Open Access

JSON Export

{"created":"2022-01-31T15:52:44.292610+00:00","id":"lit25279","links":{},"metadata":{"alternative":"Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory","contributors":[{"name":"Weyer, Edward M.","role":"author"}],"detailsRefDisplay":"Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory 3: 96-97","fulltext":[{"file":"p0096.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"SOME EXPERIMENTS ON THE REACTION-TIME OF A\nDOG.\nBY\nEdward M. Weyer.\nThe psychological aspect of reaction-time may he presented in the following manner. When I am the person experimented upon, the phenomenon measured under reaction-time includes two mental processes, perception and volition ; when I measure another person\u2019s reaction-time, I infer, from analogy with my own organism, that the acts of perception and volition occurred in him also. Likewise, when the experiment is arranged so as to involve in my own case discrimination and choice, I assume that it involves similar mental processes in others.\nWe have every reason to believe that when the arrangements for simple and complicated reaction-times are applied to animals such as apes, dogs, etc., mental processes more or less similar to our own take place. It seems but a logical inference that the methods of experimental psychology should be applied to the study of animals ; success in systematized work in this direction ought to lead to a science of comparative psychology as accurate and well established as that of comparative anatomy.\nIn the present case I attempted to determine the simple reactiontime and the reaction-time with discrimination and choice in the case of a dog. The first problem was successfully solved ; the second only partially.\nIn determining the simple reaction-time the usual spark method was employed.1 * Pressing down the multiple-key sent a moderately strong electrical impulse to the forefoot of the dog and at the same time made a spark on the drum. The withdrawal of the foot produced another spark by means of a lever placed upon it.\nThe results gave : average, 8O'7 (a= O'OOl sec.) median, 86ff ; mean variation for a single experiment, 19ff ; mean variation for the series of 21 experiments, 4a.\n1 Bliss, Investigations in reaction-time and attention, Stud. Tale Psych. Lab., 1892\u2014\n1893 I 1.\n96","page":96},{"file":"p0097.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"Some experiments on the reaction-time of a dog.\t97\nThe reaction time is shorter than that for man. Average times as short as 11 Ier have been recorded1 for a shock in the hand. The mean variation is about that of the average untrained person.\nThe attempt to add the processes of discrimination and choice met with serious difficulties in the way of methods and apparatus.\nThe first difficulty lay in a method of getting the dog to discriminate between two objects. Complete success was found in the use of two telephones on the floor, at about a meter apart, either one of them being clicked by an electric current. Through the incitement of a piece of meat for a few times when a click occurred, the dog was led to watch carefully and to turn his head at once in the direction of the click. To keep him in a state of attention ready for either click, the person having the food stood in front so that the dog looked midway between the telephones.\nThe next difficulty lay in inventing a key to record the moment of movement of the dog\u2019s head, as he turned toward the click. A muzzle was placed on the head and the key screwed to the nose-piece. Two keys were made. One of them was on the principle of a small weight supported by an elastic metal rod, the rod being surrounded closely but not touched by a metal ring ; owing to the inertia of the weight, the movement of the head caused the ring to touch the rod and to close an electric circuit. The other key consisted of a small ball rolling in a metal cylinder. It made electrical connection between a small metal plate on the base of the cylinder and the inner surface of the cylinder.\nFor various reasons neither of these keys worked satisfactorily and up to the time the investigation was necessarily closed not enough records had been taken to establish a result. If a result had been obtained, the time for the acts of discrimination and choice could be found by subtracting the simple reaction-time from the latter one. If we admit the analogy between human life and dog life, there is now nothing in the way of finding how fast a dog discriminates and chooses except difficulties with the recording key.\n1 v. Kbies und Auebbach, Die Zeitdauer einfachster psychischer Vorg\u00e4nge, Arch, f. Physiologie (Du Bois-Reymond), 1877 312.\n7","page":97}],"identifier":"lit25279","issued":"1895","language":"en","pages":"96-97","startpages":"96","title":"Some experiments on the reaction-time of a dog","type":"Journal Article","volume":"3"},"revision":0,"updated":"2022-01-31T15:52:44.292616+00:00"}