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{"created":"2022-01-31T12:24:37.526664+00:00","id":"lit28766","links":{},"metadata":{"alternative":"Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory","contributors":[{"name":"Scripture, Edward W. ","role":"author"},{"name":"C.S. Lyman","role":"author"}],"detailsRefDisplay":"Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory 1: 92-96","fulltext":[{"file":"p0092.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"DRAWING A STRAIGHT LINE : A STUDY IN EXPERIMENTAL DIDACTICS\nBY\nE. W. Scripture and C. S. Lyman.\n\u201c The ignorance of the ancients in regard to the art of experimenting, or the low state of development which it reached with them, is one of the causes why their physics lagged so much behind,\u201d says Poggendorff in his Lectures on the History of Physics. In comparison with such sciences as mathematics and astronomy . physics has achieved most of its progress in modern times. In the very latest times the experimental methods have been carried over from the general science of physics to the technical sciences dependent on it; the science of electrical engineering is built on experiments and measurements, partly taken from the physical laboratories hut also to a great extent carried out by practical men for practical purposes.\nIn psychology the first real progress since Aristotle began when Fechner showed the possibility of experimental methods. \u201cWith the introduction of experiment, the trustworthy application of the method of introspection became for the first time possible \u201d (Wundt, Physiol. Psy., 4 ed., I 4). Psychology to-day is a science of experiment and measurement. The time seems at hand when applied psychology should also become an exact and trustworthy science. Pedagogy, or the science of education, is in great extent based on psychology. It will not, however, do to wait for the crumbs that fall from the psychologist\u2019s table; he is thinking of other matters than practical applications. Pedagogy, moreover, has its own peculiar problems which.must be solved in special ways. Can pedagogy make use of experiments in solving any of its problems ?\nWe have chosen such a simple matter as the drawing of a straight line and have tried to gain information on the subject by making experiments. The main object was to see if we could really experiment on a pedagogical subject; at the same time we hoped to make a contribution to our knowledge of methods of drawing. No wide generalizations have been attempted; we have gathered a few facts and drawn the proximate conclusions from them. We firmly","page":92},{"file":"p0093.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"\u25a0Drawing a straight line.\n93\nbelieve, however, that not only can other questions that arise in regard to drawing he settled hy experiments conducted in the proper way, hut also that the same method can he extended with little difficulty to innumerable questions that arise in education.\nTen hoys of the upper grammar grade of the school of Manchester, Conn., were chosen so as to be of as nearly the same age as possible, the average age being 13 yrs. 3 mos. They had had some instruction in drawing throughout the various grades, but not to such an extent as in the city schools ; some of them from the country districts had had very little.\nThe hoys all sat at their desks in just the same positions. A sheet of paper 7 in. long hy 4 in. wide was placed before each. In the middle of the sheet were two dots 100mm apart lengthwise of the paper. At a given signal each hoy drew a straight line between the dots. Afterwards a ruler was laid on each sheet so that its edge cut the dots. With a pair of dividers the greatest deviation of the line drawn from the true straight line was found. The dividers were then applied to a scale and the results recorded in millimeters, the tenths of a millimeter being estimated. The additional figure was retained in the averages, the last significant figure, however, is tenths of a millimeter.