Edward C. Tolman
Edward C. Tolman was an influential American psychologist born on April 14, 1886, in West Newton, Massachusetts, and he passed away on November 19, 1959, in Berkeley, California. He is best known for his pioneering work in the fields of cognition and learning, challenging traditional behaviorist perspectives. Tolman earned a degree in electrochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before pursuing graduate studies at Harvard University, where he engaged with prominent psychologists and developed his theories.
His research primarily focused on how animals and humans learn by forming cognitive maps rather than relying solely on stimulus-response associations. Through experiments with rats navigating mazes, Tolman demonstrated that learning could occur without immediate reinforcement, introducing concepts such as the distinction between learning and performance and the idea of intervening variables in behavior. His seminal work, "Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men," emphasized the cognitive processes underlying learning.
Tolman's legacy extends to the development of cognitive psychology, as his research highlighted the complex mental processes involved in learning, shaping future inquiries into both human and animal behavior. His advocacy for academic freedom further underscores his commitment to the integrity of scientific inquiry.
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Subject Terms
Edward C. Tolman
- Born: April 14, 1886
- Birthplace: West Newton, Massachusetts
- Died: November 19, 1959
- Place of death: Berkeley, California
TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Cognition; learning
Tolman pioneered the study of learning and cognitive processes governing behavior.
Life
Edward C. Tolman was educated in the West Newton, Massachusetts, public school system and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1911. He entered Harvard University’s graduate program in philosophy and psychology in the fall of 1911 and spent the following summer in Germany studying with the Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka. He returned to Harvard to work with psychologists Hugo Münsterberg and Herbert S. Langfeld. Tolman earned his doctoral degree in 1915 with a dissertation on retroactive inhibition. He married Kathleen Drew on August 30, 1915. They moved to Evanston, Illinois, where Tolman taught at Northwestern University while continuing his work on human memory. In 1918, he accepted a teaching appointment at the University of California, Berkeley, where he remained for the rest of his academic career.
At Berkeley, Tolman established an animal laboratory dedicated to the study of learning. He rejected the introspectionist approach to scientific inquiry but disputed the central tenets of John B. Watson’s behaviorism. Based on a series of studies of rats in a maze, Tolman proposed that animals and humans form that represent their learning about what (sign) leads to what (significate). His place learning studies suggested that rats learn where food is rather than a series of -response (S-R) connections. His latent learning studies challenged the by showing that was unnecessary for learning. Tolman introduced the distinction between learning (knowing) and performance (doing) and originated the concept of an intervening variable to explain behavior. His work on the inheritance of maze-learning ability in rats contributed to the nascent field of behavior genetics.
Tolman presented his main ideas in Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men (1932). His theory of learning as the of expectancies set him apart from mainstream behaviorism. It drew criticism from the S-R contiguity theorist Edwin R. Guthrie for leaving the rat “buried in thought.” Tolman’s empirical work was reprinted in Collected Papers in Psychology (1951).
Tolman’s Drives Toward War (1942) explored the motivation for war through studies of animal behavior. In defense of academic freedom, he successfully fought the ultimatum issued to faculty on June 14, 1949, by the Regents of the University of California to sign California’s loyalty oath or face dismissal.
Tolman died in 1959 and left a legacy of scholarship that revealed how subjective processes might be the focus of objective scientific investigation. His work showed that learning was not simply a response to specific stimuli but involved complex cognitive functions. His work with rats who built cognitive maps to travel through mazes proved that learning did not have to occur only with the promise of a reward. Tolman’s research helped form the foundations for the field of cognitive psychology, and his techniques in using animal studies laid the groundwork for comparative psychology.
Bibliography
Bergman, Barry. "Of Rats and Men: Tolman, Behavior and Academic Freedom." Berkeley News, 13 Nov. 2014, news.berkeley.edu/2014/11/13/edward-tolman-remembered. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Bolles, Robert C. Learning Theory. 2d ed., New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979.
Carroll, David W. "The Regents Versus the Professors: Edward Tolman's Role in the California Loyalty Oath Controversy." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, vol. 48, no. 3, 2012, pp. 218–35.
Cherry, Kendra. "Biography of Edward C. Tolman." Verywell Mind, 27 July 2023, www.verywellmind.com/edward-c-tolman-biography-2795522. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Gleitman, Henry. "Edward Chace Tolman: A Life of Scientific and Social Purpose." Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, edited by Gregory Kimble and Michael Wertheimer. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1998.
Goodwin, C. James. "A-mazing Research." Monitor on Psychology, vol. 43, no. 12, 2012, p. 20.
Innis, Nancy K. "Tolman and Tryon: Early Research on the Inheritance of the Ability to Learn." American Psychologist, vol. 47, 1992, pp. 190-197.
Kahana, Michael Jacob. Foundations of Human Memory. New York: Oxford UP, 2012.
Klein, Stephen B. Learning: Principles and Applications. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2011.