JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR 



Vol. 5 JULY-AUGUST 1915 No. 4 



THE INFLUENCE OF DIVERTING STIMULI 

 DURING DELAYED REACTION IN DOGS 



ARTHUR C. WALTON 



From the Zoological Laboratory oj Northwestern University 



INTRODUCTION 



The experiments recorded below were undertaken to deter- 

 mine the effect of various diverting stimuli applied during 

 ' Delayed Reaction " in Dogs. The diverting conditions were 

 either employed in connection with the primary stimulus, or 

 were interposed during the delay period. While the diverting 

 conditions disturbed the " Orientation Clues " to which Hunter 

 (13) has attached much importance, at the same time they may 

 be used to determine the power of the dog to retain the original 

 stimulus under complex conditions, resembling those which pre- 

 vail in natural behavior. 



The observations were carried on during the year 1913-14, 

 at the Zoological Laboratory of Northwestern University under 

 the direction of Dr. E. H. Harper, to whom the writer expresses 

 his thanks for assistance, suggestion and criticism of the 

 manuscript. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE DOGS: THEIR TRAITS AND 

 NATURAL CAPACITIES 



The dogs were brother and sister of a litter of four, the re- 

 sults of mating an English bulldog and a Scotch Collie mother. 

 Both had the brown coats and white vests of shaggy hair that 

 is characteristic of the Collie, and the male was a collie in build, 

 while the female had the short bowed legs of the bulldog. The 

 female was fawning and easily diverted. Her attention was 

 mainly towards the experimenters, and rarely towards the pro- 



