Oak Street 
 UNCLASSIFIED 
 
 
 Mm^. 
 
 Vol. VIII JULY- SEPTEMBER. 1922 Number 4 
 
 Published by Randolph-Macon Woman's College 
 ISSUED QUARTERLY 
 
 BULLETIN OF 
 
 RANDOLPH-MACON 
 WOMAN'S COLLEGE 
 
 LYNCHBURG. VA. 
 
 m 
 
 LlSllli 
 
 rii 
 
 THREE EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES 
 IN PSYCHOLOGY 
 
 Conducted and Edited by 
 
 Professor L. R. GEISSLER, Ph. D. 
 
 tUifli#5 
 
 Entered as second-class matter January 5, 1913, at the postoffice at Lynchburg, Virginia, 
 under the Act of August 24, 1912. 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF 
 
 RANDOLPH -MACON 
 WOMAN'S COLLEGE 
 
 THREE EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES 
 IN PSYCHOLOGY 
 
 Conducted and Edited by 
 
 Professor L. R. GEISSLER. Ph. D. 
 
 Published by 
 
 RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE 
 LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/threeexperimentaOOgeis 
 
Three Experimental Studies in Psychology" 
 
 Conducted and Edited by DR. L. R. GEISSLER 
 
 I.— THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HUMAN FACE 
 • FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 Dorothy V. Pope, '22, Experimenter 
 
 It is frequently observed in hearing or reading accounts of a 
 public gathering that the audience is referred to as "intelligent 
 looking." Again, one often hears persons described as having 
 an ''intelligent looking face" or as being "musical looking," 
 "artistic looking," "literary looking," "scientific looking," or 
 as having an "honest, open countenance" or as "mean look- 
 ing," and the like. The question then arises: To what extent 
 is it possible to judge a person's traits from a study of his facial 
 features? Is it possible to find any positive correlation between 
 the face and the talents of a stranger? The present study was 
 undertaken with such questions as these in mind, and in par- 
 ticular we wished to find out whether the interpretation of the 
 human face from photographs is accomplished by the average 
 intelligent person as easily as by one trained in judging intel- 
 lectual achievement and interpreting faces, and whether such 
 factors as the sex or age of the judge have any effect upon the 
 judgment or interpretation. 
 
 Our problem is neither new nor original, for the science of 
 physiognomy has for centuries been concerned with discovering 
 the relations between the human mind and its outward expres- 
 sion. This science, which seems to be as old as occidental civili- 
 zation, has had in its development an alternation between pe- 
 riods of being in favor and periods of being in disrepute; but 
 the fact that age can neither exhaust nor destroy its possibilities 
 forces us to believe that its problems are worthy of further at- 
 tention and study. 
 
 The first systematic effort to collect the facts concerning the 
 relation between mental traits and facial features is attributed, 
 whether rightly or wrongly, to Aristotle, in the fourth century 
 B. C. He enumerated three principles of analogy, by means of 
 which the relation is to be studied. The first one tries to draw 
 
4 Bulletin 
 
 a parallel between the features of certain animals and their 
 most distinctive characteristics and assumes that human beings 
 exhibiting similar features will possess the corresponding ani- 
 mal characteristics. The second principle applies in a like man- 
 ner to the distinctive characteristics and features of different 
 human races, while the third principle makes use of the faces, 
 drawings, paintings, or busts of the most prominent personages 
 known to his time. 
 
 Early Christianity scorned any study of the sinful flesh and 
 physiognomy fell into discredit, to be revived by Leonardo da 
 Vinci, who wrote several treatises on it in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury and also utilized its facts and principles in re-establishing 
 the art of portrait-painting. During the 17th century physiog- 
 nomy again fell into disfavor, due to the fact that it became 
 associated with the pseudo-sciences of the day. But in the 18th 
 century Lavater, an influential preacher from Zurich, in Switzer- 
 land, brought about a revival of interest in the subject. Schiller 
 and Goethe were both deeply interested in it and wrote essays 
 upon the relation of features to traits of character. About the 
 same time the anatomist Camper in Holland was attempting to 
 prove that intelligence was indicated by an angle formed by tw^o 
 lines, the one from the ear to the base of the nose, the other 
 tangential to upper teeth and forehead. It has since been proven, 
 however, that Camper's angle is of no importance psycho- 
 logically. In the nineteenth century interest in physiognomy 
 centered in mimicry in particular. Here w^e find Deschenne 
 experimenting upon facial movements as stimulated by elec- 
 tricity, Lombroso studying the features of criminals and genius, 
 while Darwin published an important work on "The Expression 
 of the Emotions in Man and Animals." 
 
 Today the interest in physiognomy is probably more wide- 
 spread than at any previous period, perhaps partly due to the 
 rapid advances made in photography. Employers and employ- 
 ment-managers desire either personal interviews or at least a 
 photograph of the applicant. Phrenologists, palmists, and other 
 types of pseudo-scientific character-readers, including the pro- 
 fessional interpreters of handwriting and photographs, are pros- 
 pering everywhere by taking advantage of the popular interest 
 in character-study. Yet at the same time we find serious- 
 minded persons with scientific curiosity demanding or attempt- 
 
Randolpii-Macon Woman's College 5 
 
 ing a true scientific solution of the age-old question concerning 
 character-traits and their outward expression, and psychology, 
 the study of mental life par excellence, can no longer maintain 
 an academic aloofness towards such questions as these: Is there 
 any relation between the seen and the unseen? Do outward 
 signs reveal the characteristics of the inner life? If there is a 
 relation, how far does it extend? Does it involve only the fleet- 
 ing expressions or are the static features of a person also in- 
 dicative of certain inner traits? Can some persons judge better 
 than others by facial expressions? Does the possession of a 
 trait make one a better or worse judge of the same trait in 
 'Others? Is it possible to train one's self in judging others by 
 their facial expressions? Are persons of one sex or of one age 
 better or worse judges of the same or of the opposite sex or of 
 some different age? 
 
 In our experiment we have attempted to throw light on only 
 a few of these questions. We desired to ascertain whether or 
 not the casual observer has any basis upon which to form a 
 judgment of other person's intelligence from their photographs, 
 whether experience in judging intellectual progress renders 
 one 's judgment in facial expression more correct or not, whether 
 or not a person is judged best by others of his own age or sex, 
 and whether or not some particular traits, like musical, artistic, 
 literary, or scientific talent are revealed more definitely than 
 mere general intelligence in one's facial expression. We are well 
 aware of other experimental studies along some of these lines, 
 for instance, by Hollingworth of Columbia University, Pintner 
 at Ohio State University, and most recently Anderson of Car- 
 negie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, but space forbids us 
 to give here a summary of their results, especially as they do 
 not contradict our own findings where they meet on common 
 ground. 
 
 Since it seemed desirable for our purposes to have as 
 nearly uniform and constant material for judgment as is pos- 
 sible to obtain, we selected fifty photographs of members of a 
 former graduating class of Randolph-Macon Woman's College 
 who were of approximately the same age as the majority of our 
 judges. Another uniformity was the fact that all fifty wore the 
 academic cap and gown. Furthermore, we eliminated from the 
 whole class all pictures giving near or full profile views. All pic- 
 
6 Bulletin' 
 
 turcs were also of the same size, namely l%x2V2 inches, and rep- 
 resented approximately bust-length. These pictures were mounted 
 on a grey cardboard and the whole enclosed in a frame under 
 glass, about 20x25 inches. The photographs were arranged equi- 
 distant from each other, in six rows of nine each, except the 
 first and last row, which had only seven, thus leaving the cor- 
 ners free. These pictures had been cut from the class annual 
 and were printed on uniform paper. The collegiate records of 
 these fifty graduates were available for the whole four years of 
 their college work, besides many other items of information con- 
 cerning their non-scholastic activities. 
 
 The subjects who were to serve as judges of these photo- 
 graphs were forty students of the same college, five members of 
 the college faculty, only one of whom was a man, and five mem- 
 bers of the administrative staff. Besides these fifty, all of whom 
 were unacquainted with the former graduates, three others 
 served as judges who had been acquainted with the majority of 
 the former class, namely a professor, a student and a staff- 
 member. The experimenter takes this opportunity to thank each 
 and all of these judges, whose faithful work has contributed 
 much to whatever success this study may have attained. 
 
 The traits to which the experiment was confined were general 
 intelligence, as represented by scholastic records, musical ability, 
 literary ability, artistic ability, scientific ability, besides neu- 
 trality or absence of pre-eminence in any of these traits. The 
 test was given to each of the 53 subjects individually, and in 
 no case occupied more than 45 minutes. 
 
 The subject was seated at a table beside a window and given 
 the following instructions to read : 
 
 ''This is an experiment in the psychological study of facial 
 types. It is our problem to ascertain to what extent persons 
 agree in their interpretation of photographs. You will be shown 
 a group of fifty photographs of members of a former gradu- 
 ating class of R. M. W. C. 
 
 1. Examine carefully the whole group and then try to deter- 
 mine the photograph which indicates to you the highest type of 
 intelligence as usually measured by the best scholastic record. 
 Place on this i)hotograph the small white cardboard labelled 
 No. ]. 
 
RANDor.Pii-MAcoN Woman's College 7 
 
 2. In the same way select from the remaining photographs the 
 one most intelligent looking face and place upon it card No. 2. 
 
