The relation between spontaneous activity and the ability to learn a simple maze.

Abstract

In order to determine the effect of thyroidectomy on the neuro-muscular mechanism of sheep, methods were devised for the estimation of spontaneous activity and intelligence. 1 Activity was measured by a pedometer and intelligence was estimated by causing the animals to learn to escape from a labyrinth with a single cul de sac, the position of which could be reversed by a system of gates. In the type of problem represented by the labyrinth in which the solution depends upon vigorous random movements rather than visual discrimination one would be led to expect some definite relation to exist between the spontaneous activity of an animal and its proficiency in learning to escape from the maze. If one found that those sheep which were most active also made the best record in learning the labyrinth, it would be necessary to conclude that proficiency in learning the maze was an indirect way of estimating the animal's spontaneous activity and not primarily a measure of intelligence. The attempt was, therefore, made to determine for sheep the relation between activity and learning.

The experiments consisted in recording the spontaneous activity of a number of sheep in the flock and in comparing the total number of steps taken during a certain period with the records of the number of errors, steps, seconds, and trials obtained from causing the animals to learn the simple labyrinth and the labyrinth with the position of its cul de sac reversed. One hundred and fifty-two such comparisons were made between sheep which had learned the simple maze and one hundred comparisons between those which, after having learned the simple maze, had learned it again with the position of its cul de sac reversed. Activity was measured for periods ranging from four to thirty-seven days.