THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTIjAD, SUNDAY" MORNING, JUNE 1, 1919:
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Experiments Skow Tkat Eitter I
Pleasant or Unpteasant Sensations Are
Produced Not
Tickles Your Ear-Scientific
N a certain type of novel jou are very
likely to read a statement like this:
"Herbert beheld Mabel with mixed
feeliugs of joy and partn.w
But the same conception Is held much
more widely than In the minds of simple
story writers. The great majority of per
sona are evidently under the Impression
that they have "mixed feelings, due to
conflicting states of mind and physical
conditions. It Is almost a daily occurrence
to hear some one speak of his or her
"mixed feelings Statesmen and financiers
are supposed to have them. Indeed, an
old-time psychologist has declared that
"mixed feelings" are the usual condition
among mature persons.
Now modern psychological science has
turned its piercing searchlight upon this
interesting matter and demonstrated that
there are, strictly speaking, no "mixed
feelings." You cannot feel pleasure and
pain at the same moment.
This investigation was conducted by
Professor Paul Thomas Young, Ph. D., of
the Psychological Laboratory of Qornell
University. who reports his observations
n the American Journal of Psychology.
It brought out many interesting facts.
Some intelligent persons thought they had
"mixed feelings, but on inquiry it fre
quently appeared that they experienced
rapid alternations of " different feelings.
Thus it was shown in this experiment, as
in so many others, that many people kneT
rery little about their own machinery for
registering sensations.
If the conventional novelist referred to' .
lad written "Herbert beheld Mabel with
rapidly alternating feelings of joy and
pain," ne wouia nave been nearer the
bounds of scientific accuracy.
The experiments were carried on during
Sve months at the university. The sub
lects tested were nine workers in psychol
ogy or in educational lines, including men
and women. Each one underwent two
lours of experiment in a week.
One form of experiment was to ask the
subject to' put himself into' a definitely Tan
pleasant state of feeling and then to ap
ply some pleasant sensation to him. For
example they asked the subject to omit
breakfast and when a hunger unpleasantness-
had been established they superin
duced pleasure by the smell and taste of
food.:
In one situation pleasure was aroused by
stroking the forehead gently with velvet,
and then unpleasantness was excited by
sandpapering the tip of the nose or chin,
of by presenting the odor of stale cheese,
The answers described as "psychold'gl
caV that Is, in the proper form. Invariably
showed no "mixed feelings." An unpleas-;
ant and a pleasant picture being exhibited,
this answer is typical of this class:
"The first was unpleasantness; the next
was pleasantness, A relaxed feeling re
lief, no strain. There was no carrying -over;the
transition was quick as. a wink.?
This report, which was elicited when
velvet was flrsf applied to the face, then
sandpaper, is another good example of ther
psychological class:
"First pleasure, there v is no question
about it It was followed by unpleasant
ness.. There was surprise and resentment.
Then alternating pleasure and unpleasant
ness! then unpleasantness; then pleasure;
then neutral and Just at the end it was
pleasure."
J In some experiments different forms of
pleasure were administered at the same
time. The professor earned a tune like the
exquisite; soothing "Barcarole" from OfTen
bach's 'JTales of Hoffman" to be played to
his subject, while he gently tickled htr.
Hefreport 'suggests a very 'complex state
of feeling:
" "Both experiences . were pleasant, and
was a tickling pleaire, while the other
was a soothing pleasure. You seem to get
the body divided. All down the 'central
core and on my left I could feel the smooth,
swaying rhythm of the movement, whereas
on the right of the head and shoulder there
was this pleasant tifkling feeling."
In another situation- the professor and
his colleagues resorted to a form ol tor
ture in which water was made to drip on
the subject's forehead and run : down his
or her face. When unpleasantness had
been established they presented perfumes,
chocolate peppermint candies, chords upon
tuning forks, etc
In another case a ,
girl subject partook,
of a Iuscibus dish of
strawberry ice
cream, when a bottle
of asafoetida was
suddenly held to her
nose. Another time
she was given an
ice cream soda and
a horrifying picture
was thrusfbef ore her.
Other situations in
volved pleasant and.
unpleasant memo
ries, dizziness, tickle
in nose and ear with
a broom straw,
warmth and cold, ,
honey, noise and nu
merous other stimuli.
The following
stimuli or "sensa
tion rousers" were
used:
1. For the nose:
Vanilla, chocolate,
orange, lemon, helio
trope, rose perfume,
crab-apple blossom
ptrfume, white oil
of juniper, oil of
bergarUot. oil of
mace, cloves, bitter
almond, nitrobenzo!,
nutmeg, coffee, asa
foetida, stale cheese, i
onions, sulphuretted
hydrogen and' castor
oil.
