Edward Thorndike | |
|---|---|
 Thorndike in 1912 | |
| Born | Edward Lee Thorndike August 31, 1874 |
| Died | August 9, 1949 (aged 74) Montrose, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Psychologist |
| Known for | Father of educational psychology Law of effect Behavior modification |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Moulton (m. 1900) |
| Children | 4, including Frances |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Wesleyan University (BS) Harvard University (MA) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Doctoral advisor | James McKeen Cattell |
| Other advisors | William James |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Columbia University |
| Doctoral students | Walter V. Bingham William S. Gray Alan S. Kaufman Laurance F. Shaffer Knight Dunlap Truman Lee Kelley Percival Symonds Leta Stetter Hollingworth Irving Lorge Tsuruko Haraguchi |
Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 – August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to his "theory of connectionism" and helped lay the scientific foundation for educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems, such as employee exams and testing.
Thorndike was a member of the board of the Psychological Corporation and served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1912.[1][2] A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Thorndike as the ninth-most cited psychologist of the 20th century.[3] Edward Thorndike had a powerful impact on reinforcement theory and behavior analysis, providing the basic framework for empirical laws in behavior psychology with his law of effect. Through his contributions to the behavioral psychology field came his major impacts on education, where the law of effect has great influence in the classroom.
- ^ Saettler, 2004, pp. 52–56
- ^ Zimmerman, Barry J.; Schunk, Dale H. (2003), Educational Psychology: A Century of Contributions, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, ISBN 978-0-8058-3682-0
- ^ Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Renee; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.; Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan; et al. (2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General Psychology. 6 (2): 139–152. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.586.1913. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139. S2CID 145668721.