ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 1 3 



No. II. 7-8 months. 



No. 12. 4-6 months. 



No. 13. 18-19 months. 



The behavior of all but 11 and 13 was practically the same. 

 When put into the box the cat would show evident signs of dis- 

 comfort and of an impulse to escape from confinement. It 

 tries to squeeze through any opening ; it claws and bites at the 

 bars or wire ; it thrusts its paws out through any opening and 

 claws at everything it reaches ; it continues its efforts when it 

 strikes anything loose and shaky ; it may claw at things within 

 the box. It does not pay very much attention to the food out- 

 side, but seems simply to strive instinctively to escape from con- 

 finement. The vigor with which it struggles is extraordinary. 

 For eight or ten minutes it will claw and bite and squeeze in- 

 cessantly. With 13, an old cat, and 11, an uncommonly slug- 

 gish cat, the behavior was different. They did not struggle 

 vigorously or continually. On some occasions they did not 

 even struggle at all. It was therefore necessary to let them out 

 of some box a few times, feeding them each time. After they 

 thus associate climbing out of the box with getting food, they 

 will try to get out whenever put in. They do not, even then, 

 struggle so vigorously or get so excited as the rest. In either 

 case, whether the impulse to struggle be due to an instinctive 

 reaction to confinement or to an association, it is likely to suc- 

 ceed in letting the cat out of the box. The cat that is claw- 

 ing all over the box in her impulsive struggle will probably 

 claw the string or loop or button so as to open the door. And 

 gradually all the other non-successful impulses will be stamped 

 out and the particular impulse leading to the successful act will 

 be stamped in by the resulting pleasure, until, after man}- trials, 

 the cat will, when put in the box, immediately claw the button 

 or loop in a definite way. 



The starting point for the formation of any association 

 in these cases, then, is the set of instinctive activities which are 

 aroused when a cat feels discomfort in the box either because 

 of confinement or a desire for food. This discomfort, plus the 

 sense-impression of a surrounding, confining wall, expresses it- 

 self prior to any experience, in squeezings, clawings, bitings. 



