this going work but how is a new skill learned that was a question which began to Fascinate Thorn to answer it he built some ingenious puzzle boxes from which Cats Could Only Escape by operating latches and in you go the cat appears to be very clever in engineering its ES AP solving the problem with a deftly placed paw and a push of its nose but Thorndike didn't believe that an animal even a clever cat understands the consequences of Its Behavior we go when he plays cat in the puzzle box for the first time Thorndike was unable to see any evidence of flashes of insight the successful actions appeared first by chance he proved that the apparent cleverness arose by trial and error and used graphs to measure the rate of learning a well practiced cat quickly recalls the actions that help it escape to its reward of food if an action brings a reward Thorndike believed that that action becomes stamped into the mind in his thesis he explained further his ideas about learning that behavior changes because of its consequences he called this his law of effect which explained how even wild creatures develop new habits