 3. In this way proceed until all pictures are numbered from 1 
 to 50. After your ranking has been recorded all cards will be 
 removed and you are to study the faces again in order to look 
 for various other types of ability. 
 
 4. Determine which of the faces appears to you to indicate the 
 highest type of musical ability. Place upon it the small card 
 No. 1. Then look for the next highest type and cover it with 
 card No. 2. In the same way select the photograph to be labelled 
 No. 3. 
 
 5. After these three cards have been removed, proceed in a 
 similar way to determine the three highest types of literary 
 ability. 
 
 6. Do likewise wath the ability in the art of painting. 
 
 7. Proeeed in the same way to determine scientific ability. 
 
 8. Finally, select three faces which appear to you to be most 
 neutral, that is, not expressing any kind of special ability or 
 talent. 
 
 9. Fill out the items called for on the back of your Result- 
 Sheet. 
 
 10. Please do not discuss the nature of this experiment with 
 anybody, as this might disqualify others from participating in 
 this experiment, in other words, please pledge yourself to 
 silence in this respect." 
 
 It can be seen from these instructions that only the minimum 
 amount of information was given to the judges, in order to 
 eliminate the possibility of suggestion. When the subject had 
 finished the reading of these instructions, the picture-chart was 
 placed on the table before him and he was given the small cards 
 bearing the numbers from 1 to 50. As soon as each set of rank- 
 ing was completed, the experimenter recorded the results upon 
 a special blank form containing 50 rectangles arranged like the 
 chart, and also three columns for the three highest ranks in the 
 five special abilities. On the back of these result-sheets a num- 
 ber of questions appeared which each judge was asked to 
 answer. They were as follows: 
 
8 Bulletin 
 
 ]. Name: 2. College class : 3. Age: 
 
 4. Vocation or major study : 
 
 5. Special interest in such subjects as: ]\Insic, Art, Literature, 
 
 Science, etc. : 
 
 6. Are you familiar with any of the persons represented upon 
 
 the picture-chart? If so, which? 
 
 7. Are you aware of any factors which have prejudiced your 
 
 judgments? If so, describe fully and cite the cases: 
 
 8. Please add any comments on the experiment which will help 
 
 in the correct interpretation of your results : 
 
 9. Pledge to silence: 
 
 After the test had been given to all 53 subjects, the experi- 
 menter consulted the collegiate records of the fifty graduates 
 represented on the picture-chart and computed for each the 
 average collegiate grade based on all four years of college work. 
 On the basis of these av#erage grades the objective rank in gen- 
 eral intelligence w^as determined for each of the fifty photo- 
 graphs. Likewise the experimenter computed separately for 
 each photograph the number of collegiate courses taken and the 
 average grade obtained in the major subject, in art, literature, 
 science, and music. From these records the three highest were 
 selected as the objective representatives of the musical, literary, 
 artistic, and scientific tj^pe, while the objective neutral types 
 were taken to be those students showing the smallest differences 
 in grades between their leading subject and the other groups of 
 subjects as well as the general average. These objective rank- 
 ings, as based upon the collegiate grades obtained by the fifty 
 graduates, were then compared with each of the 53 subjective 
 rankings made by our judges and the degree of resemblance ex- 
 pressed by the Spearman footrule of correlation, according to 
 which resemblance may vary between -|-1.00 and — 1.00. No 
 resemblance or almost none is therefore or a very small posi- 
 tive or negative fraction, while high degree of resemblance be- 
 tween objective and subjective ranking would be expressed by 
 a fraction approaching -fl-^Oj ^i^d likewise a high degree of 
 opposition would be indicated by a fractional value which is 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 9 
 
 almost — 1.00. In accordance with Spearman's formula we com- 
 puted the correlation-coefficients or degrees of resemblance be- 
 tween the objective and the 53 subjective rankings and tabulated 
 them.* 
 
 An inspection of these results shows that the magnitude 
 of the 53 degrees or correlation-coefficients varied between 
 +.24 and — .20, that three judges gave absolute as coeffi- 
 cients, while 31 judges gave coefficients smaller than .1. Of 
 the remaining 19 judges 14 gave positive degrees varying be- 
 tween .10 and .24, and the other 5 gave negative degrees vary- 
 ing between .10 and .20. The obvious conclusion is that none 
 of our 53 judges ranked the photographs in a way resembling 
 to any high degree the objective ranks. Only 14 of our judges 
 gave correlation-coefficients, both plus and minus, which have 
 the required fair degree of mathematical reliability, namely 
 the magnitude of .13, and as five of these were minus, there 
 remain only the results of nine judges as giving a fairly re- 
 liable, although but slight degree of resemblance between their 
 subjective rankings of the photographs and the objective ranks 
 of the 50 graduates as measured by their collegiate average 
 grades. Of these nine judges only four belong to the 40 stu- 
 dents who participated in the experiment. The remaining 36 
 members of the student-body gave thus either entirely nega- 
 tive results or too small a positive degree of resemblance. Like- 
 wise the five members of the administrative staff gave similar 
 inconclusive results. Four members of the Faculty gave the 
 following degrees of resemblance, respectively, +.13, +.13, 
 + .16 and +.13. The three special subjects selected because 
 of their familiarity with many members of the old class gave 
 as degrees of resemblance 0, +.05, and +.19, the latter was 
 also a lady of the Faculty. 
 
 We likewise listed the results of the ranking in the special 
 abilities for Music, Literature, Art and Science as well as the 
 "Neutral Type." It w^ill be remembered that the judges were 
 to select only the three highest ranks of each tj^pe. In order to 
 
 The tabulations have been omitted from all 3 studies, but interested 
 readers may obtain copies by addressing Prof. L. R, Geissler, Box 283, 
 R.-M. W. C, Lynchburg, Ya. 
 
10 Bl'LLETlN 
 
 summarize these ranks for any one photograph, we assigned 
 to rank 1 a value of 3 points, to rank 2 a value of 2 points, 
 and to rank 3 a value of 1 point, and then multiplied these 
 points by the number of times that a photograph received each 
 rank and added the three in-oducts into a Total Number of 
 Points which is to be compared with the objective collegiate 
 records. 
 
 To take first the ]\Iusical Type, our results show that pho- 
 tograph No 15 received a total of 59 points, the largest num- 
 ber of points accorded to any of them. The person repre- 
 sented by this picture actually, according to the collegiate 
 records, received objectively the second rank in musical 
 ability, which seems to speak in favor of the possibility^ of 
 selecting the musical type from the facial expression alone. 
 On the other hand the photographs of the persons who ob- 
 jectively received the first and third rank were accorded by 
 the judges of their facial expressions only 6 and 4 points 
 respectively, while photograph No. 27 received the second 
 largest number of points, namely 34, and No. 40 had 28 points. 
 Furthermore, the photograph of No. 15 received also the larg- 
 est number of points as Artistic Type, while it was given no 
 points for Scientific Type and but 6 and 3 for Neutral and In- 
 tellectual Type. It seems evident, therefore, that this par- 
 ticular face has made a fairly correct impression upon a large 
 number of judges, namely upon 40 out of 53, and it is coin- 
 cidences of this nature which serve to confirm the popular 
 notion that certain types of mental ability can be recognized 
 from their facial expressions, while the negative instances of 
 failure of recognition easily escape attention and notice. 
 
 In the case of the Literary Type not one of the three photo- 
 graps which many judges selected as deserving first, second, 
 and third rank were objectively ranked among the three 
 highest. The same is true for the Artistic Type. Since musical 
 ability, literary ability, and artistic ability may be grouped 
 together as special forms of the general aesthetic type of 
 mind, we have totalled all the })oints received by each photo- 
 graph under the three special types and found that No. 15 
 received 100 points and that the third largest number of points 
 belongs to photograph No. 17, whose representative received 
 
Randolph-^Macon Woman's College H 
 
 objectively the second rank as literary type. In these two cases 
 then we find the nearest agreement between objective ranking 
 in aesthetic abilities and the subjective ranking as based 
 merely on facial expression. 
 
 If we now examine the other three types of mind, we find 
 very similar results as regards lack of agreement between ob- 
 jective and subjective ranking. Again we have two cases of 
 fair agreement, one in the Scientific Type where photograph 
 No. 24 received objectively first rank and was given by the 
 judges the second largest number of points, namely 24, and 
 the other case in the Neutral Type, where photograph No. 30 
 had objectively and subjectively first rank, although the num- 
 ber of points were only 16. Combining now these three mental 
 types into a non-aesthetic type we find again that photograph 
 No. 24 receives the highest number of points, namely 67, but 
 otherwise there is no agreement between objective and sub- 
 jective ranking. 
 
 It can also be readily shown that certain facial types have 
 made a rather deep impression upon our judges, but that the 
 latter do not agree in the interpretation of these faces, while 
 other faces have been hardly noticed. This becomes evident 
 when all points accorded each face are added together. From 
 this computation it appears that the most striking or im- 
 pressive faces are those of Nos. 15 and 17, with No. 24 as 
 third. On the other hand the three least impressive faces are 
 those of Nos. 50, 41, and 3, which received only 6, 7, and 9 
 points respectively. However, the one outstanding fact from 
 these comparisons is that the faces of the persons who ob- 
 jectively have attained the three highest ranks in the various 
 mental abilities have not been selected as such by our judges, 
 with one or two exceptions. 
 
