A DEFINITION OF FORM 



HAROLD C. BINGHAM 



Ellsworth College 



Regarding separate studies in form perception by Lashley 

 and myself, 1 the following criticism has been urged: 2 " Both 

 series of experiments referred to above are concerned with 

 patterns, not forms." ' In problem boxes such as those described 

 by Lashley and Bingham . . . the animal tested is con- 

 fronted not by two "forms " corresponding to the configurations 

 of the opal glass, but by such designs as are suggested in figure 1. 



Figure 1. Reprinted from Jour. Animal Behavior, vol. ^3, no. 5, p. 331. 



The squares drawn in the figure represent the rectangular tunnels 

 down which the animal goes in making his responses. What the 

 animal sees is a triangle or a circle each in more or less of a 

 square setting." In substance, the form is not without a per- 

 ceptible environment and, therefore, is strictly a pattern. 



Accepting the definition of pattern and conceding for the mo- 

 ment the definition of form urged by Hunter, I maintain that, 



« Lashley, K. S. Visual Discrimination of Size and Form in the Albino Rat. 

 Jour. Animal Behavior, 1912, vol. 2, No. 5. 



Bingham, H. C. Size and Form Perception in Gallus Domesticus. Jour. Animal 

 Behavior, 1913, vol. 3, No. 2. 



» Hunter, W. S. The Question of Form Perception. Jour. Animal Behavior, 

 1913, vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 330-1. 



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