228 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. XXII. No. 560 



tal images. In a subsequent experiment upon about 

 two hundred normal students, when more care was 

 taken not to make the preliminary explanations sug- 

 gestive, the number of distinct mental images was 

 about ten per cent less, and in the case of four hun- 

 dred school children considerably less than that, but in 

 this latter case many did not understand what was wanted. 

 When particular things are thought of the descriptions 

 may have been given from memory, in some cases, with- 

 out any distinct mental image being present, but the 

 general term was, at any rate, translated into a particular 

 thing which represented the class. These results do not 

 jDrove that in reading three-fourths of the names call up 

 distinct mental images, but they indicate that in a large 

 proportion of cases there is a strong tendency to form 

 such images, which is probably often effective in slow, 

 careful reading. 



It will be seen that the females show a stronger ten- 

 dency to form mental images than the males. This is 

 especially evident a hen the particular images, which are 

 less surely distinct, are not counted. The numbers in 

 each grade or class are so few and the ages of the mem- 

 bers in each so different that not much importance can 

 be attached to the differences shown in the table. It is 

 significant, however, that among the college students, 

 where, all being adults, age is a less important factor, and 

 where each year they take u]) more abstract subjects, the 

 tendency to form distinct mental images decreases from 

 the lower to the higher classes. Galton, in his studj' of 

 mental imagery, found that some eminent men who had 

 spent many years in abstract studies, were utterly unable 

 to form distinct mental images. On the other hand those 

 who deal much with objects sometimes form mental 

 images as distinct and vivid as the original, as, for ex- 

 ample, the painter mentioned by Taine, who looked at his 

 subjects when sketching the general outline, then filled 

 in the details from the mental image he had formed. 



The results classified according to the age of the sub- 

 jects are given in table 11: 



No. of Persons, (Females), 



13 14 15 



16 



17 



3 7-12 3 4 10-29 3 9-29 2 3-11 

 and for girls: 4 8-33 3 3 1-2 3 7-23 3 



I arranged in marking the papers so that I should 

 not know the age of the subject whose answers I was 

 classifying, hence my judgment could not have been in- 

 fluenced by my theory. The large number of distinct 

 images formed by boys of fifteen compared with those 

 of other ages, especially fourteen and seventeen, is 

 again very marked. There is considerable probability 

 that the law of change in the tendency to form mental 

 images is somewhat like this. The tendency to form 

 mental images decreases just before the period of adoles- 

 cence, increases very rapidly early in that period, de- 

 creases at its close, then increases or decreases according 

 as the occupations and studies favor or opj)ose the ten- 

 dency. More extensive experiments and more exact 

 methods will be required to demonstrate the law. 



The words used were not all equally effective in calling 

 up mental images, but the difference is not very marked. 



Table III shows the per cents for the different 

 words with the high school pupils: 



''Church,"' being the least general term in the list, pro- 

 duces the most distinct images, but a large proportion of 

 them are particular, usually of the one the writer attends. 

 The following are typical answers: School Children — 

 "Methodist church front door," "Congregational church 

 with a large crowd singing," "A country church with a 

 steeple," "A large white church with people going in 

 and out," "Word 'church' printed," "A little white 

 church on a hill in Ovid." College Students — "A gothic 

 building with spire," "A generalized type of a church 

 building,' "Pictures of the exterior color somewhat 

 dull," "Interior of the church I have attended the later 

 years of my life, the peoi^le gathered,' "A religious 

 organization,'' (none of the school children gave this 

 answer) "Sermon or religious service,'' ''The image of 

 several churches in succession, the Congregational first," 



Distinct Images, 



No. of Persons, (Males), 



8 8.71 8.66 7.33 8.77 7.83 7.83 8.33 4..50 6.44 5.12 6.00 



20 



16 



Distinct Images, - - 8.25 8.75 6.75 9.05 



In the case of boys of fourteen and seventeen years the 

 average is out down by the fact that there were several 

 who formed no distinct mental images, though it would 

 have been low anyway, and in several other cases the 

 numbers are so small that only slight importance can be 

 attached to the figures. The very high average for boys 

 of fifteen is quite suggestive. The average for girls of 

 fourteen is also high. It is well known that great 

 changes take place during the period of adolescence, 

 especially in the boy. It has been shown that it is a 

 period of rapid growth and good health, and that it is 

 preceded and followed by short periods of slow growth 

 and poor health. Recent experiments have also shown 

 that at this period there is a rapid increase in the rate of 

 voluntary motions. These figures suggested that per- 

 haps the same law holds for the formation of mental 

 images as for growth, health and motion. I accordingly 

 repeated the experiment upon about four hundred more 

 school children. The res:ilts for boys from thirteen to 

 seventeen were as follows: 



16 



11 



IS 18 



7.47 5.00 8.00 6.88 7.00 6.85 6.40 6.83 4.37 

 "A white church with a spire in the corner," "First an 

 edifice capped with a spire, then a preacher standing be- 

 fore his audience," "Congregational as seen from the 

 library this morning," "Congregational views from the 

 N. E.," "White building longer than wide, with green 

 shutters tod a spire." "A common country church 

 building," "Image of a light stone church situated on a 

 hill." 



Book ranks next to church in the number of distinct 

 and particular images called up. The particular image 

 most frequently suggested was of the book from which 

 the pupil was to recite next. 



School Children. — "Leaves of a reader," "Circuit Eider," 

 ''Study," "A real good novel" (how suggestive this an- 

 swer), "Longfellow," "Small colored white and brown," 

 "Daniel Webster's dictionary" (!), "Bible," "See a large 

 red book full of poems on the table," "Large, with gold 

 edges," "Scottish Chiefs," "A large dictionary on a rack," 

 "The knowledge one would have if he could tell all the 

 important events in history." College Students — "Reading 



