ORIENTATION IN THE WHITE RAT. 



BY 



HARVEY CARR AND JOHN B. WATSON 



(From the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Chicago.) 

 With One Figure. 



In a previous paper^ the present writers advanced the conclu- 

 sion that kinaesthetic and organic data play the fundamental role 

 in the reactions of the white rat to the maze. This conclusion 

 was reached by eliminating the other senses singly or in groups. 

 It was not denied that the rat may occasionally use the data from 

 these other senses or that it could use them if the occasion de- 

 manded. The present experiments attempt to supplement this 

 conclusion. In them, conditions were imposed upon the rat which 

 would tend to bring the kinaesthetic factor into strong rehef if, 

 as assumed, it does possess fundamental importance in the deter- 

 mination of conduct within the maze. Two experiments were 

 made: (i) After learning the maze, starting always from 0, the 

 rats were placed in the positions^ marked Xi, Xo, x^, in the true path- 

 way headed in either the right or the wrong direction and their 

 method of obtaining orientation under these novel conditions was 

 observed. The conclusion mentioned above was then theoret- 

 ically discussed in the light of the new facts thus obtained, to see 

 if difficulties and contradictions appear. (2) After the reactions 

 to the maze became automatic, certain of the runways were either 

 shortened or lengthened. The disturbing effect of these altera- 

 tions upon the rats' conduct and their methods of learning to adjust 

 themselves to the new conditions were observed. The two experi- 

 ments will be discussed in order. 



EXPERIMENT I. 

 THE EFFECT OF STARTING THE RAT AT DIFFERENT POSITIONS. 



When the trained rat is put down in the maze at unfamiliar 

 starting points, several possibilities of conduct are open to it: 



1 Watson, J. B., Psychological Review, Monograph Supplement, vol. 8, no. 2, 1907. 



2 See cut of maze, p. 28. A similar but unsatisfactory test was reported in the previous paper. Seep. 

 81, loc. cit. 