 It seemed also important to ascertain to what extent our 
 judges agreed with each other in their judgment of faces, irre- 
 spective of the consideration whether their judgments were 
 mistaken or not as compared with objective records. For this 
 purpose we tabulated the frequencies with which each of the 
 judges ranked each of the fifty photographs in intelligence, 
 so as to show how often any given photograph was assigned 
 any one of the fifty ranks. Thus a clustering of these figures. 
 
12 Bulletin 
 
 as in the case of photograph No. 17, would, mean that many 
 judges give to a certain photograph very similar ranks : for 
 example, No. 17 was given rank 1 by 4, rank 2 by 3, rank 3 
 by -4, rank 4 by 6, rank 5 by 3, rank 6 by 4 judges, and so on, 
 while no judge ranked it as 8, 13, 17, 20 to 25, 28 and 29, and 
 so forth, and only a few scattered votes were given for ranks 
 below 14. This example shows at the same time the highest 
 degree of agreement amongst the 53 judges. The distribution 
 of the ranks ascribed by the 53 judges to the same photograph 
 was also expressed in a single value obtained in this way : 
 the frequency of each rank is multiplied by the rank, these 
 products are then added and divided by 53, the number of 
 judges, thus resulting in an averaged rank. On the basis of 
 these values, the photographs are then re-ranked from lowest 
 to highest, giving thus the pooled ranking of all the judges of 
 all the photographs. This pooled ranking may also be com- 
 pared with the objective ranking by the same Spearman for- 
 mula, and will result in a degree of resemblance or correlation 
 coefficient of -{-.06, which shows that there is as little resem- 
 blance between the pooled and the objective ranking as was 
 found between the objective ranking and the subjective rank- 
 ings of the 53 judges taken individually. In other words, not 
 even the averaged opinion of many judges concerning intelli- 
 gence as based merely upon facial expression has any value 
 whatsoever as compared with the objective facts revealed by 
 college achievement. A mere glance at the scattering judg- 
 ments would convince anyone of the futility of trying to esti- 
 mate another person's intelligence by an examination of his 
 facial expression. 
 
 We shall now present the main results revealed by the an- 
 swers of our 53 judges to the various questions presented to 
 them after completing the ranking of the photographs. 
 
 These answers throw some light upon the reasons why so 
 many people believe in the possibility of reading personal 
 traits from facial expression. For instance, there seemed to 
 be a distinct tendency among many of our judges to notice 
 resemblances between the photographs and persons of their 
 own acquaintance, although the comment was often added that 
 they did not think this resemblance had prejudiced them. How- 
 ever, if these ac(j[uaintances should possess one of the mental 
 
Rand()].pii-]Mac()n Woman's CoiiLEGE 13 
 
 traits studied in this experiment, the conclusion seems obvious 
 that the photog-raphs resembling them mig-ht also possess that 
 trait, and so judgment may frequently have been influenced 
 by such considerations. 
 
 It also happened that photographs Nos. 11 and 31 were 
 recognized by several, the former by 15, the latter by 11 
 judges, while 19 other photographs were familiar to one or 
 two judges. 
 
 Other considerations influencing our judges in their inter- 
 pretation of the photographs are revealed in the following quo- 
 tations from the answers to our questions ; especially questions 
 7 or 8: 
 
 Judge No. 41. Slight resemblance to people I have known. 
 Careless appearance. 
 
 No. 26. Bows and arrangement of hair and cap prejudiced me. 
 I don't think fat people look very intelligent as a rule. 
 No. 24. A heavy face portrays to me stolidity. 
 No. 9. Their caps pushed back on their heads make them all 
 look simple-minded. 
 
 No. 8. Had a tendency to be harsh on very pretty faces or 
 very ugly girls, thinking the former vain, the latter stupid. 
 No. 1. I don't like the looks of photograph No. 50. 
 No. 34. I like the faces of No. 17 and No. 45. 
 
 From the comments made in reply to Question 8 we dis- 
 cover that the eyes played a large part in the estimates of 
 18 judges, and most of them paid attention especially to the 
 brightness and alertness of the eyes. Besides this factor the 
 mouth, forehead, and general appearance seemed to be taken 
 into consideration, as is illustrated in the following quotations 
 from various judges : 
 
 No. 3. High foreheads and a bright, wide-awake expression 
 usually symbolize intelligence to me. 
 No. 5. The expression of the eyes. 
 
 No. 6. I never think girls who look studious are very intel- 
 lectual, but rather of lower intelligence. 
 
 No. 8. I judged by general appearance in the main, paying, 
 however, special attention to the expression of the eyes and 
 mouth. 
 
 No. 9. I judged the pictures by the expressions in the eyes 
 and the size of the mouth. 
 
14 Bulletin- 
 
 No. 10. I judged by eyes and forehead for intelligence, by 
 eyes and general expression for music, by eyes and noses for 
 literary ability, by general expression for art. 
 Xo. 13. In some cases I made my decision by judging the 
 girl from her general appearance. Then, too, I compared these 
 girls with some I already knew and judged their ability in 
 that way. 
 
 Xo. 15. The Latin types are associated in my mind with music 
 and art. 
 
 No, 21. By an intelligent look I mean a general brightness of 
 expression which betokens an alert and open mind. 
 X^o. 25, In choosing the girls with artistic ability I noticed 
 the kind of collars they wore. In judging girls for their intel- 
 ligence I noticed the expression of their eyes. 
 No. 26. I always notice people's eyes to see if they look bright 
 and wide-awake for intellectual ones cr whether they are 
 dreamy as in the case of artistic temperament. 
 X^'o. 27, The posture of the different people helped me as much 
 as anything else to determine the results which I gave. 
 No. 29, In judging a person for intelligence, I think I went 
 for the most part by the expression of their eyes, w^iether they 
 looked as though they were paying attention at the time the 
 picture w^as taken. Those who were gazing out into space with 
 dull, expressionless eyes I put low. 
 
 No, 30. For intelligence I looked at their eyes first and then 
 forehead, * * * For love of literature I judged from a bright 
 open face. For neutrality I judged from the equality of all 
 the features. 
 
 No. 31. * * * General flabbiness prejudiced me against a face. 
 No. 37. * * * For English Literature the general type chosen 
 reminded me of Miss X. 
 
 No. 39. Those interested in science always seem especially 
 particular in appearance as they must be in their study. Ar- 
 tists seem rather queer looking; musical students have more 
 sentiment in their expressions than others. I judged by com- 
 parison with people I know and also by the expression of the 
 eyes. 
 
 These illustrations will suffice to make us realize the astound- 
 ing vagueness and indefiniteness in the perception of facial 
 features upon which the casual observer is apt to base some- 
 
RANDOLPH-iMACON WoMAN's CoLLEGE 15 
 
 times rather definite and fixed notions of the character traits 
 of the people with whom he comes in contact. They furnish 
 therefore an adequate explanation of the lack of agreement 
 between the objective results and the subjective ranking by 
 facial expression. 
 
 What conclusions may we draw from the facts presented? 
 What answers do we receive to the questions asked at the out- 
 set of this paper? In the first place, we may repeat that the 
 most outstanding of all the inferences is this that the average 
 person has no basis whatsoever upon which to form any judg- 
 ment of a stranger's intellectual capacity from a study of his 
 features. It is likewise true that there is no agreement among 
 the judges in their estimates of looks of intelligence. We have 
 only to inspect our tabulations to realize that the average 
 person when judged by fifty judges on his features only is 
 practically sure of approximately thirty-five to forty different 
 ranks. We have also found that there are faces whose expres- 
 sion is so unusual as to attract the notice of many judges ; for 
 example, photographs of Nos. 10, 11, 34, 21 and 50. There was 
 no comment made by a single judge upon the first three, but 
 Nos. 21 and 50 are criticised frequently for various peculiari- 
 ties and are also placed very low in the scale for Intelligence. 
 Of the five members of the faculty among our judges the four 
 ladies gave a correlation coefficient of -[--IS or larger and may 
 therefore be said to be much better judges of girls' faces than 
 either the men or the girls of the same age as those pictured. 
 Even previous acquaintance with the faces judged seems to 
 be of no help in estimating the degree of intelligence. 
 
 However, there seems to be a somewhat greater agreement 
 am.ong the judges in regard to special mental traits than in 
 case of intelligence. Also the comments are much more defi- 
 nite with regard to the former, so that we may conclude 
 that to the average judge the term intellectual ability is 
 broader and vaguer and carries varied possibilities, whereas 
 the ideas represented by the terms ''musical ability," ''literary 
 ability," etc., seem to be more concrete and represent more 
 definite characteristics to the judges. This is supported also 
 by the fact that the term "Neutrality" was very vague and 
 abstract to all and here the judges disagreed almost entirely. 
 
16 Bulletin 
 
 There is no connection between age and judgment of faces. 
 We have already pointed out that the lady members of the 
 faculty were better judges than the girl students; the lady 
 members of the Staff, however, were in no sense better than 
 the students. Hence the superiority of the faculty ladies must 
 be due to their experience in judging intellectual achievement. 
 This is borne out by the fact that in judging the special mental 
 abilities, in which they had no advantage of training and ex- 
 perience over the students, they were no better judges than 
 the girls. 
 
 In judging faces for special talents the judges are more in 
 agreement with each other in the selection of certain unusual 
 looking faces, but they differ widely in the interpretation of 
 this unusualness. 
 
