The law of effect, also known as Thorndike's law, is a psychological principle first proposed in 1898 describing how behavior changes according to its consequences. It states that responses producing a satisfying effect in a given situation become more likely to recur in that situation, while responses producing a discomforting effect become less likely to recur, a principle that became foundational to later behaviorist accounts of learning and reinforcement.
Facts
Core ClaimResponses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation. 1 FAQs
Why do modern accounts say reinforcing and punishing instead of satisfying and discomforting?
The terms were replaced when operant conditioning became known, because satisfaction cannot be reliably predicted across animals.
Edward Thorndike worded the law of effect in 1898 in terms of satisfying and discomforting effects. Those terms were eventually replaced by reinforcing and punishing when operant conditioning became known. One stated reason is that satisfying and dissatisfying conditions are determined through behavior and cannot be reliably predicted, since each animal may interpret them differently. Reinforcing means a consequence makes a behavior more likely to occur again, and punishing means it makes the behavior less likely.
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Source Wikipedia: Law of effect
In Approach
Source Wikipedia: Law of effect
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1. Wikipedia: Law of effect
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first sentence naming Thorndike and 1898
The law of effect, or Thorndike's law, is a psychology principle advanced by Edward Thorndike in 1898
Lead section, sentence defining satisfying and discomforting effects
responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation.
In Approach: Behaviourism, Lead paragraph
The law of effect, or Thorndike's law, is a psychology principle advanced by Edward Thorndike in 1898 on the matter of behavioral conditioning (not then formulated as such) which states that "responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation." Th
Developed By: Edward Thorndike, Lead section
The law of effect, or Thorndike's law, is a psychology principle advanced by Edward Thorndike in 1898 on the matter of behavioral conditioning (not then formulated as such) which states that "responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in tha
In Group: Conditioning and Behavior Analysis Theories, intro of the article
The law of effect, or Thorndike's law, is a psychology principle advanced by Edward Thorndike in 1898 on the matter of behavioral conditioning (not then formulated as such) which states that "responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that
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