Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 12.djvu/84

EXPEEIMENTS ON THE ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 71 The mental processes considered above are by no means in- vented for the sake of experiment, but are such as make up a considerable part of life. We see that it took the subjects f to f sec. to call to mind facts with which they were familiar. The times needed in the different cases are of interest. The time of addition was the shortest of all ; B needed 168, C 208<r longer to multiply than to add ; it took twice as long to call to mind the foregoing as the following month. It will be noticed that the times of the two subjects correspond closely (the average time in the eight examples given is 420<r for B, 436 for C); the differences of time in the several cases are explained by the character and pursuits of the subjects, and in turn throw light back upon these. For example, B is a teacher of mathematics, C has busied him- self more with literature ; C knows quite as well as B that 5 + 7 = 12, yet he needs -^ sec. longer to call it to mind; B knows quite as well as G that Dante was a poet, but needs ^ sec. longer to think of it. Such experiments lay bare the mental life in a way that is startling and not always gratifying. The numbers given are the averages from many measurements ; the mean variation shows how greatly the separate determina- tions vary from the average. This variation is partly owing to changing conditions of the brain, so that the same process never takes exactly the same time ; it is, however, largely due to the fact that the mental operations under bhe same class are not equally simple, and consequently require different times. Just as it takes less time to add 2 to 3 than to multiply 2 by 3, so it takes less time to add 2 to 3 than to add 6 to 7. Owing to the normal variation in the time of the same mental process, we should not place too much reliance on a small number of measurements ; it will, however, be worth our while to notice a few examples. In giving the country in which the city is situated, as average of three trials, both B and C took the shortest time for Paris (212, 278^), and the longest time for Geneva (403, 485<r). In giving the language in which an author wrote, as average of the three trials, B took the shortest time for Luther (227) and Goethe (265), and the longest for Aristotle (591) and Bacon (565) ; C took the shortest time for Plato (224) and Shakespeare (258), the longest for Chaucer (503) and Plautus (478). In the case of Luther B took 244, in the case of Goethe 102<r less time than C ; in the case of Shakespeare C took I860- less time than B. It should be borne in mind that B is a German, C an American. In giving the calling of eminent men the order was as follows, tne shortest times being placed first : B Poet (355), War- rior, Historian, Philosopher, Artist, Eeformer, Man of Science (657) ; C Poet (291), Artist, Historian, Warrior, Philosopher, Eeformer, Man of Science (421). With both subjects Poet comes first and Man of Science last. It is easier to think of Homer as a poet than of Darwin as a man of science.