 The one seeming exception, showing great agreement be- 
 tween subjective and objective ranking of photograph No. 15, 
 which 26 judges considered highly talented in music and 14 
 others in art (which most judges seemed to consider a related 
 talent) is partly explained by the fact that several judges 
 noted a great resemblance between this face and a recent 
 graduate of the college who had shown great talent for music. 
 However, a number of first-year students who could not have 
 known this recent graduate were also among the judges giv- 
 ing photograph No. 15 a rank among the first three, so that 
 it seems unfair to explain this coincidence entirely upon a 
 basis of mere chance. 
 
 Many judges seemed to agree rather definitely upon the 
 interpretation of certain features as indicative of the Scien- 
 tific Type. The only type we find them confusing with science 
 is that of Neutrality. For instance, photograph No. 24 received 
 24 points for science and 11 for neutral, and No. 29 had 17 
 points for science and 8 for neutral. With very few exceptions 
 those photographs receiving many points for aesthetic traits 
 received very few points as either scientific or neutral and 
 conversely. 
 
 The introspective comments and answers to questions reveal 
 that our judges tried to find help in their ranking from all 
 sorts of extraneous and irrelevant factors, such as tilt of the 
 academic cap, type of collar worn and the like, besides such 
 
Randolpii-Macon Woman's College 17 
 
 features as beauty or fatness, posture, etc. Furthermore, our 
 judges show the influence of all the current popular notions 
 and ideas concerning the appearance of different types of 
 mind. Besides the brightness of the eyes and the height of the 
 forehead and the shape of the mouth they tell us that artistic 
 and musical persons must be Bohemian in appearance and 
 scientific persons plain and practical looking. Hence it seems 
 almost impossible to get judgments of mental traits based ex- 
 clusively upon the facial features and expressions and not to 
 have them influenced by preconceived notions or popular tra- 
 ditions. 
 
 To summarize our conclusions with special reference to our 
 main questions, we find (1) that the casual observer has no 
 basis upon which to form a judgment of other persons' intel- 
 ligence from their photographs, (2) that experience in judging 
 intellectual progress renders one's judgment of facial expres- 
 sion slightly more correct with regard to intelligence only, but 
 not with regard to special mental abilities, (3) that neither 
 age nor sex of judge and judged are of any advantage in judg- 
 ing faces, and (4) that special traits, like musical, literary, 
 artistic or scientific ability are slightly easier to judge than 
 general intelligence and result in somewhat greater agreement 
 of judges among themselves, whether their results are in 
 agreement with the objective measures or not. 
 
18 Bulletin 
 
 II.— THE EFFECT OF MUSIC ON THE IMAGINATION 
 
 ]\1artha L. Teague, '22, Experimenter 
 
 Most of the psychological studies on music so far have been 
 concerned either with problems of musical interpretation or 
 with the nature of bodily reactions to music, as changes in the 
 rate of heart-beat, pulse, respiration, or distribution of blood 
 supply. Lack of space forbids a detailed review of this work ; 
 only a few of the most important conclusions may be cited 
 here. It has been found that music has a rather definite and 
 remarkably uniform emotional content for the average lis- 
 tener and that individual differences are mostly in regard to 
 variations of intensity. Therefore the chief ''function of mu- 
 sic is to indicate or produce a mood rather than to communi- 
 cate a set of images" (according to MacDougal). To arouse a 
 strong individual mood requires music of an extremely strong 
 impressiveness with a well marked emotional tone. 
 
 Quite recently the Music Research Department of the Edison 
 Laboratories at Orange, N. J., has inaugurated a series of 
 experiments under the leadership of a prominent American 
 psychologist, Dr. W. V. Bingham, Director of Applied Psy- 
 chology at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh. The 
 problem of this investigation was to determine ''what music 
 does." The result of this work was the publication of a list 
 of 137 Edison phonograph records, divided into the following 
 twelve series : 
 
 15 records ''To stimulate and enrich your Imagination" 
 14 " "To bring you peace of mind ' ' 
 
 10 " "To make you joyous" 
 
 8 " "In moods of wistfulness to bring you relief" 
 
 ]0 " "To bring about jolly moods and good fellowship" 
 
 9 " "In moments of fatigue to rouse your laggard energies" 
 
 n " "To induce and sustain the tenderness of love and its mood ' ' 
 
 10 " "To induce moods of dignity and grandeur" 
 
 12 " "To revive the mood for tender memory" 
 
 13 " "To inspire you with the mood for true devotion" 
 9 " "To stir up or electrify your soul ' ' 
 
 16 " "To catch the childish fancy and make it merry with glee." 
 
Randolph-]\Iacon Woman's College 10 
 
 These results, like most of the studies of musical interpre- 
 tation, have been based mainly upon the introspective reports 
 of the listeners, while hardly any objective tests have been 
 published to verify or substantiate sux?h introspections by 
 quantitative results. We have, therefore, chosen to attack this 
 problem and to subject a few selections from the first Edison 
 series of records to an objective and quantitative test, in order 
 to ascertain whether or not these selections do have the stimu- 
 lating and enriching effect on the imagination that is claimed 
 for them. To prove such a claim requires two sets of facts : 
 It will be necessary to show, first, that during or immediately 
 after listening to Edison records of the first series the imagi- 
 nation produces greater effect than under ordinary condi- 
 tions ; and secondly, that listening to selections from any other 
 Edison series does not have as great an effect as hearing selec- 
 tions from the first series. Another complicating factor is that 
 of practice. Since each person had to be tested twice, once 
 with and once without music, it is possible that the second 
 test might have produced better results on account of the prac- 
 tice that the observer had received during the first test. Finally, 
 there remains the necessity of giving two test forms of the 
 imagination which are to be either of exactly the same degree 
 of difHculty or at least of a definite and well measurable dif- 
 ference, so that accurate allowance can be made for it in the 
 comparison of the two sets of results. 
 
 To provide for these four sets of conditions, we divided our 
 234 observers into four groups, and tested each of them with 
 one set of conditions only. A group of 66 observers was di- 
 vided into two Control Groups of 33 subjects each, designated 
 X and Y. Control group X was tested with test-form (a) on 
 the first day and with test-form (b) a week later, while Con- 
 trol group Y used the test-form (b) on the first day and (a) 
 a week later. These control groups were not tested with the 
 music at all, as the results from them were to be used as 
 standards or objective measures of the imagination. The re- 
 maining 168 observers were tested without music on one day 
 and with the music about a week afterwards or before. Group 
 A had 90 observers who on their first day were given test- 
 form (a) and no music, and on their second day test-form (b) 
 and selections from the first series of Edison records. Group 
 
20 Bulletin 
 
 B consisted of 40 subjects and the only difference in this group 
 consisted in the fact that on the second day they had to listen 
 to a miscellaneous list of Edison records. Group C had 38 
 subjects and they had test-form (a) with the same selections 
 from the first series on their first day, while a week later they 
 used test-form (b) without music. Of the 168 subjects tested 
 with music 153 were drawn from all four classes of the stu- 
 dent-body, while the remaining 15 were members of the faculty 
 and their wives, and 3 of the 15 were men of the Music De- 
 partment. The tests were made as a rule on small groups of 
 subjects varying from 3 to 12, and nearly always at corre- 
 sponding hours cf the day. 
 
 For groups A and C we selected the following three Edison 
 records from the first series : 
 
 1. Miserere (Soprano, Tenor, and Chorus) No. 82516 
 
 2. Calm as the Night (Soprano Solo) No. 80489 
 
 3. Traumerei (Violin-cello Solo) No. 80071 
 
 For group B the following miscellaneous Edison records were 
 used: 
 
 1. Anvil Chorus (Orchestra and Chorus) No. 82516 
 
 2. Go down, Moses (Tenor and Chorus) No. 80487 
 
 3. Drink to me only (Violin Solo) No. 82184 
 
 These selections were played on an Edison phonograph (kindly 
 lent to the Department for this purpose by the Oppleman 
 Specialty Store of Lynchburg, Va.), which stood in a room 
 adjoining the test-room, out of sight of the observers, but the 
 door connecting the two rooms was wide open. We shall speak 
 of the test without music as the normal period. On these days 
 the test of the imagination was preceded, in place of the lis- 
 tening to music, by a monotonous mental activity requiring 
 concentrated attention, which consisted in cancelling certain 
 prescribed digits from three sheets, each containing 1000 
 equally spaced and equally frequent digits from to 9, hap- 
 hazardly distributed (Stoelting, No. 27011). 
 
 The effects on the imagination were objectively tested and 
 measured by two well-known and standardized tests. The first 
 is a test of sentence formation by the Masselon method and 
 consists in writing during a limited period of time as many 
 different sentences as possible, each sentence to contain three 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 21 
 
 prescribed nouns or verbs. The second is a word-building test 
 and consists in writing during a limited period of time as 
 many different words as possible, each word to contain cer- 
 tain prescribed vowels and consonants. An introspective ac- 
 count cf our observers' moods was obtained by having them 
 fill out a Mood Change Chart similar to the Edison Mood 
 Change Chart, which is reproduced here on a smaller scale 
 (see page 23.) The best idea of the course of the whole ex- 
 periment on the two days can be given probably by quoting 
 exactly the Instructions read to the subjects at the beginning 
 of each day's work. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 This experiment is a psychological study of the imagination. Our prob- 
 lem is to find out how imagination can be influenced by intellectual ac- 
 tivity and by musical enjoyment. The former will consist in checking off 
 certain numbers from a sheet covered with digits in haphazard order. After 
 the checking off is completed I shall ask you to use your imagination in 
 the construction of sentences which are to contain certain words. Then, 
 another test Avill consist in making as many words as possible out of a 
 certain number of letters. More detailed instructions for these tests will 
 be given later. 
 
