RECORDS OF MEETINGS 365 



108 other subjects were tested with 10 letters and digits. Here the girls 

 answered more, but the boys were better for order. 



Mr. Culler said in abstract : The purpose of this experiment was two- 

 fold: to determine the effect of differently distributed practise series 

 upon learning given material; and to make observations upon the learn- 

 ing process in general. 



The material to be learned was the path from the beginning to the 

 end of the Hampton Court maze. The paper (8 by 6 inches) on which 

 the maze was printed, was affixed to a board. Over it was placed a large 

 circular piece of cardboard, easily movable, having in the center a small 

 opening (% to 11/16 inch) through which extended a pencil to mark 

 the course of the subject's movement. At no time could the subject 

 see more of the maze than the part visible through the opening. At 

 the beginning of the experiment the subject was thus instructed: Pencil 

 is now at the entrance to the maze; keep on moving until you reach 

 the end. Never cross a line; always keep to an open path. Mazes are 

 all the same and will be placed in the same position. 



At each trial the time was recorded and number of errors was counted 

 and recorded. To each subject were given 12 trials. Subjects were di- 

 vided into 6 groups as follows : 12 trials at one time, 6 on 2 successive 

 days, 4 on 3 days, 3 on 4 days, 2 on 6 days and 1 on 12 days. There 

 were 5 men in each group except the last, in which were 3. With regard 

 to time of day, subjects were divided into two groups : one group each 

 day for the required number of days, after lunch (1-2 p. m.) : the 

 second group each day after dinner (7—8 p. m.). In comparing men of 

 the two groups no account was taken of this slight difference, as it was 

 considered practically negligible. Good light was uniformly provided. 

 The interval between successive trials of a subject at the same sitting 

 was 30-40 seconds. 



Subjects were all graduate students, age from 22 to 28. 



Three classes of errors appeared: Wrong choice between alternative 

 courses, retracing when on right course, and (accidentally) crossing a 

 line. The first kind are major errors (value 1) and the other two kinds 

 minor (value y 2 ). These are arbitrary values for computing results. 

 The major errors were counted as follows: There are 6 (or 7, depending 

 upon the course taken) places where choice must be made between 

 alternative paths of which only one is right. Each time the subject 

 moved from one of these places in a wrong path, i. e._, away from the 

 goal, it was counted one error. Errors of retracing when on the right 

 path were usually small and due to defective attention or eyesight — ■ 

 subject either thought he had accidentally passed an opening and moved 



