Trial and Error Principle: A Method of Learning?

Content

• Definition: How does the trial and error principle work?
• Possible uses: Multiple opportunities through trial and error
• Advantages: That’s why it’s worth trying
• You learn a lot
• You are faster
• They rule out wrong things
• You create innovations
• Tips: This is how the trial and error principle works
• Allow mistakes
• Set criteria
• Just start
• Adjust the trials
• Record the results

A well-known saying goes: Try makes you smart. In practice, however, only a few use it Trial and error principle. Instead, people think back and forth forever until a single path has been chosen that is ultimately implemented. It's a shame, because a lot can be learned with the trial and error principle. Many just don't dare to do it because error and failure have a bad reputation. Wrongly! This is how trial and error works and how you can use it to learn and find solutions ...

Definition: How does the trial and error principle work?

The trial and error principle was originally introduced by Herbert S. Jennings and Oliver W. Holmes at the beginning of the 20th century. Initially used in biology, it was called in English Trial and error known methods adapted in different areas.

The American behaviorist Edward Lee Thorndike coined the trial and error principle in conditioning, as a form of Learning method and solution development.

The method is very simple: To solve a problem, be numerous attempts (Trials) carried out in which the achievement of goals is monitored and measured. If an attempt does not bring the desired result, it is dismissed as an error. These steps are carried out with new alternatives until an attempt is successful and the desired goal is achieved.

There is a basic idea behind the principle: People learn from mistakes. By actively trying out and finding out what doesn't work, we constantly learn and move closer to the goal. Every experience we have contains a learning effect for the future that leads to better decisions, actions and results.

Every person goes through a very practical example of the trial and error principle in their early years. This is exactly how children learn to walk. Go, fall, get up, start running again ... Small children don't make a plan beforehand and think about the best course of action. It will be tried until it works. Trial and error in its purest form.

Possible uses: Multiple opportunities through trial and error

The principle of trial and error is admittedly not for every occasion suitable. In an exam, for example, it is not welcome if you first make ten unsuccessful attempts before it finally works. This only marginally reduces the areas of application, because in many areas you can use the motto Try makes you smart learn a lot.

For example, on the job, endless time is spent in meetings where everything theoretically remains. Strategies are devised, refined, adapted and expanded, sometimes over weeks. Countless hours of work are lost before the first real action takes place. Whether it really works will still be seen afterwards.

On the trial and error principle, the same time could be used Countless variants played through and tried out become. Whenever there are different paths to choose from or a clear idea is missing, you can try your hand at the solution.

To clarify, a little metaphor: Imagine solving a puzzle. You have already put some pieces together, now you are missing exactly one piece of the puzzle in the middle. Now you can forever analyze how exactly the piece you are looking for looks. Big or small Rounded or straight? On which side does the part need a nose, on which side a groove?

Or you can use the principle of trial and error try the remaining parts in turn until you find the right one.

Advantages: That’s why it’s worth trying

There are different ways of learning and problem solving. Why should you choose the trial and error principle? The method delivers several good reasons and advantages:

• You learn a lot

  With every single attempt you will learn more. You expand your wealth of experience and can fall back on it in the future. Where other methods only go one way and only draw knowledge from this, much more is learned through trial and error.

  
  

• You are faster

  The above puzzle metaphor already shows: By trying out you can get the desired result faster than by endless analysis, which in the end remains theoretical. This advantage is particularly effective when the number of alternatives is not too large and the implementation of the individual options does not take much time.

• They rule out wrong things

  Learning and finding solutions mostly focuses on the desired result. It is forgotten that it is equally desirable to rule out wrong practices. In this way you know immediately what you can do without when you take action later and no longer have to deal with unnecessary things that have been proven not to work.

• You create innovations

  If you don't try anything, you end up only doing what has always been done. True innovation, on the other hand, comes through trial and error. New ideas have to be implemented and tested in order to improve them - or to discard them again.

  
  

Tips: This is how the trial and error principle works

The implementation of the trial and error principle is basically simple, but there are a few things you should keep in mind. With the following tips you can use the method in the best possible way and achieve the expected results.

• Allow mistakes

  Without the right attitude, trial and error is impossible. You have to be willing to make mistakes and try things that don't work. Failure is not a flaw; it is a necessary step. Don't be afraid of making a mistake, see it as an opportunity. Only by making mistakes can you learn and get closer to the desired result.

• Set criteria

  In order to assess whether an attempt is successful or whether it has been declared to be an error, clear and comprehensible criteria are required. Before you begin, you should determine how you want to measure success. These parameters must remain the same for all experiments. You should also determine when the goal is considered to be achieved - i.e. when an attempt will produce the desired results.

• Just start

  Sounds like a strange tip, but it's an important part of the trial and error principle. Chance plays a role here, sometimes you try something at random and suddenly find yourself faced with the solution.

• Adjust the trials

  Trial and error does not mean that you immediately and completely discard every approach if it does not lead 100 percent to the goal. You don't have to start from scratch every time you try. Learn from the mistakes and use the knowledge gained. Make minor changes to the previous attempts and adjust your actions.

• Record the results

  In order to benefit in the long term from the knowledge you have gained through trial and error, you should record it. This is particularly advisable at work so as not to have the same discussions the next time or to repeat attempts that have already been identified as errors.