Edward Lee Thorndike Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Edward Lee Thorndike - Essay Example His work has had a major contribution of the education system in America. He studied in several institutions and universities including Wesleyan University, The Roxbury Latin School, and Harvard University. Edward became interested in the department of psychology due to his love for books. Among the book that boosted home was ‘Principles of Psychology by William James. While at Harvard he studied under James care. This motivated his studies on psychology hence came up with his research on ‘mind reading(Lefrancois 24). He continued with his research and until he was later invited to study at Columbia University. This made him not complete his education at Wesleyan University. While at Columbia, he was motivated by James Cattell who helped him in his animal research. He also got involved in other experiments about human and animal behavior. His interest in the department together with continued researches helped him come up with theories supporting human and animal behavior. He continued with his passion for psychology until he was awarded a doctorate in 1898 on ‘Animal Intelligence. He used cats, dogs and chicks to support his thesis. Upon completing his education, he worked at Case Western Reserve University for a short period before becoming a psychology professor at Columbia University in the teachers College department. His has major contributions to education but most notably is from his theories and experimental studies on behaviors. Many students in the American society has been embraced his contribution to psychology by recognizing that he was among the main contributors and founding father of psychology. He is known to have written some of the best psychology books in history. Throughout his entire work history, Edward was a functionalist thinker and joined others who included John Dewey, Harvey Carr and James Rowland. In 1912, he was appointed as the American Psychological Associations president.