ple a problem as this little maze.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ERRORS MADE, IN EACH TRIAL IN
LEARNING A MAZE, BY RATS, CHILDREN AND ADULT MEN

(From Hicks and Carr)

Trial
No. Rats Children Adults

1 53 35 10
2 45 9 15
3 30 18 5
4 22 11 2
5 11 9 6
6 8 13 4
7 9 6 2
8 4 6 2
9 9 5 1
10 3 5 1
11 4 1 0
12 5 0 1
13 4 1 1
14 4 0 1
15 4 1 1
16 2 0 1
17 1 0 1

The table reads that, on the first trial in the maze, the rats
averaged 53 errors, the children 35 errors, and the adults 10
errors, and so on. An "error" consisted in entering a blind alley or
in turning back on {315} the course. The subjects tested consisted
of 23 rats, five children varying in age from 8 to 18 years, and
four graduate students of psychology. The human maze was much larger
than those used for the rats, but roughly about the same in
complexity. Since rats are known to make little use of their eyes in
learning a maze, the human subjects were blindfolded. The rats were
rewarded by food, the others simply by the satisfaction of success.

The puzzle boxes used in experiments on animal learning are too simple
for human adults, but mechanical puzzles present problems of
sufficient difficulty. The experimenter hands the subject a totally
unfamiliar puzzle, and notes the time required by the subject to take
it apart; and this is repeated in a series of trials till mastery is
complete. In addition to taking the time, the experimenter observes
the subject's way of reacting, and the subject endeavors at the end of
each trial to record what he has himself observed of the course of
events.

The human subject's behavior in his first trial with a puzzle is often
quite of the trial and error sort. He manipulates impulsively; seeing
a possible opening he responds to it, and meeting a check he backs off
and tries something else. Often he tries the same line of attack time
and time again, always failing; and his final success, in the first
trial, is often accidental and mystifying to himself.

On the second trial, he may still be at a loss, and proceed as before;
but usually he has noticed on