Carr and Watson, Orientation in the White Rat. 31 



If we assume that each separate "unit" (possihly a runway) 

 of the maze affords some characteristic set of kinaesthetic impulses 

 which can be utihzed as a stimulus to secure the proper adjust- 

 ment to the succeeding unit, we might have a situation where a 

 distinctive set of kinaesthetic impulses would serve the animal for 

 control exactly like a set of distinctive visual cues, for example. 

 There are four ways in which distinctive kinaesthetic groups of 

 impulses might arise, {a) Two runways may be of unequal 

 length, {b) They may be of equal length, but occur in different 

 positions in the total series, /. e.^ they are preceded by different 

 conditions, {c) They may be alike in every respect with the 

 exception that the one is entered by a turn to the right, while the 

 other is entered by a turn to the left. In rounding a corner at a 

 high rate of speed, the body sways over to the inside, the weight 

 is thrown on one side, while the feet on the outer side are braced 

 in order to maintain equilibrium. Such differences are so gross 

 and fundamental that it is idle to deny that they possess functional 

 influence upon subsequent behavior, {d) The alleys may be 

 of the same length and be entered by the same direction of turn, but 

 present possible differences in their stimulating effect because they 

 extend in different directions. It is difficult to conceive why and 

 how this can be so, and the possibility is suggested only because 

 of certain observed facts. The successful functioning of an auto- 

 matic habit depends upon the rat's orientation in relation to car- 

 dinal positions. Change the direction of the path and the auto- 

 matic act is disturbed to some extent. The same act accom- 

 plished in two different directions is thus different in some way to 

 the animal. Thus, it is theoretically possible for the rat to adapt 

 its behavior successfully to a series of objective conditions wholly 

 in terms of the differences in kinaesthetic stimulation, which it 

 offers, without relying to any extent upon data contributed through 

 any of the distance senses. We have no intention of maintaining 

 that the rat discriminates these possible differences in kinaesthetic 

 values in any overtly conscious or intellectual manner, viz., that 

 they know "right" and "left" or cardinal directions, or that they 

 consciously evaluate in any kind of terms the length of the 

 alleys. 



If, as we have assumed, the automatic behavior of the rat in the 

 maze is governed by distinctions lying within the kinaesthetic 

 impulses themselves, we are in a position to understand the situa- 



