Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 121, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1915 — Psychology of Practice. [ARTICLE]

Psychology of Practice.

The question of short versus long periods of practice in training the human muscles for any particular kind of work is obviously one having farreaching application. Some interesting experiments on this subject have been carried out by Dr. K. S. Lashley of Johns Hopkins university. Acquisition of skill in archery was selected as the subject of observation. Twenty untrained persons were divided into three groups. One group shot five arrows with the English longbow per day; another, twenty shots per day; and the third, forty shots. The results showed conclusively that the group shooting only five times a day Improved in accuracy with less«expenditure of time to practice than was required by either of the other groups for the same amount of improvement. A report on the experiments says: "The relatively greater efficiency of short periods of practice continuing for many days is in accordance with the results of the study of animals and of speech habits in man, and indicates that in training to muscular feats, in both animals and man, the length of practice periods required is usually too great for maximum efficiency.”—Scientific American.