THE ACQUISITION OF SKILL IN ARCHERY. 



Ill 



6« JO 20 



. 11. — Initial and final accuracy with the bow in 19 

 subjects computed from first and last 40 shots. The 

 ordinates are iiichrs from the bulU-eye; the abscissae, 

 the different sul^jects arranged in the order of their 

 initial skill. The groups of which they are members 

 are given below. The straight lines show the aver- 

 age amount of improvement for any given initial 

 accuracy. 



Fig. 12. — Initial and final 

 accuracy of 9 subjects 

 with the rifle, arranged 

 as figure 11, except that 

 the ordinates represent 

 centimeters. 



A COMPARISON OF UNLIKE GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER THE 

 SAME CONDITIONS OF PRACTICE. 



The first experiment was contlucted witli 8 sul)jects, each shooting 12 arrows 

 daily under the same conditions. Four of the subjects (Group A) were inves- 

 tigators working in the laboratory, 4 (Group B) were skilled laborers. The 

 men of the first group were all trained in habits of delicate manipulation, 

 such as those required by microscopic technique, and to a much less extent 

 in acts of skill demanding coordination of widely dispersed groups of large 

 muscles. The second group included a good marine engineer, anothci- of less 

 thorough training, a carpenter (acting as cook), and a first-cla.ss pilot who had 

 served apprenticeship as a common sailor. 



T.\BLE 34. 



The distinction between the groups was made primarily ujion [professional 

 status, and it is not certain that they differed materiallj' in the number and 

 variety of habits of manipulation at their command. Certainly Group A pos- 

 sessed a much greater range and comi)lexity of implicit habits than Group B, 

 while the reverse was probably true of habits of the type involved in archery. 



