Edward L. Thorndike Collection

Edward Lee Thorndike was a psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Education
* Wesleyan University (BS, 1895)
* Harvard University (MA, 1897) - Worked
with William James
* Columbia University (Ph.D., 1898) - Under
James M. Cattell

Career
* Assistant Professor of Pedagogy at Case
Western Reserve University (1898)
* Faculty at Teachers College, Columbia
University (1899-1940)
* President of American Psychological Association (1912)
* 2nd President of Psychometric Society
* President of American Association for the
Advancement of Science (1934)
* William James Lecturer, Harvard University
(1942-1943)

Major Contributions
* During his 55-year career, he published
about 500 books and articles on diverse as
learning in fish, methods of statistical
analysis and the elements of aesthetic
quality in urban life.
* Studied animal intelligence (known for his
'cats in a puzzle box' experiments on Trial
and Error)
* Applied animal to human educational
experience; he was once the leader in this
field.
* Constructed a scale to measure children's
handwriting (1910) and a table of
word-frequency in English (1944).
Edward L. Thorndike Faculty File