Various - Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1

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[6] Wundt, W.: 'Physiol. Psych.,' 4te Aufl., Leipzig, 1893, Bd.
II., S. 83.

[7] Wundt, W.: 'Physiol. Psych.,' 4te Aufl., Leipzig, 1893,
II., S. 89 ff.

[8] Bolton, T.L.: _Amer. Jour. of Psych._, 1894, VI., p. 145 et
seq.

The most elaborate consideration of rhythm yet published is that of
Meumann.[9] He avowedly worked out and defended the theory of Wundt.
The only important difference is the larger place which he gave to the
'motor accompaniment,' although he was always careful to emphasize its
secondary and derived character. He insisted that the 'mental
activity' is always primary, and that without it there can be no
rhythmization; and he opposed vigorously the motor inclinations of
Mach and Bolton. It is certainly unfortunate that rhythm has always
fallen into the hands of the investigators of the 'attention,' or the
'span of consciousness,' or the 'perception of time.' It is but an
incident that judgments of time are often based on rhythms; and
everything that Meumann has said of a 'mental prius,' or a
'synthesizing activity' in the case of rhythms, may just as well be
said in the case of any cooerdinated act.

[9] Meumann, E.: _Phil. Stud._, 1894, X., S. 249 ff.

Meumann discussed in detail the characteristics of the rhythm of a
simple series of sounds, of music, and of verse. He assumed that in
the simple sound series we have rhythm in its barest form, and only
the rhythmic synthetic activity is at work; while in music there is a
content which to some extent prescribes unities, and the objective
regularity of the rhythm is broken. In verse we have much more
content, and the rhythmization is no longer regular in its temporal
relations; it is entirely dominated at times by the 'logical unities'
of the 'thought.'

One great difficulty with such a differentiation of the three types of
rhythms presents itself when one inquires into the objective
regularity of the types; the fact is that music is by far the most
regular in its time values, though it has more content than the sound
series; and that just as great irregularities are possible in the bare
sound series as in the rhythm of verse with its rich and definite
content.

Later statements of the facts and theories relating to rhythm have
inclined more and more to an emphasis of the motor aspect, even on the
part of Wundtians. Since Meumann there has been some detailed
laboratory work published, but the amount of accurately measured
rhythmic material is astonishingly small. Meumann established
experimentally the well-known relation between the length of a
rhythmic element and its accent, and corroborated the earlier work on
subjective accentuation. The reports contain the measurements of but
about eighty individual unit groups (iambs, trochees, etc.).
Ebhardt[10] gave the measurements of from 150 to 300 taps from each of
three subjects. But his work is vitiated, as far as any application to
rhythm is concerned, because he based everything on the judgment of
_equality_, which has nothing to do with rhythm.

[10] Ebhardt, K.: _Zeilschr. f. Psych, u. Physiol. d.
Sinnesorgane,_1898, Bd. 18, S. 99.

Hurst, McKay and Pringle[11] published measurements of about 600
individual unit groups from three different subjects; in several
cases, the material consists rather too much of records of the
experimenters themselves, but in general their results agree very well
with those of other authors. Scripture[12] published the measurements
of a single stanza of poetry. It is but a single stanza and quite too
little material on which to base any conclusions, but it is notable as
a measurement of freely spoken rhythm. No experiments have been
published which bear on the nature of the rhythmic phrase, of the
period, or of the stanza.

[11] Hurst, A.S., McKay, J., and Pringle, G.C.F.: _Univ. of
Toronto Studies,_ 1899, No. 3, p. 157.

[12] Scripture, E.W.: _Studies from the Yale Psych. Lab.,_
1899, VII., p. 1.

Our problem is: What part do the recurrent qualitative factors, like
rhyme, play in the grouping of rhythms? They function evidently, in
the main, as factors determining the periods or larger phrases of the
rhythm structure--the verses and stanzas of poetry and nonsense verse.
As no work has been done on the nature of such larger rhythmic
unities, a large share of the investigation was concerned with the
nature of the verse unity.

