Experimental Study of Associative Processes 107 



B answered, "I think it would be a very hard way." 



C answered, "Certainly I do." 



D answered, "I do not think I could." 



E answered, "Yes." 



Question j: "How would you teach him ? ' 



A answered, "I should tap his foot with a whip, so that 

 he would raise it, and reward him each time." 



B answered, "I should teach him by the motion of the 

 whip." 



C answered, "First teach him by pricking his leg the 

 number of times you wanted his foot lifted." 



D answered, "You put figure 2 on blackboard and touch 

 him on leg twice with cane, and so on." 



E answered ambiguously. 



It is noteworthy that even those who think they could 

 teach an animal by putting him through the trick do not 

 use that method, except at first. And what they really do 

 then is probably to stimulate the animal to the reflex act 

 of raising his hoof. The hand simply replaces the cane or 

 whip as the means of stimulus. The answers are especially 

 instructive, because the numerous counting tricks done by 

 trained horses seem, at first, to be incomprehensible, unless 

 the trainer can teach the horse by putting it through the 

 movement the proper number of times. The counting 

 tricks performed by Mascot, Professor Maguire's horse, 

 were quoted to me by a friend as incomprehensible on my 

 theory. The answers given above show how simple the 

 thing really is. All the counting-tricks of all the intelligent 

 horses depend on the fact that a horse raises his hoof when 

 a certain stimulus is given. One simple reaction gives the 

 basis for a multitude of tricks. In the same way other 

 tricks, which at first sight seem to require that the animal 

 should learn by being put through the movement, may 

 depend on some simple reflex or natural impulse. 



