Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1: Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory.
Science
Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1: Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory.
Psychology, Experimental
The maximum is reached in No. 1_a_, where the angle has the arrowhead
form and each angle points to the other. It should be remarked that
the diagram is somewhat misleading in respect to the distance of the
figures, which in this as in the other experiments was 25 cm. The
figures therefore were far enough away from each other to be perceived
and imaged in individual distinctness. But the 'energy' of the lines,
especially where the lines united to form an acute angle, was often
sufficient to overcome the effect of this separation, and either to
bring the figures nearer together or to unite them into a single
object. The notes are very decisive in this regard. A few of them may
be cited: "The angles tended to join points." "The figures showed a
tendency to move in the direction of the apex." "The angles (2_a_)
united to form a cross." "When both figures (4_b_) were in mind I felt
disagreeable strains in the eyeballs; one figure led me to the right
and the other to the left." The effect of the last-named figures
(4_a_) seemed to be different from that of 1_a_ and 2_a_, though the
apex of each angle was turned to that of the other in each of the
three cases. "The two angles," says another subject, speaking of 4_a_,
"appeared antagonistic to each other." It will be observed that they
are less acute than the other angles referred to, and the confluent
lines of each figure are far less distinctly directed towards the
corresponding lines of the opposing figure, so that the attention, so
far as it is determined in direction by the lines, would be less
likely to be carried over from the one image to the other.
On the other hand, when the angles were turned away from each other
the legs of the angles in the two figures compared were brought into
closer relation, so that in 2_b_, for instance, the average is even
higher than in 2_a_. Similarly the average in 3_b_, an obtuse angle,
is higher than in 3_a_. The notes show that in such cases the
contrasted angles tended to close up and coalesce into a single
figure with a continuous boundary. "The ends (2_b_) came together and
formed a diamond." "When the angles were turned away from each other
the lines had an occasional tendency to close up." "There was a
tendency to unite the two images (4_a_) into a triangle." "The two
figures seemed to tug each other, and the images were in fact a little
closer than the objects (4_a_)." "The images (4_a_) formed a
triangle." So with regard to the figures in 5_a_. "When both were in
the field there seemed to be a pulling of the left over to the right,
though no apparent displacement." "The two figures formed a square."
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