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 RIVERSIDE TEXTBOOKS 
 IN EDUCATION 
 
 EDITED BY ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY 
 
 PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION 
 LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY 
 
 DIVISION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 UNDER THE EDITORIAL DIRECTION 
 
 OF ALEXANDER INGLIS 
 
 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION 
 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
 
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 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 FRANK N. FREEMAN, Ph.D. 
 
 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 
 
 A THOR OF " THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE COMMON BRANCHES ! 
 
 "EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION"; "THE TEACHING 
 
 OF HANDWRITING," ETC. 
 
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 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
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 COPYRIGHT, I917, BY FRANK N. FREEMAN 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 / C o. 
 
 NOV -7 1917 
 
 tE\)t ^ibersftif 5re«S 
 
 CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
 U . S . A 
 
 ©CI.A477455 
 
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 In an earlier number of this series of textbooks the author 
 of the present volume presented the psychological principles 
 underlying good teaching of the so-called common-school 
 branches. Instruction in handwriting, drawing, reading, 
 music, spelling, history, geography, mathematics, and the 
 sciences were analyzed into types, and the lessons of psy- 
 chology applied in a way to be of much help to the teacher 
 of these subjects. In the present volume the author takes 
 up the growth of the child's mind, and shows how good in- 
 struction in any subject and in all parts of the school system 
 must be founded on certain general applications of psychol- 
 ogy to the teaching process. In reading through the work 
 here presented, it is interesting to note how fully all ques- 
 tions as to proper mental development of children are re- 
 lated to the psychology of the learning process. 
 
 The present volume is a valuable study in applied psychol- 
 ogy. It concerns itself primarily with a study of the native 
 and acquired responses of children, and the significance of 
 these for educational development and for social control. 
 It is the purpose of education to deal with these native re- 
 sponses of children, stimulating some and repressing others, 
 and in addition to develop in children many acquired re- 
 sponses which will be valuable to them in later life. In the 
 development of the idea that education means the training 
 of the child to respond in ways which society has approved 
 and men have found useful, the author analyzes the ways 
 of responding which are both native and acquired with chil- 
 dren, as these relate to their play, imitation of others, self- 
 assertion, social attitudes, use of language, the acquirement 
 
vi EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 of skills, perceptions, association and memorizing, and the 
 thinking process. He then formulates the general principles 
 of mental growth in children, devotes a chapter to a care- 
 ful analysis of the much-debated question of the transfer of 
 training, and concludes with a valuable chapter on mental 
 economy and mental hygiene. In a sense the volume at 
 hand is a textbook in educational psychology, revealing to 
 teachers and students how all effective instruction of chil- 
 dren must be founded on the utilization and development of 
 the child's native and acquired responses to the stimuli of 
 our civilization. 
 
 The book has been prepared for use as a textbook in col- 
 leges and normal schools, and for use as a reading-circle book 
 with teachers. An effort has been made by the author to use 
 as few technical terms as are consistent with a fair degree of 
 precision of statement, and to make the statement of general 
 or abstract principles understandable, by the use of illus- 
 trations from familiar experiences, to the reader who has 
 not studied psychology. In particular, schoolroom situa- 
 tions have been used continually as the chief source of illus- 
 trations and applications. It is confidently believed that 
 this new volume in the series will find for itself a large field 
 of usefulness. 
 
 Ellwood P. Cubberley 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The student and the practical worker in education need 
 to know certain specific and certain general facts regarding 
 the changes which take place in the child's mental attitudes 
 and capacities as he grows more mature — both those which 
 are the accompaniments of physical maturity, and those 
 which are produced by training and education. By specific 
 changes is meant those which are connected particularly 
 with some branch of study, as reading, writing, or mathe- 
 matics. These have been described in such books as Profes- 
 sor Judd's Psychology of High-School Subjects, and the au- 
 thor's Psychology of the Common Branches. There remain 
 many changes which constitute important phases in the 
 child's mental growth, and with which the teacher must be 
 acquainted in order to be able rightly to influence his mental 
 growth, but which are not especially connected with any 
 particular school subjects. These it is the purpose of the 
 present volume to describe. 
 
