Carr and Watson, Orientation in the White Rat. 43 



been given, the animal often struck the wall at a point slightly 

 further on between Q' and the corner Q. It seemed that the 

 attempted turn was a resultant of two impulses, one to turn at 

 Of and the other to go on to Q at the end of the extended alley. 

 Failure to find the opening at Qf often caused the rat to stop and 

 go back in the maze for a new start, or to go ahead slowly until it 

 stumbled upon the opening. In later trials, the animals ran 

 rapidly past 0,' without stopping or hesitating, but a deflection 

 of an inch or two toward Q' could be noted; the same behavior 

 was noted as the animals passed the crucial cul-de-sacs. In 

 spite of these various disturbances, /. e., hesitations, entering the 

 cul-de-sacs, running into the w^all and partial returns over the 

 true pathw^ay, it is a noteworthy fact that very rarely was the con- 

 fusion so great that the animals ran into any cul-de-sac other than 

 the three crucial ones. 



No differences between the behavior of the normal animals and 

 that of the blind rat could be detected. 



The results of these two experiments, combined w4th those 

 reported in the previous paper, form rather conclusive proof of the 

 contention as to the fundamental importance of the kinaesthetic 

 factor in the rat's adjustment to the maze. 



CONCLUSION. 



In concluding this paper, it may be well to reformulate our 

 contention even at the expense of repetition, by contrasting the 

 habits of the rats in the maze with the habits of human beings 

 in a similar environment. 



Human beings can form habits of the type we have been dis- 

 cussing (kinaesthetic-motor) w^hich may become absolutely auto- 

 matic. When this latter stage has been reached the "movement 

 to come" is released at the proper time by the afferent (kinaes- 

 thetic) impulses aroused by the movement which has just been 

 made. So far, these statements apply alike to the behavior of rat 

 and man. 



When an automatic series of movements in man is disturbed, the 

 "movement to come" can no longer be released by the afferent 

 impulses arising from the movement just effected. Visual, audi- 

 tory or tactual impulses (cues) are then utilized, /. e., the adjust- 

 ment becomes, e. g., momentarily visual-motor. A few move- 



