The Dancing Mouse: a Study in Animal Behavior

CHAPTER I. Characteristics, Origin, and History

CHARACTERISTICS, ORIGIN, AND HISTORY

Peculiarities of the dancing mouse--Markings and method of keeping record of individuals--The dancer in China and Japan (Kishi, Mitsukuri, Hatai)-- Theories concerning the origin of the race: selectional breeding; the inheritance of an acquired character; mutation, inheritance, and selectional breeding; pathological changes; natural selection--Instances of the occurrence of dancers among other kinds of mice--Results of crossing dancer with other kinds of mice.

CHAPTER II. Feeding, Breeding, and Development of the Young

FEEDING, BREEDING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUNG

Methods of keeping and caring for dancers--Cages, nest-boxes, and materials for nest--Cleansing cages--Food supply and feeding--Importance of cleanliness, warmth, and pure food--Relations of males and females, fighting--The young, number in a litter--Care of young--Course of development--Comparison of young of dancer with young of common mouse-- Diary account of the course of development of a typical litter of dancers.

CHAPTER III. Behavior: Dance Movements

BEHAVIOR: DANCE MOVEMENTS

Dancing--Restlessness and excitability--Significance of restlessness-- Forms of dance: whirling, circling, and figure-eights--Direction of whirling and circling: right whirlers, left whirlers, and mixed whirlers-- Sex differences in dancing--Time and periodicity of dancing--Influence of light on activity--Necessity for prolonged observation of behavior.

CHAPTER IV. Behavior: Equilibration and Dizziness

BEHAVIOR: EQUILIBRATION AND DIZZINESS

Muscular coordination--Statements of Cyon and Zoth concerning behavior-- Control of movements, orientation, equilibration, movement on inclined surfaces, climbing--The tracks of the dancer--Absence of visual dizziness--Comparison of the behavior of the dancer with that of the common mouse when they are rotated in a cyclostat--Behavior of blinded dancers (Cyon, Alexander and Kreidl, Kishi)--Cyon's two types of dancer-- Phenomena of behavior for which structural bases are sought: dance movements; lack of response to sounds; deficiency in equilibrational ability; lack of visual and rotational dizziness.

CHAPTER V. Structural Peculiarities and Behavior

STRUCTURAL PECULIARITIES AND BEHAVIOR

The functions of the ear--Structure of the ear of the dancer as described by Rawitz, by Panse, by Baginsky, by Alexander and Kreidl, and by Kishi-- Cyon's theory of the relation of the semicircular canals to space perception--Condition of the auditory organs--Condition of the equilibrational organs--Condition of the sound-transmitting organs--The bearing of the results of anatomical investigations upon the facts of behavior.

CHAPTER VI. The Sense of Hearing

THE SENSE OF HEARING

Experiments on hearing in the dancer made by Rawitz, by Panse, by Cyon, by Alexander and Kreidl, by Zoth, and by Kishi--Hearing and the voice-- Methods of testing sensitiveness to sounds--Results of tests with adults-- Importance of indirect method of experimentation--Results of tests with young--The period of auditory sensitiveness--Individual differences.

CHAPTER VII. The Sense of Sight: Brightness Vision

THE SENSE OF SIGHT: BRIGHTNESS VISION

What is known concerning sight in the dancer--Brightness vision and color vision--Methods of testing brightness vision, the visual discrimination apparatus--Motives for discrimination and choice--Punishment versus reward as an incentive in animal experiments--Hunger as an incentive--An electric stimulus as an incentive--Conditions for brightness vision tests-- White-black vision--Evidence of preference--Check experiments--Conclusion.

CHAPTER VIII. The Sense of Sight: Brightness Vision (_continued_)

THE SENSE OF SIGHT: BRIGHTNESS VISION (Continued)

The delicacy of brightness discrimination--Methods of testing the dancer's ability to detect slight differences in brightness--Results of tests with gray papers--Relation of intensity of visual stimuli to the threshold of discrimination--Weber's law apparatus and method of experimentation-- Results of Weber's law tests--Practice effects, the training of vision-- Description of the behavior of the dancer in the discrimination box experiments--Modes of choice: by affirmation; by negation; by comparison-- Evidence of indiscriminable visual conditions.

