Learning Theory
Guthrie established his learning theory with Stevenson Smith, who worked with him at the University of Washington (Smith & Guthrie, 1920). Guthrie’s main principle for his theory of learning was contiguity (Contiguity Theory, 2005). He defined contiguity as, “A combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement on its reoccurrence tend to be followed by that movement” (Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2001). Guthrie’s one trial learning theory states that in the first instance of a stimulus situation a person makes a complete association. The theory predicts you will respond to the stimulus the same way that worked previously. G
He stressed that movement-produced stimuli is a sensation produced by the movements themselves in maintaining sequential responding. He referred to stimuli and movements as a combination (Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2001). He believed that there is a difference between movements and acts. A movement is learned and a small part of a behavior, while an act is a bunch of movements that makes up a skill (Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology, 2008).
Guthrie studied with George P. Horton using puzzle boxes to demonstrate his learning theory. They put cats in the puzzle boxes and observed the cats escape behaviors. A post or tube released the front door of the puzzle box to allow the cats to escape. Their goal of the experiment was to demonstrate one-trial learning. He believed this could be shown by a stereotyping of behavior. When the cat escaped from the box it should be able to remember the last thing it did to be able to perform the escape again (Thorne & Henley, 2005). Guthrie and Horton found significant evidence for stereotyping behavior. They reported that in each trial the cats made one association, a trial/escape. This is different from Edward Thorndike’s cat experiment findings. Thorndike believed a learning curve took place with each trial as the association increased between the stimulus and the successful response of the escape.
Read more about this topic: Edwin Ray Guthrie
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