SOURCE: An introduction to Selected Writings From A Connectionist's Psychology, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1949, pp. 1-11.

In the following introduction to Selected Writings from a Connectionist's Psychology, Thorndike provides an autobiographical account of his life and work.

I have no memory of having heard or seen the word psychology until in my junior year at Wesleyan University (1893-1894), when I took a required course in it. The textbook, Sully's Psychology, aroused no notable interest, nor did the excellent lectures of Professor A. C. Armstrong, though I appreciated and enjoyed the dignity and clarity of his presentation and admired his skill in discrimination and argument. These discriminations and arguments stimulated me very little, however, and this was later true also of the writings of Ward and Stout. There is evidently some lack in my equipment which makes me intolerant of critical studies unless fortified by new facts or decorated by a...