2. For the taste:
Sugar solution, salt
solution,- quinine so
lution, vinegar, cho
colate, peppermint
candy, sarsaprWa,
alum solution, cas
tor oil, solution of
vinegar ind quinine,
apple, banana and
honey.
3. For the touch:
Cotton (for pressure
and tickle., broom
straw (for tickling
the nose and ear),
sharp nail (for pok
ing the forehead),
heated and cold
brass, sandpaper for
sandpapering t h
chin, nose, forehead,
teeth and arm;
Mixed Feelings
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clothes pin for,
pinching the nose; rubber band, to snap
against neck; piano hammer, to rap fore
head; cow-itch, to produce Itch, etc.. etc
4. For the ear: A set of Konlg forks,
single tones, chords and discords, blown
bottles, mouth organ, armonium, organ
pipe, metal fife (shrill, Jto pro'duce ear
piercing noise), metronome (worked at
various rhythms), tomtom, rattle, sizzle
(soda In cup), crumpling paper, crash with
wooden box dropped on floor, squeak (cork
turned In bottle), filing saw and glass.
In order to excite feelings of pleasure
and unpleasantness through the eyes they
displayed pictures, of horrible and teQify
ing character, colored plates oJt skin dis
eases and pictures of charming subjects.
All these sensation rousers were applied
in various combinations, and the subject
was asked to report what he felt promptly
at a given signal. Out" of 2,212 reports
only 71, or 3.21, described mixed -feelings.
Of these 71 reports, 37, or 52 per cent, are
by a single subject, a you$g woman, which
Is strong evidence of some personal
peculiarity In her way of reporting. Then
28 of the 71 reports were doubtful about
the mixed feelings. ' 5
Five subjects out of nine reported 110
mixed feelings. Those who gave their an
swers ill correct psychological form al
ways reported no mixed feelings. The
overwhelming weight of evidence was
therefore against them." -v ,
Professor Young, commenting on tese
experiments, remarks "how far1 from the
truth, then, is the statement of Ladd that
almost all neutral states which are marked
by strong feelings in the case of developed
minds are mixed feelings The authority
referred to is Professor G. T. Ladd, of Yale
University, one of the best known Tvfh-
logists In the country, whose work was
urn-
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Tina Startling Picture Shows the Old Russian Nobility Taking
a Dreadful Revenge on Their Captured Polish Enemies.
Such a Picture, in Combination with a Pleasant One.
Failed to Arouse "Mixed Feelings."
In This Experiment si
Young Woman Was Given
an Ice-Cream Soda- and
Suddenly Shown a Very
Unpleasant j Picture. The
Pleasurable; Sensation of
the Soda at Once Was Re
placed by Consciousness of
Unpleasant f Shock at the
Picture. There Was No
Mingling of Pleasant and
Unpleasant Sensations.
ESSrUEBAN
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chologlcar la
boratory meth
ods. In many
cases the an
swers, though
speak ing of
mixed feelings,
showed clearly
to the psychol
ogist tlrat they
did not co-exist
P.or Instance,
when a girl's
forehead was
stroked with velvet, while a clotbespta
was fixed to her nose, she reported:
"A mixed feeling toward that clothespin
on my nose. I believe they alternated."
A subject was told to think of the most
uncomfortable day of her life and then a
chocolate peppermint was popped into her
mouth. She reported:' " -
"The mood is a pleasant and unpleasant
mixture, if I take the intermingling of the
two .as a mixture. I am never able , to
' catch pleasant and unpleasant alongside
of each other."!
In another case the candy was ust
sopped into the subject's mouth and some
vinegar was dropped in her mouthi " She
.reported:'" ' . ;.
- I detected In the tastrffgof the candy
both pleasant . and unpleasant, and 1 1
should say that pleasant predominates.
A charming melody was played to the
subject and then a large onion was hejd
to her nose. ' Her comment was: .
I tried my best to see what happened
when the music was playing and I got the
" odor. I know the music was pleasant and
I know the odor was nnnleasant. but T
V "i - S
In This Experiment the Patient's Skin Was Stroked with Velvet and
Then Suddenly a Clothes-Pin Was Snapped on to Her Nose. V
The Sensations Immediately Changed from Pleasant
to Unpleasant with No Mixed Sensation.
