An Analytic Study of the Memory Image and the Process of Judgment in the Discrimination of Clangs and Tones

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 Excerpt: ...much to the loss or impairment of the image as to the time consumed by the shift of 'venue ' at the momtnt V sounds; V fails to 'sink in' at first if the distraction be complete. (2) We must distinguish four different degrees of distraction: a) no auditory image throughout the interval or in the judgment, (b) a momentary, very faint reappearance of the image once, twice (or very rarely three times) during the interval, but entire absence of it thereafter, (c) an appearance of the image near the end of the interval, persisting into the judgment consciousness, (d) no appearance of the image until V sounds, usually not until V has ceased. The Table shows 84 instances of (-), 33 of (b), 13 of (f), 14 of (d), while the sum of (a) and (i) gives 117 out of 144 cases in which the image is effectually eliminated from consciousness during the period of the decision. 1A set prepared by Fritzsche Bros., New York. For the qualities included, see E. B. Titchener, Experimental Psychology, New York, 1901, Part II, 125 f. 3Iv. G. Burch, this Journal, IX, Oct., 1897, 45. (3) The degree of distraction attained varies with the observer. Thus Wh has (a) and (b) equally often, never (c) and rarely (d): B never has (d); S is most easily distracted to the (a) degree. Under the second heading B has the image only at the very beginning, M and Wh later, at about the 6th second. (4) If one can trust the small number of cases involved, complete distraction is much more damaging to accuracy of judgment than is distraction of the second type. This conclusion is justified by the introspection. The recall of the image at V is of little avail for the purposes of comparison. (5) Distraction in short time-intervals produces in an exaggerated manner certain phenomena of judgment previousl...