in the field of the syllable-series the question at issue, and to trace an eventual dependence of the strength of the association upon the sequence of the members of the series appearing in succession in consciousness.
Section 36. Methods of Investigation of Actual Behavior
Researches were again carried out with six series of 16 syllables each. For greater clearness the series are designated with Roman numbers and the separate syllables with Arabic. A syllable group of the following form constituted, then, each time the material for research:
| I(1) | I(2) | I(3) | I(15) | I(16) | |
| II(1) | II(2) | II(3) | II(15) | II(16) | |
| . | |||||
| . | |||||
| . | |||||
| VI(1) | VI(15) | VI(16) | |||
If I learn such a group, each series by itself, so that it can be repeated without error, and 24 hours later repeat it in the same sequence and to the same point of mastery, then the latter repetition is possible in about two thirds of the time necessary for the first.[1] The resulting saving in work of one third clearly measures the strength of the association formed during the first learning between one member and its immediate successor.
Let us suppose now that the series are not repeated in precisely the same order in which they were learned. The syllables learned in the order I(1) I(2) I(3)…I(15) I(16) may for example be repeated in the order I(1) I(3) 1(5)
- ↑ I have omitted to present a few tests with series of 16 syllables each from which this number was obtained, because the results of the sixth chapter sufficiently cover this point. There (p. 55), we saw that six series of 16 syllables each, each series being repeated 32 times, could be memorised after 24 hours in an average of 863 seconds. 32 repetitions are, on an average, just necessary to bring about the first possible reproduction of series of 16 syllables each. Considering the close proportion which exists between the number of repetitions on a given day and the saving of work on the next, it cannot much matter whether the series were repeated, each 32 times, or were memorised each to the first possible reproduction. Since the latter requires about 1,270 seconds, the work of repetition on the following day amounts, as stated above, to about two thirds of this time. The relative saving when 16-syllable series are relearned after 24 hours, is, therefore, scarcely different from that found for series of 12 and 13 syllables (Chapters VII and VIII), while it gradually increases for still greater length of series.