 The discussion even of these general mental processes, 
 having as its purpose the furtherance of efficiency in teach- 
 ing, differs from "pure" psychology of the ordinary sort in 
 at least two important respects. In the first place, it gives 
 very little space to classifying and defining mental processes 
 — and this only incidentally — and is occupied chiefly in de- 
 scribing how the various processes work. Thus, little space 
 is given to a discussion of what memory is, and much space 
 to an account of the way memorizing can most efficiently 
 be carried on. Again, in describing perception, the chief 
 aim is not to define it and distinguish it from sensation or 
 concepts, but to show how perceptions are formed. In the 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 second place, the emphasis is on the growth of the mental 
 processes rather than on an analysis of their final form. 
 This includes some account of the chief changes which ac- 
 company the child's advancing age, and of the changes 
 which take place when any one, adult or child, learns any 
 new thing. The knowledge of how the child's habits, ideas, 
 etc., come to be is a preliminary step to a knowledge of the 
 best means of directing or modifying their growth. 
 
 The application of some of the facts which are presented 
 is inherent in the statements themselves. If the whole 
 method of memorizing is better than the part method in 
 certain cases, then in such cases the whole method should be 
 used. In a good many other instances, where the applica- 
 tion is not so obvious, some application has been suggested. 
 But a grasp of the principles of mental growth prepares the 
 teacher in some measure to make his own application. To 
 furnish the teacher with devices has its place, but the teacher 
 who is equipped only with devices lacks the means of initia- 
 tive and development. The reason that psychology has been 
 of so little use to teachers is not so much the fact that the 
 application has been left wholly to him, though this is un- 
 doubtedly one reason, as that the kind of facts that have 
 been given are not such as could be applied. The effort has 
 been made in this volume to present briefly those general 
 facts and principles of mental growth which have most 
 direct application to the problems of teaching, and to give 
 the student sufficient suggestion regarding their application 
 to enable him to continue the process of application himself. 
 
 The chapter on the nervous system is the most difficult, 
 and may be omitted by classes of immature students withou t 
 destroying the continuity of the rest of the book. It is profit- 
 able to students who are mature enough to understand it. 
 however, because of the notion it gives that mental devel- 
 opment is dependent upon certain definite physioloj ical 
 
PREFACE Lx 
 
 changes which require time and suitable training for their 
 accomplishment. It is desirable that it be read at the begin- 
 ning of the course, so that the student may interpret the rest 
 of the discussion in the light of it, and at the end, so that he 
 may understand the nervous system itself better in the light 
 of the mental processes. 
 
 I desire to make special acknowledgment to Professors 
 C. Judson Herrick and Roswell P. Angier for helpful sugges- 
 tions regarding the chapter on the nervous system. 
 
 Frank N. Freeman 
 Chicago June 1917 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Introduction: Teaching founded on the Child's 
 
