How People Learn:
Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School
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BOX 1.1
A Cat's Learning
"When put into the box, the cat would show evident signs of discomfort
and impulse to escape from confinement. It tries to squeeze through any
opening; it claws and bites at the wire; it thrusts its paws out through
any opening and claws at everything it reaches. . . . It does not pay
very much attention to the food outside but seems simply to strive
instinctively to escape from confinement. . . . The cat that is clawing
all over the box in her impulsive struggle will probably claw the string
or loop or button so as to open the door. And gradually all the other
unsuccessful impulses will be stamped out and the particular impulse
leading to the successful act will be stamped in by the resulting
pleasure, until, after many trials, the cat will, when put in the box,
immediately claw the button or loop in a definite way" (Thorndike,
1913:13).
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