PERSEVERANCE REACTIONS IN PRIMATES AND RODENTS 41 



The effects of previous frequency of efforts to escape by 

 alleys No. 2 and 3 are reflected in this table; these alleys were 

 evidently preferred during the first 8 habit forming trials, after 

 which there were no further efforts to escape by alley No. 3 

 and. only 2 efforts to escape by alley No. 2. Since alley No. 1 

 had been entered no more frequently than had alley No. 2 at 

 the end of the eighth habit forming trial it is likely that fre- 

 quency of advantageous response was the essential determinant 

 of the habit. One must not forget that in this case the subject 

 displayed only 18% of combined pure recency and recency- 

 frequency first choices during the 100 trials in which the factor 

 of recency always operated disadvantageously, whilst he dis- 

 played 100% recency first choices after he had been given 14 trials 

 during which this factor invariably operated advantageously. 



White Rat 5 



TABLE 12 

 Alleys Entered by White Rat 5 During 5 Habit-Forming Trials 

 1st trial— 3-3-4 

 2nd " 3-3-4 

 3rd " 3-4 

 4th " 3-4 

 5th " 3-4 



This subject. had 17 recency and 11 recency-frequency first 

 choices, which were distributed as follows: alley No. 1, 39 trials; 

 alley No. 2, 27 trials; alley No. 3, 22 trials; alley No. 4, 12 trials. 

 She entered alley No. 1 108 times, alley No. 2 157 times, alley 

 No. 3 128 times and alley No. 4 51 times. It is quite clear that 

 alley No. 4 was for her the one of least preference, both for 

 first choice and for entrances subsequent to first choice. 



The rapidity with which White Rat 5 formed the habit of 

 trying alley No. 4 first and only is striking, and affords an ex- 

 ample in which the factor of frequency merely as frequency and 

 not as frequency of advantageous response could have played 

 no important part in determining the habit. During the five 

 habit forming trials alley No. 3 was entered 7 times, whilst 

 alley No. 4 was entered but 5 times. 



White Rat 6 

 This subject had 14 pure recency and 13 recency-frequency 

 first choices, which were distributed as follows: alley No. 1, 12 



