Study for the Nightingale Psychology Exam with our quiz. Get ready with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Boost your psychology knowledge!

Multiple Choice

Thorndike's law of effect proposed?

Consequences shape behavior. Thorndike proposed that a response followed by a satisfying result becomes more likely to occur again, while a response followed by an unpleasant outcome becomes less likely. This idea captures how learning happens through trial and error, as shown in his puzzle-box experiments with cats discovering which actions lead to food. It underpins operant conditioning by emphasizing that outcomes influence future actions. The other statements don’t fit because one claims punishment is the only force strengthening behavior, which ignores the reinforcing power of satisfying consequences; another points to observational learning, which is associated with later theories, not Thorndike; and another suggests behavior is random and unaffected by outcomes, which contradicts the evidence of consequence-driven learning.

Consequences shape behavior. Thorndike proposed that a response followed by a satisfying result becomes more likely to occur again, while a response followed by an unpleasant outcome becomes less likely. This idea captures how learning happens through trial and error, as shown in his puzzle-box experiments with cats discovering which actions lead to food. It underpins operant conditioning by emphasizing that outcomes influence future actions. The other statements don’t fit because one claims punishment is the only force strengthening behavior, which ignores the reinforcing power of satisfying consequences; another points to observational learning, which is associated with later theories, not Thorndike; and another suggests behavior is random and unaffected by outcomes, which contradicts the evidence of consequence-driven learning.