his definition of satisfier is circular:if the response
probability increased,it was said to be due to the
presence of a satisfying state of affairs; if it did not
increase,it was claimed that no satisfier was present,
Such an explanation did not allow for a test of the
theory because the same event(probability)was used
to detect both learning and satisfying state of affairs,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndike’s theory
? Criticism
? ＊ the third criticism concerned with learning
mechanism,Thorndike believed learning to be
an automatic function of a satisfying state of
affairs,not the result of any conscious
mechanism such as thinking or reasoning,
Similarly,the intentions and strategies of the
learner were considered nonessential.
Questions
? 1,Do you agree with Thorndike’s contention
the same laws of learning apply to both human
and nonhuman animals?why?
? 2,What,according to Thorndike,provides
humans with their greatest hope for the future?
? 3,Describe how you would reduce the
probability of a child being fearful of a new
situation,such as a new baby-sitter,using the
procedure of associative shifting.
Behavioral Learning Theories:
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.1 Edward Lee
Thorndyke:1874-1949,
American educational
psychologist,
? 1891-1895,studied
English literature in
Wesleyan University.
Chapter 4
Behavioral Learning Theories
?4.1 Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 1895-1897,studied psychology in Harvard
Unviversity.(James)
? 1897-1898,studied in Columbia University,
and got his PH.D.(Cattel)
? 1912,became Chairman of APA.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? Thorndike called the association between sense
impressions and impulses to action a bond or a
connection,This marked the first formal attempt to
link sensory events to behavior,Earlier brands of
associationism attempted to show how ideas
became linked together; thus Thorndike's
approach is quite different and can be regarded as
the first modern theme of learning,His emphasis
on the functional aspects of behavior is due mainly
to the influence of Darwin,In fact,Thorndyke's
theory can be understood as a combination of
associationism,Darwinism,and the methods of
science.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Thorndike's concern was not only for stimulus
conditions and tendencies to action but also for
what held the stimulus and response together,
He believed they were connected by a neural
bond,His theory is called connectionism,the
connection referred to being the neural
connection between stimuli (S) and responses
(R).
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? Experimental foundation:puzzle box
? a small confining box with a pole sticking up in the
middle or a chain hanging from its top,Pushing
against the pole or pulling on the chain enabled the
animal to escape,Some arrangements,however,
required the animal to engage in a complex series of
responses before it could escape,Different responses
were called for at different times in Thorndike's
experiments,but the idea was always the same--the
animal had to perform in a certain way before it was
allowed to leave the box,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.2 Major theoretical notions
? ﹡ Learning is incremental,not insightful
? Learning occurs in very small systematic steps
rather than in huge jumps.
? ﹡ Learning is not mediated by ideas
? Learning is direct and is not mediated by thinking
or reasoning.
? ﹡ all mammals learn in the same manner
? Learning of all mammals,including human,
followed the same laws,No special processes need to
be postulated when one is attempting to explain
human learning.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of readiness
? (1) When a conduction unit is ready to conduct,
conduction by it is satisfying.
? (2) For a conduction unit ready to conduct,not
to conduct is annoying.
? (3) When a conduction unit is not ready for
conduction and is forced to conduct,conduction
by it is annoying.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of exercise(learning by doing and
forget by not doing)
? (1) Law of use,connections between a stimulus
and a response are strengthened as they are
used.
? (2) Law of disuse,connections between
situations and responses are weaken when
practice is discontinued or if the neural bond is
not used.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of effect
? It refers to the strengthening or weakening of a
connection between S and R as the
consequences of the response,If a response is
followed by a satisfying state of affairs,the
strength of the connection is increased,If it is
followed by an annoying state of affairs,the
strength is decreased.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? ※ The law of effect
? The law of effect is a historical break
from traditional associationistic theory
that claims frequency of occurrence or
mere contiguity to be the determiners of
the strength of an association,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Multiple response(varied reaction),if the first
response does not solve the problem,one try
other responses,
? Set or attitude:refers to the temporal states
such as deprivation,fatigue,or various
emotional conditions,An animal’s drive state,
to a large extent,determine what’s satisfying
and what’s annoying to it.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Prepotency of elements:,the partial or
piecemeal activity of a situation”,It
refers to the fact that only some elements
of any situation will govern behavior.It
was concluded that one respond
selectively to aspects of the environment.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Response by analogy:deals with how one
respond to a new situation,One respond by
analogy,which means one respond to to it as he
would to a related situation that we had
encountered before,This is his famous identical
elements theory of transfer of training.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.3 Ideas before 1930
? Secondary concepts before 1930
? Associative shifting:closely related to identical
elements theory,It begins with a connection between
a certain situation and a certain response,Then,one
gradually drops stimulus elements that are part of
the original situation and adds stimulus elements that
are not part of the original situation,As long as there
are enough elements from the original situation in the
the new situation,the same response will be given,
? E.g,abcde---X,abcef---X,abcfg---X,abcfgh---X,
abjhi---X,-------,fghij---X
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Revised law of exercise,the idea that mere
repetition strengthened a connection was found
inaccurate,He discarded the entire law of
exercise after 1930.
