Triplett 1898 - The Dynamogenic Factors in Pacemaking and Competition
Triplett 1898 - The Dynamogenic Factors in Pacemaking and Competition
Triplett 1898 - The Dynamogenic Factors in Pacemaking and Competition
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to The American Journal of Psychology
'TIME I S6
20.
M 5.
1.30
/ Ito
/ -sO0.
IPA
Lower curve, unpaced -against time. Middle curve, paced -against time. Up
I 4 Pacemakers 2 37.6
I No 2 49.4 11.8 11
3 5 8 6.6
3 No ( 8 57.8 51.2 I7
3 No ( 9 7. I .4 20
4 No 12 2.4 .53 13
ENCOURAGEMENT THEORY.
The presence of a friend on the pacing machine to encourage
and keep up the spirits of the rider is claimed to be of great
help. The mental disposition has been long known to be of
importance in racing as in other cases where energy is ex-
pended. It is still as true as in Virgil's time that the winners
"'can because they think they can. "
struggle for the lead, and when they have obtained it "
in front." The reasons for this are good:
(I) If a boat be clear in front it may take its oppon
water and wash it.
(2) The crew leading can see the others and regulate its
pace accordingly.
(3) The actual physical labor involved in propelling a boat
is very great, and therefore the laws of exercise already treated
of apply.
(4) The length of a racing eight is 50 feet or more, and
the time necessary to pass is too great to permit of waiting.
For similar reasons there is not the slightest advantage in
waiting in a swimming race.
In horse racing a pacemaker is of use, but is not the over-
whelming advantage it is in cycle racing. A good horse can
run out an inferior, just as a good man can on foot; but in big
races a stable companion is generally started to make running,
when the favorite is a good stayer, in order that he may have
a fast run race, without being put to the disadvantage of him
self making the pace. This is especially true of distance
races.
PART II.
DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS.
LIMITS OF ERROR.
Frequent trials of the machinery showed very small errors.
In each regular trial the flag travelled 16 meters. For ten test
trials the average number of turns of the reel necessary to send
it over this course was found to be 149.87, with a mean varia-
tion of .I5, showing that the silk band did not slip to any ap-
preciable extent. If 40 seconds be taken as the average time
of a trial (which is not far wrong), .15 of a turn will be made
in .04 second.
Care was also exercised to have the kymograph maintain, so
far as possible, a uniform rate of turning. When fully wound
up it would run for nearly three hours. The actual running
time in taking the six trials of a subject was about 4 minutes,
or 40 seconds per trial. In testing, the drum was rota-
ted during 4 minutes. The time necessary to repeat this
amount of rotation was found, by trials, to be 4 minutes and
Age. A. C. A. C. A. C.
Age. A. A. C. A. C. A.
IX-35
TABLE II.
Subjects Stimulated Adversely.
GROUP A.
Age.| A. C. A. C. A. C.
GROUP B.
Age. A. A. C. A. C. A.
TABLE III.
Subjects little affected by competition.
GROUP A.
Age. A. C. A. C. | A. C.
Age. A. A. C. A. C. A.
C4 .
y-'
35' cM--...N
C $'
c40 . ,,j ,
SEX DIFFERENCES.
Some small differences were found in the motor rate between
the sexes, corresponding in general to the results exhibited in
Dr. W. L. Bryan's study of "Motor Ability." For this group-
ing, the averages only for which are given, all cases were
taken in which a trial alone was succeeded by a trial in com-
petition.
At io years of age the boys begin faster than the girls, but
both sexes are practically together on the competition trial.
The greater speed of the boys, as Dr. Bryan has pointed out,
is largely a result of their greater knack or skill in doing
things, attributable to their more active life.
At 11 the boys are distinctly ahead, and, as noted before, a
year's time has brought a large increase in speed, as at about
this age a free use of the wrist movement is gained. At 12 the
boys are slower than at I, and have no advantage over the
MALES. FEMALES
Age.
Cases. A. C. Cases. A. C.
the real race is run in the presence of the public. The weak-
ening effect of nervous agitation has been ascribed as the cause.
On the other hand, Manouvrier, in his dynamometric studies
found that this subject increased the energy of his movement
when spectators were present. This is a a common observation.
The boy can turn better handsprings when wishing to impress
the girls with a sense of his accomplishments. The football team
play better ball under the stimulation of the home crowd.
Other examples could be instanced showing how people respond
to various social stimulations.
In the records of the 40 subjects found in the three groups
discussed above, there are 80 cases wherein a competition trial
is followed by a trial alone. Of these, 45 were made in faster
time than the preceding competition trial. Several facts seem
to contribute to this result.
First, greater facility in turning naturally follows from the
practice gained in former trials. In general, spectators were
not permitted during the trials alone, but in a few cases visitors
were present. The effect of this would be to stimulate the
subject in a trial alone. Then, too, the competition element
entered into the trials alone and it was found advisable in some
cases to keep from the subject the time made, as there was a
constant desire to beat his own or his friend's records, and thus
make all the trials competitive. The competition feeling seemed
present all the time. It is felt, therefore, that succeeding trials
alone are not really non-competitive trials.
In addition, the competition trial was a pattern for after
trials, giving a higher ideal of speed and a hint of what was
possible for the subject. Fere remarks that it was his own
experience, and that of a majority of experimenters in dyna-
mometrie, " that the second trial was in general stronger than
the first, the first trial having the effect of reinforcing the idea
of the movement." The same thing seems peculiarly true of
the kind of work under discussion. The subject comes to a
succeeding trial alone with a reinforced image of the move-
ment. The over-excitement of the former race is gone, but
somewhat of its stimulating effect, it may be, remains and in
consequence more than half of the cases equal or exceed the
former competitive trial.
PART III.
Cases. No. alone. After a higher Gain. No. aloe. Alone. No Gain.
rate is given. rate given.