 Responses 1 
 
 v II. The Nervous System, the Bodily Organ of Re- 
 sponse 11 
 
 III. The Relation of Native and Acquired Re- 
 
 sponses 37 
 
 IV. The Child's Native Responses: Play ... 56 
 V. Imitation and Self-Assertion 78 
 
 VI. Instinctive Social Attitudes, and Types ... 95 
 
 VII. Speech 112 
 
 VIII. Acquiring Skill 127 
 
 Building up Perceptions 157 
 
 ^X. Association and Memorizing^ 185 
 
 ^_XI. Problem-Solving or Thinking 212 
 
 XII. General Principles Regarding the Child's 
 
 Mental Development 240 
 
 XIII. Transfer of Training, or General Training . 260 
 
 XIV. Mental Economy and Control, Mental Hygiene 287 
 Index 319 
 
LIST OF FIGURES 
 
 1. The Brain and Spinal Cord, in their Relation to the General 
 
 Structure of the Body 13 
 
 2. Diagram of Reflex Circle 15 
 
 3. Diagram of the Connections in the Level of Perception and Motor 
 
 Habit 19 
 
 4. Diagram of the Connections in the Level for Ideas .... 22 
 
 5. Scheme of the Principal Neurons of the Cerebral Cortex ... 24 
 
 6. Diagram of the Spinal Cord Reflex Apparatus 29 
 
 7. Diagram of Certain Connections between the Spinal Cord and the 
 
 Cerebral Cortex 31 
 
 8. The Human Cerebral Hemispheres seen from the Left Side, upon 
 
 which the Functional Areas of the Cortex are located ... 32 
 
 9. Chart illustrating the Inheritance of Eminent Ability ... 45 
 
 10. Actual Distributions found in Mental Measurements ... 46 
 
 11. Curves of Sending and Receiving of One Learner in Telegraphy . 144 
 
 12. Curves of Progress in Typewriting 145 
 
 13. Practice Curve in Mirror Drawing 146 
 
 14. Curves of Two Adults and an Eight- Year-Old Girl in the Same 
 
 Kind of Sensori-Motor Learning 150 
 
 15. Muller-Lyer Illusion 158 
 
 16. Analysis of the Process of Receiving in Telegraphy into Receiving 
 
 Separate Letters, Disconnected Words, and Connected Dis- 
 course 170 
 
 17. The Curve of Forgetting for Nonsense Series learned to the Point 
 
 of One Successful Reproduction, in the Case of Ebbinghaus . 196 
 
xiv LIST OF FIGURES 
 
 18. The Curve of Forgetting for Nonsense Series learned to the Point 
 
 of Two Successful Repetitions as reported by Radossawl- 
 jewitsch 197 
 
 19. Tait's Puzzle 212 
 
 20. Illustrations of Forms of Analysis 213 
 
 21. Age Progress Curves in Problems of the Same Kind but Different 
 
 Difficulty 233 
 
 22. Relations of Grade Distributions to Each Other 230 
 
HOW CHXLDEEN LEAEN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION: TEACHING FOUNDED ON THE 
 CHILD'S RESPONSES 
 
 Educational psychology deals first with the child's native 
 responses. The business of teaching is to awaken the right 
 kind of responses in the child. This is a very different task 
 from that of merely presenting to the child the facts it is 
 assumed he ought to learn. We must know what kind of 
 reaction the child is likely to make to the situations which 
 are presented, and whether these reactions are such as to 
 lead him to acquire the information, form the habits, take 
 the attitudes, or develop the ideas which will fit him to meet 
 the demands of his life. In order to know how best to guide 
 the child in the development of these desirable habits, at- 
 titudes, etc., we must know something of his instinctive 
 responses. In common with the animal the child performs 
 many actions and takes many attitudes without being 
 taught. The general form which his play takes, his feelings 
 and emotions, and to a large extent the interests which are 
 the driving forces of his intellectual growth, are governed 
 by his inborn nature. We must therefore study the facts of 
 this instinctive nature and its development. 
 
 Another branch deals with the modes of learning in the 
 school subjects. We must also know the laws according to 
 which these instinctive responses become developed and 
 modified by training and selection, so as to form the specific 
 habits of conduct of the fully furnished adult person, 
 
2 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 equipped to meet the demands which life makes on him. 
 One group of these principles is concerned with those habits 
 which constitute the mastery of the various branches of 
 study in the school. We study the kinds of learning which 
 are demanded by these subjects of study, in order to dis- 
 cover how they may be most economically acquired. We 
 must know how the child learns to read, write, calculate, 
 etc., and the stages of development through which he passes 
 in these forms of learning. This study forms one branch of 
 educational psychology — the branch which deals with the 
 psychology of the school subjects. 
 
 A third branch deals more with the general principles of 
 learning. Besides the specific forms of learning which are 
 immediately connected with the acquisition of the school 
 arts, the child's education produces certain more general 
 habits and attitudes. The development of manual skill takes 
 place in a variety of school subjects, as writing, sewing, 
 drawing and modeling, wood-working, and language pro- 
 nunciation. The development of the ability to memorize 
 economically may take place in connection with literature, 
 language, history, geography, science, mathematics — in 
 fact to some degree in connection with all the school sub- 
 jects, and so with fixing associations and thinking. The 
 general principles which govern these forms of learning may 
 be treated, and this treatment comprises the greater part 
 of what is called the " psychology of learning." Connected 
 with the consideration of the principles governing the vari- 
 ous forms of learning just mentioned are certain still more 
 general questions. The first of these deals with the problem 
 of so-called " transfer of training," and the second with the 
 general condition of " economy in mental work." 
 
