98 REPORT OF THE PSYCHOLOGY COMMITTEE 



paratus, and the important resulting effects on attention and 

 on voluntary sensory-motor coordination were made the basis 

 of practical tests for rating aviators. 



In general the method employed called for the performance 

 by the subject of a group of continuous tasks involving co- 

 ordinated reactions during the gradual decrease of oxygen 

 supply. The composure of the subject and his ability to 

 comprehend instructions were noted. Attention and motor 

 tendencies were recorded on a fixed scale of types, as were 

 also the moments when the effects of oxygen insufficiency at- 

 tained a certain standardized importance, especially the final 

 moment of 'complete inefficiency' which would have been 

 followed quickly by a complete breakdown and unconscious- 

 ness if the reactor had not been given air. 



The psychological section of the Mineola Station, at first 

 under Major Dunlap and later under Major Stratton, trained 

 and sent into the field units for administering these tests to 

 aviation cadets. During the last half of 1918, beside the 

 conduct of psychological tests of the ability of aviators to 

 withstand high altitude and the consequent lack of oxygen, 

 further research was carried on for the discovery of special 

 aptitude for flying. To this end, experiments were instituted 

 at Taylor Field, Montgomery, Alabama, under the immediate 

 charge of Captain McComas, and at Souther Field, Amerlcus, 

 Georgia, under the immediate charge of Lieutenant Bagby 

 with special apparatus and methods in the following regions: 

 The judgment of differing rates of motion which intersect, 

 pursuit movements of the hand, the power to trace and re- 

 trace a given course, the strength and maintenance of a max- 

 imal grip, the time of complex reaction to visual signals. 

 These experiments are now in progress and it is too soon to 

 give their outcome even in summary. 



J. F. Shepard cooperated with the subcommittee on avia- 

 tion in devising tests for aerial observers. The Shepard 

 method of modifying photographic plates is worthy of special 

 notice. 



Captain H. C. McComas of the subcommittee also con- 

 ducted work along somewhat similar lines. 



