Carr and Watson, Orientation in the White Rat. 35 



familiar to some extent, and the rat acts as it has been accus- 

 tomed to in order to get started correctly, /. e., drifts back toward 

 0. Such a conception, however, leaves much to be explained. 



The general statement that the situation is not entirely novel 

 during the period of exploration and that the behavior of the rats 

 is influenced as a result, is also supported by the fact that few 

 errors are made, /. e., errors in the sense of running into cul-de- 

 sacs during the period of exploration. Of the 84 trials, errors 

 occurred in but eight. Four of these errors were made by one 

 rat. Such a percentage of errors is possible in running the maze 

 normally. In four cases, the error occurred after the orientation 

 had apparently been secured. But two chances for error were 

 offered in those parts of the maze traversed during the period of 

 exploration. In 55 of the trials, the rats passed by one of these 

 openings leading into a cul-de-sac before securing orientation; 

 and they often passed by the same opening several times in the 

 same trial. Yet out of these numerous possibilities, only four 

 cases of error of this kind occurred. The exploring movements 

 are thus confined almost exclusively to the true pathway. 



On the average, the rats turned around 2.5 corners in each 

 trial before being able to pick up the cue; in other words, they 

 explored fully or in part three alleys per trial before becoming 

 oriented. Their explorations averaged a distance of 12.6 feet 

 per trial. Inside the alleys, they changed the direction of explora- 

 tion 1.3 times per trial. In only ten trials out of the 84 was the 

 exploration confined to the alley in which they w^ere placed and 

 in these cases the distance traversed averaged 2.8 feet per trial, 

 while the direction of movement was changed at least once. In 

 57 cases out of the 84, they went outside of the alley into which 

 they were introduced before becoming oriented. Immediate 

 orientation apparently occurred in seventeen trials. It is extremely 

 doubtful whether several of these are legitimate cases of immediate 

 orientation. A rat may by chance run forward toward the food- 

 box, W, and become oriented gradually. In four of these cases, 

 the rat went forward to the food-box, but ran hesitantly, made 

 stops, or entered some of the cul-de-sacs. It was our policy to 

 record under the heading of immediate orientation every case that 

 could possibly be interpreted in that manner. As may be seen, 

 these four trials are exceedingly questionable. In four other 

 cases the rats turned around several times in the alley before 



