A Compare and Contrast Classical Conditioning With Operant Conditioning
A Compare and Contrast Classical Conditioning With Operant Conditioning
A Compare and Contrast Classical Conditioning With Operant Conditioning
Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949) was a professor of American Psychology, a disciple of William James who
developed a series of laws about trial and error learning. Thorndike's theories are considered as the precursors of
American behaviorism that would find its maximum exponent in the figure of Skinner, father of operant
conditioning.
Edward Thorndike developed the first three laws of learning: readiness, exercise, and effect. He set also the
law of effect which means that any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and
any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be avoided.
Thorndike’s theory consists of three primary laws: (1) law of effect – responses to a situation which are
followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened and become habitual responses to that situation, (2)
law of readiness – a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which will result in annoyance
if blocked, and (3) law of exercise – connections become strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is
discontinued. A corollary of the law of effect was that responses that reduce the likelihood of achieving a rewarding
state (i.e., punishments, failures) will decrease in strength.
C. DIFFERENTIATE TOLMAN'S PURPOSIVE BEHAVIORISM WITH
BANDURA'S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
NEO
BEHAVIORISM
Tolman’s
Purposive Albert
Behavioris Banduras
m Learning