In a great printing-shop a
woman who was occupied with work which demanded her fullest attention
was seated at her task in an aisle where trucking was done. Removing
this operator to a quiet corner caused an increase of 25 per cent in
her work.[40] To be sure there are many such disturbances in factory
life which can hardly be eliminated with the technical means of
to-day. For instance, the noise of the machines, which in many
factories makes it impossible to communicate except by shouting, must
be classed among the real psychological interferences in spite of the
fact that the laborers themselves usually feel convinced that they no
longer notice it at all. Still more disturbing are strong rhythmical
sounds, such as heavy hammer blows which dominate the continuous
noises, as they force on every individual consciousness a
psychophysical rhythm of reaction which may stand in strong contrast
to that of a man's own work. From the incessant inner struggle of the
two rhythms, the one suggested by the labor, the other by the external
intrusion, quick exhaustion becomes unavoidable.
If it were our purpose to elaborate a real system of psychological
economics, we should have to proceed here to a careful study of the
influences of fatigue on the industrial achievement. We should have to
discuss the various kinds of fatigue and exhaustion, the conditions of
restoration, and the whole group of related problems of psychophysics.
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