While the horse could thus be interrupted in the process of tapping by
movements which were executed at the level of the questioner's head, yet
movements below this level had the opposite effect. If Hans showed that
he was about to cease tapping before it was desired, it was possible to
cause him to continue by simply bending forward a trifle more. The
greater angle at which the questioner's trunk was now inclined caused
the horse to increase the rate of tapping. The rule may be stated thus:
The greater the angle at which the body inclined forward, the greater
the horse's rate of tapping, and _vice versa_. It was noticeable that
whenever Mr. von Osten asked for a relatively large number--in which
case he always bent farther forward than in the case of smaller
numbers--Hans would immediately begin to tap very swiftly. Not being
entirely satisfied with these observations, the following more exact
measurements were taken. I asked the horse to tap 20. From 1 to 10 I
held my body at a certain constant angle, at 10 I suddenly bent farther
forward and retained this posture until 20 had been reached. If there
existed a relationship between the angle of inclination and the rate of
tapping, then the time for the last ten taps ought to be less than for
the first ten. Of 34 such tests 31 were sucessful. The following are two
specimen series.
The first series consisted of ten tests of 15 taps each. In all cases my
head was bent at an angle of 30 deg. to the axis of the trunk, but I
constantly changed the angle of inclination of the trunk. It was not
possible to measure this angle accurately on account of the rapidity
with which the whole test had to be made. I was able, however, to
differentiate between them with enough accuracy to designate the
smallest angle (about 20 deg.) as belonging to Grade I, and the greatest
angle (about 100 deg.) as belonging to Grade VII. By fixing certain points
in the environment, it was possible to get approximately the same angle
repeatedly. The time from the third to the thirteenth tap was, in all
cases, taken by Prof. Stumpf by means of a stop-watch. The tests were
taken in the following order:
Grade of inclination: I VI II II IV V VI VII
Time for 10 taps: 5.2 4.6 5.0 5.0 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.4 sec.
From this series it will be seen that in the case of the same angle of
inclination (II and VI were repeated and III was omitted) the same rate
obtained in the tapping. In two other tests I constantly increased the
angle of inclination during the 15 taps, and Hans gradually increased
the rate of tapping accordingly.
In a second series I had the horse tap 14, five times. I myself took the
time of the taps up to 7 by means of the stop-watch, while Prof. Stumpf
took the time of the taps from 8 to 13. At 8 I suddenly bent forward a
little more and retained this position until tap 13. The results were as
follows:
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