262 JOHN D. DODSON 



case ; (2) it gives the number of males and the number of females 

 and the total number of subjects which made a perfect retention 

 test after twenty-one days, the average number of errors made by 

 males and the average made by females and the general average 

 for both males and females in the retention test, and the average 

 time for choice; (3) it gives the average number of trials required 

 by males, the average number of trials by females and the general 

 average for both males and females for the relearning of the 

 habit, and the average number of choices in the relearning 

 process. 



DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING IN MALES AND FEMALES 



As may be seen in table 13 there is a difference in the rate of 

 learning with males and females but this difference is neither 

 consistent nor conclusive. In all cases with hunger the average 

 number of trials required for perfecting the habit is less for females 

 than for males but with electric shock the average with seventy- 

 five units and one hundred and fifteen units was less for males. 

 The retention tests show no difference in retention of males and 

 females when trained with different degrees of hunger but a 

 difference in favor of the males four to one when trained with 

 electric shock. The retraining results are even less consistent 

 than in case of training. But having observed rather closely the 

 behavior of all subjects the experimenter would hesitate to say 

 that there is no sex difference. This difference, however, is not 

 necessarily a difference in the capacity of the two sexes to profit 

 by experience but probably a difference in physiological make-up 

 which causes the most favorable condition of learning to vary in a 

 characteristic manner for the two sexes. Females on the whole 

 seemed more anxious for food than the males in all four sets of 

 experiments. This may account for the difference for the rat$ 

 of learning with hunger. 



INTERPRETATION OF CURVES OF RELATIVE VALUES OF HUNGER 



If the reader will examine the curve of learning (fig. 4) for 

 different degrees of hunger he will find that there is a constant 

 increase in the rate of habit formation up to forty-one hours of 



