134 Animal Intelligence 
ciation into a simple one. He happened one time to paw 
down the thumb piece at the same time that his other 
fore limb, with which he was holding on between the door 
and the top of the box, was pressing against the door. 
This giving him success he repeated it in later trials and in a 
short time had it fixed as an element in a perfect association. 
The marked change in his curve, from an irregular and grad- 
ual slope at such a height as displayed a very imperfect 
association, to a constant and very slight height, shows pre- 
cisely the change from a compound to a simple association. 
‘Compound associations are formed slowly and not at all 
well) Further observation shows that they were really not 
formed at all. For the animals did not, except 3 in K for a 
certain period, do the several things in a constant order, nor 
did they do them only once apiece. On the contrary, an 
animal would pull the string several times after the bolt 
had gone up with its customary click, and would do some- 
times one thing first, sometimes another. [Tt may also be 
noted here, in advance of its proper place, that these com- 
pound associations are far below the simple in point of 
permanence. /The conduct of the animals is clearly not 
that of minds having associated with a certain box’s interior 
the idea of a succession of three movements. The animal 
does not feel, “I did this and that and that and got out,” 
or, more simply still, “this and that and that means getting 
out.” If it did, we should soon see it doing what was 
necessary without repetition and in a fairly constant time. 
I imagine, however, that an animal could learn to associ- 
ate with one sense-impression a compound act so as to 
perform its elements in a regular order. By arranging 
the box so that the second and third elements of the act 
could be performed only after the first had been, and the 
third only after the first and second, I am inclined to think 
