Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 / Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory.

by Unknown

In the following table the results of the B set are given. Its arrangement is the same as in Table 1., except that the figures indicate the number of absent terms correctly recalled out of four couplets instead of seven or five. Where blanks occur, the series was discontinued on account of lack of recall. As in Table 1., the tables in the first, third and fifth columns show successive stages of the same series. Immediate recall is omitted because with rare exceptions it was perfect, the test being given merely as an aid in learning.

TABLE II.

SHOWING RECALL AFTER TWO, NINE, AND SIXTEEN DAYS.

Days	Two.				Nine.				Sixteen.				Two.				Nine.				Sixteen.
	N.		O.		N.		O.		N.		O.		V.		M.		V.		M.		V.		M.
Series.	M.
B1-4	2	(1)	4		1	(1)	2		1	(1)	2		4		4		4		2		4		2
B5-8	3		1		2		1		1		1		2		2		2		1		1		1
B9-12	2		3		0		3		0		2		3		2		2		0		2		2
B13-16	2	(1)	3		2	(1)	0		2	(1)	0		1		2		1		0		1		0
Total	9	(2)	11		5	(2)	6		4	(2)	5		10		10		9		3		8		5
Per cent.	64		69		36		38		29		31		63		63		56		19		50		31
	S.
B1-4¹	0		2		0		0						0		1		0		1
B5-8	0		0										0		0
B9-12¹	0		1		0		0						0		1		0		0
B13-16²	0	(2)	1		0	(2)	1		0	(2)	1		0		0	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		0	(1)
Total	0	(2)	4		0	(2)	1		0	(2)	1		0		2	(1)	0		1	(1)	0		0	(1)
Per cent.	0		25		0		6		0		6		0		13		0		7		0		0
	Hu.
B1-4	1	(1)	4		0	(1)	1		0	(1)	2		1		3		0		2		0		0
B5-8	0		1	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		1		0		1		0		1
B9-12	0		1		0		0		0		1		0		0		0		1		0		0
B13-16	0	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		0		4		0		0		0		0
Total	1	(2)	6	(1)	0	(2)	1	(1)	0	(2)	3	(1)	1		8		0		4		0		1
Per cent.	7		40		0		7		0		20		6		50		0		25		0		6
	B.
B1-4	1		1	(1)	0		0						0		0	(1)	0		0
B6-8	1		2		1		2		1		1		1		0		1		0		1		0
B9-12	0		2	(1)	0		0	(1)	0		0	(1)	0	(1)	2		0		2		0		1
B13-16	1		3		1		1		1		1		1		2		0		1		0		1
Total	3		8	(2)	2		3	(1)	2		2	(1)	2	(1)	4	(1)	1		3		1		2
Per cent.	19		57		13		21		13		13		13		27		7		20		7		13
	Ho.
B1-4¹	3		2	(1)	2		2	(1)	1		0	(1)	1	(2)	1	(2)	1	(2)	0	(2)	0	(2)	0	(2)
B6-8	1		1	(1)	1		0	(1)	1		0		0		1	(1)	1		1		0		1
B9-12	0	(1)	1		0	(1)	1		0	(1)	0		1		1		1		1		0		0
B13-16³	0		0		0		0		0		0		0	(1)	4		0	(1)	2		0	(1)	0
Total	4	(1)	4	(2)	3	(1)	3	(2)	2	(1)	0	(1)	2	(3)	7	(3)	3	(3)	4	(2)	0	(3)	1	(2)
Percent.	33		30		25		23		17		0		17		58		25		33		0		8
	Mo.
B1-4	3		3		3		1		4		1		0		2		0		2		0		2
B5-8	1		4		1		1		1		2		1		2	(2)	1		1	(2)	1		1	(2)
B9-12	2		4		2		4		1		4		0	(1)	3	(1)	1	(1)	3	(1)	1	(1)	2
B13-16	2	(2)	4		2	(2)	4		2	(2)	2		1		4		1		4		1		4
Total	8	(2)	15		8	(2)	10		8	(2)	9		2	(1)	11	(3)	3	(1)	10	(3)	3	(1)	9	(2)
Percent.	57		94		57		63		57		56		13		85		20		79		20		69

¹Four presentations in learning.
²Five presentations in learning.
³Five days' interval instead of two.

In the following summary the recall after two days is combined from Tables I. and II. for the three subjects M, S and Hu, there being no important difference in the conditions of experimentation. For the three other subjects this summary is merely a résumé of Table II. The recall after nine and sixteen days in Table II. is omitted, and will be taken up later. The figures are in all cases based on the remainders left after those couplets in which indirect associations occurred were eliminated both from the total number of couplets learned and from the total number correctly recalled. E.g., in the case of nouns, M learned, in all, 42 couplets in the A and B sets, but since in 3 of them indirect associations occurred, only 39 couplets are left, of which 21 were correctly recalled. This gives 54 per cent.

SUMMARY OF RECALL AFTER TWO DAYS.—FROM TABLES I. AND II.

	N.		O.		V.		M.
M.	54	per cent.	62	per cent.	63	per cent.	61	per cent.
S.	8	"	21	"	7	"	12	"
Hu.	11	"	30	"	5	"	59	"
B.	19	"	57	"	13	"	27	"
Ho.	33	"	30	"	17	"	58	"
Mo.	57	"	94	"	13	"	85	"
	——————		——————		——————		——————
Av.	30	per cent.	49	per cent.	20	per cent.	50	per cent.

Av. gain in object couplets, 19 per cent. Av. gain in movement couplets, 30 per cent.

The first question which occurs in examining the foregoing tables is concerning the method of treating the indirect associations, i.e., obtaining the per cents. The number of couplets correctly recalled may be divided into two classes: those in which indirect associations did not occur, and those in which they did occur. Those in which they did not occur furnish us exactly what we want, for they are results which are entirely free from indirect associations. In them, therefore, a comparison can be made between series using objects and activities and others using images. On the other hand, those correctly recalled couplets in which indirect associations did occur are not for our purposes pure material, for they contain not only the object-image factor but the indirect association factor also. The solution is to eliminate these latter couplets, i.e., subtract them both from the number correctly recalled and from the total number of couplets in the set for a given subject. By so doing and by dividing the first remainder by the second the per cents, in the tables were obtained. There is one exception to this treatment. The few couplets in which indirect associations occurred but which were nevertheless incorrectly recalled are subtracted only from the total number of couplets in the set.