 Scope of this book. Three groups of questions have been 
 outlined — those concerned with the development of the 
 child which is due to instinct or inner growth, rather than 
 
FOUNDATION OF GOOD TEACHING 3 
 
 to outside influences; those which are bound up with the 
 processes of mastering the various school subjects; and 
 those which deal with the more general phases of learning. 
 This book will deal briefly with the first and third topics. 
 The second, being more specialized, is more easily treated 
 separately. 
 
 In order to understand more clearly how teaching is con- 
 cerned with the native and acquired responses, we must 
 stop to consider what we mean by responses, and what are 
 the different kinds of responses of which the child is capable. 
 
 Responses may consist in movements or in the prevention 
 of a movement. When we speak of responses one is instantly 
 led to think of active responses consisting of outward move- 
 ments. They are the most obvious, it is true, but the pre- 
 vention of a movement is a response to a situation as truly 
 as is the making of a movement. If a child is sitting in a 
 schoolroom and hears a circus parade outside, the instinctive 
 response to this insistent form of stimulus * is getting up and 
 looking out of the window. If the child remains in his seat 
 he is responding to the school situation by actively prevent- 
 ing the movement of getting up and going to the window. 
 This checking of a response is called " inhibition." If we 
 compare the adult with the child, or the highly civilized per- 
 son with the primitive man, we find that education has con- 
 sisted in a great many instances in inhibiting the natural, 
 spontaneous movements which are made in response to 
 certain stimuli. On the other hand, primitive man has cer- 
 tain inhibitions which civilized peoples have outgrown. 
 Children of one community have to acquire certain sorts of 
 inhibition and children of other communities must acquire 
 other sorts. The effect of the action of the brain, which is 
 
 1 A stimulus is any object or any occurrence which may affect an indi- 
 vidual's sense organs and arouse within him a sensation, idea, or movement 
 — that is, any form of response. 
 
4 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the most highly developed part of the nervous system, is to 
 slow down the mechanical reflex movements of the spinal 
 cord which are of an instinctive nature. When the brain of 
 the frog is severed from the spinal cord its foot will be with- 
 drawn from contact with a hot object more quickly than 
 when the brain and the cord are connected in the normal 
 way. 
 
 Some responses are hidden. Not only is the inhibition of 
 movement a form of response as well as the production 
 of a movement, but there is also a distinction between the 
 easily observed movements and those which are hidden 
 from sight. We make responses to the presence and actions 
 of other people which do not always appear as outward or 
 easily observed forms of movement. The emotions which 
 are aroused within us, and which frequently constitute the 
 response which we make to other persons and their actions, 
 have been shown to be accompanied by movements within 
 the body. For example, the blood vessels in the skin of the 
 face may dilate, causing the face to flush, or they may con- 
 tract and cause paleness. The muscles of the chest and 
 diaphragm may become tense, causing restricted breathing. 
 The heart may beat more rapidly. The muscles of the limbs 
 and body may stiffen or relax. All of these accompaniments 
 of the emotions, as of fear, shame, anger, etc., are as impor- 
 tant forms of response as are outward movements. 
 
 Speech is a response. The most important form of social x 
 response consists of speech movements. While speech does 
 not cause any direct change in the physical objects about us, 
 yet it does have an important indirect effect, even on the 
 physical world, through its action on other persons. It is as 
 
 1 Here and throughout the book the term "social" is used in the broad 
 sense of pertaining to the relations of persons to one another, and to the 
 effect of the existence and conduct of other persons on the individual's 
 mental life and growth. 
 
