Human beings are accustomed to think of intellect as the power of having and controlling ideas and of ability to learn as synonymous with ability to have ideas. But learning by having ideas is really one of the rare and isolated events in nature.

He argued that "selective breeding can alter man's capacity to learn to keep sane to cherish justice or to be happy. " It was later shown[who?] that the speed of learning not the power of learning declined with age. xi).

His work on animal behavior and the learning process led to the theory of connectionism and helped lay the scientific foundation for modern educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems such as employee exams and testing. Edward Lee "Ted" Thorndike (August 31 1874 – August 9 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College Columbia University.