THE FORMATION OF HABITS AT HIGH SPEED 169 



canals, or to inequalities in the right and left swimming muscula- 

 ture, or the neuro-muscular coordinations, or to a combination 

 of these possible factors. Any one of them, or any combination, 

 except of course a compensatory one, might be responsible for the 

 fact that some animals naturally turn to the right, others to the 

 left. 



The determination of the true basis of this behavior would be 

 very difficult because the repetition of the tests that bring it 

 forth leads to the formation of a habit. That such becomes es- 

 tablished, is, I think, sufficiently clear from the diagrams, as well 

 as from the time records beneath them. Very interesting are 

 series of which A is typical. In these, an animal, either because 

 of its structure or its habit, turns consistently in one direction, 

 in the present example, to the right. For some reason, exactly 

 the reverse course was taken, with great success, at the fifth 

 trial, and the sixth shows distinctly how this new departure com- 

 plicated the course. 



Series A illustrates a second fact, namely, that in many cases 

 the pathway in succeeding trials becomes more complex, and the 

 time consumed in escaping may increase. Nothing would be 

 further from the truth than the conclusion that increase in either 

 the complexity of the path or in the length of time, indicates 

 progressive stupidity. The conditions of the experiments are 

 such that a property analogous to cool-headedness in man, is 

 at a premium. In many instances the animals became increasingly 

 nervous, and lost their heads. 



In problems w r hose solution can be effected, provided the ani- 

 mal has enough time and makes sufficient movements, this com- 

 plication does not enter, but more than mere activity is necessary 

 in a crisis. Animals which by luck or otherwise succeed early, 

 behave much as they would in the face of "slow" problems; 

 but animals that fail, or succeed only with difficulty, quickly be- 

 come so handicapped by fear, and the useless activity charac- 

 teristic of that state, that they fail more completely or succeed 

 with much greater difficulty in later trials than they would in 

 corresponding trials under more favorable conditions. While 

 the experience of the tank brings out forcibly innate differences 

 in the capacity to do the right thing quickly under stress, it is 



