The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

February, 1931 43 signed to bring out the fact that there were two horses in the picture, and that the man standing over Abimelech had his hand on the hilt of his sword. The questions in regard to King David were expected to elicit a good description of the king and his clothing, especially the fact that he. wore a crown, sandals with straps wound up the calves and a loose, robe-like garment, and that he was not a very old man even though he had a thick beard. For The Last Communion of St. Jerome, the questions were to bring out the presence of the lighted candles (two showed on the screen) and the columns framing the open door-way of the temple. The first question on Washington's Courtship, was designed to learn whether the observer had noted the scene through the window. The second question had to do with the horses seen through the window, the position and expressions of the people in the room, and the fact that Washington was standing wih his hat, gloves, and sword in his hands. Any answer was counted correct if the accompanying reasons were logical. In Lafayette at Mount Vernon, the first question was designed to learn whether the pupil recognized the great front porch of Mount Vernon with its large pillars, entwining vines, and its flanking of a windowed wall of the house on the one hand and lawns and trees on the other. It is remarkable that several were led to state the meeting took place between two large buildings. As to the second question, the ladies were really quite active. There were tea things on the table. One lady was busy with knitting or needle work while the other was reading a letter. The question was designed to bring out the presence of the letter and the tea things. "Sewing," "knitting," and the like were not counted correct answers. In Washington at Fort Duquesne, there were two British flags. An answer was counted correct if an acceptable description appeared in lieu of the word "British." Mountains, or, large hills, dominated the background. There were five boys visible in The Peacemaker. Some of the observers of the colored pictures insisted that the two onlookers were girls. One of the quarrelers was quite evidently more poorly dressed than the other four. He wore an old cocked hat and was barefoot. For the first question about Washington Entering New York, two dogs, and anything from three to five in regard to horses, was taken as correct. Only five of 152 reporters got the two dogs and a sufficient number of horses in the same answer. All of the observers of the colored slide missed the little black dog because of the heavy shadow or shading in the foreground. The second question of the last pair was designed to bring out the fact that there were British flags and British uniforms at Fort Duquesne, and American flags and colonial uniforms at New York. The colored slide of this pair came up to expectations by inspiring fourteen correct answers to nine for the uncolored. While there were twenty-nine more correct responses to the direct questions for the colored slides, this is not a decisive victory for this class of slide since there were sixteen questions and 2432 answers. The notable results are that the answers in regard to the flags at Fort Duquesne were about equally divided as to acceptability, and the uncolored produced nearly double the correct answers credited to the colored slide in regard to the social standing of the boys in The Peacemaker, since this answer was largely based on clothes. Bare-feet may, perhaps, not be counted under the general classification of clothes, but in St. Jerome, five more observers of the colored slide discovered that the saint was nearly naked. The answer to this situation lies in the probability that in the colored Peacemaker, the beautiful trees, grass and flowers of the scene, and the color and richness of the clothes of the other four boys, as well as the long, yellow curls of the youthful Washington, attracted so much attention that the observers, or a majority of them, failed to notice the barefeet. An Analysis of the Results The reports on the uncolored slide were superior by twenty in noting the blood on the ground from Abimelech's wounds. An equal number of items appeared in both reports mentioning Roman, Babylon, or Bible times clothing. The boys appear to be more interested in arms and armor than in clothing. Perhaps the lack of color of the clothing in the uncolored view freed the observer's attention for a better perception of arms and armor. In regard to observing the horses out the window in Washington's Courtship, we have a case where the colored slide excels the generally superior uncolored one nearly two and one-half times. The green trees and grass, the flowering rose bushes, etc., attract the attention of the observer to the scene through the window, while the observer of the uncolored slide makes fuller observation and report of the room itself and what is in it. In the colored slide of Lafayette at Mount Vernon, the feminine group with its colorful clothing, foot stools and bonnets near by on the floor, cut flowers upon the table and the tea things set out, naturally (Continued on taac 54)