RECORDS OF MEETINGS 357 



H. A. Rug-er, Transfer and Ikterfhrrnce in tfte SmsTiTU- 



TioN Test. 



A. T. Poffenberger, A Comi-arison of the Effects of Strycitnine 



AND Caffeine on Mental and Motor Effi- 

 ciency. 



H. L. Hollingworth, A Comparison of Stylus and Key in the 



Tapping Test. 



Carl C. Brig-ham, An Experimental Critique of the Binet- 



SiMON Scale, 



R. S. Woodworth, The Work Curve for Short Periods of In- 

 tense Application. 



Garry C. Myers, Eecall in Eelation -n) Eetention. 



Summary of Papers 



• Dr. McComas said : Two methods may be followed in testing telephone 

 operators ; one, by analyzing the activities at the switchboard and exam- 

 ining each, the other by testing these activities as a whole. The latter 

 was followed in the work at the Princeton Laboratory. The apparatus 

 duplicated an actual switchboard, on a small scale. The operator made 

 connections at the board and these were timed by a kymograph in an 

 adjoining room. The kymograph records showed the time which elapsed 

 between the appearance of a light over a call connection and the moment 

 an operator "plugged in;" also, between the moment a number was called 

 and its appropriate connection made. Fifty records in succession were 

 taken for each subject. The operators were ranked according to the 

 quickness of their reactions. This ranking was compared with the com- 

 posite ranking made by two telephone supervisors independently. The 

 test easily detected tlie two best, and two out of three of the poorest, of 

 the nine operators supplied by the Princeton exchange. 



This rather difficult test was supplemented by one Avhieli called for 

 very much simpler apparatus; practically a test in motor coordination. 

 The operator sat before a table supporting an upright board upon which 

 was fixed a sheet of paper containing ten crosses, arranged in three irreg- 

 ular rows. With a pencil she sought to touch the intersections of the 

 crossed lines in quick succession. After each thrust at a cross the pencil 

 point was brought down upon a blotter on the table. This gave a move- 

 ment similar to that of the switchboard. Each subject was instructed to 

 make tlie movements as quickly as possible, but not to sacrifice accuracy 

 for time. Tests were made for each hand and with the sheets in various 

 positions. The records in time wore taken witli a stop-watch; those for 

 accuracy, by measuring the distances of the pencil marks from the inter- 



