Editing Law of effect (section)

=== Example ===
An example is often portrayed in drug addiction. When a person uses a substance for the first time and receives a positive outcome, they are likely to repeat the behavior due to the reinforcing consequence. Over time, the person's nervous system will also develop a tolerance to the drug. Thus only by increasing dosage of the drug will provide the same satisfaction, making it dangerous for the user.<ref>{{cite book|last=Neil|first=Carlson|title=Psychology The Science Of Behaviour|year=2007|publisher=Pearson Education Canada, Inc.|location=New Jersey, USA|page=516|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

Thorndike's law of effect can be compared to Darwin's theory of [[natural selection]] in which successful organisms are more likely to prosper and survive to pass on their genes to the next generation, while the weaker, unsuccessful organisms are gradually replaced and "stamped out". It can be said that the environment selects the "fittest" behavior for a situation, stamping out any unsuccessful behaviors, in the same way it selects the "fittest" individuals of a species. In an experiment that Thorndike conducted, he placed a hungry cat inside a "puzzle box", where the animal could only escape and reach the food once it could operate the latch of the door. At first the cats would scratch and claw in order to find a way out, then by chance / accident, the cat would activate the latch to open the door. On successive trials, the behaviour of the animal would become more habitual, to a point where the animal would operate without hesitation. The occurrence of the favourable outcome, reaching the food source, only strengthens the response that it produces.

Colwill and Rescorla for example made all rats complete the goal of getting food pellets and liquid sucrose in consistent sessions on identical variable-interval schedules.<ref>{{cite book| last=Nevin |first=John|title="Analyzing Thorndike's Law of Effect: The Question of Stimulus - Response Bonds"|year=1999|publisher=Journal of the Experiment Analysis of Behaviour|page=448}}</ref>