. Adventures with animals and plants. Biology. PROBLEM 3. Behavior m Complex performed with a large variety of ani- mals. Chickens have been frequently used and rats perhaps most often. Even earthworms have been experimented with. Boxes have been constructed with a maze, a confusing network of paths, only one of which leads to food at the end. Animals have been put into such a maze and observations made of their attempts to reach food. The first success was accidental. With repetition an ani- mal will learn to find its way in a shorter and shorter time. In one experiment the following figures
. Adventures with animals and plants. Biology. PROBLEM 3. Behavior m Complex performed with a large variety of ani- mals. Chickens have been frequently used and rats perhaps most often. Even earthworms have been experimented with. Boxes have been constructed with a maze, a confusing network of paths, only one of which leads to food at the end. Animals have been put into such a maze and observations made of their attempts to reach food. The first success was accidental. With repetition an ani- mal will learn to find its way in a shorter and shorter time. In one experiment the following figures were obtained. On the first attempt it took a rat 28 minutes, the next time 11, then 12, 4, 4^, 5, 5, 2^, 2i, 2, and so on until after about the thir- tieth time it ran through its maze to the exit in less than half a minute. Between the tenth and thirtieth performances there were again several slight ups and downs; on the seventeenth try, for in- stance, it took the rat 3 minutes, but on the whole the rat made better and bet- ter scores. The rat was learning. Experi- menting with rats in a simple maze is not difficult. Professor Thorndike observed the be- havior of cats, not in a maze, but in a "puzzle ; This is a box made of slats too close together for the cat to squeeze through and closed with a door which can be opened from the inside by means of a lever. A hungry cat was placed in- side. Food was placed outside the door. After trying to get through the bars the cat moved about and clawed the sides until by accident it pressed on the lever (trial and error). The first time it took 160 seconds. On successive trials these scores in seconds were made: 40, 85, 22, 32, 10, 21, 12, 12, 18, 12, 10, 8, II, 8, and 8. Animals 291. Fig. 273 Professor E. L. Thorndike tested chicks in this maze. At first the chicks fluttered about wildly and ran back and forth until they got out. After many trials the chicks learned to find the correct exit with ahnost no errors. (thorndi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookpublisherbostondcheath, booksubjectbiology
