Page:American Journal of Psychology Volume 21.djvu/538

526 To avoid such errors the study, to be described, is based primarily upon new and unpracticed movements and also upon highly voluntary movements practiced until they became nearly automatic.

The movements studied were the following:

(1) Writing ten standard words on an apparatus resembling a typewriter until the reactions became practically automatic.

(2) Writing with the hand under novel conditions and also with distraction.

(1) Typewriting experiments.

The problem in these experiments was to describe not only in cross-section the cognitive elements involved in control but also to trace the gradual elimination of these conscious elements up to the point of automatism.

The apparatus used was constructed by fastening ten small rubber bulbs upon a board about sixteen inches long in such a way as to fit comfortably the fingers and thumb of each hand when placed upon the "keyboard." All the bulbs were connected by means of a rubber tube to a single tambour writing upon the drum of a L,udwig kymograph, which was placed on the opposite side of a screen from the subject. The bulbs were "lettered" by means of letters printed upon a cardboard strip and corresponded to the lower row of keys of the Blickensderfer typewriter. From these letters the following list often four-letter words was made up: tons, hear, tide, road, hits, shin, nods, dear, heat, iron. It will be observed that out of a total of 40 letters each letter occurs four times, thus giving all the fingers equal practice. A graphic record of the writing of these ten words was taken on a kymograph drum at the beginning of each sitting, the writing being to dictation of the words by the conductor of the experiment. This was followed by a brief "practice" period, at the conclusion of which a second record was taken in the same manner. At first the "practice" consisted of ten repetitions of the standard words with the list placed where it could be conveniently seen; but after the list had been memorized the words were written also five times with eyes closed in addition to the ten times with eyes open.

The difference between these movements and those of