Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1901-06-13
TURTLES CAN LEARN.
One Shortened a Crooked Journey
From Ninety Minutes to Three.

One Shortened a Crooked Journey
From Ninety Minutes to Three.
That the man forms the habit and
the habit forms the man we are all
more or less aware. Whether this is
equally true of the lower order of
creatures is at present an open ques-
ton, though an interesting series of
experiments with small turtles, which
has recently been conducted by scien-
tifc men. has in some degree estab-
lished the fact that in this respect the
lower creation does not widely differ
from men.
Turtles habits, like mems, are de-
veloped from the repetition of an act.
They are performed automatically;
hence, after many generations these
habits become what we call instincts.
The simplicity and slowness of the
turtle made it an admirable subject
for the experiments in question which
consisted of placing the creature at
one end of a labyrinth and leaving it
to find its way to it's nest at the other.
Three motives combined to make
the turtle try to find its way to the
nest-namely the natural desire to
hide in some dark secluded place, the
impulse to escape from confinement
and the desire to get to place of COM
fort.
On the first occasion the turtle took
an hour and thirty-one minutes to find
the nest but reduced the time at each
attempt until only fifteen minutes
were occupied on the fifth journey to
the nest.
In spite of this it's wanderings on
the first three occasions were appar-
emily a series of aimless Confusions
After that, however, they became
steadily more and more direct.
In all no fewer than fifty of these
experiments were made. The tenth
trip was made in four minutes and five
seconds, with only a couple Of mis-
takes in turning.
The time of the twentieth journey
was four minutes, of the thirtteth
three minutes and twenty seconds,
the course taken being almost direct,
and of the tiftieth trip four minutes
exactly.
This. when you come to think Of it,
was pretty quick work, and so the
learned scientists thought who watch
ed the unconscious turtles progress
day by day.
When. in the early stages the ami
nal stopped and hesitated in his wan
derings he was, according to some
members of his scientific audience,
thinking about his enyirOnmcntaI
couditions;" but according to others,
he was merely stopping to get "sen.
sorry data'-that is to say, to look and
smell
The blind alleys worried the poor
turtle tremendously at first, as did
the incline, though, after achieving
the thmtieth trip, he got into the
habit of saving time by dropping
over the side of the latter instead of
walking all the way down it.
This action is an Illustration Of the
way in which an advantageous habit
may grow by accretion. as it We're,
until it seems as if it must have been
the result of reasoning.
Yet had the turtle IN the OIlglhal
instance stopped to judge and draw
differences as to the way to escape,
instead of persistently moving from
place to place, it would probably have
remained in the pen an indefinite
period.
As it was the wandering impulse
led by chance to the animal finding
the acme of turtle pleasure-its nest.
The satisfaction thus received was
impressed on the turtles vital mechan-
ism. so that there was tendency (the
beginning of habit toward repeti-
ton of it"
The turtle happened to crawl over
the edge of the incline on the thirtieth
trip, and, finding that this harmless
process enabled it to reach its nest
duiC r, continued the act, thus form
ing a habit.
Thus by the aid Of such humble
creatures as turtles we may learn
something of interest having bear
ing on human habits and reason.-Lon-
don Express.