The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation in the kitten

Studied the relation of strength of stimulus, to rapidity of learning in 18 kittens. The kittens had to discriminate between the light-dark boxes. The experiment box was divided into a nest box, an entrance chamber and 2 electric boxes. The electric boxes were placed in the circuit of a constant ele...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of animal behavior 1915-07, Vol.5 (4), p.330-336
Main Author: Dodson, J. D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Cats
Habits
Stimulus Parameters
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Studied the relation of strength of stimulus, to rapidity of learning in 18 kittens. The kittens had to discriminate between the light-dark boxes. The experiment box was divided into a nest box, an entrance chamber and 2 electric boxes. The electric boxes were placed in the circuit of a constant electric current. The kittens received electric shock in these boxes. The results indicate that: (1) it took less number of trials to perfect a correct habit with a strong stimulus than with a medium stimulus, under conditions of learning of varying difficulty (2) the relation of the painfulness of the electric stimulus to the rapidity of habit formation depended upon the difficulty of the visual discrimination, and (3) the discrimination was difficult to make when the difference between the unpleasant and the very unpleasant stimuli was not marked.
ISSN:0095-9928
2374-9873
DOI:10.1037/h0073415