Revered as a pioneer in the field of psychology, Edward Thorndike's research laid the foundation for modern behaviorism. His groundbreaking experiments on learning and intelligence reshaped our understanding of human cognition, earning him recognition as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century.

"On the whole, the psychological work of the last quarter of the nineteenth century emphasized the study of consciousness to the neglect of the total life of intellect and character."



"The dog, on the other hand, has few or no ideas because his brain acts in coarse fashion and because there are few connections with each single process."



"The restriction of studies of human intellect and character to studies of conscious states was not without influence on a scientific studies of animal psychology."



"It will, of course, be understood that directly or indirectly, soon or late, every advance in the sciences of human nature will contribute to our success in controlling human nature and changing it to the advantage of the common weal."



"Dogs get lost hundreds of times and no one ever notices it or sends an account of it to a scientific magazine."



"From the lowest animals of which we can affirm intelligence up to man this type of intellect is found."



"For origin and development of human faculty we must look to these processes of association in lower animals."



"To the intelligent man with an interest in human nature it must often appear strange that so much of the energy of the scientific world has been spent on the study of the body and so little on the study of the mind."



"The un-conscious distortion of the facts is almost harmless compared to the unconscious neglect of an animal's mental life until it verges on the unusual and marvelous."



"Just as the science and art of agriculture depend upon chemistry and botany, so the art of education depends upon physiology and psychology."



"The function of intellect is to provide a means of modifying our reactions to the circumstances of life, so that we may secure pleasure, the symptom of welfare."



"Human folk are as a matter of fact eager to find intelligence in animals."



"This growth in the number, speed of formation, permanence, delicacy and complexity of associations possible for an animal reaches its acme in the case of man."



"The intellectual evolution of the race consists in an increase in the number, delicacy, complexity, permanence and speed of formation of such associations."



"The real difference between a man's scientific judgments about himself and the judgment of others about him is he has added sources of knowledge."

