The phylogeny of maze learning. (1) theoretical orientation

Summaryo

1. 1.

   A survey of studies of maze learning indicates two progressive series with respect to increasing rate and limits of complexity: (a) an invertebrate series from Annelida to Insects, and (b) a vertebrate series from fish to mammal.

2. 2.

   There is no reason to assume arbitrarily the necessary superiority of all vertebrate to all invertebrate forms in terms of learning capacity. The previously troublesome fact that fishes and frogs learn less efficiently than cockroaches and ants, for example, is consistent with the morphological divergence of chordate and annulate stocks at a very early stage of metazoan evolution.