<p>'Young' was highly likely <a href="https://gwern.net/maze" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Quin Fischer Curtis</a> working under John F. Shepard at MSU.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-27T12:13:11.403Z
2023-05-27T12:13:11.403Z
gwern
<p>In the book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You%27re_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman</a>, the physicist Richard Feynman tells a great short story about bad science being done by scientists who should know better in <a href="http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cargo Cult Science</a> (which is the last story of the book). I believe it is a transcript of Feynman's commencement address to a graduating class at Caltech.</p>

<p>Near the end of the story he describes experiments done on rats by a scientist named `Young' in 1937. Basically he claims that Young does an experiment to show that rats put into mazes can tell where they are by various means, and Feynman describes how Young controls for these various factors in his experiments. The implication is that other scientists doing rat maze experiments were not controlling for these factors, and their science might not be trustworthy. For more details read the story, it is really interesting.</p>

<p>I am posting here because I am curious about this study, and cannot find it anywhere. (I did find <a href="https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/02/the_rat_experiment_you_dont_know_about_but_should.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a> which suggests that this study by `Young' might have never been published).</p>

<p>Where is this study done by Young in 1937? Is anyone here familiar with it?</p>

<reference-request>
Feynman's Cargo Cult Science: Young's Rat Experiment Study
QuantumEyedea
# Feynman's Cargo Cult Science: Young's Rat Experiment Study

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-20)

In the book [Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You%27re_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!), the physicist Richard Feynman tells a great short story about bad science being done by scientists who should know better in [Cargo Cult Science](http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm) (which is the last story of the book). I believe it is a transcript of Feynman's commencement address to a graduating class at Caltech.

Near the end of the story he describes experiments done on rats by a scientist named `Young' in 1937. Basically he claims that Young does an experiment to show that rats put into mazes can tell where they are by various means, and Feynman describes how Young controls for these various factors in his experiments. The implication is that other scientists doing rat maze experiments were not controlling for these factors, and their science might not be trustworthy. For more details read the story, it is really interesting.

I am posting here because I am curious about this study, and cannot find it anywhere. (I did find [this article](https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/02/the_rat_experiment_you_dont_know_about_but_should.html) which suggests that this study by `Young' might have never been published).

Where is this study done by Young in 1937? Is anyone here familiar with it?

**Tags:** reference-request


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-05-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

'Young' was highly likely [Quin Fischer Curtis](https://username_1.net/maze) working under John F. Shepard at MSU.


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