Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 12.djvu/67

 ANTAGONISTIC BEACTIONS. 53 Table II. Subject. n. st-f. in v. n. st-r. m v. r-ap. mv. D 30 16 03 14 14 03 04 01 E 6 20 06 14 17 02 04 01 F 10 17 03 6 12 02 05 02 n = number of experiments: st-f= interval between stimulus and fall of curve : ra -v = mean variation : st-r = interval between stimulus and rise of curve : r-ap = interval between rise and apex of curve. On the whole the values in Table II. do not differ greatly from those in Table I. The results in the column giving the ordinary form of reaction, st-f, suggest the interesting question, what is the relation of the reaction time in the instances in which there is apparently no antagonistic move- ment, to that in the instances where the antagonism is present ? For an answer to this question we may take into account, in addition to the subjects D, E, F, the subjects B and C, who show the ordinary form of reaction as well as the antagonistic form. We find then that in four out of the five cases the ordinary form, st-f, is shorter than the total antagonistic reaction, $t-r + r-ap, while in four cases it is longer than the interval between stimulus and rise of curve, st-r. Taking the data of the five subjects together we find that the ordinary reaction is on the average less than the total antagonistic reaction by *02 sec., and greater than the interval between stimulus and rise of curve by '02 sec. Keeping in mind that the results are not sufficiently numer- ous for a final determination of the relations, we are still jus- tified in concluding that, for the group of individuals tested, the ordinary reaction is not simply shorter than the total antagonistic reaction by the length of the antagonistic rise, r-ap. It is also clear that in a large number of instances the first muscular manifestation of the reactive impulse (as indicated by the rise of the curve in one case and by the fall in the other) takes less time to appear in the antagonistic than in the ordinary form of reaction : in other words, the true reaction time appears frequently to be shortest in the antagonistic form of reaction. It is possible that the length- ening of the ordinary form may be due to the circumstance that some reactions, which are apparently ordinary, may be in reality masked forms of antagonistic reaction : there may be an inner conflict of nervous impulses, which are not suffi- ciently strong to manifest themselves in the graphic tracing,