Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-10-09

osophy of Education.
At the opening OF his ceventh lee
ture, DR.. Han called for number of
teachers to take the stand to assist
him in an experiment. Seven young
men responded.
The doctor arranged them side by
side and requested that they join
hands. He then took his place on the
right. also Joining hands with the
column. Directing all to 'close their
eyes, he asked that as soon as each
should feel the pressure Of his left
hand, he would convey the pressure
on to the next; the last one was TO
throw up his right hand. as soon as
the signal should reach him.
TEST OF REACTION TIME. ~
The audience became intensely in
tercsted in this experiment, and there
was profound silence when DR.. Hail,
throwing up his left hand, set the i'm
pulse In motion. one could see 1t
| travel-up one arm, down another,and
across the eight countenances. In
The experiment was repeated. and
this time the impulse occupied four
seconds in the transmission. or an
| average of one-hulf second to each
man.
The interval elapsinG between the
moment that an impression starts for
the brain and the moment 1t reap
pears in action. is technically called
reaction time. It varies with differ
ent organizations, some being swift,
others slow. It also varies according
TO the length of the nerves through
which the impulse passes.
This fact is Illustrated In various
ways. An impression is begun at the
/ big toe, for instance, and discharged
at the tip of the middle finger of the
| opposite hand This is the longest
| circuit. The shortest is that of the
| eye. which in the act Of winking.
| reacts with almost incredible swift
ness.
| BY appropriate experiments. we can
| ascertain accurately the rate at which
energy moves along the nerves Men
/ tai action Is ny no means iustantuue-
Gus, It takes time. And each man has
| his own time. which Is called the per
/ sonal equation. For delicate ohacr-
| VutiOns, as in astronomy, 1t is ncCcs-
sary to know the observers reaction
time-his personal equati0n-which
must he deducted from the time at
which he records the taking place OF
| the event. The average reaction time,
the time between seeing and recording
an occurrence, is about one-tenth Of a
second.
THOUGHT REACTION.
-.-.,.t
ments FOR testing the time of thought
reaction. that is, the time 1t takes for
| an Impression to set going an assoCi-
| ated idea. lie told the teachers that
he would ask each to try the expert
ment Of shouting back to him the
first idea suggested by the word he
! should give. He then named cat ~
| Most shouted Dog" Some rat"
others Mouse" He then named
Boy" and the replies We're much
divided in kind and in time, Girl,
hat" "frecklos,' barefoot being
some of the various notions suggested.
The lecturer then related some
his pupils by such tests. ON one oc-
casi0n when he shouted the word
glass" confident that 1t would sug-
Eest window, one respectable young
man surprised him by responding
beer"
rrin% and deteTminini n"or,v ali Inc
raiations rrn,vinr nut ~ ,nind-ncti,yi-
-, ha,,a benn intentad NJ iat. ,aara
and orc now In rsn in Northumberland
Inhorntories One Of tbas,. demon.
str,tns tbot nc hood crn,,s ben,lar
When on..arod in tbourht thereby in
cidcntoiiS, 3ustif,,ing tho mstanborc
I,cbt-hoa,1oI annty-bcadad ne an
,,iiod 10 one who pryor thinks
This is the method employed: \
Iii ,,' 80 ,Hsrd a. s,,ch ,,.n,, Tho
itn Ill, orn",i,, ha,ancas a., ,,i,.rt
lie u, tbon ,,I,'cr a nrnhlen, "a v,nrl
n,,t GraduoIlv his bond begins "a
s',,, Ia Tho rro,,nd wniybtg mr..
ri,col on the other end M his fool
,,nti bts hnd,, noisures orain nnd
,b,,g tho bsrt Of his thoupht is asrar.
sd-,vhich il 10 needless ia shy
10 IN ,valgbt Of the cvtro omoint 1i
Mood couged To- fiow 10 his brain. by
49,, ~ mo ,,crciss ,,oin., a., tbarc
-, ,,,,,,,-, NJ, ,r,,Ii,r W.,
fi'uM f'i''iiA ~ Nv hLN r.
The question of reaction time Is
directly related to methods OF teach
ing. The present lecture concerns
itself with that most cnigmuticaI
period In child's life the period be-
tween eight and twelve years OF age
Less is really known Of It than Of any
other period. The pupil after the age
OF eight, ceases In a sense to be q
child, yet he is not a youth. Very
little outward growth marks this
period, but there ~ much activity
Development proceeds by inNolutun