FACTORS IN LEARNING BY WHITE RATS 



339 



Figure I, a schematic maze with ten blind alleys, will make 

 the results clear as recorded. The reader should keep the rule 

 in mind and follow the rat through in detail. It will then be 

 clear why a returning animal emerging from a blind alley gets 

 F for a t and a second F for an immediately succeeding h, and 

 vice versa. 



Numbering and lettering the sections of the maze as shown 

 in the figure, we may tabulate the choices of our hypothetical 

 rat at the several bifurcations in a convenient manner for close 

 inspection (Table I). The data of the first trial, already given 

 on the previous page, are here tabulated as " trial 1." The 

 other trials were made in the manner already described. The 



Fig. 1. — A schematic maze to show the lettering and numbering of the different 

 sections. Numbers indicate blind alleys. 



four trials are sufficient to illustrate the point in mind, and the 

 method of analysis to be applied to results of actual rats learn- 

 ing the maze. In the table the letters Fd and Rt in the second 

 column, under the caption " direction," show whether the animal 

 was running forward or whether it was returning when the scores 

 in the line in question were made. Thus the record starts with 

 the animal passing cut de sac 1 and entering 2. That is, the 

 first choice is B, the section of the correct path, the next is the 

 second blind alley; then the forward direction is taken on emerg- 

 ence from 2, and 3 is entered; again the forward direction, and 

 4 is entered. From this point the animal makes a complete 

 return, entering 3 and 2, but not 1 on the way; and so on. The 

 summary of results of the individual trials and the general 

 summary of the four trials show separately, for each lettered 

 section of the maze, the total runs for each direction — Fd and 

 Rt. In the case of the blind alley sections these two sets of 

 totals, for forward and return runs, are combined, since the 

 animal traversed those units in the same direction whether the 

 blind allev was entered on a forward or on a return movement. 