FOUNDATION OF GOOD TEACHING 5 
 
 true a form of response to give a command or reply to a 
 question as it is to wield a club or to make a table. But speech 
 has its greatest importance from the fact that it is the chief 
 means of that communication between persons which is the 
 origin of all the more complicated forms of thinking and of 
 the recording of thought. These in turn make possible the 
 accumulation of knowledge, and the development of litera- 
 ture, history, and science. 
 
 Inner choice is a response. There are also certain inner 
 forms of response which seem to be still more remote from 
 any kind of movement, and which may yet affect our con- 
 duct in the long run equally with these more obvious reac- 
 tions. This kind of response consists in the inner decisions 
 which we make, or the mental attitudes which we adopt, and 
 which govern a large share of our future conduct. The 
 existence of this type of response makes it evident that the 
 description of mental life as made up of responses to stimuli 
 does not mean that the individual is at the mercy of the 
 outer situations which confront him. It is possible for him 
 to choose among the various courses of action which are 
 open to him the responses which he shall make. To say that 
 one's mental life consists in adaption to the environment, 
 or in response to stimuli, does not mean that the inner 
 character of the mental life is not important. 
 
 The human being has a wide choice of responses. This 
 possibility of choice of responses which confronts the human 
 being is due to the fact that he is capable of responding to 
 so many different kinds of stimuli, and of making so many 
 different kinds of responses. The animal is sensitive to 
 stimulation by comparatively few physical objects, and by 
 a few actions of other animals, and responds by a narrow 
 range of movements. The human being is affected by a 
 vastly greater variety of events in the physical world, and 
 above all by the expression of ideas and feelings of other hu- 
 
6 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 man beings through spoken and written language. Through 
 the great variety of his responses, and through his social 
 relations, things come to have a richness of meaning far be- 
 yond the simple meanings they have for the animals. This 
 richness of meaning is enhanced by the ability to recall the 
 experiences of the past and to forecast those of the future. 
 With the wide range of responses which are made possible 
 by these facts, the human being is called upon frequently 
 to select the stimulus to which he will respond and the kind 
 of response he will make. 
 
 Reflection is typically a human response. The large 
 capacity for a wide choice among responses grows out of the 
 fact that a human being may not merely make an immediate 
 reaction to a stimulus, but may think over or reflect upon 
 the situation. By this means he puts together different parts 
 of his experience in such a way that he may react to it as a 
 whole instead of to each moment as it is presented to him. 
 He may carry on with himself a sort of inner conversation, 
 the immediate result of which does not appear in immedi- 
 ate outward action, but in drawing conclusions, in forming 
 ideas, or in acquiring permanent attitudes toward principles 
 of conduct. 
 
 Responses may be direct or indirect. These forms of 
 reaction may be called indirect ways of responding because, 
 while they do not result in immediate reactions, yet they do 
 affect our reactions at a remote time. When the primitive 
 man pauses in the process of making a club or hatchet, and 
 reflects on the various methods which might be used, or the 
 various application of the material he is shaping to different 
 uses, he may be starting a whole train of activities which are 
 not completed until some distant future time. When a stu- 
 dent listens to a lecture on Education, the response which 
 he is making at the time is one of thought or of reflection; 
 but at some future time, when confronted by the practical 
 
FOUNDATION OF GOOD TEACHING 7 
 
 situation of the schoolroom, this reflection may result in a 
 definite outward form of response. 
 
 Summary. It will be evident from this discussion that 
 when it is said that education consists in developing in a 
 child proper responses it is not meant to confine education 
 to the more obvious forms of bodily movement. Responses 
 have been shown to consist not merely in movement, but in 
 the inhibition 1 of movement; not merely in responses to 
 objects of the physical world, but also to persons and their 
 mental attitudes; not merely by immediate, outward move- 
 ments, but by inner decision which may govern a whole 
 train of reactions; and finally, not only by immediate reac- 
 tion, but by thought or reflection. 
 
