Edward L. Thorndike's research with cats demonstrated that behavior changes because of its consequences. Favorable consequences lead to the behavior being repeated, while unfavorable consequences make the behavior less likely. Thorndike referred to this as:

law of effect

Explanation:

Thorndike referred to this as the law of effect. In simple terms, Thorndike explains that if a certain stimulus/behavior has a favorable consequence, the subject will want to repeat this behavior. If it continues to have a favorable consequence then the subject will continue to repeat this behavior until it becomes a continuous pattern. The opposite applies to behaviors that have unfavorable consequences, the subject in question will associate the unfavorable consequence with the behavior and cease performing the behavior. The worse the consequence, the faster the subject will stop the behavior.