CHAPTER IX. The Sense of Sight: Color Vision

THE SENSE OF SIGHT: COLOR VISION

Does the dancer see colors?--The food-box method of testing color vision-- Waugh's food-box method--Results of tests--Tests by the use of colored papers in the visual discrimination box--Yellow-red vision--Blue-orange vision--Brightness vision versus color vision--Brightness check tests--Green-blue vision--Violet-red vision--Conclusions.

CHAPTER X. The Sense of Sight: Color Vision (_continued_)

THE SENSE OF SIGHT: COLOR VISION (Continued)

The use of color filters--Testing color vision by the use of transmitted light--Green-blue vision--Green-red vision--Blue-red vision--Stimulating value of different portions of the spectrum--Does red appear darker to the dancer than to us?--Conclusions concerning color vision--Structure of the retina of the dancer and its significance.

CHAPTER XI. The Role of Sight in the Daily Life of the Dancer.

THE ROLE OF SIGHT IN THE DAILY LIFE OF THE DANCER.

Sight and general behavior--Behavior of blinded dancers--Experimental tests of ability to perceive form--Visual guidance in mazes--Following labyrinth paths in the dark--The relative importance of visual, olfactory, and kinaesthetic stimuli--Conditions for the acquisition of a motor habit--Conditions for the execution of an habitual act.

CHAPTER XII. Educability: Methods of Learning

EDUCABILITY: METHODS OF LEARNING

The modifiability of behavior--Educational value of experimental studies of modifiability--Methods: the problem method; the labyrinth method; the discrimination method--Relation of method to characteristics of animal-- Simple test of the docility of the dancer--Lack of imitative tendency-- Persistence of useless acts--Manner of profiting by experience--Individual differences in initiative.

CHAPTER XIII. Habit Formation: the Labyrinth Habit

HABIT FORMATION: THE LABYRINTH HABIT

The labyrinth method--Problems--Preliminary tests--Comparison of the behavior of the dancer in a maze with that of the common mouse--Evolution of a labyrinth method--Records of time and records of errors--Simple and effective method of recording the path--Curves of habit formation--Regular and irregular labyrinths--Points for a standard labyrinth--Values and defects of the labyrinth method.

CHAPTER XIV. Habit Formation: the Discrimination Method

HABIT FORMATION: THE DISCRIMINATION METHOD

Quantitative versus qualitative results--Motives--Precautions-- Preference--Results of systematic habit-forming experiments--Curves of habit formation--Meaning of irregularity in curve--Individual differences--Comparison of curves for discrimination habits with those for labyrinth habits--Averages--The index of modifiability as a measure of docility--Reliability of the index.

CHAPTER XV. The Efficiency of Training Methods

THE EFFICIENCY OF TRAINING METHODS

Importance of measuring the efficiency of educational methods--Rapidity of learning and permanency of modifications wrought by training--Results of a study of the efficiency of discrimination methods--Comparison by means of indices of modifiability--Number of tests per series versus number of series--Efficiency as measured by memory tests.

CHAPTER XVI. The Duration of Habits: Memory and Re-Learning

THE DURATION OF HABITS: MEMORY AND RE-LEARNING

Measures of the permanency of modifications in behavior--The duration of brightness and color discrimination habits--The relation of learning to re-learning--Can a habit which has been lost completely be re-acquired with greater facility than it was originally acquired?--Relation of special training to general efficiency--Does the training in one form of labyrinth aid the dancer in acquiring other labyrinth habits?

CHAPTER XVII. Individual, Age, and Sex Differences in Behavior

INDIVIDUAL, AGE, AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR

Individual peculiarities in sensitiveness, docility, and initiative--The relation of docility to age--The individual result and the average--How averages conceal facts--Sex differences in docility and initiative-- Individual differences of motor capacity which seem to indicate varieties--Is the dancer pathological?

