“The Effect of Practice in the Case of a Purely Intellectual Function”, 1908-07-01 (; backlinks; similar):
Studied the amount, rate, progressive change of rate and the spread of improvement in the case of a purely intellectual function, using 33 subjects.
After some training in multiplication of numbers the subjects mentally multiplied about 50 to 96 numbers. The reduction of the scores to one variable, the amount of improvement, the limits of practice effect, changes in the rate of improvement and the influence of equal practice upon individual differences were discussed.
Implications for the improvement of human functioning have been suggested.
[The author reports experiments in the mental multiplication of one 3-place number by another for the purpose of showing the amount of improvement, its rate, progressive change of rate, and spread. In studying the different influence of equal practice upon individuals it was found that high mental ability tended to go with high rate of improvement, thus showing that equal practice tended to increase rather than diminish individual differences. The author concludes with the opinion that students with greater original capacity gain as much or more from the same training. The conclusion seems to be, the better the student, the more he is able to profit by training, and, conversely, the greater the training, the greater the differences between those of higher and lower ability.]