Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-19
animal THOUGHT
. WILL Be STUDIED
Columbia U. Will Make Deter
mined Effort to Learn Their
Nervous Reactions.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December 10 INA
MAJ How complex are the nervous
reactions of animals to their surround
ing world?
Just now this is among the major
inyseries of animal life, but Columbia
University is going to make deter
mined effort to ferret out the truth.
DIR. G. j. Warden, eminent psychologist,
has received nine rooms in the new
physics building on Morningside
Heights and large appropriation to
set UP the biggest and best-equipped
animal psychology laboratory in the
world.
In the laboratory will be housed
every animal from the ape down the
biological ladder to, but not including,
fish. White rats will get a chance to
realize the guinea pig is nothing but
big fat cousin of theirs. Lizards will
sass balloons and dogs will sing bass
to Persian cats alto frenzies
Later on life in the laboratory may
become more complicated when para
keets, Sparrows, finches. love birds, fan
tails, pouters and scarlet-crested tana-
gers are given space to air their windy
nonsense.
They Think, But What?
It is now generally conceded by
psychologists that animals do think, but
what they think about and how much
they think and how we'll they think is
still buried in profound obscurity.
1t is going to take lot of money to
discover the anSWcrc to these questions.
New machines will have to be invented,
new tests and new measuring devices.
DR.. Warden said one machine just to
measure degrees of intelligence in
family of albino rats will cost 81 900.
A beginning on the problem of the
completely of animal minds has already
been made, but the real work is going
to be done in the Spring. when the
new contraptions are ready.
DR.. Warden has already spent two
years trying to find out the effect OF
hunger on the rat mind. He did this by
running a hundred rats through COM
plicated labyrinth filled with blind al
leys or culs de sac. The labyrinth known
technically as maze, Is SO complex II
would take the human mind consider
able time to fathom way through 1t.
1t seems impossible that rats could
fino their way out once in it, but they
did after a few months of repeated in
struction, and eventually got 1t down
so we'll they never made mistake.
DR.. Warden found that food made
little difference in a rats intelligence
beyond the fact that it is more active
when hungry. He found, further, that
rats have we'll developed memories. For
instance, he used to run half the rats
through the maze at night. He would
come to the cage in which they were
kept and flash light suddenly on the
sleeping animals.
Rats Expected Tests.
For the first few days all would
awaken sluggishly. but after about
week those who were accustomed to pc
ing experimental with at night would
awaken much more quickly than the
others, proving they expected to be
awakened and were prepared for it.
He also has put kittens into wire
cage divided in halves. In one compart-
ment was a tempting saucer OF cream,
in the other a hungry kitten. To get
to the cream a sliding door had to be
opened The only way to open 1t was
to step on little button set in the moor
of the kittens half of the cage.
After a short time the kitten learned
this and then four buttons, all alike,
were set in the floor, but only one OF
the buttons opened the door. If the
kitten stepped on any of the others it
would get slight electric shock.
Some kittens never could solve this be-
wildering mystery. Others learned quite
readily.
But the trouble Win JneSe neCnous,
according to the doctor, is they all work
backward That is, the actual resulting
behavior is first observed and then the
psychologist tries to work back into the
beginnings of the behavior. The begin
nings of the behavior, of course, are the
ideas which motivate it. DR.. Warden
is now busy trying to design machines
that will study the senses which formu-
late the ideas.
So when Rover makes mince of dads
new shirt there really is something going
on behind those beady little eyes of his,
but what it is we'll have to wait until
the doctor finds out.
(Copyright. 1929 North American Newspaper
Alliance.)