Edwin lynn thorndike (1874–1949) was born in Williamsburg, a small town in western Massachusetts. after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan university, he went to harvard university to study...

Edwin lynn thorndike (1874–1949) was born in Williamsburg, a small town in western Massachusetts. after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan university, he went to harvard university to study psychology under William James, but was forced to transfer to columbia university because of fi nancial diffi culties. in the newly-formed psychology department at columbia, he studied under James McKeen cattell, one of the most infl uential early american psychologists. for his research, he studied problem solving in animals, using a series of puzzle-like tasks (e.g., confi ning a cat in a box, from which it could release itself by pressing against a lever). his dissertation, published in 1898, had the rather cognitive-sounding title, Animal Intelligence. thorndike is probably best known today for his ‘law of effect’, which foreshadowed skinner’s concept of reinforcement as a description of the role of consequences in learning. from 1899 he taught at teachers college at columbia, where he wrote prolifi cally on education as well as psychology. he died in new york at the age of 75.