276 The Dancing Mouse 



that no special attention has been given to the matter. In 

 docility the males usually appeared to be superior to the 

 females. This was especially noticeable early in my visual 

 discrimination tests. The males almost invariably acquired 

 a perfect habit quicker than the females. I may cite the 

 following typical instances. Number 14 acquired the black- 

 white habit with 40 tests; No. 13, with 60 (Table 10, p. 109). 

 Of the five pairs of individuals whose records in white-black 

 training appear in Table 43, not one contradicts the statement 

 which has just been made. It is to be noted, however, that 

 under certain conditions of training, for example, 20 tests per 

 day, the female is at an advantage. Recently I have with 

 increasing frequency obtained measures of docility which 

 apparently favor the female. That this difference in the 

 results is due to a difference in age is probable. 



In labyrinth tests the female is as much superior to the 

 male as the male is to the female in discrimination tests. 

 From the tables of Chapter XIII I may take a few averages 

 to indicate the quantitative nature of this difference. A de- 

 gree of proficiency in labyrinth B attained by the males after 

 7.0 trials was equaled by the females after 6.2 trials. In 

 labyrinth C the males acquired a habit as a result of 18.7 

 trials ; the females, as a result of 13.8. And similarly in laby- 

 rinth D, 6.1 trials did no more for the males than 5.9 did for 

 the females. 



That at the age of about one month the male dancer should 

 be able to acquire a visual discrimination habit more rapidly 

 than the female, whereas the female can acquire a labyrinth 

 habit more readily than the male, suggests an important 

 difference in the nature of their equipment for habit forma- 

 tion. One might hazard the suggestion that the male de- 

 pends more largely upon discrimination of external condi- 

 tions, whereas the female depends to a greater extent than 



