Role of Sight in Daily Life of Dancer 197 



In considering the results of these labyrinth tests it is im- 

 portant that we distinguish clearly those which have to do 

 with the conditions of habit formation from those which in- 

 stead have to do with the conditions of habit performance. 

 Sense data which are absolutely necessary for the learning of 

 a labyrinth path may be of little or no importance for the 

 execution of the act of following the path after the learning 

 process has been completed. Thus far in connection with 

 the labyrinth tests we have discussed only the relations of 

 sight, touch, and smell to what I have called habit per- 

 formance. We may now ask what part these senses play in 

 the formation of a labyrinth habit. 



A very definite answer to this question is furnished by 

 observation of the behavior of the dancers in the tests. Most 

 of them continuously made use of their eyes, their noses, and 

 their vibrissae. Some individuals used one form of receptive 

 organ almost exclusively. I frequently noticed that those 

 individuals which touched and smelled of the labyrinth 

 passages most carefully gave least evidence of the use of 

 sight. It is safe to say, then, that under ordinary conditions 

 habit formation in the dancer is conditioned by the use of 

 sight, touch, and smell, but that these senses are of extremely 

 different degrees of importance in different individuals. And 

 further, that, although in the case of some individuals the loss 

 of sight would not noticeably delay habit formation, in the 

 case of others it would seriously interfere with the process. 

 When deprived of one sense, the dancer depends upon its 

 remaining channels of communication with environment. 

 Indeed there are many reasons for inferring that if deprived 

 of sight, touch, and smell it would still be able to learn a 

 labyrinth path; and there are reasonable grounds for the 

 belief that a habit once formed can be executed in the absence 

 of all special sense data. Apparently the various receptive 



