Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 757 pages of information about Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1.

Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 757 pages of information about Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1.
G W G W G W G W G W I. 25 25.5 22.5 21 25 26.5 27 21.5 22.95 27.33 II. 20 25 15 20 29 32 13.5 20 24.37 21.58 III. 12 20 12.5 17.5 10.5 21 3 23 14.00 14.25 IV. 33 19.5 35.5 28 21.5 34.5 25.5 26.5 32.29 27.58 V. 51 50 35 30.5 40.5 54.5 45.5 52.5 40.70 40.91 VI. 13 29.5 25 33.5 28.5 23 23.5 27.5 19.83 24.79 VII. 46.5 39.5 38.5 44.5 43.5 47.5 42.5 34.5 48.41 48.20 VIII. 17.5 25.5 22 15.5 21 29 22.5 21.5 21.79 22.75 IX. 13 43.5 12.5 41.5 15 42 11 40 13.75 43.16 X. 24 24 27 19 25 21.5 23.5 23.5 24.58 20.87 XI. 13.5 49 2.5 43 14 34 23 22 19.83 33.41 268.5 351 248 314 273.5 365.5 260.5 312.5 25.61 29.53

G: Gray. W: White.

General average:  G, 25.61 sec.; W, 29.53 sec.

Series No.  IV.—­This and the next following series do not suggest much that differs in principle from what has been stated already.  It should be noted, however, that in the white-gray series (Table IV.) the persistence of the gray in ideation surprised the subjects themselves, who confessed to an expectation that the white would assert itself as affectively in ideation as in perception.  But it is not improbable that affective or aesthetic elements contributed to the result, which shows as high a figure as 25 seconds for the gray as against 29 for the white.  One subject indeed (IV.) found the gray restful, and gives accordingly an individual average of 32 for the gray as against 27 for the white.  More than one subject, in fact, records a slight advantage in favor of the gray.  And if we must admit the possibility of a subjective interest, it seems not unlikely that a bald blank space, constituting one extreme of the white-black series, should be poorer in suggestion and perhaps more fatiguing than intermediate members lying nearer to the general tone of the ordinary visual field.  Probably the true function of the brightness quality in favoring ideation would be better shown by a comparison of different grays.  The general average shows, it is true, a decided preponderance in favor of the white, but the individual variations prove it would be unsafe to conclude directly, without experimental test, from the laws of perception to the laws of ideation.

Series No.  V.—­The fifth series, which was suggested by the second, presents the problem of the lines in greater simplicity than the second; and, unlike the earlier series, it shows in all the individual averages the same sort of preponderance as is shown in the general average (straight line, 31; broken line, 38).  The footings of the columns, moreover, show an aggregate in favor of the broken line in the case of every pair of lines that were exposed together.  The results in this case may therefore be regarded as cleaner and more satisfactory than those reached before, and come nearer, one may say, to the expression of a general law.  The theoretical interpretation, however, would be in both cases the same.

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