\nThe experiments were performed under certain sets of conditions. In the first sets the hoys sat squarely in front of the desk, holding the pencils in the usual way grasped near the middle. The line was drawn with a single movement of the pencil, without going over it a sec\u00f6nd time or erasing. The first line drawn was horizontal, i. e. parallel to the front surface of the body. On the second set of papers the line drawn was vertical, the other conditions remaining the same. In the third set the line was 45\u00b0 to the right, in the fourth 45\u00b0 to the left.. The positions of these lines can be thus\nshown: 0\u00b0 \u2014>\t270\u00b0 l| 45\u00b0\t325\u00b0\tThe arrows indicate\nthe direction of movement of the pencil. In calculating the deviations, or errors, those deviations toward an excess of the angle were called +, those toward the primary position of the line \u2014 ; in the table the corresponding terms, over, under, to the right and to the left are added. The total error 2 is the difference between the maximum + deviation and the maximum \u2014 deviation, i. e. the amount of the + deviation added to the amount of the \u2014 deviation. It is not the distance between the extremes of the deviations of the same line.","page":93},{"file":"p0094.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"94\nDrawing a straight line.\nIn further sets of experiments the position of the hoys was changed, the right side being placed toward the desk. Still other\nTABLE.\nVaried condition\t+ over\t0\u00b0 und\u2019r\ts\t+ left\t45\u00b0 right\t2\t\u25a0f- right\t270\u00b0 left\t2\t+ right\t325\u00b0 left\t2\nFacing, mid grip, steady\t0.86\t1.10\t1.96\t0.75\t1.61\t2.36\t1.24\t0.51\t1.75\t1.16\t2.36\t3.52\nEight side, mid grip, steady\t1.10\t0.51\t1.61\t2.22\t0.43\t2.65\t1.41\t0.94\t2.35\t1.06\t1.64\t2.70\nFacing, near grip, steady\t0.56\t1.43\t1.99\t2.06\t0.76\t2.82\t0.83\t1.20\t2.03\t0.76\t1.75\t2.51\nFacing, far grip, steady\t0.53\t1.12\t1.65\t1.66\t0.31\t1.97\t1.14\t0.63\t1.77\t1.30\t1.67\t2.97\nFacing, mid grip, progressive\t1.24\t0.94\t2.18\t0.96\t1.45\t2.41\t\t\t\t\t\t\nFacing, near grip, progressive\t1.33\t0.79\t2.12\t1.16\t1.03\t2.19\t\t\t\t\t\t\nFacing, far grip, progressive\t1.40\t1.15\t2.55\t1.16\t1.07\t2.23\t\t\t\t\t\t\nAverage\t1.00\t1.01\t2.01\t1.42\t0.95\t2.37\t1.16\t0.82\t1.98\t1.07\t1.86\t2,93\nsets were the same as the first excepting the grip, the pencil being held near the point. In the next sets the pencil was held far from the point, otherwise the conditions were the same as in the first set. In the next three sets the lines were drawn by progressive movements instead of a steady movement. Two inclinations were chosen, 0\u00b0 and 45\u00b0. The first set was done with the middle grip of the pencil, the second with the near grip, the third with the far grip.\nSome experiments were tried with other positions than those of facing and right side, but the positions were so awkward that no results worth tabulating were obtained.\nFrom the results given in the table we can draw a number of conclusions. The facing position is more favorable for horizontal (1.96) and vertical lines (1.76) than it is for inclined lines (2.36, 3.52). The right-side position is also more favorable for horizontal (1.61) and vertical (2.36) than for 46\u00b0 (2.65) and 326\u00b0 (2.70). This is what we might expect as a result of Listing\u2019s law according to which the","page":94},{"file":"p0095.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"Drawing a straight line.\n95\neye moves more easily upward, downward, right and left (i. e. vertically and horizontally), than in intermediate positions.\nIn drawing horizontal lines and 325\u00b0 lines the right-side position is more favorable than the facing position; for the others facing is preferable. This is perhaps to be explained by the fact that the fore arm swings around the elbow in a curve which in order to produce a straight line must he compensated by a backward and forward movement of the upper arm around the shoulder. In the facing position with the paper directly in front the fore arm touches the body at the start and the hand is bent at the wrist. As the arm moves, it becomes freer and a more natural position is assumed. This change in the manner of carrying the arm would tend to introduce uncertainty into its movements. With the arm raised upon the desk in the right-side position it is brought clear of the body, and the line can be executed in one sweep. In drawing the 45\u00b0 line the arm is just as free in the facing as in the right-side position and we find little difference in the results. In drawing the vertical line we would naturally expect much greater accuracy when the motion is a simple forward or backward movement of the arm around the shoulder, as in the facing position, than when the arm has to undergo complicated adjustment with the elbow raised. Why there should be a difference with the 325\u00b0 line it seems impossible to say. Both positions, facing and right side, are on the whole equally favorable for accuracy, as can be seen by taking the average of the total errors, 2, 2.40 for facing, 2.33 for right-side.