? Revised law of effect,reinforcement increases
the strength of a connection,whereas
punishment does nothing to the strength of a
connection.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Belongingness,If the elements of an
association somehow belonged together,
the association between them was learned
and retained more readily than if the
elements did not belong together.
? In 1932,an experiment by him confirmed
the hypothesis.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Alfred Dukes and his sister
worked sadly,Edward Davis
and his brother argued rarely,
Francis Bragg and his cousin
played hard,Barney Croft
and his father watched
earnestly,Lincoln Blake and
uncle listened gladly,Jackson
Craig and his son struggled
often,Charlotte Dean and
her friend studied easily,
Mary Borah and her
companion complained dully,
Norman Foster and his
mother bought much,Alice
Hanson and her teacher came
yesterday,
? 1,What word came next after rarely?
? 2,What word came next after
Lincoln?
? 3.What word came next after gladly?
? 4,What word came next after dully?
? 5,What word came next after Mary?
? 6,What word came next after
earnestly?
? 7,What word came next after
Norman Foster and his mother?
? 8,What word came next after and
his son struggles often?
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? The results showed that the average number of
correct associations from the end of one
sentence to the beginning of the next was 2.75,
whereas the average number of correct
associations between the first and second word
combination was 21.50,Clearly,something is
operating here beyond mere continuity,
Thorndike called belongingness,that is,
subjects and verbs belong together more than
the last word in one sentence and the first in
another,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.4 Ideas after 1930
? Spread of effect,a satisfying state of affairs
not only increased the probability of
recurrence of the response that led to the
satisfying state of affairs but also increased
the probability of recurrence of the
responses surrounding the reinforced one,In
other words,a satisfying state of affairs
apparently spread from the reinforced
response to neighboring responses.
? Experiment:
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? Spread of effect:
? Experiment,catnap-1,debate-2,dazzle-3,… …
? If the subjects responded to word with a number
that the experiment had previously chosen to go with
the word,the experiment said,right”,otherwise,he
would say,wrong”.
? Two important results:
? (1） reinforcement(“right”)strongly increased the
probability of the same number being repeated the
next time the stimulus word was given.
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? Spread of effect:
? (2) the numbers that preceded and
followed a reinforced number also
increased in probability of recurring,
even though they were not themselves
reinforced.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.5 Thorndike on education
? A close relation between the knowledge of the
learning process and teaching practices.
? Seven rules formulated for the teaching of arithmetic,
they represent his advice for teaching in general:
? (1) consider the situation the pupil faces.
? (2)consider the response you wish to connect with it.
? (3) form the bond,don’t expect it to come by a
miracle.
? (4)other things being equal,form no bond that will
have to be broken,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.5 Thorndike on education
? (5)other things being equal,don’t form two or
three bonds when one will serve.
? (6) other things being equal,form bonds in the
way that they are required later to act.
? (7) favor,therefore,the situations which life
itself will offer,and the responses which life
itself will demand,
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndike’s theory
? Contribution
? ＊ His pioneering work provided a distinct
alternative for conceptualizing learning and
behavior and differed from earlier approaches,
? ＊ discovered and developed trial-error learning
and transfer of learning.
? ＊ first observed the consequences of behavior,e.g,
Law of effect.
?,Man’s power to change himself,that is,to learn,
is perhaps the most impressive thing about
him.”(Thordike,1931)
Thorndyke’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndyke’s theory
? criticism
? ＊ reducing human learning to automatic reactions to
the environment destroys human values.
? ＊ his definition of satisfier is circular:if the response
probability increased,it was said to be due to the
presence of a satisfying state of affairs; if it did not
increase,it was claimed that no satisfier was present,
Such an explanation did not allow for a test of the
theory because the same event(probability)was used
to detect both learning and satisfying state of affairs,
Thorndike’s Connectionism
? 4.1.6 Evaluation of Thorndike’s theory
? Criticism
? ＊ the third criticism concerned with learning
mechanism,Thorndike believed learning to be
an automatic function of a satisfying state of
affairs,not the result of any conscious
mechanism such as thinking or reasoning,
Similarly,the intentions and strategies of the
learner were considered nonessential.
Questions
? 1,Do you agree with Thorndike’s contention
the same laws of learning apply to both human
and nonhuman animals?why?
? 2,What,according to Thorndike,provides
humans with their greatest hope for the future?
? 3,Describe how you would reduce the
probability of a child being fearful of a new
situation,such as a new baby-sitter,using the
procedure of associative shifting.
