48 WALTER S. HUNTER 



An analysis of the behavior of the four rats when tested with 

 the large release, brings to light the following facts: Save in 

 four cases, No. 17 went in the direction in which his body was 

 pointed at the moment of release. This was true regardless of 

 his position in the box. Nos. 13 and 15 always went in the 

 direction of body orientation. Hence position was only effec- 

 tive as an aid to the retention of body orientation. During 

 the last week of the tests with this large release. No. 17 mani- 

 fested an exceedingly interesting type of behavior. He needed 

 to keep neither position nor orientation constant in order to react 

 correctly. I could find no observable body cue by which the 

 problem was solved. The first day of this particular week, 

 3 of the 10 trials were of this type, but for several days no more 

 instances were noted Then they were again in evidence until 

 the end of the work. The correct reactions made in this manner 

 never exceeded 3 per day. That I was much astonished at the 

 sudden appearance of this type of behavior in the rat goes 

 without saying. To think that at the end of eight months' 

 steady work, the animal should suddenly adopt a new mode 

 of behavior! It was not many days, however, before the accu- 

 mulated data made clear the explanation. The rat always 

 turned to its right and entered the first box that was encountered. 

 Thus the animal could be at the middle box, but with its nose 

 slightly to the right of the door to this box, and when released 

 it would whirl and go to the box on the right. In the same 

 manner, the rat might have its nose just to the right of the 

 door to the left box when the release was raised and turn and 

 enter the middle box. The behavior of rat No. 16 differed from 

 this only in the direction of turning. This rat always turned to 

 the left and entered the first box that it came to. From these 

 data, it is obvious that the animals were using motor cues to 

 guide their reactions. Their behavior was practically, if not 

 entirely, automatic. 



There is no need to detail the results obtained with the dogs 

 when the large release was used. Both animals always went up 

 close to the release in front of the lighted box and then waited 

 until released. Each followed the orientation of his head re- 

 gardless of which box was nearest. 



Among the raccoons, Jack's change of behavior was a shift 

 from the use of a non -orientation cue to a position cue. The 



