EXPERIMENTS - LEARNING: LAW OF EFFECT

Question 1

Who came up with the law of effect and in what year

Answer 1

Edward Thorndike (1898)

Question 2

Explain what the law of effect is

Answer 2

States that that behaviours with satisfying outcomes are more likely to happen again, while those with unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to reoccur.

Question 3

Describe at least one example of the law of effect

Answer 3

If you study and get a good grade on a test, you will be more likely to study for the next one.

Question 4

What was Thorndike’s aim

Answer 4

Aimed to test his Law of Effect by putting cats inside of puzzle boxes to study how they learn.

Question 5

What were the law of effect methods

Answer 5

• Cats were put inside a “puzzle box” that contained a small lever that, when pressed, would allow the animal to escape.
• Thorndike would place a piece of meat outside the box and would record how long each animal took to figure out how to free itself from the box.
• Eventually, the cats would press the lever, and the door would open so that the animal could receive the reward.

Question 6

What were the law of effect results

Answer 6

• Even though first pressing the lever occurred simply by accident through trial and error, the cats became likely to repeat it because they had received a reward immediately after performing the action.
• Thorndike noted that with each trial, the cats became much faster at opening the door.
• Because pressing the lever had led to a favourable outcome, the cats were much more likely to perform the behaviour again in the future.

Question 7

In therapeutic settings, psychologists and other mental health professionals often use reinforcement to

Answer 7

Encourage positive behaviors and discourage undesirable ones

Question 8

What were the Criticisms of Thorndike

Answer 8

• He was also known for holding sexist, racist, and antisemitic views, so his ideas of ”desirable” and “undesirable” traits and behaviours were likely skewed.