Analysis of Holmes and Watson’s Use of System 1 and System 2 Thinking in the Adventure of the Speckled Band

In the beginning, we meet a young woman, Helen Stoner, who has come to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in need of their services. Holmes and Watson both notice straight away that she is shivering. Watson also describes her to be in a ‘state of agitation’, with ‘restless frightened eyes’. He writes that Sherlock gives her a ‘comprehensive glance’ showing that they are both plainly aware of how terrified this young woman is. With this analysis they use the System 1 way of thinking, the facts of her being terrified were easily concluded and obvious.

Holmes makes a comment about the way she travelled to see them that was all too accurate, and upon Ms Stoner's astonishment, he tells her all the little details that helped him deduce exactly how she journeyed to Bakers Street, e.g.: the splatter marks on her coat and the return train ticket that’s peeping out of her sleeve showed that she came by some means of transportation that was open enough to allow mud to splatter from the outside and that she was then planning on taking a train. With this analysis, however, Holmes shows a higher skill of observation and skill of deduction, which was also easy for him, whereas Watson would maybe not have seen those small details as easily.

She tells them that her sister died of a suspicious cause and that she thinks she is the next one to be killed. She tells them that she believes it to be her stepfather behind her twin's death, but that she has no proof of the matter. Holmes asks her to recount everything that leads her to believe these things precisely and finally tells her that he’ll investigate her problem.

Holmes notices details that people are perhaps trying to hide, for example when he pulls back the lace cloth Ms Stoner uses to cover up a hand mark on her wrist. Which she admits comes from her stepfather whilst he was in a fit of anger. Watson notes that she looks embarrassed and quickly covers it up with her sleeve.

Watson makes another System 1 observation when Dr Roylott, Ms Stoner’s stepfather, barges into their home demanding they do not pursue this investigation, and to stay out of his business. His description reads as follows: ‘A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles […] marked with every evil passion’. This observation paints the image of an unpleasant man, which would help them be more inclined to believe Ms Stoner’s story.

Holmes and Watson go to Stoke Moran, Dr Roylott’s family home. They inspect the bedrooms (Ms Stoner’s and Dr Roylott’s) and the corridor outside. In Ms Stoner’s room, formerly her deceased sister’s, Holmes concludes that, upon thorough inspection, there was no possible way for a person to enter the room and cause any harm. He also notices a ventilator trap and a fake bell rope. We later learn that he knew there would be a ventilator trap from hearing Ms Stoner’s detailed story. Holmes decides that they’ll need to spend the night in the room to see if anything happens.

It seems, upon arriving at a location they plan to investigate, Holmes takes the lead in examining things closely. He is described as going around the bedrooms with a lens, probably to see clues better than with the naked eye. This may be a system between them knowing that Sherlock would be able to find clues better, and could then call forward Watson to hear his opinion on the matter.

At 11 o’clock that night, Holmes, and Watson see a light from Ms Stoner’s room in the manor, their signal that they can go up into her room to investigate for the night. They stay up until they detect any unusual activity.

At three in the morning as presumed Sherlock starts stabbing with his cane at something he saw for a moment by candlelight. He tells Watson to go with him to Dr Roylott’s room where they see a snake wrapped around Dr Roylott’s head, like a band, with speckled spots. When they were in the previous room, Watson recounts that he heard a hissing sound as if a kettle were finished boiling, but he didn’t figure out like Holmes did that the hiss came from a snake. 

Watson remarks to Holmes before they found the serpent that Sherlock saw more in the rooms than was visible to him. Holmes says that he didn’t see more, but that he deduced more, and that they saw the exact same things.

Holmes tells Watson that, at first, he did not think it was a snake, due to having insufficient details, but later after inspecting the room and finding the ventilator trap, the fake bell rope, and the few clues in Dr Roylott’s room (like foot marks on his chair, showing that he stood on it often), he knew it was the cause of the death of Ms Stoner's sister. 

Once all has been done, Holmes tells Watson what he had deduce from all the facts and given evidence. He tells Watson that having seen the dummy bell rope, the hole for ventilation, and the fact that the bed was attached to the floor, that the bell rope acted as a bridge for something to pass down. He says that the idea of snake instantly came to mind for him. Which made sense to him seeing as Dr Roylott had access to creatures from India (Dr Roylott married Mrs Stoner whilst in India), and that using such a hidden type of venom would only occur to someone with an ‘Eastern training’. The whistle sound that Ms Stoner and her sister would hear most probably came from Dr Roylott summoning the snake back before morning. The snake would climb down the bell rope to the bed and sometime or other attack the occupant of the bed. 

Watson can easily use the System 1 way of thinking when looking at obvious things, like Ms Stoner's state, and her appearance, the way she looks terrified. Watson possesses the System 2 way of thinking and observing when it comes to using them for a crime scene. However, Holmes possesses the System 1 way of analysing a scene, but also sometimes cannot make out someone’s emotions from simply looking at them, he collects details about their appearance and puts the characteristics together. Watson does not always see the same things the way Holmes does. It comes as second nature to Holmes, whereas Watson needs time to think about the smallest details, and even then does not always end up with the same observation as Sherlock Holmes.