Concept:The trial and error theory of learning was proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike, based on his experiments with animals.
Explanation:Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a puzzle cage with food outside. The cat made random movements, and by chance, pressed a lever that opened the door. Over repeated trials, the cat gradually eliminated useless actions and learned to press the lever directly. This showed that learning happens through random attempts and error reduction, not sudden insight or conditioning. Thorndike called this the “Law of Trial and Error.”
He also formulated three primary laws of learning from this theory:
-
Law of Exercise: Repetition strengthens learning; practice and drills help retention.
-
Law of Readiness: A learner must be mentally and physically prepared to learn effectively.
-
Law of Effect: Responses that lead to satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated; rewards and reinforcement improve learning.
Other psychologists proposed different theories: Pavlov gave classical conditioning, Kohler proposed insight learning, and Gestalt psychologists focused on perception. But it was Thorndike who formally introduced trial and error learning.
Answer:C. Thorndike