 Before we start the experiment I want you all to fill in the items on 
 this sheet of paper which is called ' ' Mood Change Chart. ' ' State first your 
 name and age and leading subject (or Vocation). If you have no major 
 subject, put down the one you are most interested in or the one you are 
 considering as your major. In the second item check off the present 
 period and then fill in what you have been doing in the preceding periods 
 of the morning (or afternoon). In the next item let us agree on calling 
 
 the Aveather : In the next item check off the mood in which 
 
 you find yourself now. If none of the printed pairs describe your present 
 mood accurately, supply your own descriptive term on the blank space at 
 the end of this item. The last two items will not be filled in until after 
 the experiment is finished. Fill out the Chart now. (After everybody has 
 completed this, continue:) Now turn the sheet over and get ready for 
 the experiment. 
 
 Cancellation of Digits. Each of you will have three of these sheets cov- 
 ered with columns of figures. Write your name 
 and date on each sheet. At the signals ' * Ready — Now ' ' you are to begin 
 and cancel all the 7 's and 's on the first sheet. Be very accurate in your 
 cancellations; do not omit any 7 or and do not cross off any wrong fig- 
 ures; do not try for speed. Wlien you have finished, turn your sheet over 
 and rest, until new instructions for the next sheet are given. If anybody 
 has not finished at the end of 5 minutes, I shall give the signal ' ' Stop, ' ' 
 for everybody to stop working. (After all are finished pause one more 
 minute, then continue:). Get ready for the second sheet. Cancel all 9 's and 
 4's, then rest and wait for the last set of instructions. (After another 
 one minute's rest continue:). Get ready for the third sheet. Cancel all 
 5 's and 8 's, then rest as before. 
 
22 Bulletin 
 
 Sentence Formation. Now you are to use your imagination in the con- 
 struction of sentences which are to contain cer- 
 tain words. Three nouns or three verbs will be given. You are to write 
 as many sentences containing the three words as possible. Each sentence 
 must contain all three words, but how many others besides does not matter. 
 The sentences are to be as varied as possible. Three minutes will be 
 allowed. Begin with the signal "Ready — Now" and end at the signal 
 ' ' Stop, ' ' in the middle of a sentence or wherever you are. In the noun 
 test you may use either singular or plural forms and possessive as well as 
 nominative and objective cases. In the verb test you may use any form 
 or tense of the verb, as to go, gone, will go, etc. There will be 3 sets of 
 words. In test-form (a) the three sets are: Citizen, Horse, Decree 
 
 Bell, Ground, Owner 
 
 Bless, Destroy, Write 
 
 In test-form (b) the three sets are: Skill, Modification, Picture 
 
 Cup, Fraction, Money 
 
 Require, Choose, Run 
 
 Word Building. In this test you are to use your imagination in the for- 
 mation of words which are to contain certain letters. 
 From these six letters you are to make as many words as you can. All 
 words must be English and proper names are permitted. You may use any 
 number of letters from one to six in any one word, but none of the six 
 letters prescribed may be used tAvice in the same Avord, and no other letters 
 than the six are to be used. You will have four minutes for this test. 
 Begin at the signals * ' Ready — Now ' ' and finish at the signal ' * Stop. ' ' 
 In test-form (a) the six letters are: a, e, o, b, m, t; 
 In test-form (b) the six letters are: e, a, i, r, I, p. 
 
 Musical Enjoyment. As you will recall, onr experiment is a psycho- 
 logical study of the imagination. Today this will 
 be preceded by listening to several pieces of music, played on the Edison 
 phonograph. As you hear the music, forget that you are making an ex- 
 periment. Listen as naturally as you can and do not strain to pay atten- 
 tion or to produce any special etfect upon yourself. Forget yourself as 
 much as possible in listening, also your surroundings and close your eyes 
 if you so prefer. Simply sit still and see if the music will produce any 
 effect. At the end of each selection a rest-period of one minute will be 
 given. After all three selections have been played, fill out item No. 4 on 
 the Mood Change Chart, and then ])repare for the test on the imagination. 
 
 Pledge to Silence. At the end of each day everybody is asked to pledge 
 himself to keep silent about this experiment, as any 
 discussion of it outside of the test-room may prevent others from par- 
 ticipating in it. 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's CoivLege 28 
 
 MOOD CHANGE CHART 
 
 Name 
 
 Age: 
 
 Vocation or Major Subject : 
 
 2. Time: First Period (A.M.) 
 
 Second '' '' 
 
 Third " " 
 
 Fourth " '' 
 
 Fifth '' '' 
 
 First Period (P. M. ) „ 
 
 Second '' '' 
 
 Third '' " 
 
 Fourth " ' ' _ 
 
 Fifth ' ' " 
 
 3. Weather: Dull Bright Cold Warm 
 
 4. What is your mood now, immediately preceding the test? 
 
 Serious Worried Nervous Sad — 
 
 or or or or 
 Gay Carefree Composed Joyful _ — 
 
 Discouraged Fatigued Depressed 
 
 or or or 
 Optimistic Unfatigued Exhilarated 
 
 Or : 
 
 5. What was your Mood during the test? 
 
 6. What is your Mood now, immediately after the testl 
 
 7. Please give any comments on the mood changes or the 
 tests that you think would be helpful to us in the inter- 
 pretation of the results : 
 
 8. Pledge to Silence : 
 
24 Bulletin 
 
 The Sentence Formation Test furnishes two numerical 
 values, the average number of correct sentences per Subject 
 formed by each Group, and the average number of words per 
 Subject used in constructing the sentences. The quality of the 
 sentences might also have been taken into account by assign- 
 ing graded arbitrary values to varying degrees of originality. 
 These 3 values could then have been combined into a single 
 Index by dividing the product of the number of words times 
 the number of sentences by the reciprocal value of the quality. 
 But since the scoring of the quality is a rather subjective 
 affair and liable to fluctuations, we used only the product of 
 the number of sentences times the number of words as an In- 
 dex of the imagination. To be sure such an Index, like any other 
 that might be devised, has its disadvantages ; the difficulty of 
 having to deal with two values lies in indicating the exact 
 difference in work accomplished on the two experimental days. 
 
 If we examine now the work of the 2 Control Groups in the 
 Sentence Formation Test, we find that test-form (a), when 
 used on the first day by group X gives almost as good a result 
 as when used on the second day by group Y; it is therefore 
 not subject to practice. On the other hand, test-form (b) on 
 the first day gives results very inferior to those on the second 
 day, when they are even slightly superior to test-form (a). 
 We conclude, therefore, that these two test-forms are about 
 equal in difficulty, but (b) is very much influenced by previous 
 practice. In studying the individual records of the members 
 of each group, we find that in both groups there are a few in- 
 dividuals whose results are the reverse of the majority. We 
 have, therefore, divided each Control Group into two sub- 
 divisions, the 23 and 28 subjects respectively of XI and Yl 
 giving much better results on the second day, while the 9 and 
 5 subjects respectively of X2 and Y2 do better on the first 
 day. A very similar phenomenon occurs in the three main 
 groups A, B, and C, which have, therefore, been subdivided 
 in like manner into Al and A2, Bl and B2, and Cl and C2. 
 The gains or losses on the second day over the first day may 
 be indicated in absolute ditt'erenees between the two Indices 
 and in per cent, gain or loss of the second day over the first. 
 
 In comparing now first of all the three main groups A, B, 
 and (J as wholes with X and Y, we find that on the days when 
 
Kandolpii-Macon Woman's College 25 
 
 music immediately preceded the Sentence Formation Test, 
 much lower records were made on an average in all three 
 groups, indicating that music had an inhibiting influence on 
 subsequent imaginative activity. The results are lowest for 
 groups A and C, where the Edison records of the first series 
 were used. Examining next the corresponding subdivisions we 
 notice that out of the 90 subjects in group A, 53 (or about 
 58%) were unfavorably influenced by the music, and only 37 
 (or about 42%) gave better results after listening to the music. 
 Similar results were obtained from group B, with the miscel- 
 laneous music, where 27 out of 40 (or 67%) were unfavorably 
 influenced, and 13 (or 33%) improved with the music. Like- 
 wise in group C, where the music came on the first day, 35 out 
 of 38 (or about 92%) showed lower records with it, and only 
 3 (or about 8%) gave better results with it. To sum up, out 
 of the 168 subjects tested with music, 115 (or about 70%) 
 were inhibited in their imaginative activity after listening to 
 three musical selections, and only 53 (or about 30%) gave 
 better results after hearing music. In other words, for every 
 person whose imagination is enriched and stimulated by lis- 
 tening to music (and not necessarily to selections from the 
 first series of the Edison records) there are at least two per- 
 sons whose imagination is unfavorably influenced immediately 
 after hearing such music. Our results from the Sentence For- 
 mation Test are quite decisive about this fact, and the only 
 criticism that could be raised is that forming sentences does 
 not test the various other activities in which the imagination 
 may manifest itself. 
 