CHAPTER XVIII. The Inheritance of Forms of Behavior

THE INHERITANCE OF FORMS OF BEHAVIOR

Characteristics of the race--Inheritance of the tendency to whirl in a particular way--Tests of the inheritance of individually acquired forms of behavior.

INDEX

ILLUSTRATIONS

Dancing Mice--sniffing and eating Frontispiece

FIGURE

1. Color patterns of dancers. Record blanks

2. Double cage, with nest-boxes and water dishes

3. Double cages in frame

4. Photographs of dancers climbing (After Zoth)

5. Tracks of common mouse (After Alexander and Kreidl)

6. Tracks of dancer (After Alexander and Kreidl)

7. The inner ear of the rabbit (Retzius)

8. The membranous labyrinth of the ear of the dancer (After Rawitz)

9. Same

10. Same

it. Model of the ear of the dancer (After Baginsky)

12. Ear of the dancer (After Kishi)

13. Ear of the dancer (After Kishi)

14. Discrimination box

15. Ground plan of discrimination box

16. Nendel's gray papers

17. Weber's law apparatus

18. Food-box apparatus

19. Waugh's food-box apparatus

20. Color discrimination apparatus

21. Ground plan of color discrimination apparatus

22. Cards for form discrimination

23. Labyrinth B

24. Labyrinth B on electric wires

25. Labyrinth A

26. Curves of habit formation for labyrinth B

27. Plan of labyrinth C, and path records

28. Labyrinth D

29. Curve of learning for white-black discrimination, twenty individuals

30. Curve of learning for white-black discrimination, thirty individuals

31. Curve of habit formation for labyrinth D

32. Curves of learning and re-learning

33. Plasticity curves

LITERATURE ON THE DANCING MOUSE

1. ALEXANDER, G. UND KREIDL, A. "Zur Physiologie des Labyrinths der Tanzmaus." Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie, Bd. 82: 541-552. 1900.

2. ALEXANDER, G. UND KREIDL, A. "Anatomisch-physiologische Studien über das Ohrlabyrinth der Tanzmaus." II Mittheilung. Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie. Bd. 88: 509-563. 1902.

3. ALEXANDER, G. UND KREIDL, A. "Anatomisch-physiologische Studien über das Ohrlabyrinth der Tanzmaus." III Mittheilung. Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie, Bd. 88: 564-574. 1902.

4. BAGINSKY, B. "Zur Frage über die Zahl der Bogengänge bei japanischen Tanzmäusen." Centralblatt für Physiologie, Bd. 16: 2-4. 1902.

5. BATESON, W. "The present state of knowledge of colour-heredity in mice and rats." Proceedings of the Zoölogical Society of London, Vol. 2: 71-99. 1903.

6. BREHM, A. E. "Tierleben." Dritte Auflage. Saugetiere, Bd. 2: 513-514. 1890.

7. BREHM, A. E. "Life of Animals." Translated from the third German edition of the "Tierleben" by G. R. Schmidtlein. Mammalia, p. 338. Marquis, Chicago. 1895.

8. CYON, E. DE. "Le sens de l'espace chez les souris dansantes japonaises." Cinquantenaire de la Société de Biologie (Volume jubilaire). p. 544-546. Paris. 1899.

9. CYON, E. VON. "Ohrlabyrinth, Raumsinn und Orientirung." Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie, Bd. 79: 211-302. 1900.

10. CYON, E. DE. "Presentation de souris dansantes japonaises." Comptes rendus du XIII Congrès International de Paris, Section de physiologie, p. 160-161. 1900.

11. CYON, E. VON. "Beiträge zur Physiologie des Raumsinns." I Theil. "Neue Beobachtungen an den japanischen Tanzmäusen." Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie, Bd. 89: 427-453. 1902.

12. CYON, E. DE. "Le sens de l'espace." Richet's "Dictionnaire de physiologie," T. 5: 570-571. 1901.

13. DARBISHIRE, A. D. Note on the results of crossing Japanese waltzing mice with European albino races. Biometrica, Vol. 2: 101-104. 1902.

14. DARBISHIRE, A. D. Second report on the result of crossing Japanese waltzing mice with European albino races. Biometrica, Vol.2: 165-173. 1903.

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