A SIMPLE MAZE 355 



several habits simultaneously, rather than that training in the 

 simple habit failed to reveal any fundamental differences in the 

 processes of learning. 



In view of the need for a simpler technique it seemed that a 

 study of the adaptability of some simple habit to a comparative 

 study of the rate of learning in diverse groups of animals would 

 be of value. Since the rat is the animal most studied and perhaps 

 best fitted for laboratory study it was chosen for a test of tech- 

 nique. Various attempts were made to adapt the methods of 

 study of the conditioned reflex to the rat, but without much 



FIG. 1. THE SIMPLE MAZE 



a, Starting compartment; c, cul de sac; d, food compartment; e, position of 

 food dish. 



success, and finally a simple maze was adopted as offering a pos- 

 sible technique for comparative work. It was modeled after 

 the Yerkes discrimination box, offering a choice between a single 

 cul de sac and an alley leading to food (fig. 1). 



The questions to be answered by the study were: When dif- 

 ferentially treated animals learn the simple maze are differences 

 in the rate of learning as evident as in the formation of complex 

 habits? If such differences appear, are they of the same character 

 as those revealed in complex habits? How great an economy of 

 the experimenter's time is made possible by the use of the simple 

 maze? 



PSYCHOBIOLOGY VOL. I, NO. 5 



