Experimental Study of Associative Processes 91 
haps attracted by the smell of fish on my fingers) was most 
likely to be taken out and experimented with and fed. Thus 
they formed the habit of climbing up the front of the box 
whenever I approached. Of three cats which I obtained at. 
the same time; one did not after 8 or 10 days acquire this 
habit. Even though I held out a piece of fish through the 
netting, he would not climb after it. It was reasonable to 
suppose that imitatio.. might overcome this sluggishness;-. 
if there were any imitatio. | I therefore put two cats with 
him and had them climb up 8c times before his eyes and get 
fish. He never followed or tried to follow them; 
4 and 3 had been subjected to the following experiment. 
I would make a certain sound and after 10 seconds would go 
up to the cage and hold the fish out to them through the 
netting at the top. They would then, of course, climb up 
and eat it. After a while, they began to climb up upon 
hearing the signal (4) or before the 10 seconds were up. I 
then took 12 and 10, who were accustomed to going up when 
they saw me approach, but who had no knowledge of the 
fact that the signal meant anything, and gave them each a 
chance to imitate 3. That is, one of them would be left in 
the box with 3, the signal would be given, and after from 5 
to 10 seconds 3 would climb up. At 10 seconds I would 
come up with food, and then, of course, 12 would climb up. 
This was repeated again and again. | The question was 
whether imitation would lead them to form the association 
more quickly than they would have done alone. It did not._ 
That when at last they did climb up before ro seconds 
“was past, that is, before I approached with food, it was not 
due to imitation, is shown by the fact that on about half 
of such occasions they climbed up before 3 did. That is, 
they reacted to the signal by association, not to his move- 
ments by Eakin 
