112 



THE ACQUISITION OF SKILL IN ARCHERY. 



In computing the relative progress of the groups it has been found necessary 

 to omit the record of the writer as involving a different type of learning, and 

 hence not fairly comparable with other records. Acting both as subject and 

 as experimenter, the writer was forced to read such instructions on the use of 

 the bow as were available, and to question the other subjects as to their 

 methods of aiming and loosing. From this it followed that many of the 

 adjustments which the others must make by the method of trial and error 

 were reached by him directly through the mediation of preexisting language 

 habits. The advantage of this learning with instruction is shown in figure 13, 



Fia. 13. — Rate of improvement with and with- 

 out instruction. The heavy line is the learn- 

 ing curve of a subject who received detailed 

 instructions. The lighter lines are typical 

 curves of learning without instruction. Or- 

 dinatea, distance from the bulls-eye in 

 inches; abscissic, successive shots arranged 

 by twenties. 



80 



511 

 40 • 

 30 



'^■••■^■■, 



II Hill 21KI 300 400 



Fig. 14. — Learning curves of group A ( ) 



and B ( — ■ — ) under light conditions of 

 practice. 



where the experimenter's record is compared with 3 other typical curves of 

 learning without instruction. (In this figure, as in all the following learning 

 curves, the ordmates represent the average distance from the bulls-eye of suc- 

 cessive groups of 20 shots plotted on the abscissse.) 



Table 35. 



