96 REPORT OF THE PSYCHOLOGY COMMITTEE 



opening at constant rate and then disappears; the subject 

 tries to stop it when it has reached (invisibly) a given point. 



17. Continuous choice reaction; each stimulus being produced by 



the preceding correct reaction. 



18. Tapping with index finger vertically between two fixed contacts. 



19. Equilibrium reaction time; subject sitting on platform which 



tilts suddenly; choice reaction to the direction of tilt. 



20. Simple visual reaction time. 



21. Simple auditory reaction time. 



22. Fatigue; ergograph with middle finger. 



23. Emotional stability; changes in pulse, breathing and arithmet- 



ical performance as affected by a revolver shot. 



About seventy-five cadets were given the above series of 

 tests. Arrangements had been made to correlate test per- 

 formances with records from the flying schools as soon as 

 these men learned to fly solo and also when they received the 

 rank of "Reserve Military Aviator." Unfortunately the ex- 

 igencies of the situation in Europe interfered with this pro- 

 gram, since it became necessary to send some of the men 

 direct from the ground school overseas. Records of flying 

 ability were obtained for twenty-five of the men tested. 



In the summer of 1917 the committee was reorganized. 

 Burtt resigned and George M. Stratton who had been work- 

 ing independently on tests for aviators at Rockwell Field, 

 San Diego, was appointed chairman. Edward L. Thorndike 

 was chosen as executive secretary, and John B. Watson, War- 

 ner Brown, Francis Maxfield, and H. C. McComas were added 

 to the membership. Stratton had tested over fifty cadets in 

 the following capacities: auditory reaction time, visual reac- 

 tion time, emotional stability, steadiness and standing, per- 

 ception of gradual tilt of the body as a whole, dexterity, and 

 the power to continue in imagination certain segments of 

 curves presented visually. 



A combined score showed that of the six aviators who made 

 the lowest scores, five men subsequently were relieved from 

 flying because of failure to learn to fly. Stratton's results, 

 together with the entire data of Burtt, Miles, and Troland, 

 and later the findings of Maxfield, were pooled for compara- 

 tive analysis under the direction of Thorndike, who under- 



