236 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



day. That the mental processes involved in learning a series 

 on nonsense syllables as R. did are different from those em- 

 ployed in the rote learning by the other subjects, can not be 

 doubted. At least they are more complex. The following are 

 a few of the syllables learned and the associations by which 

 they were connected : 



bex hup ; beckons to hurry up. 



gam cib ; gamble, punish at Siberia. 



roc gub ; rocks, money for Gubernatorial campaign. 



wip cej ; wipe, see just a little better. 



huv cef ; hurry very fast to see Eph. 



These are samples of the connections he formed. All the 

 other syllables were connected by similar associations. Un- 

 doubtedly physical fatigue influenced these associations ma- 

 terially, as he shows the greatest effect of physical fatigue 

 and more frequently reported difficulty in forming connections 

 after work periods than after rest periods. 



The results of M. are very uniform, with the exception of 

 the scores for the first rest day and the first work day. There 

 is nothing to indicate why these scores should be so low, as 

 the practice series that preceded usually gave better averages. 

 If we omit these two scores, the total averages would be 88.4 

 per cent after rest and 73.4 after work; that is, a little 

 greater decrease in learning after work would be manifested. 

 Br. and Do. show considerable tendency to fluctuate from 

 day to day, but their scores are consistently lower on work 

 days. 



THE CURVE OF MENTAL WORK. 



The addition and multiplication tests were divided into five- 

 minute periods, and the sounder test into four-minute periods, 

 in order to determine, if possible, the effects of inertia and 

 fatigue within the course of the mental work of the test. 

 The addition and multiplication tests could have been divided 

 into smaller periods, but the variation in the difficulty of indi- 

 vidual problems made the longer periods seem advisable. The 

 time required to solve each problem was always recorded by 

 the experimenter, and several curves were constructed by 

 one-minute periods and by individual problems. These curves 

 were so irregular and varied so widely from each other for 

 the same individual that the plan was abandoned and the 

 longer periods adopted. 



