PRIMITIVE TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE 181 



The criterion of intelligence which we have adopted the 

 power of forming associations is one which is accepted by 

 a considerable number of comparative psychologists. Un- 

 fortunately the term intelligence is used hi a variety of senses 

 by different writers a fact which is in part responsible for 

 the different expressions of opinion as to where in the animal 

 kingdom intelligence makes its beginning. The acute 

 Father Wasmann will have none of intelligence hi any 

 animal below man, but as he defines it, the term connotes 

 the power of reasoning by the use of general concepts. 

 The controversy which has arisen over this employment of 

 the term is a matter for the lexicographer instead of the 

 psychologist, and so long as a writer makes his peace with 

 the dictionary we have no quarrel with him. We prefer, 

 however, to employ the term in its more widely accepted 

 meaning. 



As stated in a previous chapter, there is no evidence that 

 there is any power of forming associations in the Protozoa. 

 In the Coelenterata behavior, although of the reflex type, 

 is often highly plastic and capable of being modified hi 

 many ways as the result of previous experience; but while 

 intelligence has often been claimed for these forms, there is, 

 in the opinion of the writer, no case in which the formation 

 of associations is satisfactorily proven. The same state- 

 ment may also be risked for that large and miscellaneous 

 assortment of animals grouped under the term Vermes. 

 The behavior of Echinoderms is certainly complex and plastic 

 to a remarkable degree, but even in this group the power 

 of forming associations is very doubtful. Preyer, who has 

 made a very thorough study of the behavior of the starfish, 

 claims to have discovered indubitable indications of intelli- 

 gent action, but the later studies of Jennings and Glaser on the 

 behavior of starfish and ophiurans failed to confirm Preyer*s 



