Describe the early versions of Thorndike’s two laws of learning and discuss how and why he revised his theory later in his career.
What will be an ideal response?
Thorndike created the law of exercise and the law of effect to explain learning. The
law of exercise had two parts: the law of use and the law of disuse. According to the
law of use, the more often an association (neural connection) is practiced, the stronger
it becomes. According to the law of disuse, the longer an association remains unused,
the weaker it becomes. According to the law of effect, reinforcement strengthens
behavior whereas punishment weakens it. However, later in his career, Thorndike
abandoned the law of exercise since practice alone did not strengthen an association
and the passage of time alone did nothing to weaken it. In addition, he discarded half
of the law of effect because he found that reinforcement is effective in modifying
behavior but punishment is not.
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