 How about, then, the Word Building Test? The results here 
 are more easily calculated, because this test furnishes but one 
 numerical value, the average number of words per Subject 
 for every group. From the two Control Groups we learn that 
 the two test-forms (a) and (b) are unequal in difficulty and 
 also subject to practice. The individual differences are also 
 very marked, for we find here in addition to the two sub- 
 divisions with opposite tendencies also a small group of indi- 
 viduals who with both test-forms construct the same number 
 of words. This is also true of the 3 main groups. 
 
 If we study first the results from the five groups X, Y, A, 
 B, and C, as wholes, we notice a striking resemblance between 
 
26 Bulletin 
 
 X and A and B on the one hand, and Y and C on the other. 
 In the case of X the second day's work is about 11% better 
 than the first day's work, in A it is 10.1% better, in B 10.4% 
 better, so that the previous listening to music for groups A and 
 B seems to have had no influence whatsoever, while in group 
 C (where according to Control Group Y a loss on the second 
 day of about 7.4% should be expected) the actual loss was 
 only 2%, thus showing that here the music had on the whole 
 an unfavorable influence. In general, the results with the 
 Word Building Test, therefore, confirm the findings with the 
 Sentence Formation Test. 
 
 In regard to the individual records, matters are a little more 
 complicated. While XI shows a gain of the second day of 
 16.3% over the first day, Al shows a corresponding gain of 
 20.9% and Bl of 27%. Likewise for Y2 the second day's gain 
 is 24.3%, but for C2 on the day without music the correspond- 
 ing gain is only 20.7%. In these three subdivisions, which con- 
 tain 100 of the 168 subjects (or almost 60%), we find, there- 
 fore, a favorable effect of music, which, however, is by far 
 greater with the miscellaneous selections than with those of 
 the first Edison series. The unfavorable effect of music in the 
 Word Building Test seems to be limited to the smaller groups, 
 having a total of 52 subjects (or about 31% of all 168 sub- 
 jects), while a still smaller group of 16 subjects (or about 9%) 
 show no influence of music whatsoever. Six of these 16 had in 
 the preceding Sentence Formation Test shown a favorable in- 
 fluence of music, the other 10 an unfavorable influence ; in both 
 groups the effect of the music had passed away. 
 
 This leads us to enquire how the other subjects stand when 
 their performance in both tests is taken into consideration. 
 We find that only 40 out of the 168 subjects improved in both 
 tests with the music, and adding to them the 6 who improved 
 in the first but remained constant in the second test, we have 
 46 out of the 168 (or about 27%) whose imagination is uni- 
 formly enriched and stimulated by listening to music. Like- 
 wise there are 35 subjects who in both tests have done less 
 after hearing music, and adding to them the 10 who did less 
 in the first test but remained constant in the second, we have 
 45 out of the 168 (or again about 27%) whose imagination has 
 been uniformly inhibited by the music. The remaining 77 sub- 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 27 
 
 jects (or about 45%) show a conflicting or ambiguous influ- 
 ence of music. Thirteen of them improved in the Sentence 
 Formation Test, but did worse with the Word Building Test, 
 and 64 gave worse results with the Sentence Formation Test 
 but improved with the Word Building Test. 
 
 In order to decide whether the selections from the first Edi- 
 son series are superior to the miscellaneous selections or not, 
 we should compare the results of subdivisions A2 and €2 with 
 those of B2, in the Sentence Formation Test, and Al and CI 
 with Bl in the AVord Building Test. In both instances we find 
 that the gain is decidedly greater with the miscellaneous se- 
 lections, showing, therefore, that the claims made for the first 
 series of the Edison Mood Music are not borne out by experi- 
 mental facts and quantitative measurements. 
 
 We may, therefore, conclude from our results, first, that 
 they show no superiority of the Edison series of musical selec- 
 tions over other miscellaneous selections in their enriching 
 and stimulating influence on the imagination, and secondly, 
 that this effect is limited to about one person out of four, and 
 applies to music in general. 
 
28 Bulletin 
 
 III.— THE INFLUENCE OF POETRY ON MOOD 
 
 ViRGiNLV Fitzgerald, '22, Experimenter 
 
 This experiment is an attempt to extend the scientific study 
 of the influence of music on moods, begun by the Music Re- 
 search Department of the Edison Laboratories, into another 
 field of art, namely poetry, and to enquire somewhat critically 
 into the classification of moods employed in the Edison Mood 
 Change Chart which has received wide publicity. 
 
 The Edison experiments mark a new departure in the study 
 of moods and feelings. Up to this time experimental psy- 
 chology had concerned itself chiefly with the attempt to dis- 
 cover and describe the nature of feelings and their bodily ex- 
 pressions. Although much work had been done in this direc- 
 tion, no satisfactory classification of feelings or moods had 
 appeared. The very terms "mood," ''feeling," and "emo- 
 tion" are used loosely with overlapping meaning. While in 
 the original Edison experiments on moods and music, con- 
 ducted by W. V. Bingham, "much attention to terminology 
 and definitions" was given, according to Bingham's own state- 
 ment in the Edison pamphlet on "Mood Music" (page 29), 
 the list of fourteen moods on the Mood Change Chart, seems 
 hardly satisfactory from a psychological point of view, aside 
 from the fact that these moods are not defined and merely 
 arranged in seven pairs. But for the sake of possible com- 
 parison of our results with those of the Edison Laboratory we 
 decided to employ the list in its entire length. 
 
 The question of the mood effect of poetry arises naturally 
 from that of mood music, since both arts have a recognized 
 emotional appeal and in part use similar means, such as rhythm 
 and tonal cadences, at least when poetry is orally recited. But 
 poetry is more intellectual and further complicated by the re- 
 lation of thought-content to linguistic form and may appeal 
 to the eye instead of the ear. Our main problem was, then, to 
 determine whether listening to certain poems produces definite 
 well-marked and uniform mood responses similar to the effect 
 claimed for the 137 Edison records called "Mood Music." 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 29 
 
 In order to have the experimental conditions as nearly the 
 same as possible, these poems should have been produced by 
 Edison records, but since these were not available, the poems 
 were read by the experimenter to groups of students under 
 otherwise constant external conditions. The forty subjects 
 belonged to the Sophomore and Junior class, their ages fall- 
 ing between 17 and 20 years. Among them, 18 were taking 
 their major work in English or English Literature, the others 
 were leading in Mathematics, French, History, Latin and 
 Science. In addition to this group, a control group of forty 
 students selected from the whole student-body, was used for 
 one single test. We based our own Mood Change Chart on 
 that of Edison, with certain modifications.* Before each test 
 these charts were distributed to the subjects to be filled in 
 according to Instructions. 
 
 Some difficulty was found in selecting from the great body 
 of English poetry the poems best suited to our purpose. The 
 experimenter tried to make the list as varied and representa- 
 tive as possible and at the same time avoid poems whose words 
 suggested the emotional response. For convenience in giving 
 the test, all of the poems were taken from Burton E. Steven- 
 son's Home Book of Verse. The poems selected were, with a 
 few exceptions, between twenty and seventy lines in length, 
 so that at least ten poems could be read in an hour without 
 producting fatigue in the listeners. A few poems were shorter, 
 and a few of the longer poems were shortened by omitting 
 unessential stanzas. Poems hackneyed by school use and poems 
 with difficult dialect were also avoided. The poems range in 
 style and quality from Browning and Shelley to Eugene Field 
 and Carclyn Wells, and cover many lyric types and literary 
 periods. This list was made primarily for college students 
 with a considerable literary background ; but for more gen- 
 eral use several changes would probably be found desirable. 
 
 The poems were divided into ten groups of seven each, ac- 
 cording to subject-matter. No exact literary classification was 
 attempted, and in some cases the division may seem purely 
 arbitrary. In selecting the poems for each weekly session, no 
 
 A copy of our Mood Change Chart, somewhat reduced in size, has been 
 given in the preceding study, see page 23. 
 
30 Btlletix 
 
 regular sclieme was followed, but abrupt changes of subject 
 matter or emotion were avoided as far as possible, in order 
 not to heighten the mood effect artificially by contrast. In 
 most cases two poems of the same group were read in succession. 
 After all seventy poems had been presented to the group of 
 forty students, one poem from each group was selected as 
 being typical of the others, and these ten poems were read as 
 a control test to forty other subjects. Our first group of forty 
 subjects was divided into four sections, which met once a week 
 at a regular period in the same class-room. The poems were 
 read by the same Experimenter, who. in her reading tried to 
 speak as distinctly and naturally as possible, accenting both 
 rhythm and sense, but without attempt at elocution. 
 
 The following Instructions w^ere given to all subjects : 
 
 ''This is a psychological experiment to determine how one's mood may- 
 change by listening to poetry. The changes are to be recorded on the 
 Mood Change Chart before you. First fill in under your name your age 
 and vocation or major subject. If you have not yet chosen a major, write 
 down the subject you are most interested in or the one you are consider- 
 ing as your major. In the second item check off the present period of the 
 day and then fill in what you have been doing in the preceding periods of 
 the morning or afternoon. In the next item let us agree on calling the 
 weather at present and 
 
 Before filling in the fourth item, your present mood, start to think 
 about yourself and how you feel. In deciding how you feel, do not exag- 
 gerate. Then place a cross in the space by the Avord that you feel most 
 accurately describes your feelings. Do not answer questions 5 and 6 at all. 
 
