A study of mental fatigue in relation to the daily school program / [by] W. H. Heck.

  • Heck, W. H. (William Harry), 1879-1919.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A study of mental fatigue in relation to the daily school program / [by] W. H. Heck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    similar examples in all four tests the method of marking was the same for all tests, and therefore for all periods. It is only where a child worked one or more examples in one or more tests, but not the similar examples in the other tests, and where the figures in these particular examples could be shown to be undervalued in comparison with the figures in those examples that had been worked in all four tests, that the above-mentioned objection has any validity. The valuation of the figures in the ninth example in comparison with that of those in the fifth, in the few cases where the ninth example was worked by a child in some tests but not in others, is the only illustration that might possibly affect my results to more than a negligible degree. Whatever small effect a possible disparity in the value of figures in these and other examples might have had upon my results would strengthen my conclusions as to the little fatigue shown in my tests, because the subtraction of this effect from the fatigue effect would lessen, of course, the signs of fatigue just to that degree. In fact, I might emphasize the advantage to my conclusions of this possible disparity. Another objection may be made that an initial wrong figure may involve a series of figures which, though wrong, are really the correct consequence of the first mistake and that, therefore, only the initial figure should be counted vn-ong. To trace out from every initial wrong figure in every example in 4,612 papers all the consequent figures, and to determine whether the latter figures were correct consequences of the former, would be an interminable task. Even then there would never be cer- tainty that the consequent figures, in individual papers, did not include more initial wrong figures than the first one. As the necessary thing in my experiment was to grade consistently the work at all four periods, and, as every figure was graded accord- ing to the same rules for these periods, the change suggested, even if possible, would not have affected my results. In order to strengthen my comparison of the work at the four periods by using two different methods of grading, rather than one alone, all the papers were graded again by a gross method in which only the answers were considered. The gross method chosen was very similar to that used by Mr. Courtis. The first and second examples were together credited with one point, this point being counted wrong on account of one or