Habit Formation: The Labyrintk Habit 225 



such order that no particular kind of error occurs repeatedly 

 in succession. If we should designate these three types of 

 mistake by the letters r, I, and 5 respectively, the error series 

 of labyrinth C would read l-l-r-s-l. It therefore violates 

 the rule of construction which I have just formulated. In 

 the case of labyrinth D the series would read l-s-r-s-l-s-r-s-l-s- 

 r-s-l. This also fails to conform with the requirement, for 

 there are three errors of the first type, four of the second, and 

 six of the third. Again, in a standard maze, the blind alleys 

 should all be of the same length, and care should be taken to 

 provide a sufficiently strong and uniform motive for escape. 

 In the case of one animal the desire to escape from confine- 

 ment may prove a satisfactory motive ; in the case of another, 

 the desire for food may conveniently supplement the dislike of 

 confinement ; and in still other cases it may appear that some 

 form of punishment for errors is the only satisfactory basis 

 of a motive for escape. Readers of this account of the be- 

 havior of the dancing mouse must not infer from my experi- 

 mental results that the electric shock as a means of forcing 

 discrimination will prove satisfactory in work with other 

 animals or even with all other mammals. As a matter of 

 fact it has already been proved by Doctor G. van T. Hamil- 

 ton that the use of an electric shock may so intimidate a 

 dog that experimentation is rendered difficult and of little 

 value. And finally, in connection with this discussion of 

 a standard labyrinth, I wish to emphasize the importance of 

 so recording the results of experiments that they may be in- 

 terpreted in terms of an animal's tendency to turn to the right 

 or to the left. My work with the dancer has clearly shown 

 that the avoidance of a particular error may be extremely 

 difficult for left whirlers and very easy for right whirlers. 



I hope I have succeeded in making clear by the foregoing 

 account of my experiments that the labyrinth method is more 



