The Dancing Mouse: A Study in Animal BehaviorYerkes, Robert Mearns
Science
The Dancing Mouse: A Study in Animal Behavior
Yerkes, Robert Mearns
Animal behavior; Dancing mice
As the results of my color vision experiments seemed to indicate that the
red end of the spectrum appears much darker to the dancer than to us,
tests were now arranged with colors from adjacent regions of the spectrum,
green and blue. The papers used were the Bradley green and tint No. 1 of
the blue. They were not noticeably different in brightness for the human
eye. Green marked the box to be chosen. Three of the individuals which had
previously been used in the light blue-orange series, and which therefore
had perfect habits of going to the light blue, were used for the green-
light blue tests. Of these individuals, No. 1000 became inactive on the
fifth day of the experiment, and the tests with him were discontinued.
Twenty series were given to each of the other mice, with the results which
appear in Table 20. To begin with, both No. 4 and No. 5 exhibited a
preference for the light blue, as a result of the previous light blue-
orange training. As this preference was gradually destroyed by the
electric shock which was received each time the light blue box was
entered, they seemed utterly at a loss to know which box to enter.
Occasionally a record of six, seven, or even eight right choices would be
made in a series, but in no case was this unquestionably due to color
discrimination; usually it could be explained in the light of the order of
the changes in the positions of the cardboards. For example, series 9, in
which No. 5 made a record of 8 right and 2 wrong, had green on the right
for the first three tests. The animal happened to choose correctly in the
first test, and continued to do so three times in succession simply
because there was no change in the position of the cardboards. I have
occasionally observed a record of seven right choices result when it was
perfectly evident to the observer that the mouse could not discriminate
visually. It was to avoid unsafe conclusions and unfair comparisons, as
the result of such misleading series, that three perfect series in
succession were required as evidence of a perfectly formed habit of
discrimination.
TABLE 20
GREEN-LIGHT BLUE TESTS
Date No. 1000 No. 4 No. 5
SERIES 1906 RIGHT WRONG RIGHT WRONG RIGHT WRONG
(GREEN) (BLUE) (GREEN) (BLUE) (GREEN) (BLUE)
1 Feb.3 2 8 3 7 3 7
2 5 7 3 5 5 5 5
3 6 5 5 6 4 5 5
4 7 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 8 2 8 5 5 4 6
6 9 7 3 7 3
7 10 4 6 3 7
8 10 6 4 4 6
9 12 6 4 8 2
10 13 6 4 6 4
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