TRANSFER OF RESPONSE IN THE WHITE RAT 65 



of the two controlling or dominant stimuli after the response 

 to one has been learned. While in practically every case 

 considerable disturbance was produced at the introduc- 

 tion of the new stimulus along with the old, yet the presence 

 of the old helped in every case in learning the new. In no 

 case did it require more than eight series w4th the old and 

 new together to perfect the response to the new. In one 

 case, pain to light, it required only two series. 



Would it be too much of a hazard to hypothesize thus. — 

 Variations in stimuli allow of positive or advantageous 

 transfer effects, while variations in response, an aspect of 

 the problem which has not been tested in these experi- 

 ments, produce negative effects?* Of course in any case 

 where training of any sort has gone on in any general situa- 

 tion, the general familiarity with the situation will soon 

 give a freedom from emotional disturbance and a general 

 food seeking reaction. Both of these will tend to be carried 

 over to later responses to the same general situation. These 

 may offset any negative effects produced by a simple change 

 in the response, unless, as was done with the experiments 

 reported in this paper, the animals were first made per- 

 fectly familiar with the apparatus and with the ways back 

 to the food box before any experimenting proper began, 

 so that these factors were made as nearly equal in influence 

 as possible. 



These experiments are not to be regarded, nor are they 

 regarded by the writer, as offering a final or complete solu- 

 tion of the problem of transfer. They are to be taken as 

 offered — a very simple and humble beginning of the solu- 

 tion of that very complex problem. Our results have made 

 clear that advantageous or positive transfer can and does 

 take place in situations the most simple and have shown 

 some of the conditions favoring such transfer. As the* 

 situations studied grow more complex it must be remem- 

 bered that the conditions at work in these simpler situations 

 may still account for many of the results obtained. On the 

 other hand, however, with the introduction of many vary- 

 ing factors, both subjective and objective, the results for 

 the simpler conditions may not hold at all. 



* Note: Bearing on this suggestion, see 



Hunter, Joitr. Animal Behav., Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 49-65, 



Pearce, Jour. Animal Behav., Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 169-177. 