Two methods of investigation were used: Subjects listened to rhythmic
series, into which various modifications were introduced; and
secondly, rhythms of a prescribed type, produced by the subject, were
recorded and measured.

[Illustration: PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW. MONOGRAPH SUPPLEMENT, 17. PLATE IX.
Opposite p. 417]

II. THE PERCEPTION OF A RHYTHMIC SERIES.

Apparatus: A disc (Fig. 1, Plate IX.) about 50 c. in diameter,
rotating on a vertical pivot, was driven by a pulley-cone underneath
mounted on the same spindle (not shown in the figure). On the face of
the disc were four concentric rings of regularly spaced holes, which
received pegs of uniform height and provided with a shoulder.
Corresponding holes of each circle lay on the same radius. On a plate
supported by a bracket were mounted four levers whose heads stood in
line radially to the movable disc. When the disc rotated to the right
under the levers, the pegs forced up the lever heads and made an
electric contact. The dip of the levers was controlled by a screw
adjustment. The apparatus was driven by a motor and reducing gear,
which were isolated in a sound-proof box. The rate of speed was
controllable.

The apparatus was built for use with sounders connected with the
binding-posts, but in this investigation sounders were dispensed with,
and the clicks from the apparatus itself were used, since but one
qualitative difference was introduced. As a rule, the objective accent
of the foot was not given; the subjective accentuation was nearly
always sufficient. Subjects were quite unable to say whether the
accent was objective or not. If necessary, an accentuation was
produced by raising the pegs representing the accentuated part of the
foot. The group elements were represented by single, simple clicks
made by a brass screw on the lever arm striking an iron plate (the
noise of the brass peg striking the lever head was eliminated by
damping with cloth). The rhyme was represented by a compound noise
consisting of a click higher in pitch than the verse element click,
made by the peg striking the lever head, and an almost simultaneous
click lower in pitch than the verse element click, made by the screw
of the lever arm striking another iron plate. The rhyme noise was not
louder than the verse element click, and as a whole gave the
impression of being a lower tone because the first click was very
brief. Subjects did not analyze the rhyme noise, and had no difficulty
in making it represent rhyming syllables. The pauses throughout had
no filling.

The subject was always given a normal series until the type was
clearly established, and when the variations to be judged were
introduced his attention was directed as far as possible to the factor
to be introduced. This seemed the only way to obtain trustworthy
judgments. If the subject waits blindly for some perceptual change in
the whole complicated mass of sensations which the simplest rhythmic
series constitutes, he is apt to fit his attention on some irrelevant
detail, and the change may not be noted until greatly exaggerated, and
he may not judge that particular factor at all.

The subject was always asked to choose a rate of delivery which would
correspond to his natural rate of reading nonsense verse, and the
clicks were always associated with syllables, though not with words.
An effort was made to keep the series as colorless and devoid of
content as possible, to eliminate uncertain association. Beyond
suppressed articulation, the subject was not encouraged to mark the
rhythm with any part of the body, but a number of involuntary
movements of neck, body, hand, or foot were nearly always observed.
Occasionally, when a subject's expression was doubtful, he was asked
to say a nonsense series with the clicks.

The nomenclature to be used in this paper is that of meter, but it is
always subject to the reservation that the material is only analogous
to series of nonsense syllables.

Records were kept in terms of the intervals on the revolving disc; the
time of revolution was also taken, so that the figures may be
translated in time intervals if desired. Thus, 34, 34, 34, 34, 34
represents a series of iambs in which the unaccented click has the
length of three, and the accented click the length of four spaces
between pegs. A uniform verse represented by a digit giving the number
of feet, followed by digits in parenthesis giving the character of the
foot, _e.g._, 4 (34), is an iambic tetrameter.

For convenience, the verse pause is written independently of the last
foot of the verse, _e.g._, 4 (34) p. 7 represents a tetrameter line
having the intervals 34, 34, 34, 37. The interval of the last accented
syllable is counted twice.

