176 STELLA B. VINCENT 



learning: The experimentation which has been undertaken up 

 to this time has consisted mainly in moving the labyrinth to a 

 different base, covering the floor path with different substances, 

 interposing hurdles, and the use of anesthetics on the feet of 

 the animals. 



Opinions as to the value of the sense in such problems have 

 been based upon observation and voiced in general statements 

 like this: " The longer one observes the behavior of the dancing 

 mouse the more he comes to believe in the importance of touch 

 and motor tendencies." 3 Or the assumption was perhaps a 

 specific one and yet unsupported by any evidence, as: ' Tac- 

 tual-motor sensations furnish the essential data for the recog- 

 nition and discrimination involved in forming the special asso- 

 ciations at critical points." 4 One investigator has made appar- 

 ently contradictory statements, as : ; The indications point to 

 the fact that the rat in no way uses his cutaneous sensations 

 as a basis for 'sensing' the correct turns in the maze as distin- 

 guished from the incorrect." 5 In this case the feet of the animal 

 were anaesthetized with ethyl chloride. Reporting some experi- 

 ments with blind animals he said: ' Runs squarely down the 

 middle of the galleries, makes his turns into the various entries 

 as boldly and with as much sureness as do the normal rats. 

 The vibrissae undoubtedly play a large part (though not an 

 indispensable one) in the early reactions of these rats to the 

 maze." 6 Of normal animals he remarks: ' In all probability 

 the rat does not discriminate his turns by means of any data 

 contributed by the vibrissae." ' Vibrissae undoubtedly warn 

 him of the presence of solid objects. . . . The function of the 

 vibrissae to some extent at least may be dispensed with once 

 the path is learned." 7 These seeming contradictions, however, 

 are due to the confusion in the report of those activities involved 

 in the formation of the habit and those essential to its control 

 when established. The conclusions are those drawn from one 

 type of maze and one form of motor habit and while possibly 

 valid in this particular problem cannot be carried over to all 

 such co-ordinations. 



3 Ibid, Dancing Mouse, p. 178. 



4 Small, W. S. Mental Processes of the Rat. Amer. Jour. Psy., vol. 12, p. 237. 

 Watson, J. B. Kinaesthetic and Organic Sensations. Psy. Rev. Mon. Sup., 



vol. 8, no. 2, p. 78. 



6 Ibid, p. 58. 



7 Ibid, p. 69. 



