EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 



17 



is probable that the second solution is the correct one. We can, there- 

 fore, say that the interference as shown in this experiment was not a 

 transitory thing, being evident for only one or two trials after its 

 application, but instead, it exerted an influence over a number of 

 trials and prevented the animals from attaining the same degree of 

 proficiency that they had previously shown in a similar task. How- 

 ever, if the interference test had been continued it is possible that 

 the curve would have reached as low a record as that given by the 

 initial learning test. 



TABLE IV 



COMPLETE RECORDS OF A FAMILY CONSISTING MOSTLY OF YELLOW INDIVIDUALS 

 IN THE MAZE TEST 



TABLE V 



COMPLETE RECORDS OF A SMALL FAMILY SHOWING GOOD RECORDS IN THE MAZE 



TEST 



It is interesting to note that Hunter and Yarbrough found that 

 interference occurred between an old habit and the formation of a 

 new one, in their study of the auditory habits in the white rat. 9 The 

 following is quoted from their results: "Habit interference occurs 

 in the white rat between a first habit and the formation of the second 

 one." "Interference is most marked between the end of the per- 

 fected habit and the beginning of the new habit." "Habit inter- 

 ference may serve greatly to slow up the formation of a new habit. ' ' 

 The results of this investigation agree, in the main, with the state- 

 ments that have just been quoted, but, although the interference 

 effect caused a sharp rise in the time curve, and the interference was 



9 Walter S. Hunter and Jas. N. Yarbrough, ' ' The Interference of Auditory 

 Habits in the White Rat," The Journal of Animal Behavior, Vol. 7, No. 1. 



