PSYCHOLOGIST

Edward Thorndike

1874 - 1949

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Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 – August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to his "theory of connectionism" and helped lay the scientific foundation for educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems, such as employee exams and testing. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Edward Thorndike has received more than 1,242,974 page views. His biography is available in 53 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 50 in 2019). Edward Thorndike is the 22nd most popular psychologist (down from 20th in 2019), the 270th most popular biography from United States (down from 206th in 2019) and the 7th most popular American Psychologist.

Edward Thorndike is most famous for his work on learning theory and the law of effect. His theory of learning is based on the idea that learning is a process of trial and error. The law of effect states that responses that are followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated in the future.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 70.09

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 53

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.43

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.92

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PSYCHOLOGISTS

Among psychologists, Edward Thorndike ranks 22 out of 235. Before him are Albert Bandura, John B. Watson, Kurt Lewin, Daniel Kahneman, Irvin D. Yalom, and Wilhelm Reich. After him are B. F. Skinner, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, Gustav Fechner, Karen Horney, and Alfred Binet.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1874, Edward Thorndike ranks 12. Before him are Herbert Hoover, Howard Carter, Chaim Weizmann, Ernst Cassirer, Johannes Stark, and Max Scheler. After him are Gertrude Stein, Alexander Kolchak, António Egas Moniz, Carl Bosch, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and Sunjong of Korea. Among people deceased in 1949, Edward Thorndike ranks 7. Before him are Maurice Maeterlinck, Richard Strauss, George Gurdjieff, Sigrid Undset, Georgi Dimitrov, and Hassan al-Banna. After him are Margaret Mitchell, Friedrich Bergius, James Ensor, Charles Ponzi, Klaus Mann, and Kim Jong-suk.

Others Born in 1874

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Others Deceased in 1949

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Edward Thorndike ranks 270 out of 20,380. Before him are Gene Hackman (1930), James Brown (1933), Jesse Owens (1913), 50 Cent (1975), James A. Garfield (1831), and Robert F. Kennedy (1925). After him are Brian Wilson (1942), Robert Duvall (1931), Susan Sarandon (1946), Leonardo DiCaprio (1974), Gloria Stuart (1910), and Chuck Berry (1926).

Others born in United States

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Among PSYCHOLOGISTS In United States

Among psychologists born in United States, Edward Thorndike ranks 7. Before him are Abraham Maslow (1908), John Dewey (1859), William James (1842), Carl Rogers (1902), John B. Watson (1878), and Irvin D. Yalom (1931). After him are B. F. Skinner (1904), Howard Gardner (1943), Gordon Allport (1897), Paul Ekman (1934), Jerome Bruner (1915), and Lawrence Kohlberg (1927).

American born Psychologists

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