 The child's responses are affected by his stage of develop- 
 ment. The study of the child and the responses which he 
 makes has led to the formulation of general principles 
 which make it possible to predict, within certain limits, the 
 responses which a particular child will make. In the de- 
 velopment of the child different sorts of response are 
 prominent at different times. In early life a child is par- 
 ticularly prone to make outward movements in response 
 to stimuli. As he grows older he learns to check these 
 movements. It is evident to any observer of the child 
 that he is impulsive, that he does not stop to compare 
 different courses of action, or to deliberate which course he 
 shall take. The response which consists in making inner 
 decisions, therefore, is one which comes as the result of 
 gradual mental development, and is partly due to the 
 growth of the ability to check the more natural, immediate, 
 outward responses. The response by reflection or by thought 
 
 1 Inhibition of a movement means the checking of a movement which is 
 being made, or the prevention of a movement which would be made if it 
 were not for the inhibition. Thus a strong emotion will check or inhibit 
 the movements of the stomach in digestion. 
 
8 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 is the highest product of the child's education. It begins in 
 the early years, it is true, and should be encouraged through- 
 out his education, but it becomes more and more prominent 
 as he grows older. 
 
 The principle of response has important educational ap- 
 plications. The purpose of the rest of this book is to show 
 how these different kinds of responses are developed in the 
 child by his education. The fact that education does consist 
 in developing responses is emphasized here, both because the 
 importance of the general principle needs to be clearly rec- 
 ognized, and because it is necessary to guard against a one- 
 sided application of the principle. The one-sided application 
 of the principle has already been suggested. It consists in 
 giving sole attention to the responses which the child makes 
 through outward, bodily movement. The consequence of 
 this perversion is the over- valuation of manual training as 
 a means of mental development. Manual training may be 
 made a means of intellectual development; but it becomes 
 so rather through the interest it awakens and through the 
 stimulation it may give to the higher forms of response by 
 speech and reflection, than through any mysterious and 
 direct influence it may be supposed to have on the brain or 
 the mind. 
 
 The true application of this principle of response is much 
 broader than this. When it is stated, it seems obvious, and 
 yet it has been and often is disregarded. It may be put thus : 
 it is not what is presented to the child which educates him, 
 but rather the reaction that he makes to what is presented. 
 Certain children may fail entirely to respond to a lesson, or 
 may respond in a wrong manner. If a child's response to his 
 geography is to memorize the words, without any under- 
 standing of the facts they represent, the lesson is not edu- 
 cative for him, although it may be educative for the child 
 next him who reacts properly. The responses of which a 
 
FOUNDATION OF GOOD TEACHING 9 
 
 child is capable depend upon his stage of development, his 
 previous experiences, his ability and his interests. 
 */ Education is concerned with the specific and the general 
 responses. The preparation for life which the child receives 
 through his education includes the development of responses 
 which are suited to certain specific situations, and responses 
 which are more general in their application. In each of the 
 particular subjects of the curriculum the child learns to 
 make certain specific responses. In handwriting he develops 
 special habits of movement. In number work he develops 
 habits of association which we call addition, subtraction, 
 etc. In addition to these specific forms of response, the child 
 learns to react in certain ways to the presence of other peo- 
 ple. He learns to be obedient, to be considerate of the 
 interests of others, to be fair and just in his judgments on 
 the actions of others. We sum this up by saying that he 
 acquires responses to social situations. The child develops, 
 or should develop, certain kinds of control over his actions 
 and over his mental processes. He should learn to continue 
 the pursuit of a problem until he has arrived at the conclu- 
 sion ; he should learn to neglect certain feelings of weariness 
 and continue his work in spite of them; he should develop a 
 notion of accuracy in his work, etc. In these ways the child 
 develops modes of response which are not confined to any 
 particular situation, but which will apply to a variety of 
 situations. 
 
 It is assumed that general types of response can be de- 
 veloped. How far it is possible to develop in the child, not 
 merely specific forms of response, but these general types 
 of reaction, is a matter of debate. The development of the 
 ability to respond in this general way is sometimes called 
 transfer of training or formal discipline. We have assumed 
 that such transfer of training is possible and is important 
 for the child's education. In a later chapter we shall take 
 
10 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 up this question, and the arguments which are advanced 
 on both sides, in some detail. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Give an example of the specific things a teacher might do in applying 
 the principle that teaching is concerned not merely with presenting 
 material, but with the child's response. 
 