Occasionally this is disregarded and vs. p. equals o is written to
indicate that the vs. p. is equal to the foot pause.

The results of the experiments may be grouped under three heads:

1. Why does a synthesizing factor such as rhyme occur at the end of
the verse?

2. What is the relation between the verse pause and the rhyme?

3. What is the relation of rhyme to the cyclic movement of the unit
group and of the verse?

_1. Why the Synthesizing Factor Occurs at the Close of the Verse_.

To determine a possible difference in the sense of rhythm at the
beginning and the close of a verse, pauses ('lags') were introduced
into the earlier and later parts of the verse. These pauses were made
barely perceptible, _i.e._, barely perceptible in any part of the
verse. Usually in iambic verse the barely perceptible lag shows the
following proportions to the other pauses:

34 _35_ 34 etc., or
47 _48.5_ 47.

Most of the experiments were performed with iambic tetrameter. The
subject was told to note the lags in the verse: these were introduced
either in both parts of the verse or at its close only. At least three
verses were given, and records were kept of the false judgments. When
lags of identical duration were introduced between the first and
second and between the third and fourth feet, it was found that nearly
always the lag would not be detected in the earlier part of the verse
but would be detected in the later part. Out of eighty-two cases,
there were but six in which the same lag was recognized in the first
as well as in the last position. In two of these cases the subject's
attention had been called to the first part of the verse; and in the
four other cases the lag was still found more marked at the close than
at the beginning.

There were no cases in which a lag detected in the earlier part of the
verse was not also detected in the later part. False judgments, when
they occurred, were made as to a lag in the earlier part of the verse.
One subject falsely located a lag in the first of the verse four
times. Judgments as to the earlier part of the verse were uncertain
and frequently changed.

The maximum lag possible without breaking the unity of the verse was
determined for the earlier and later parts of the verse. The verse
unity was tested by adding enough feet to make a full verse, after the
break, and asking the subject to mark the close of the verse. In every
case this irregularity was introduced into the second verse, and the
first verse was normal, _e.g._ (pentameter),

I. 5 (34).
II. 34 lag 34 34 34 34 34.

If the lag does not break the verse, the subject should hear the close
of the verse at the end of the fifth foot in II. If the verse is
broken he should ignore the first foot and make a new verse, ending
with the sixth foot.

J. Iamb. tet. 1st pause of verse, max. pos. lag 9
3d 7
L. 1st 9
3d 7
R. 1st 11
3d 9
G. 1st 9
3d 7
Mi. 1st 10
3d 8
B. 1st 7
H. 1st 10
3d 6

Later, in the attempt to determine natural divisions, or nodes in the
verse, the following were determined:

L. Max. pos. lags in f. p. of iamb. pent. in order 8 13 9 6
G. 10 11 9 8
Mi. 15 18 17 14
Me. 7.5 13 9.5 6
R. 9 9 11 7
B. 12 8 15 7
H. 7.5 8 10 7

B. Max pos. lags in dac. let., cat., in order 12 16 8
S. 10 11 7
Mc. 7 10 6
G. 11 11 7
L. 19 16 7
H. 7 6 4

This shows that an irregularity in the time intervals may be greater
in the earlier than in the later part of the verse. This last table is
further evidence of the increased exactness of the rhythmic perception
at the close of the verse. As far as nodes are concerned, they show
clearly two types: (1) A node after the second foot (L., G., Mi., Mc.)
and (2) a node after the third foot (R., B., H.). For the tetrameter
there is some indication in the cases of B., S. and Mc., but the other
cases are negative and further evidence is needed.

With three of the subjects, Mi., J. and K., it was not always possible
to get records of the maximum lag, since it was impossible to define
the verse unity. When this was unbroken it was the unanimous testimony
of the subjects, corroborated by their unconscious movements, that
there was a feeling of tension during the lag. But the subjects just
referred to got a type of unity, and there was no tension. The lags
were indefinite and very long (35-90). This unity must be of the same
kind as the unity of the stanza, which includes long expressional
pauses, as well as rhythmic verse pauses.

