Thorndike, Skinner, and Hull work with Functionalistic Theories

There were a lot of psychologists and sociologists who studied human behavior with the aim of helping man to learn and grow into a more desirable being . These people believed that behavior can be altered and /or modified to produce more pleasing outcomes and they had formulated several theories and arguments supporting their beliefs

Edward Lee Thorndike proposed the Simple Learning Theory . He conducted controlled experiments on animals and observed their simple learned responses . Thorndike showed how a specific response occurred and recurred followed by a stimuli called a satisfier . Based on

these studies , he formulated the the law of effect . This included the concept of trial and error ' as well as the law of exercise ' - more commonly referred to as practice makes perfect (Pear , 2007

Furthermore , Thorndike 's reports focused on how animal studies were viewed as more than a mere source of basic information but as a basis for discovering general principles of learning as well . Unlike most scientists , Thorndike explored deeper on the animal behavior and eventually called it intelligent . The principles that Thorndike ventured were further studied and were eventually used widely in the education community

Burrhus Frederic Skinner authored the theory on operant conditioning . It stated the role that the environment played in controlling human behavior . He also developed his ideas through his experimentation on animal behavior . He conducted several experiments to observe how behavior is learned ' after the doer is given a reward and how a behavior is omitted ' after the doer is...