274 



PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



SECTION II. LATENCY, SENSITIVITY, CONFIGURATION, REFBACTOKY PHASE, AND RECUPERATION 



OF THE SIMPLE REFLEXES. 



Since the entire psychophysical mechanism 

 must be studied as a complication of nervous 

 arcs, the nervous arc should be studied in its 

 simplest form, according to principle (3), i. e., 

 in the simple reflexes. The refractory phase 

 may be of peculiar importance in connection 

 with the problem of fatigability and recu- 

 peration. Because of the adequacy of the 

 respective techniques I suggest particular 

 study of the knee-jerk and the protective 

 wink-reflexes. 



(1) The knee-jerk should be measured by 

 muscle thickening, with special reference to 

 latent time, sensitivity, height and configu- 

 ration of the curve, and the duration of its 



return to the base-line from which it starts. 

 For reasons described in my "Systematic 

 Exploration of the Knee Jerk" 1 I prefer a 

 pendulum hammer stimulus and direct regis- 

 tration of the muscle curve; (2) the protec- 

 tive wink-reflex should be studied with special 

 reference to latent time, sensitivity, height 

 and configuration of the curve, and the 

 duration and completeness of the subsequent, 

 refractory period. For reasons described in 

 my paper on the "Refractory phase of the 

 protective wink-reflexes" 2 the stimulus 

 should be a sound stimulus and the registra- 

 tion should be photographic. 



SECTION III. COMPLICATED REACTION AKC.S. 



Practiced reactions of more complex arcs 

 which would be comparable in different indi- 

 viduals are relatively few. I suggest (1) eye- 

 reactions to suddenly appearing peripheral 

 visual stimuli. These are in the nature of 

 choice reactions and demand a definite space 

 complication of the muscular response. 

 They are thoroughly practiced for all normal 

 adults and relatively independent of the 

 caprice of the subject (see "Ocular reactions 



of the insane "). (2) Since speech is the best 

 practiced universal (for literates) reaction, 

 I should combine these records of the eye- 

 movements with speech-reactions, naming 

 the letter presented (one of 2 or 4), as carried 

 out in my "Experimental study of visular 

 fixation." 3 (3) I believe further that in 

 specially trained individuals their regular 

 business reactions should be studied as in the 

 Kraepelin and Aschaffenberg experiments. 



SECTION IV. MEMORY AND ASSOCIATION TESTS. 



Since distinctively mental functions chiefly 

 involve memory and association, 4 some ap- 

 proved form of memory and association tests 

 should be used. They should not be too 

 time-consuming or too exacting for the sub- 

 ject, (a) For memory I suggest the speech 

 reaction to a "normal" series of 12 gradually 

 appearing words; three repetitions of the 

 series should show a quantitative persevera- 

 tion value without actually learning the 

 series. This test has the tentative approval 

 of G. E. Muller (Gottingen) . (6) Controlled 



association test should be made either in the 

 form of Kraepelin mathematical tests or 

 some similar method. Pulse-rate must be 

 taken with these tests. 5 Free association 

 tests for the possible changes in the character 

 of the associates should be made with special 

 reference to time of response and pulse-rate. 

 (c) I also recommend tests on the rapidity of 

 reading aloud, including photographic regis- 

 tration of the fixation pauses of the eyes 

 (Dodge and Dearborn) and a record of the 

 pulse-rate. 



*A systematic exploration of a normal knee-jerk, its technique, the form of the muscle con- 

 traction, ita amplitude, its latent time, and ita theory. Verworn's Zeitsch. f. allg. Physiol.. 

 1910, 12, p. 1. 



2 The refractory phase of the protective wink-reflex. Am. Journ. Psychol., 1913, 24, p. 1. 



3 An experimental study of visual fixation. Monograph supplements of the Psychol. Review, 

 8, No. 4, esp. pp. 53-55. 



4 A working hypothesis for inner psychophysics. Psychol. Review, 1911, 18, p. 167. 



'Mental work. A study in psychodynamics. Psychol. Review, 1913, 20, p. 1. 



