Why did Edward L. Thorndike use puzzle boxes to study cats?

Edward L. Thorndike used puzzle boxes to study cats as part of his pioneering research into instrumental conditioning. By placing a cat inside a box from which it could only escape to obtain food by performing a specific action—such as pressing a panel, opening a catch, or pulling a string—Thorndike was able to observe and measure how the animal learned to associate a particular response with a satisfying consequence.12

Through these experiments, Thorndike tracked the speed at which the cats gained their release over successive trials. He observed that while the animals initially acted aimlessly or frantically, they eventually learned to execute the correct response efficiently. This work led to the development of Thorndike’s law of effect, which posits that the probability of a learned response is dependent on the consequences that follow it. This research was instrumental in the later development of behaviourism and B.F. Skinner's work on operant conditioning.12