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--- learning_theories:connectionism [2011/02/28 12:34]
jpetrovic [What is the practical meaning of connectivism?]
+++ learning_theories:connectionism [2011/02/28 13:36]
jpetrovic [Bibliography]
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 [[http://historyofpsych.blogspot.com/2010/01/american-behaviorism.html|{{  images:thorndikes_cat.jpg|Thorndike's cat experiment. Image borrowed from: History of Psychology: American Behaviorism. Click on the picture to follow the link.  }}]]
-At the very end of 19th century Thorndike performed experiments first on chickens and later on cats and dogs. In one experiment he placed a hungry cat inside a //puzzle box//, which had a mechanism that would open the doors of the box every time a string would be pulled or a button pushed. Behavior which resulted in opening the doors was slowly increased as the cat after each successful attempt to open the door needed a bit less time to repeat the same action after being put back into the box. Based on this experiment Thorndike concluded that learning is **incremental** and **not insightful**, since it occurred only through //trial and error// forming of associations between situation and response, where correct response was achieved through repetition of trial and error. Established connections or knowledge, according to Thorndike also cause and determine intelligence.
+At the very end of 19th century Thorndike performed experiments first on chickens and later on cats and dogs. In one experiment he placed a hungry cat inside a //puzzle box//, which had a mechanism that would open the doors of the box every time a string would be pulled or a button pushed. Behavior which resulted in opening the doors was slowly increased as the cat after each successful attempt to open the door needed a bit less time to repeat the same action after being put back into the box. Based on this experiment Thorndike concluded that learning is **incremental** and **not [[:glossary#insightful_learning|insightful]]**, since the learning of the correct response occurred only through repetition //trial and error// forming of associations between situation and response. Established connections or knowledge, according to Thorndike also cause and determine intelligence.
-To explain observed properties of learning, Thorndike introduced three laws of learning. The first law is the **//law of exercise or use or frequency//**, which states that **stimulus-response** (S-R) **associations** are **strengthened through repetition** or weakened through lack of repetition. His second law, **//law of effect//**, states that the consequence or **outcome** of a situation-response event **can strengthen or weaken** the **connection** between situation and response. If an event is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the connection will be strengthened and vice versa. The third law, **//law of readiness//**, which claims learning is facilitated by learner's readiness (emotional and motivational) to learn. This potential to learn leads to frustration if not satisfied.
+To explain observed properties of learning, Thorndike introduced three laws of learning. The first law is the **//law of exercise//** (also referred to //as law of use// or //law of frequency//), which states that **stimulus-response** (S-R) **associations** are **strengthened through repetition** or weakened through lack of repetition. His second law, **//law of effect//**, states that the consequence or **outcome** of a situation-response event **can strengthen or weaken** the **connection** between situation and response. If an event is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the connection will be strengthened and vice versa. The third law, **//law of readiness//**, which claims learning is facilitated by learner's readiness (emotional and motivational) to learn. This potential to learn leads to frustration if not satisfied.
 Thorndike later changed some of his views admitting that he was wrong and that negative reinforcement (punishment) does not really lead to any kind of learning. This had great influence on educational process helping to end the practice of punishing the students for incorrect answers. This laws have set the **basic principles** of **behaviorist stimulus-response** views on **learning**.
 Another point of Thorndike's interest in the first two decades of 20th century was the **[[:glossary#transfer|transfer of practice]]**, later often referred to as //transfer of learning//. Idea of transfer of practice is to generalize the knowledge or skills and apply them for another problem. Thorndike performed experimental studies by which he showed knowledge transfer is specific rather then general and will not occur unless learned problem and given problem share many characteristics. This was the opposite of what school systems mostly suggested at the time, that some school subjects like Latin language and mathematics improve student's mind in general (//doctrine of formal discipline//).
-In his book on learning of mathematics((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), Thorndike suggested problems children are expected to solve and learn from should be realistic. He also emphasizes importance of **repetition** and insists on repetitive practice of basic arithmetic operations. Some of the principles in this book even seem inconsistent with his views on learning: here he refers to learning as meaningful and insightful. Well-learned basic skills enable learning of higher-order skills.
 Guided by the principle that "//whatever exists at all exists in some amount//"((Thorndike, Edward L. Individual differences. Psychological bulletin. 1918.))Thorndike has introduced a number of tests of knowledge and intelligence. His //CAVD// (completion, arithmetic, vocabulary and directions) test set the major principles and standards of modern intelligence tests.
 ===== What is the practical meaning of connectivism? =====
-Connectionism was at its time considered a general theory of learning for both humans and animals. Thorndike's ideas which could well be applied for learning are the idea that rewards promote learning and that repetition enhances learning. An example of Thorndike's meaningful learning is learning to multiply by three should be learned in context of converting feet to yards.
+Connectionism was at its time considered a general theory of learning for both humans and animals. Thorndike's ideas which could well be applied for learning are the idea that rewards promote learning and that repetition enhances learning.
-Thorndike tried to apply this to learning **mathematics**((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), **spelling and reading** ((Thorndike, E. The Teacher's Word Book. New York: Teachers College. 1921.)), measurement of **intelligence** ((Thorndike, E. at al. The Measurement of Intelligence. New York: Teachers College Press. 1927.)) and adult learning ((Thorndike, E. et al. Adult Learning. New York: Macmillan. 1928. )) mostly through his laws of learning. Thorndike was one of the pioneers of **active learning**, proposing children should learn by themselves rather than being thought.
+In his book on learning of mathematics((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), Thorndike suggested problems children are expected to solve and learn from should be realistic. For example learning to multiply by three should be learned in context of converting feet to yards. He also emphasizes importance of **repetition** and insists on repetitive practice of basic arithmetic operations. Some of the principles in this book even seem inconsistent with his views on learning: here he refers to learning as meaningful and insightful. Well-learned basic skills enable learning of higher-order skills.
+Thorndike tried to apply this to learning **mathematics**((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), **spelling and reading** ((Thorndike, E. The Teacher's Word Book. New York: Teachers College. 1921.)), measurement of **intelligence** ((Thorndike, E. at al. The Measurement of Intelligence. New York: Teachers College Press. 1927.)) and adult learning ((Thorndike, E. et al. Adult Learning. New York: Macmillan. 1928. )) mostly through his laws of learning. He was one of the pioneers of **active learning**, proposing children should learn by themselves rather than being thought.
 ===== Keywords and most important names =====
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 [[http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm|Reinemeyer, E. Edward Lee Thorndike. Muskingum University. May 1999.]]
-[[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.86.7504&rep=rep1&type=pdf|Medler, David A. A Brief History of Connectionism. Neural Computing Surveys, 1(2), p18-72. 1998.]]
 Zimmerman, Barry J. and Schunk, Dale H. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.

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