 As a poem is read to you, try to forget that you are making a test. 
 Listen as naturally as you can, and do not strain to pay attention or to 
 produce a mood. Try to forget yourself as much as possible in listening, 
 and, if you prefer, close your eyes. If you are nervous and restless, for 
 example, do not try to compose yourself or to force yourself to pay atten- 
 tion, but sit still and see if the poetry will produce any effect. 
 
 At the end of each selection a rest of at least thirty seconds will be 
 given. During this pause write the number of the last selection heard in 
 the blank after the word which describes the mood that you then have. If 
 your mood is unchanged, put the number in the same blank space that you 
 had written in before. If the mood has changed the number itself will 
 indicate it. For example, if at the end of selection No. 4 you feel de- 
 pressed, put the numV)er 4 in the blank opposite the word * ' Depressed. ' ' 
 If after selection No. 5 your mood is still the same, then write the number 
 5 after the 4. If the mood has changed to carefree, for example, put the 
 number 5 in the blank opposite the word "Carefree." 
 
 After all selections for the day have been read, answer Item No. 7 
 ^•y giving any additional introspections of your mood changes during the 
 test and by adding any other comment you Avould like to make. After 
 having finished everything, please sign a pledge to keep silent about this 
 experiment, as any discussion of it outside of this room may prevent others 
 from participating in it." 
 
Randolph-Macon AVoman's (V)lle(je 31 
 
 At the end of the whole experiment, after all subjects had 
 completed all weekly sessions, a questionnaire was submitted 
 to them concerning the meaning of the mood terms employed 
 and similar topics. One of the modifications in our Mood 
 Change Chart was the provision of a blank space for the sub- 
 ject to add any other descriptive mood terms. The Instruc- 
 tions and procedure for the control group were the same, but 
 the different sections had only one experimental session. 
 
 The main results of this experiment were classified in such 
 a Avay that the ten groups of poems ranged in the order from 
 most to least uniform mood effects. Within each group the 
 poems themselves are arranged in like manner. 
 
 In the first five groups of poems, the same four moods occur 
 with varying frequency, namely: composed, depressed, sad, 
 and serious, and we may speak of them collectively as the 
 sober moods. The two groups of light verse and humorous 
 poems arouse, on the other hand, most often the cheerful 
 moods, such as amused, carefree, gay, and joyful. The last 
 three groups of poems give rise to conflicting moods, such as 
 carefree, composed, exhilarated, joyful, serious, and the like. 
 
 As to the individual poems which produce the most uniform 
 and definite mood effects, we shall mention first those wiiich 
 in 50% or more of all subjects have aroused the same moods, 
 and arrange them again in descending order, taking scattering 
 of other moods into account : 
 
 1. Evelyn Hope (Group C,l) Prevailing mood '*sad" 
 
 2. A Prayer (A,l) ''serious" 
 
 3. Little Giffen (D,l) ''sad" 
 
 4. Annabel Lee (C,2) "sad" 
 
 5. Limericks (G,l) "gay" 
 
 6. Kathleen Mavourneen (C,3) "sad" 
 
 7. St. Agnes Eve (A,2) "serious" 
 
 8. The House by the Side of the Road (A,3) "serious" 
 
 We may perhaps add to this list the following two : 
 
 9. Rory O'More (F,l) "gay" and 
 10. Tears, Idle Tears (H,l) "sad." 
 
 This whole list of ten poems may, therefore, be considered the 
 first step in the compilation of a group of poems, classified on 
 the same basis as Edison's Mood Music, which may be spoken 
 of by way of analog\' as "Mood Poetry." The -jiam reason why 
 
32 Bulletin 
 
 these particular poems produce such uniform and marked mood 
 effects is prohal)ly to be found in the nature and strength of 
 the "emotional tone" of the topics and language involved in 
 them. This fact is supported not only by introspective com- 
 ments of our subjects made especially in answer to the last 
 (question of the Mood Change Chart, but it is also borne out 
 by the negative evidence that descriptive, philosophical, and 
 simple narrative poems cause very slight emotional responses. 
 
 The large scattering of different and sometimes conflicting 
 mood terms with many poems of our list is due to several 
 causes. Amongst these we may list first the subject's mood 
 preceding the experiment, because sometimes it seems to exert 
 a marked influence on the subsequent mood reactions to the 
 poems heard. For example, a mood of fatigue may persist 
 throughout the whole session, or a mood of nervousness may 
 make the subject feel "bored" with all the poems presented 
 at that session. Sometimes metre and rhyme are mentioned 
 among the causes of mood change, and sometimes the change 
 is attributed to associations aroused by a poem at some earlier 
 time. Again, if a poem is too familiar to a certain person, it 
 makes the listener bored or indifferent. The case of previous 
 associations with a poem is illustrated in the effect of the poem 
 "Lord Ullin's Daughter," which reminded one of our sub- 
 jects of a school declamation, while "The Post That Fitted" 
 depressed one girl because she had recently visited an epileptic 
 colony. Finally a poem of slight emotional appeal when heard 
 after one of stronger emotional tone seems to be somewhat 
 influenced by the mood of the preceding poem. 
 
 To the 14 mood terms found on the Edison Chart our sub- 
 jects added "dreamy," "bored," and "amused." According 
 to the absolute frequency with which these 17 moods occurred 
 amongst our 80 subjects, we obtain the following rank order : 
 
 (I) serious, 637; (2) composed, 497; (3) sad, 404; (4) care- 
 free, 272; (5) depressed, 252; (6) gay, 241; (7) joyful, 161; 
 (8) fatigued, 145; (9) exhilarated, 125; (10) optimistic, 109; 
 
 (II) amused, 78; (12) dreamy, 62; (13) nervous, 61; (14) 
 worried, 54; (15) bored, 39; (16) unfatigued, 32; and (17) 
 discouraged, 24. The order remains the same if only the first 
 group of forty subjects is considered. The order is but slightly 
 changed if we arrange the moods by the number of subjects 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 81] 
 
 who have experienced them. Accordingly we find the mood 
 ''serious" mentioned by all except one of the first group of 
 subjects, next sad by 38, composed by 36, carefree and de- 
 pressed by 34 each, gay and joyful by 31 each, exhilarated by 
 27, optimistic by 24, fatigued by 23, worried by 17, amused by 
 16, nervous by 13, unfatigued by 11, discouraged and bored 
 by 10 each, and dreamy by 7. 
 
 These results, then, have solved our main problem, as they 
 indicate to what extent listening to poetry is likely to produce 
 definite and uniform emotional responses or moods, 
 
 A second and minor aspect of our problem was concerned 
 with a critical examination of the mood terminology employed 
 in the popular Edison Mood Change Chart. In order to obtain 
 objective data for this enquiry each of the forty subjects of 
 our first group was asked after the completion of all experi- 
 ments, to answer the following 
 
 QUESTIONNAIRE 
 
 1. Define each of the seventeen mood terms. 
 
 2. Which of these terms mean to you practically the same thing? 
 
 3. Which of these terms express the strongest or deepest moods or feelings? 
 
 4. Classify all mood terms into pleasant, unpleasant, and indifferent. 
 
 5. Arrange the terms of the pleasant and unpleasant group from strong- 
 
 est to weakest. 
 
 6. Can you classify the moods in any other way? How? 
 
 7. Arrange the following ten subjects in the order in which they arouse 
 
 you emotionally, from strongest to weakest: 
 athletic contests (observed) 
 dramatic performances (observed) 
 fiction (read) 
 landscape (observed) 
 movies (observed) 
 music (heard) 
 
 original mental work (compositions or problem solving) 
 paintings (observed) 
 poetry (heard) 
 traveling by rail. 
 
 The answers to most of these questions were also tabulated. 
 
 The first question was asked in order to find out how much 
 agreement there is among people as to the precise meaning of 
 the terms used. It is, of course, out of the question to enumer- 
 ate here the different definitions offered; but a few examples 
 must suffice to indicate the ambiguity in these terms. 
 
34 Bulletin 
 
 Composed: Quiet; calm; undisturbed, not worried, not nervous; one's 
 self ; indifferent ; firm ; power of mind to think under any 
 circumstances ; nervousness in the background ; at one 's ease ; rested ; 
 under control; carefree yet seriou*; not affected in any way; neither ex- 
 tremes of pleasantness nor unpleasantness. 
 
 Nervous: Ready to lauo^h at sadness and weep at humor; ''crabby;" 
 worried; excited; opposite of composed; worked up to an ex- 
 citable state; not composed; nerves on edge; restless; agitated; unhappy; 
 lacking self-control ; irritable ; tense ; annoyable ; unable to concentrate ; 
 * * wrigglesome ; " ' ' slightly fearful ; " * ' fidgety ; " " unstrung. ' ' 
 
 Worried: Troubled; pondering; lack of attention; mind centered else- 
 Avhere; depressed and brooding; concerned over trouble; ner- 
 vous and agitated; ill at ease; peace of mind disturbed; melancholic; dis- 
 tressed and anxious; distrustful and ill at ease; anxiously thoughtful; pre- 
 occupied with an unpleasant thought ; bothered ; upset ; oppressed ; de- 
 pressed and discouraged. 
 