\nHolding the pencil far from the point is in general the most accurate method (average of 2 2.09) ; near the point is as accurate as the middle grip (2.40). With the pencil far from the point the line is drawn with a smaller movement of the hand, which would give a better result than a larger movement requiring adjustments from elbow and shoulder. For horizontal lines the far grip is the most accurate (1.65 against 1.96, 1.99); for 45\u00b0 the same is true (1.97 against 2.36, 2.82); for vertical lines the middle and the far grips are the same (1.75, 1.77), the near grip is unfavorable (2.03); for the 325\u00b0 line the near grip is the best (2.51), the far grip is next (2.97), the middle grip is very unfavorable (3.52). That the 325\u00b0 line forms an exception to the advantages of the far grip and is much less regular than the others, is evidently connected with the awkward contraction of the fingers in this direction,\nIn progressive lines \u00e9xperiments were made only on 0\u00b0 and 45\u00b0. With the middle grip the result is less accurate for both horizontal","page":95},{"file":"p0096.txt","language":"en","ocr_en":"96\tDrawing a straight line.\n(2.18 against 1.96) and inclined lines (2.41 against 2.36) than for steady lines. With the near grip it is less accurate for horizontal (2.12 against 1.99) hut more accurate for inclined lines (2.19 against 2.82). With the far grip it is much less accurate for both (2.55 against 1.65; 2.23 against 1.97). In general we would expect a progressive line produced by complicated movements to be less accurate than a steady line. This is the case except in the inclined line with near grip; for this exception we are unable to find any reason.\nWhen we compare the two kinds of errors + and \u2014 we find that for 0\u00b0 they are in general equal (1.00 to 1.01). In the facing position with the steady line the \u2014 error is larger, the + errors being 0.86, 0.56, 0.53, the \u2014 errors being 1.10, 1.43, 1.12. With the progressive line the reverse is the case : + errors 1.24, 1.33, 1.40; \u2014 errors 0.94, 0.79, 1.15. In general the facing position gives a tendency to \u2014 errors, the right-side position to + errors.\nWith the 45\u00b0 lines the general tendency is to + errors (1.42 against 0.95). This is to be expected as the 45\u00b0 line is an arc drawn by the forearm with a correction introduced by the upper arm ; when we try to draw two arcs of a circle instead of the straight line\nwe generally make the /^t arc too curved and the\ttoo\nflat. With progressive lines the tendency is for some reason just the reverse but is in general much less. In the right-side position there is an overwhelming tendency to + errors (2.22 against 0.43).\nWith the 270\u00b0 lines the general tendency is to + errors. The middle grip and the far grip give + errors, the near grip \u2014 errors.\nWith the 325\u00b0 lines the \u2014 errors predominate in almost every case.\nIt is interesting to note which inclinations give on the whole the most accurate lines. By comparing the values for 2 we find that-the most accurately drawn line is the 270\u00b0 or downward vertical line and the least accurately drawn the 325\u00b0 or left inclined line.\nThe reasons for many of these facts are still greatly matters of conjecture to be settled only by careful investigation of - the action of the separate muscles of the arm and eye in each case.","page":96}],"identifier":"lit28766","issued":"1892-1893","language":"en","pages":"92-96","startpages":"92","title":"Drawing a straight line; a study in experimental didactics","type":"Journal Article","volume":"1"},"revision":0,"updated":"2022-01-31T12:24:37.526670+00:00"}