RECORDS OF MEETIXGS 405 



2). In the group of tests in -which there were none of the elements 

 which determined the rate of canceling in the practice series the transfer 

 effects are without appreciable or reliable manifestation. 



3). In the group of tests in which the elements determining the can- 

 celing were among those to be neglected in the practice series, while the 

 elements determining the canceling in the practice series were among 

 those to be neglected in these tests the transfer effects appear as inter- 

 ference. 



Dr. Woodworth said : Besults cited from the literature and from the 

 speaker's own experiments showed that in the main an influence which 

 made for quickness of learning made also for good retention of the matter 

 learned. But there were exceptions to this rule, the most important being 

 that lonor lists of syllables, or other laro-e masses of matter to be learned, 

 thougli slowly learned, were strongly retained. This result has usually 

 been explained by reference to the additional study given to the elements 

 of the longer list because of their presence in the long list. An experi- 

 ment was reported showing that this was not the full explanation. By 

 the method of paired associates, lists of 5, 10, 20 and 30 pairs of unre- 

 lated English words were presented, each list receiving three readings, 

 with test and prompting after each reading. The shorter lists were nat- 

 urally more completely mastered in the three readings than the longer 

 lists. Xevertheless, a test two days later showed that the pairs of the 

 longer lists were much better learned than those of the shorter lists. 

 From the lists of 5 pairs, 6 per cent, were retained; from the lists of 10 

 pairs, 15 per cent, were retained; from the lists of 20 pairs, 37 per cent, 

 were retained : and from the lists of 30 pairs, 31- per cent were retained. 

 IJetrospective notes by the 25 subjects indicate that length of list acts as 

 a stimulus to effort, and that this effort goes to the discovery of mean- 

 ingful connections between the members of a pair. Shortness of list 

 favors quick rote learning, without much attention to meaning, while 

 length of list favors meaningful apprehension^ which in turn favors 

 retention. 



Dr. Morgan said : This paper was the report of an investigation in- 

 tended to ascertain the effect of noisy conditions upon human activity. 

 The procedure of the experiment consisted in having the subject work 

 continuously at a task, the time for each step being recorded automat- 

 ically. While thus working severe noises were introduced. Each subject 

 vv^orked for about one hour, a record being taken for the entire time. 



The results show that: (1) When the disturbing noises were first in- 

 troduced they caused a retardation in the speed of the work. (2) After 

 the first slowing effect, the subject exceeded the s])eed he had made before 



