CONNECTIONISMEdward L. Thorndike (1874-1949)

Teo Woon Chun

2 PISMP TESL/PM (SJKC) 2016

EDUP3033 LEARNING AND THE LEARNER

WHO IS HE?• Edward L. Thorndike

• A prominent U.S. psychologist

• He received Thorndike Award

which is the highest honour

given by the Division of

Educational Psychology of the

APA.

HE BELIEVED THAT THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL TYPE OF LEARNING INVOLVES …

(Schunk, 2012)

The forming of associations (connections)

Sensory experiences

(perceptions of stimuli or events)

Neural impulses (responses)

SO, FROM THE VIDEO WHICH YOU HAVE WATCHED A MOMENT AGO…

1. Which item stands for the stimulus?

2. How does the stimulus affect the individual’s

response?

TRIAL-AND-ERROR LEARNING

Selecting and Connecting

SUMMARY

A cat is placed in a cage.

The cat can open an escape cape hatch.

The cat eventually escapes by one of the

random responses that opens the hatch.

The cat is put back into the cage again.

Over trials, the cat reaches the goal

quicker and makes fewer errors.

A typical plot of results is plotted.

LAWS OF EXERCISE AND EFFECT

Law of Exercise

The Law of Use The Law of Disuse

A response to a

stimulus strengthens

their connections.

When a response is not

made to a stimulus, the

connection’s strength is

weakened (forgotten).

STIMULUS RESPONSE

The Stimulus-Response (S-R) bond will be

strengthened if an individual practises a skill for

many times. On the other hand, S-R bond will

become weakened if s/he does not practise it.

CONNECTIONISM

LAW OF EFFECT DEFINITION

When a modifiable connection between a situation and a response is made and is

accompanied or followed by a satisfying state of affairs, that connection’s strength is increased.

When made and accompanied or followed by an annoying state of affairs, its strength is decreased.

(Thorndike, 1913b, p.4)

CONNECTIONISM

LAW OF EFFECT UNDERSTANDING CONCEPT

• Emphasise the consequences of behaviour

• Responses resulting in satisfying (rewarding) consequences

are learned; responses producing annoying (punishing)

consequences are not learned.

FOR EXAMPLE…

IF I …

The S-R bond between the studying and good grades is

strengthened.

IF I …

The S-R bond between not studying and good grades is

weakened.

OTHER PRINCIPLES

LAW OF READINESS

• When one is prepared (ready) to act, to do so is rewarding

and not to do so is punishing.

• When students are ready to learn a particular action (in

terms of developmental level or prior skill acquisition), then

behaviours that foster this learning will be rewarding.

When students are not ready to learn or do not possess

prerequisite skills, then attempting to learn is punishing

and a waste of time.

EXAMPLES

Situation Outcome

AReady to act,

with help and guidanceGood

BReady to act,

but s/he is asked to stopBad

CNot ready to act yet,

but s/he is forced to do that soBad

ASSOCIATIVE SHIFTING

• Refers to a situation in which responses made to a

particular stimulus eventually are made to an entirely

different stimulus of, on repeated trials, there are small

changes in the nature of the stimulus.

• E.g. To teach students to divide two-digit number into a

four-digit number, we first teach them to divide a one-digit

number into another and then gradually add more digits to

the divisor and dividend.

TRANSFER (GENERALISATION)

•Strengthening or weakening of one connection

produces a similar change in another

connection.

•Transfer occurs when situations have identical

elements and call for similar responses.

TRANSFER (GENERALISATION)

• Practice or training in a skill in a specific context did not

improve one’s ability to execute that skill generally.

• E.g. Training on estimating the area of rectangles does not

advance learners’ ability to estimate the areas of triangles,

circles, and irregular figures.

IMPLICATIONS OF THORNDIKE’S THEORY IN

TEACHING AND LEARNING

LAW OF READINESS

Teacher should prepare the facilities required for students before starting a topic or teaching and learning activity.

LAW OF EXERCISE

In order to ensure the lesson goes smoothly, a variety of evaluation to apply the knowledge learnt should be done more frequent to enhance learning.

LAW OF EFFECT

Teacher should prepare a learning environment which the opportunities of experiencing success for students exist.

Praise… Gifts… Rewards…

On the other hand, advice should be given for students who are mischievous.

Thorndike’s Revision to His Theory

LAW OF EXERCISE

• Throndike discarded the Law of Exercise when he found that simple repetition of a situation does not necessarily “stamp in” responses.

• Repetition of a situation may not increase the future likelihood of the same response occurring.

LAW OF EFFECT

• Research showed that rewards strengthened connections,but punishment did not necessarily weaken them.Instead, connections are weakened when alternativeconnections are strengthened.

• Reward improved learning, but punishment did notdiminish the probability of that response occurring to thatstimulus word.

LAW OF EFFECT (cont.)

• Punishment suppresses responses, but they arenot forgotten.

• Punishment is not an effective means ofalternating behaviour because it does not teachstudents correct behaviours but rather informthem what not to do.

REFERENCE

Campbell, M. (2014, November 4). Thorndike’s law of effect [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uo40enXBKE

Jenningh. (2007, November 11). Thorndike-puzzle box [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDujDOLre-8

Managa, K. (2015, July 19). Connectionism law of effect [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34BulWeqUo4

MrCookiedMilk’s channel (2011, December 2). Thorndike puzzle box-Psychology experiment [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-g2OmRXb0g

Noriati A. Rashid, Boon, P. Y., Sharifah Fakhriah Syed Ahmad (2009). Muriddan

alam belajar. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn Bhd.

Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th

ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.