The professor played some discordant
sounds on the mouth-organ and' then
slapped her face. ' The answer, which is
said to show "multiple feelings." not
"mixed feelings," was: "
"That is apparently two-fold.. There is a
deep seated resentment and the unpleas
antness of the sting. The two unpleas
antnesses seemed to be there together." ,
A beautiful picture was exhibited to a
girl, and while she . was ' thoroughly ab
sorbed in its beauty a piece of stale
cheese was thrust under her nose. She
stid: "
"There were touches of esthetic pleas
ure and there was the unpleasantness
from the odor. . The odor was strong, and
I was still looking at the picture. When
the distraction erased, I had both simul- -taneously.
The cheese was unpleasant
.-and the picture was esthetically pleasant.
I had both simultaneously for a moment.
ISATION
TAXES '
cat rcX,L"Y
KaRGINAI- eft
Sub -Coktsciou'S
TttCESHOLO
X Intba Ccstscious
OKSCIOU6NJCS6 X oji.tXTRA -
4-
6CALt Of
iNTFMSrrv
Chart Showing How the Predominating
' Sensation Prevails Over the
Subordinate One.
The answers
showed that
an established
mood may be
interrupted by
an affection of
opposite signi
ficance.
The mood may
be conceived as
permanent, but
the reports show,
that there is no coexistence. of pleasant
and unpleasant. - When a place of cho
colate peppermint was fed to the subject
and after that 'an unpleasant; picture,
shown, a report was: t ;
"Pleasant, of course to start with.
Then a hole in that pleasant until my a in
tention rwent from the candy to the un
pleasant Picture." ;:v.
The answer that there waa a rapid Talter
natlon of feelings was given many times.
For instance: 1
"The odor was a mixed feeling. I cant
say that the effects were simultaneous;
they may have been oscillatory."
"I seemed to get a rabid alternation be
tween the pleasant and the unpleasant."
"I should say It was a very, very rapid
fluctuation, between pleasant and unpleas
ant. You get the succession, P U P--U,
I can't, say Mow .many titpes."
If would, of course, nojt be easy for the
untrained reader to draw conclusions from
the 2,212 reports of the persons experi
mented upon, even If the whole number
The professor sandpapered a girl's nose were laid before 'him.
chiefly done before the introduction of psy. once." : w idot
f- Copyright. 1919. by Star, Company.
ana also held rose perfume to it. She re
ported: - ' '
""Both pleasant and unpleasant were
there together. , Occasionally each one
would be there alone and the other disap
peared, but in the Intervals between, they
were there together."
Great Britain Rights Reserved.
Young arrives at these Conclusions based
on tne reports:
1. Pleasantness and uipleasantness 'are
not reit at the same time.
2. "Mixed feelings" Involve a confusion
of meaning. The meaninr-erroi- la favnrnd
by: (a) Intellectuallzation; (b) unpleasant'
The learrited Dr.
mood, as fatigue, illness, sleepiness, worry,
etc.; (c) lack of practice and training in
psychological report; (d) suggestion.
3. "Mixed feelings" -are reported, rarely
and in sporadic groups throughout the
course of the experiment and the single
experimental hour. The subjects show
marked individual differences in the tend
ency to report 'mixed feelings." Five of
the nine subjects report no unequivocal
"mixed feelings"; one does not even report
a doubtful case; another reports more than
.half of the total number. Of the report
of "mixed feelings" more than a third con
tain some expression of doubt and uncei-
. talnty. . ..
4. There are four types or normal expe
rience resembling "mixed feelings": (a)
rapid alternations of pleasantness and un
pleasantness, (b) doubt, (c) the brief inter
ruption of an established mood which is
conceived as permanent, and (d) ths
awareness' of a pleasant object while one
feels displeased, or the awareness of an
unpleasant object-while .one feels pleased.
Other psychologists have tackled this in
teresting problem before, tout- never,
reached results as fully developed and sua-'
taine as these. '
Professor Hayes, of Cornell, made an in
vestigation based on 134 answers from a
single subject' Pairs of simultaneous
stimuli were used a stimulus to pleasant
and a stimulus to unpleasant. The stimuli
were (1) taste solutions containing sugar
and quinine in' various percentages, (2)
taste solutions (sugar and quinine), and
sounds (cords and discords) from forks,
(3) sounds (chords and discords), and
odors (valerianic acid, carbon bisulphate,
essence of peppermint, cinnamon).
The. conclusion was ethat pleasant anT
unpleasant did not coexist.
Professor AlechsiefT, of Germany, after
examination - of twenty-nine answers,
decided that ."pleasant and unpleasant do
not coexist in our consciousness, but only
one after the other." '