2. Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you will be able
to:
• identify the primary laws of learning
postulated by Edward Thorndike;
• describe how behaviors are learned
according to Thorndike's laws of
learning,
• and provide teaching implications of
Thorndike's laws of learning.
3. THINK
• Edward L. Thorndike (1874-
1949) was prominent
because of his laws of
learning, primarily under
the umbrella of
associationism or
connectionism (Mayer,
2003).
• It is mainly concerned with the connection
between the stimulus and response (S-R).
4. THINK
• According to Karadut (2012),
Thorndike is one of the few
psychologists who focused on
education.
• In proving his findings, Thorndike
used an experimental approach in
measuring a student's academic
achievement.
5. • Thorndike believed that forming
associations or connections between
sensory experiences and neural impulses
results in the prime type of learning.
THINK
• The neural impulses, called responses, are
behaviorally manifested. He believed that
learning often occurs by trial and error
(selecting and connecting).
6. Laws of Learning
Thorndike's basic ideas
rest in the laws of
exercise and effect.
• Firstly, the Law of
Exercise is divided
into two parts: the
law of use and the
law of disuse.
7. -The law of use means that the
frequent recurring of the response to a
stimulus strengthens their connection.
-Meanwhile, the law of disuse means
that when a response is not made to a
stimulus, the connection's strength is
weakened or even forgotten.
8. • Drills are vital to acquire and sustain
learning. In the very words of
Thorndike (1913), bonds between
stimuli and responses are
strengthened through being
exercised frequently, recently, and
"vigorously."
• Learners usually learn faster when
they often apply a certain skill (e.g.,
spelling new terms) and tend to
forget when such a response does
not recur over some time (Karadut,
2012).
9. • Thorndike later revised the
Law of Exercise. He confessed
that by merely practicing, one
does not bring improvement in
learning. Practicing, according
to Thorndike, is not sufficient.
• Hence, the constant practice
must be followed by some
reward or satisfaction to the
learner.
• In short, the pupil must be
motivated to learn.
10. Secondly, The Law of Effect
• Meanwhile, emphasizes that if a response is
followed by a "satisfying" state of affairs,
the S-R connection is strengthened; if a
response is followed by an "annoying" state
of affairs, the S-R connection is weakened.
• Thus, Thorndike posited that satisfiers
and annoyers are critical to learning.
11.
12. The third law of learning also has something to do
with boosting human motivation. The law of
readiness states that if one is prepared to act, to do
so is rewarding, and not to do so is punishing.
• In short, before
learning commences,
one must be physically,
emotionally, mentally,
and psychologically
prepared.
13. • This law is illustrated when a
learner knows the answer to a
particular question, thus
raising his or her hand.
• Calling him or her to recite is
rewarding.
• However, when the teacher
calls on a student who does
not know the answer may be
annoying on his or her part,
thus weakening the bond of
stimulus and response.
14. • When students are ready to
learn a particular action (in
terms of developmental level or
prior skill acquisition), then
behaviors that foster this
learning will be rewarding.
• Meanwhile, when students are
not ready to learn or do not
possess prerequisite skills, then
attempting to learn is punishing
and even becomes a waste of
time.
17. Thorndike also observed that the first thing
learned has the strongest S-R bond and is almost
inerasable.
He calls this as the Law of Primacy.
It implies that learning a concept or
skill again is more difficult than the
first time one has learned it.
18. • This explains why teachers correct
students who have misconceptions in a
new lesson.
• The application part in a lesson plan or
daily lesson log is strategically situated
before generalizing a concept so that
teachers can detect the
misunderstandings of the students in a
certain lesson.
19. When the misconception is not corrected for the
first time, that may lead to habit formation. In
English Language Teaching, a recurring mistake
among learners is called fossilization (Demirezen
& Topal, 2015).
Relearning the correct concept later will be confusing
to the students or even time-consuming. Hence, the
first (prime) learning experience should be as
functional, as precise, and as positive as possible so
that it paves the way to the more comfortable learning
experiences to follow.
20. This teaching principle is primarily rooted in
Thorndike's Law of Intensity.
• Thorndike believed that exciting,
immediate, or even dramatic learning
within the real context of the students
would tremendously facilitate learning.
• Hence, the Law of Intensity implies that
exposing the students in real- world
applications of the skills and concepts
makes them most likely to remember the
experience.
21. The current K to 12 curriculum of the
country immerses senior high school
students to a short-time real- world
application called "on-the-job training" or
OJT.
They receive a foretaste of how the skills
and concepts they learn in class are applied
in the real workplace. In that sense, the
learning experience becomes more intense
and will most likely be remembered.
22. The concepts or skills most recently learned are
least forgotten. This is the gist of the Law of
Recency. Thus, when learners are isolated in
time from learning a new concept, the more
difficult it is for them to remember.
For instance, in a foreign language class (e.g.,
French), it is easier to recall and recite those
which are learned minutes ago than those
which were taught the other month.
23. • This implies that teachers should facilitate
learning by providing the learners with a
clear connection between the previous and
the current learning experience.
• Letting the students mention or apply the
formerly learned skill or concept in the
new learning experience may refresh their
memory, thus the higher the probability of
forgetting.
24. • Thorndike also mentioned that humans
tend to show an almost similar
response to an entirely different
stimulus if, on recurring instances, that
stimulus has slight changes compared
to the previously known one.
• Thorndike coins this as the Principle of
Associative Shifting.
25. For example, to teach pupils to add a
three-digit number, teachers let them
master the adding of a one-digit
number first. As they solve increasing
numbers, pupils will tend to associate
the response to the previously paired
S-R.
26. Thorndike noted that
teacher should,
form habits, do not expect
them to create themselves
beware of
forming a habit
that must be
broken later
Introduce a skill
when it will
most fully
facilitate
learning which
will follow
shortly.
identify a skill it is most
suited in difficulty to the
ability of the learner
Do not form two or more
habits when one will do as
well
27. • The transfer occurs when the contexts of
learning have identical elements and call
for similar responses.
• Thorndike called it as generalization
(Thorndike, 1913). This implies that not
only skills should be taught in one isolated
topic, but also that other related subjects
or topics should provide opportunities for
the students to apply them.
