[4] Guthrie was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to a father who owned a store selling pianos and bicycles, and a mother who was a school teacher.

He remarked that his theories got an early start when he and a friend read Darwin's Origin of Species and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals while they were both in eighth grade.

[citation needed] Guthrie graduated at the age of 17, after writing a senior thesis that argued that religion and science were trivial to the expression of Absolute Truth.

[5] Guthrie received the title of lay reader in his local Episcopal Church while pursuing a philosophy degree from the University of Nebraska.

"[5] While Guthrie was going to graduate school, he was the only student in a seminary taught by Wilhelm Wundt's protégé Harry Kirke Wolfe, where they debated the philosophy of science.

[8] Guthrie admitted that his own theory required the assumption that people react to a given situation the same way so long as it is still effective.

[9] These notes focused upon the following three principles:[10] Guthrie also had theories as to how punishment worked that were at odds with the likes of Thorndike and other learning theorists of his own time.

His theories on learning were wrong, but his ideas about behaviorism helped make the case that psychology as a whole had important applications to real-life issues.

In the preface of his book Educational Psychology (1950), he states, " … the ultimate test of a theory of learning is its influence on the all-round growth of young people when applied in the classroom.

[12] Guthrie described that an effective teacher would be one that would modify and revise the content of their lessons because students are dynamic in their learning and are "constantly organizing and reorganizing experiences.

In Educational Psychology (1950), he asserted that effective study skills included a clear goal, mastery of fundamentals, knowledge of learning phenomena, concentration, and practice.

[15] Similarly, Guthrie advocated for making clear objectives for student learning by connecting the target response to the educational stimulus.