Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 - Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. by Various
page 50 of 880 (05%)
page 50 of 880 (05%)
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Case 2. _T_ is fixed in the background, _I_ on the pendulum, and the phenomena are observed with the eye moving. Case 3. A repetition of case 1, to make sure that no different adaptation or fatigue condition of the eye has come in to modify the appearance of the two successive phases as at first seen. The possible appearances to the moving eye are closely analogous to those in the dumb-bell experiment. If the eye moves too soon or too late, so that it is at rest during the exposure, the image is like _T_ itself (Fig. 8) but somewhat fainter and localized midway between the points _P_ and _P'_. If the eye moves reflexly at the rate of the pendulum, the image is of the shape _i_ and shows the two phases (3 followed by 5). It is localized in the middle and appears to move across the nine-centimeter opening. A difficulty is met here which was not found in the case of the dumb-bell. The eye is very liable to come to a full stop on one of the colored surfaces, and then to move quickly on again to the final fixation-point. And this happens contrary to the intention of the subject, and indeed usually without his knowledge. This stopping is undoubtedly a reflex process, in which the cerebellar mechanism which tends to hold the fixation on any bright object, asserts itself over the voluntary movement and arrests the eye on the not moving red or green surface as the exposure takes place. A comparable phenomenon was found sometimes in the experiment with the dumb-bell, where an eye-movement commenced as voluntary would end as a reflex following of the pendulum. In the present experiment, until the subject is well trained, the stopping of the eye must be watched by a second person |
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