If a subject is asked to fall in at the beginning of a rhythmic series
his first attempts are decidedly incooerdinated. His earliest reactions
follow the clicks which they are intended to represent, but presently
the series of motor impulses generated by the sounds and the voluntary
movements which the subject makes fuse into a voluntary type of
reaction in which the cycle has become automatic and definite, and the
clicks take their proper places as cooeperating and controlling factors
along with the motor cues of the process itself. The accuracy of the
judgments of time, if such judgments be made, or the estimation of the
likeness of the groups, depends on the definiteness with which
movement sensations follow each other in a regular series.

The following experiments (Table I.) concern the perception of a lag
in different parts not of a verse but of a stanza. It was a question,
namely, whether a lag in the first rhythmic series (first verse) which
establishes the motor cycle in the subject would be detected in the
later rhythmic series (later verses of the stanza) after the motor
cycle in the subject has been inaugurated. This responsive motor cycle
should itself, of course, contain the lag given with the first
rhythmic series.

A stanza of the form of A (Table I.) was clicked out by the
instrument, but the subject had no clue as to the regularity or
irregularity of any verse. The stanza was repeated as often as the
subject wished, but not without a pause of a few moments between each
repetition.

TABLE I.

THE INFLUENCE OF A LAG IN THE FIRST VERSE ON THE JUDGMENT OF IDENTICAL
LAGS IN LATER VERSES.

A. Stanza given: I. 34 34 35 34 p. 7-9
II. " " " " "
III. " " " " "

In 14 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted.
II. " not noted.
III. " " "

In 9 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted.
II. " " but shorter than first.
III. " " " " " "

In 6 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted.
II. " " and equal to first.
III. " " " " " "

B. Stanza given: I. 35 34 34 34 p. 7-9
II. " " " " "
III. " " " " "

Any pause large enough to be noted in I. was noted in II. and
III. (This table contains the judgments made on all trials.)

Most of the judgments of the third set are due to the fact that the
subject first attended to the series on the second or third verse. The
large number of cases (83 per cent.) in which the lags in the second
and third verses were concealed by the equal lag in the first verse,
makes it very probable that the type of a verse is somehow altered by
the impression left by the preceding verse.

The method of determining the maximal lags (as previously described)
gave interesting evidence on the point at which the unity of the verse
is actually felt. In the form

I. 5 (34)
II. 34 lag 34 34 34 34-34

as the lag increases, a point is reached at which the unity may be
made to include the first foot or to ignore it. Which of these is done
depends on the subject's attitude, or _on the point at which the verse
is brought to a close._ In either case the unity, the 'pentameter
feeling,' is not experienced _until the end of the series unified is
reached._ This is the case with all the subjects.

This development of the feeling of the particular verse form only at
the end of the verse, and the fact that the subject may be uncertain
which form he will hear until the series has actually ceased, shows
that the verse-form movement is not of such a character that the close
of it may not be considerably modified. A form which may fit the
pentameter can be broken off early, and become a satisfactory
tetrameter. The feeling seems to depend on some total effect of the
verse at the close. This effect is probably a blending of the
mass-effect of the impressions received thus far, which have a
definite character and feeling significance, and which form the motor
disposition for the next verse. The essential thing in the
determination of verse unity seems to be the dying out of the
automatism, the cessation of the cooerdination of the cyclic movement.
The rhyme, it would seem, emphasizes the close of the automatic cycle.
But it is probable that satisfactory phrasing has other
characteristics, and a definite form as a movement whole.

_2. The Relation of the Rhyme to the Verse Pause._

Determinations of the minimal satisfactory verse pause were made with
a view to comparing the minimum in unrhymed with that in rhymed
verses.

