Which researcher’s work helped establish operant conditioning and proposed the law of effect, the law of readiness, and the law of exercise?

• A. Edward Thorndike
• B. B.F. Skinner
• C. John B. Watson
• D. Ivan Pavlov

Answer: (A)

Learning through consequences is the key idea here. Edward Thorndike, through his puzzle-box experiments with cats, proposed the law of effect: behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated, while those followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to recur. He also articulated the law of readiness, which says learning occurs best when the learner is prepared to act, and the law of exercise, which states that practice strengthens the connections involved. These ideas laid the groundwork for operant conditioning by showing how behavior is shaped by its consequences and by the learner’s readiness and practice. While B.F. Skinner later refined operant conditioning, the specific laws credited to Thorndike are the basis for this concept. Pavlov is associated with classical conditioning, and Watson with behaviorism that doesn’t center on these laws.