THE ELIMINATION OF ERRORS IN THE MAZE 



135 



of first trials 32 showed that the animal turned through the 

 first doorway and 12 that he passed the doorway. The remain- 

 ing 12 were uncertain owing to the confusion of lines made in 

 following the movements of the rats. Thus in three-fourths of 

 the available cases the animals, without previous training, 

 turned through the doorway instead of passing it; a fact which 

 furnishes evidence for an instinctive basis for the elimination 

 of errors of type I. It is probable that this accounts for the 

 difference in time required for the elimination of the two types 

 of errors. 



Figure 2. — Tracing of path followed in one trial, showing method of counting 

 errors. Errors were made in this trial at 2, 5, 7 and 11. 



An additional difference between the types of errors, which 

 is not explained by instinctive behavior, is the order of elimina- 

 tion within the series. Among the errors of type I there is a 

 very marked reduction in the number of trials required for the 

 elimination of successive errors from the circumference to the 

 center of the maze. Nothing of the sort is apparent in errors 

 of type II. 3 Is there a retroactive association in the case of 



3 There is good reason for disregarding the two errors which are not in conformity 

 with the others, errors 10 and 11. After reaching the food at the center of th- 

 maze the rats frequently turn back and explore the inner alleys of the maze before 

 eating. These exploratory activities constitute one of the most characteristic in- 

 stinctive activities of the rat. In the home cages they are' usually not evident in 

 the scramble for food which takes place when several rats are together in a familiar 

 place, but in all relatively new situations the animals rarely begin to eat until they 

 have made a thorough exploration of their surroundings. In the maze the field of 

 exploration usually includes the food compartment, the alley /, and its doorway 

 which leads to error 10. When the rats have learned the maze they may eat as soon 

 as they reach the food, but any strange odor or startling noise may lead to a re- 



