Psycho-physiological relationship in the modification of reflexive motion

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine how normal knee-jerk reflexes were modified during adding tasks of three levels of complexity, easy, intermediate (Kraepelin test) and difficult. 8 Ss were assigned for each task groups, all were female college students. Facilitation effects in knee-jerks were observed when amounts of work done diminished (in the difficult task group), inhibition effects were observed when amounts of work done increased (in the easy task group). Amounts of work done in the control groups (no reflex-examination) increased by simple repitition. Knee-jerks of another group of 8 Ss, whose knee-jerks had been measured during the first trial of the intermediate task, were more facilitated than knee-jerks measured during the second trial. © 1974, The Japanese Psychological Association. All rights reserved.