Richard Feynman wrote about a very similar problem, that rat-maze experiments rarely controlled for the rats' ability to hear differences in the floor. He used

Richard Feynman wrote about a very similar problem, that rat-maze experiments rarely controlled for the rats' ability to hear differences in the floor. He used it as an example of "Cargo Cult Science" (http://neurotheory.columbia.edu/~ken/cargo_cult.html http://neurotheory.columbia.edu/~ken/cargo_cult.html) - if you aren't rigorous with your assumptions, you are not doing science, and the truth is not going to come.