 From these samples it will be seen that there is much am- 
 biguity in the interpretation of the mood terms. For example, 
 ''serious" was taken to mean either "thoughtful" or ''slightly 
 sad;" the arrangement of moods according to opposites is un- 
 necessarily artificial, although several of our subjects defined 
 some of the terms as the opposites of others; but even here 
 there was no agreement as to what terms were thus antago- 
 nistic. Certainly the mood terms do not show the relations of 
 moods to each other nor even the degree of intensity or 
 strength of the moods designated. 
 
 It was found that there is greatest uncertainty in our sub- 
 jects' minds concerning the precise meaning of the deepest 
 moods of both the pleasant and the unpleasant kind; because 
 here synonymous terms are mentioned most frequently. Thus, 
 "depressed" is taken to be synonymous with "discouraged" 
 by 18 subjects, with "worried" by 15, with "nervous" by 1, 
 with "sad" by 4, and with "serious" by 1; only 1 person 
 found no synonym for "depressed." The terms "discour- 
 aged" and "worried" are equally ambiguous, while among 
 the pleasant moods "exhilarated," "joyful," and "gay" are 
 synonymous to about 30 out of 40 subjects. Likewise the term 
 "carefree" is equivocal. Several of the terms are also desig- 
 nated as meaning "indifferent." 
 
 Another aspect of the am])iguity of the mood terms is re- 
 vealed in the answers to the third question. According to 
 this result, "exhilarated," "joyful," "depressed," and 
 "sad" are most often classified as the deepest or strongest 
 
Raxdolph-Macox Womax's College -V^ 
 
 moods, but many of the other terms are also put into this 
 group by from 1 to 10 of our subjects, indicating a great va- 
 riety of interpretations of these terms. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest agreement occurred as to the affective 
 character of the moods involved. The five moods '' depressed," 
 ''discouraged," "worried," "nervous," and "sad" were uni- 
 formly characterized as "unpleasant;" "exhilarated," "joy- 
 ful," "gay," "amused," and "optimistic" as "pleasant;" and 
 in five others, namely, "serious," "composed," "dreamy," 
 "unfatigued," and "carefree," there was an almost even 
 division between "pleasantness" and "indifference," The 
 moods "fatigued" and "bored" and the synonym "indiffer- 
 ent" were not included in this list because they represent, 
 according to several explanatory comments at the end of the 
 Mood Change Charts, an attitude of inattention and non-re- 
 ceptiveness to poetry, and are thus not moods aroused by lis- 
 tening to poetry. 
 
 The answers to the fifth question of our Questioannaire can- 
 not very well be tabulated, since five moods w^ere classified 
 either as pleasant or as indifferent. But by taking the con- 
 sensus of opinion as our guide we have arranged the fifteen 
 moods into an affective scale, starting with the most unpleas- 
 ant, proceeding to the less unpleasant, then the mostly indif- 
 ferent or slightly pleasant, then the mostly pleasant or rarely 
 indifferent, then the uniformly but slightly pleasant and end- 
 ing with the most pleasant mood. The moods as thus arranged 
 fall into the following order : depressed, discouraged, worried, 
 nervous, sad, serious, composed, dreamy, unfatigued, carefree, 
 optimistic, amused, gay, joyful, exhilarated. In this mood 
 scale the middle third may be considered as either slightly 
 pleasant or indifferent, according to the interpretation given 
 to the term; "serious," for instance, may be understood as 
 "approaching slight sadness," or as "a faintly pleasant 
 thoughtfulness. " This arrangement in a scale of moods is 
 necessarily incomplete and uneven. The number of pleasant 
 moods seems greater than the unpleasant ; and there is also 
 no way of expressing the dift'erences in intensity in the con- 
 secutive steps. It seems to us, however, a more useful arrange- 
 ment than, the antagonistic pairs of the Edison Chart. 
 
36 Bulletin 
 
 Since the answers to our sixth question did not yield any 
 other satisfactory principle of classifying: the mood terms, we 
 may now revert to our first question of definition and attempt 
 to bring together, in the case of each mood term, the most fre- 
 quent descriptive phrases and synonyms mentioned by our 
 subjects, in the hope that this collection, combined with its 
 nrrangement in a mood scale, may prove helpful to others 
 interested in the study of moods. 
 
 MOOD SCALE 
 
 Depressed: Extremely unpleasant state of mental distress filled with 
 evil foreboding which makes one unresponsive to pleasant 
 stimuli; melancholic and pessimistic. 
 
 Discouraged: Very unpleasant state of despair, unready to make any 
 effort to struggle; hopelessly downcast. 
 
 Worried: Pre-occupied with an unpleasant tliought; brooding and 
 agitated. 
 
 Nervous: A state of unpleasant physical and mental restlessness, with 
 difficulty to concentrate and readiness to be annoyed by trifles. 
 
 Sad: Inclined to gloomy thoughts; a slight degree of depression; dis- 
 turbed by sorrow. 
 
 Serious: Concentrating on and interested in thoughts aroused by 
 stimulus ; earnest, solemn, indifferent or but very faintly 
 pleasant or unpleasant. 
 
 Composed: A calm, indifferent or but slightly pleasant state of watchful 
 readiness and self-control. 
 
 Dreamy: A faintly pleasant state of distracted attention, somewhat 
 drowsy, musing, wistful and disinclined to action and mental 
 effort. 
 
 Unfatigued: A fairly pleasant physical and mental state of alertness 
 or readiness to mental or physical effort; fresh and ener- 
 getic. 
 
 Carefree: A pleasant state of irresponsibility, forgetful of troubles, 
 light-hearted. 
 
 Optimistic: Inclined to pleasant thoughts; hopeful, cheerful, and happy. 
 
 Amused: Readiness to be pleased by trifles; on the look-out for the 
 humorous, with a tendency to smile. 
 
 Gay: A state of pleasant light-heartedness and mirth, bordering on the 
 mischievous or frivoluous; gladness with tendency to laughter. 
 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College 87 
 
 Joyful: A very pleasant inner happiness with diffused and little marked 
 external expression; pre-occupied with pleasant thoughts. 
 
 Exhilarated: Extremely pleasant state of excitement with marked ex- 
 ternal signs, such as laughter and boisterousness; "pep" 
 and ''thrill;" buoyant spirits. 
 
 The two other mood terms which were employed, but which 
 we did not incorporate into the mood scale, may be defined as 
 follows : 
 
 Fatigued: An unpleasant state of physical and mental weariness and 
 inability to pay attention or to exert oneself. 
 
 Bored: An indifferent or slightly unpleasant state of passive annoyance, 
 sometimes to the point of disgust. 
 
 These statements are not meant to be concise logical defi- 
 nitions or even accurate psychological descriptions of the dif- 
 ferent moods. They are merely an empirical collection of in- 
 terpretations of the mood terms employed in this experiment, 
 intended to serve as a possible starting point for a fuller 
 psychological investigation of moods. "We would, therefore, 
 request any of our readers who have become interested in this 
 problem of the effect of poetry on our moods, to apply our 
 mood scale and our short list of ten mood poems, to their own 
 life and to sit down in favorable moments of the day and read 
 or have somebody read to them one or tw^o of these poems in 
 order to write down the effect upon their moods as defined or 
 described in our mood scale. After ten or more such records 
 have been obtained, the Psychological Laboratory of Randolph- 
 Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Va., would be grateful 
 to receive either the original records or exact copies of them 
 for a continuation of this study. Further directions and de- 
 tails may be obtained from the Editor of these psychological 
 studies. He would also gratefully accept answers to questions 
 6 and 7 of the Questionnaire as well as such details as are 
 called for on our Mood Change Chart. 
 
 At present we have not sufficiently analyzed the answers to 
 the last question of the Questionnaire and the possibility of re- 
 ceiving some answers from our readers forbids us to tell more 
 of the purpose of this question, as this might influence future 
 answers. 
 
38 Bulletin 
 
 To summarize our main results, we may say that certain 
 poems when read aloud produce definite and fairly uniform 
 mood effects in a large number of people, and that this effect 
 would liave become even more uniform if the mood terms had 
 been defined beforehand so as to be interpreted by everybody 
 in the same way. A list of ten mood poems was made, on the 
 basis of our results, which is analogous to the 137 records of 
 the Edison Mood Music in that these poems will produce al- 
 most identical moods in the great majority of persons. Fac- 
 tors which prevent perfect uniformity in the mood effects of 
 all poems are such as pre-existing moods, metre or rhyme of 
 the poem, and pre-existing associations or emotional experi- 
 ences connected with topics similar to those presented in the 
 poems. We have also constructed an affective mood scale based 
 largely upon the intensity of the pleasantness or unpleasant- 
 ness of the moods involved. We have furthermore shown that 
 mood terms are very ambiguous and variously interpreted by 
 most people, and to avoid difficulties of definition we have at- 
 tempted a list of descriptive phrases for each of the mood 
 terms employed in this experiment. 
 
 In general our experiment has only confirmed what every 
 lover of poetry has learned by pleasant experiences, that there 
 are moods for every poem as well as poems for every mood. 
 One knows beforehand what poems one "feels" like hearing 
 or reading, just as every lover of music knows how he will be 
 affected by this or that musical selection. But if our little 
 study has stimulated a new interest in poetry in some of our 
 readers or aroused in others a keener desire for mood analy- 
 sis it will have gained a human value in addition to whatever 
 value it may have from the strictly scientific psychological 
 point of view. 
 
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