The law of effect as a principle of learning.

The history and present status of the law of effect.

“…In trying to evaluate the arguments for and against retroaction, one is struck by the fact that the battle has been fought largely on the plane of logic (312). There can be no doubt that rewards and punishments following responses modify these responses on the occasion of their recurrence.…”

Behavior Modification

“…Behavior modification gained popularity throughout the 1950s and 1960s as an antithesis to the prevailing psychodynamic approach to the treatment of mental illness. The earliest behaviorists were interested in manipulating the stimulusresponse connection in order to change a maladaptive behavior into an adaptive behavior (Bruck 1968), extending and elaborating upon Thorndike's "law of effect" (Waters 1934). These foundational behaviorists based these techniques on learning theories, including Pavlov's classical conditioning, Wolpe's counterconditioning, and Skinner's operant conditioning (Bruck 1968).…”

Pleasure-seeking behavior and the drive-reduction hypothesis.

“…Surveys of the history of the drivereduction view (22,28) show that the arguments of its opponents have been not only vigorous, but well diversified. Some writers, placing their trust in the principle of parsimony, have insisted that stimulus-response contiguity alone is sufficient to account for the growth of associative bonds, additional factors of decreased drive or tension being unnecessary.…”