In a second group of experiments I asked a subject to fix his mind upon certain concepts, such as "up", or "down", "right" or "left", "yes" or "no", and others, in any order he pleased, but with the greatest possible degree of concentration. The subject each time had the choice of four or six concepts, and he was told to think of one of them at the signal "Now!". How he was to 'think' the concept was left entirely to him. He was also told to interpolate the series with a 'blank', that is, to think of nothing at all. Standing opposite the subject, I tried to guess at the mental content of the person's mind, on the basis of expressive movements. Sometimes I reacted by shaking or nodding the head, etc., just as Hans had done, but as a rule I was content to say the word which I thought the subject had in mind. With twelve subjects (a total of 350 tests) I made an average of 73% correct responses, and in the more favorable cases I attained even 90 to 100% correct responses. Very slight involuntary movements of the head and eyes, which showed but little individual variation, and always occurred when the subject began to fix upon the concept, were the signs which I used as cues. As in the case of the movements expressive of the release of tension, which I discussed above, these movements, too, occurred without the subject being aware of them, (except in those rare cases in which they had once or twice been especially pronounced). Indeed, it was very difficult and in some cases almost impossible for those persons whom I had initiated into the secret, to inhibit them voluntarily. "Up" and "down", "right" and "left", were expressed by movements of head or eye in those directions, "forward" by a forward movement of the head, "back" by a corresponding movement. "Yes" was accompanied by a slight nod of the head; "no" by two to four rapid turnings of the head to either side.[N] "Zero" was expressed by a movement of the head describing an oval in the air. Indeed, it was even possible to discover whether the subject had conceived of a printed or a written zero, for the characteristics of both were revealed in the head-movements. I was able later to verify this graphically. With Ch. as subject, I made 70% correct interpretations in a total of 20 tests; with von A. as subject, 72% in a total of 25 tests. And finally I was able to interpret the signs without any errors at all. It was not absolutely necessary to look directly at the subject's face. Even though I focussed a point quite to one side, so that the image of the subject's face would fall upon a peripheral portion of my retina, I still was able to make 89% correct interpretations in a total of 20 tests.--This is not astonishing after all, when we recall that the periphery of the retina possesses a relatively high sensitivity for movement impressions, although its chromatic sensitivity is very low.[O]
Regions Brief
Clever Hans — Part 64
2026-11-15 07:44:32 · Cedar Herald Index
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