Years later, I learned partial movements are tropisms (6) and taxis is motion of the entire organism. Thus, standstill is ‘taxis at zero’ - surely as normal for live creatures as their freewheeling circuits on land, in the air, and through water.
Charting cumulative graphs as roadmaps altered my outlook and my vocabulary. Almost immediately, I began thinking of what animals sense, envisioned them feeling more thirsty than hungry; cooler or warmer; secure / apprehensive.
Rejecting such thinking as ‘unscientific’, I tried to resist.
Only then, I was unable to plan or understand my itineraries, First, I had to ensure there was no reason for fear - intimidation was out of the question. (7) I was convinced even a soft, unexpected, click would drive ‘my rat’ back in alarm and his trail would be lost from the record.
I had to improvise an explanation for the rat’s movement towards other levers.
Curiosity! We too, check a neighborhood and familiarize ourselves with the details.
Before 1984, I thought feelings are necessarily private and believed scientists must explain behavior - human and animal - without mentioning fear or confidence. But then and there, imagining a subject moving in a laboratory, I was inundated with verbs and nouns, adverbs and adjectives, prefixes – words alluding to quality:
pro- and con-; punish versus reinforce (8); survival / extinction; repelling / attractive;
dying with dignity; cruelty – kindness; considerate or self-centered; hostile or friendly,
broad grin / puzzled frown ... phrases relevant to socialization within a society.
Seeing ‘taxis-cum-tropism’ can apparently add to what one might say of humanity, thus making it easier to communicate via ordinary and technical vocabularies. (9)
I wanted ‘my’ rat trusting, attentive, freely mobile. (10) Eventually I realized, empathy
_There but for the grace of God, go I_ can actually help to assess experimental agenda.
I sensed an affinity with the rest of the world, including the Animal Rights activists. (11)
_________________________
(6) "In biology, tropism is the movement of a portion of an organism towards (or away from in negative tropism) a source of light, heat or other stimulus. Not be confused with taxis which is movement of the entire organism." B.J. Freedman
(7) For seeing abject fear in a public swimming pool, check: http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1137496874
(8) In 1975, Jack Michael suggested dropping the positive-negative distinction, proposing punishment for 'bad things' and reinforcement for 'good things'. Saul Axelrod and I objected, but today I agree: to delay or remove it, electric shock must first be given - not a good thing. Yet in biology, depending on whether motion is to or from an energy source,'taxis' and 'tropism' are 'positive'/'negative'/respectively. But if stimuli harm, coming close can be dangerous for survival, whereas moving away could be lifesaving. So counting quality, distance and mobile animals, Dr. Michael is right. I adopted his proposal and found reinforcement is perceived as naturally attractive; people seem to feel that the closer to health, strength and happiness the better for all.
(9) From a TV program on adjectives: " You have hair" a man says to his new girl. Oops! He forgot to say 'beautiful'.
(10) I wish to report: Pavlov "preferred... intact, non-narcotisized animals, which are gay and cheerful."
And I think we all know what children notice when parents are sad/reproachful/ or cheerful/approving/.
(11) Looking at a photograph in a textbook, I smiled with amusement. After my graphs I was appalled by the rat's cruel situation. The light-hearted title Breakfast in Bed had misled me; I mistook the pathetic position for a pleasant experience.
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