PSYCHOLOGICAL PROGRAM AND TECHNIQUE. 



141 



Each course is made up of 28 of these straight Hues. The test blank 

 was properly dated and placed face down on the table before the 

 subject, who entered his name prior to the test. A metronome was 

 arranged to beat half seconds, that is, 120 beats per minute. The 

 instructions to the subject were to draw in the open space a light con- 

 tinuous line, without touching the printed parallel lines, to synchronize 

 his movements with the beat of the metronome, making one straight 

 line for each beat, and to make the movements with the muscles of 

 fingers and hand, that is, to avoid whole-arm movement. ''Avoid 

 contact with the line; keep up with the metronome," were the points 

 stressed before beginning the task. When the blank was in position 

 and the pencil on the proper point for starting, the metronome was 



2. 



n 



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Fig. 18. — Specimen record for accuracy in tracing between irregular parallel lines. 



Two of the errors are marked with E. The movements were in tempo with a metronome beating 

 half seconds, and to trace each course should require just 28 beats (14 seconds). 



released. The experimenter counted audibly with the metronome/' one, 

 two, ready, go," counted silently 27 beats, and on the twenty-eighth 

 beat called "stop." At that moment the pencils were immediately 

 lifted from the paper. Between trials 3 and 4 a half-minute intermis- 

 sion was allowed, during which the men were encouraged to shift position. 

 In scoring the record, one error was counted for each contact with 

 a boundary-line, and if the subject did not finish in tempo with the 

 metronome, an error was counted for each beat that he was found behind. 

 The tracing required about 4 minutes. The blanks were immediately 

 turned face down at the last "stop" signal. 