The stanza used was of the following form:

I. 34 34 34 p.
II. " " " "
III. " " " "

The minimal satisfactory verse pauses were:

Without Rhyme. With Rhyme.
Subject. L. 6 4
" J. 5 4
" Mc. 6 4
" R. 7 4
" B. 6-7 3.5
" G. 6 3.5
" Mi. 6-7 3.25

It thus appears that the minimal pause which is satisfactory, is less
when rhyme is present than when it is not present. Similar
determinations were made for the maximal satisfactory verse pauses, as
follows:

Without Rhyme. With Rhyme.
Subject. L. 9-10 11
" J. 8 9
" Mc. 9 9
" R. 10-11 10-11
" B. 9 9
" G. 11-12 11
" Mi. 10 10

(A few experiments were tried with verse pauses of different length in
the same stanza. A difference of one fourth the value of the pause is
not detected, and unless attention is called to them, the pauses may
vary widely from one another.)

This shows that the rhyme reduces the _necessary_ pause in verse to
the mere foot pause; while at the same time as great a pause is
_possible_ with rhyme as without it. Aside from the table above, a
large number of the records made for other purposes support this
statement: whenever rhyme was introduced, the verse pause was made
equal to the foot pause, or even slightly less than it, and was always
found satisfactory.

Numerous cases of introduction of lags into the verses of rhymed
stanzas go to show that irregularities in such verses do not affect
the length of the pauses.

Two hypotheses suggest themselves in explanation of the striking fact
that the verse pause becomes unnecessary at the close of a rhymed
verse.

The unity is now a new kind of verse unity; the rhyme is a regular
recurrent factor like the accent of a foot, and the series of rhymes
generates a new rhythm. In the rhymed stanza we are to see not a set
of verses, like the verse of blank verse, but a new and enlarged verse
unity.

There are several decided objections to this conception. First, the
verse pause _may_ be eliminated, but its elimination is _not
essential_ to the rhyme effect; the verse pause may still be as long,
if not longer, with rhyme. Secondly, the larger unity into which the
verses enter is not in many cases a unity made up exclusively of
rhymed verses. Verses without rhyme alternate with rhymed verses, and
have the usual verse pause. Thirdly, the rhyme is not merely a
regularly recurring element: it is essentially a recurring element of
which one may say what has been said falsely of the rhythm elements,
that each rhyme is either a repetition of something gone before to
which it refers, or the anticipation of something to which it looks
forward. In most cases, rhymes function in pairs. Such peculiarities
distinguish the rhyme from the accent of the foot. Lastly, the freedom
of the whole stanza structure into which rhyme is introduced is much
greater than that of the single verse; pauses much larger than the
admissible lags of a single verse are possible between the verses, and
there is no tension which persists throughout. There is no feeling of
strain if the series halts at the verse ends.

A second hypothesis is that there is some definite process at the end
of the verse which marks the close of the verse and which takes more
time in the case of blank verse than in the case of rhymed verse. If
we conceive the end of the verse as a point where a dying out of the
tension occurs, we may imagine that the rhyme brings an emphasis, and
becomes a qualitative signal for this release. The slight increase of
intensity on the rhyme contributes to the breaking up of the
cooerdination, and at the same time exhausts and satisfies the feeling
of tension which the verse embodies. It is at the point for finishing
and releasing the set of strains which constitute the motor image of
the verse. A qualitative change may be supposed to produce the effect
more rapidly than the simple dying out of the tensions, which occurs
in blank verse without a differentiated end accent.

3. _The Relation of the Rhyme to the Cyclic Movement of the Unit Group
and of the Verse_.

A series was arranged in which the accent of an ordinary foot and a
rhyme occurred side by side; the distance between them was gradually
lessened, and the effect on the rhyme and on the ordinary accented
element was noted.

A preliminary set of experiments on the effect of two accents which
approach each other gave some very interesting results. Thus Table II.
shows the effect of gradually eliminating the verse pause from the
couplet.

TABLE II.

Dactylic, catelectic couplet of the general form: