The auditory stimulus, a click, adjustable to any part of the series,
was made as follows: A wooden shaft, mounted on the same axle as the
discs, and beyond the discs from the observer, could be rotated freely
around the axle when the nut securing it was loosened. This shaft
extended beyond the edge of the disc. It carried a copper wire which
was in contact with the axle. A mercury cup was placed on the table,
upon which the machine rested, in such position that the copper tip
passed through the mercury when the discs rotated. It was thus a very
simple matter to connect an electric sounder so that it would click
every time the circuit was made by the copper passing through the
mercury. And, by the adjustment of the wooden shaft, the click was
readily placed anywhere in the visual series.
As already suggested above, the length of interval between members
of the visual series, and also the time between clicks, seem to be
important factors in determining the amount, and perhaps also the
direction of the displacement. Bessel found his personal equation was
considerably diminished when he used a clock marking half-seconds
instead of one marking seconds. Wolf also diminished his error by using
a clock beating one hundred times a minute instead of one beating
seconds, which he was accustomed to use. Wundt found his customary
negative displacement on the pendulum apparatus (coördinating the
sound with a position of the index earlier than that with which it
was actually simultaneous) disappeared when he had members of the
visual series one thirty-sixth second apart and the auditory stimuli
one second apart. It seemed important at the outset, therefore, to
determine, if possible, the effects of each of these factors.
BOTH INTERVALS PROGRESSIVELY VARIED
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