^8 E. L. THORNDIKE. 



from then on repeatedly, would have unquestionably formed 

 the association, they did not, when put in after a further chance 

 to increase their knowledge by imitation, do the thing as soon 

 as before. The case of 3 is not here comparable to the rest be- 

 cause he was given three trials in immediate succession. He 

 was a more active cat and quicker to learn, as may be seen by 

 comparing his time curves with those of 7, 6 and 5. That the 

 mere speed with which he mastered this association is no sign 

 that imitation was present may be seen by reference to the time 

 curves of 4 and 13 (on page 18). 



Some cats were also experimented with in the following 

 manner. They were put into a box [No. 7 into box A (o at 

 front), No. 5 into B (o at back)] and left for from 45 to 75 

 seconds. Then a cat who knew the way to get out was put in, 

 and, of course, pulled at the loop and opened the door. Both 

 cats then went out and both were fed. After the cat had been 

 given a number of such chances to learn by imitation, he was 

 put in and left until he did the thing, or until 5 or 10 minutes 

 elapsed. As in the preceding experiments, no change in their 

 behavior which might signify imitation was observed. No. 7 

 acted exactly like 3, or 10, or 11, when put in the box, ap- 

 parently forming the association by accident in just the same 

 way. Good evidence that he did not imitate is the fact that, 

 whereas i (whom he saw) pulled the loop with his teeth, 7 

 pulled it with his paw. 5 failed to form the association, though 

 he saw 3 do it 8 times and probably saw him 18 times more. 

 He did get out twice by clawing the string in the front of the 

 box, not the loop in the back^ as 3 did. These successes took 

 place early in the experiment. After that he failed when left 

 alone to get out at all. 



Another]experiment was made by a still different method. My 

 cats were kept in a large box about 4 ft. high, the front of which 

 was covered with poultry-yard netting. Its top was a board 

 which could be removed. To save opening the door and letting 

 them all loose, I was in the habit of taking them out by the top 

 when I wanted to experiment with them. Of course the one 

 who happened to climb up (perhaps attracted by the smell of 

 fish on my fingers) was most likely to be taken out and experi- 