 2. Illustrate the native responses by citing two animal and two human 
 instincts. 
 
 3. Mention some principle of learning which is particularly illustrated in 
 one of the subjects of study in the school. If necessary look up the 
 question in a book on teaching reading, writing, number, spelling, or 
 one of the other branches. 
 
 4. Illustrate your conception of economy in mental work. 
 
 5. Give instances of situations in which it is necessary to learn to inhibit. 
 Do you know of any inhibitions which are possessed by primitive 
 people which are not possessed by civilized people? Look up under the 
 head of Taboo. 
 
 6. Look up the James-Lange theory of the emotions and show how it 
 illustrates inner responses. 
 
 7. Illustrate further the value of speech as a response. 
 
 8. Do you think inner choice is independent of any bodily response? 
 
 9. Compare the range of objects to which a chick and a child are 
 responsive. 
 
 10. When is outward bodily activity in the child to be discouraged, and 
 when not? 
 
 11. Look up some argument for manual training and connect it with the 
 discussion here. 
 
 12. What are some of the general responses which are assumed in this 
 chapter to exist? 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, THE BODILY ORGAN OF RESPONSE 
 
 The view that the mental life consists in responses to 
 stimuli is in agreement with what we know about the struc- 
 tureanct mode of action of the nervous system. If this is the 
 case^ it gives a confirmation to our view of the nature of 
 both the nervous system and mental life, because there is a 
 close connection between bodily movements and mental 
 activity on the one hand, and the action of the nervous sys- 
 tem on the other. In fact, the nervous system may be called 
 the organ of response and also the organ of the mental life. 
 The evidence of this close connection is of many sorts. In 
 the evolution of animals it is found that the higher in the 
 scale we go, the more prominent is the nervous system, and 
 particularly the higher part of the nervous system which 
 we call the brain. It is a matter of common experience also 
 that injuries to the brain cause derangement in movement, 
 in sensation, or in thought. This connection is so close that 
 it has been determined that the stimulation of certain parts 
 of the brain produces definite movements or makes possible 
 certain particular kinds of sensations. Experiments with 
 animals have demonstrated the definite connection between 
 certain areas of the brain and specified movements. 
 
 The larger divisions of the nervous system 
 In describing the development of the nervous system and 
 comparing the nervous system of the human being with that 
 of the lower forms of animals, we have seen that the brain is 
 more highly developed the higher we go in the scale of evo- 
 lution. This leads us to consider the divisions of the nervous 
 
12 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 system and the location of the various arcs which have been 
 described in the nervous system. 
 
 The two main divisions of the nervous system. The divi- 
 sion of the nervous system which is most important for men- 
 tal development is situated chiefly in the skull and the spinal 
 column. The fibers of this system which pass to the sense 
 organs and the muscles extend, of course, outside these bony 
 cavities, but most of the cell bodies and all of the connecting 
 neurons are within them. It is this whole cerebro-spinal divi- 
 sion to which we have thus far been referring, and with which 
 we shall be concerned throughout the book, because it is 
 this division which is involved in the movements of the body 
 as a whole and of the limbs, and chiefly, so far as we know, 
 with learning and thinking. 
 
 The sympathetic system. The other main division of the 
 nervous system, the sympathetic system, consists of a large 
 number of ganglia (groups of cell bodies) and their nerves, 
 scattered throughout the body. In general these ganglia 
 exercise local control over the organs with which they are 
 connected. An important series of ganglia of this system lie 
 in two rows near the spinal column, and, in association with 
 centers in the spinal cord, exercise control over digestion, 
 breathing, circulation, excretion and reproduction. Most of 
 the activities of the sympathetic nervous system do not di- 
 rectly affect consciousness; and, while some of them do have 
 a vague influence on the feelings, they may be neglected 
 in a consideration of the nervous basis of mental growth. 
 
 The peripheral and the central parts of the cerebro-spinal 
 system. We may divide the cerebro-spinal system into two 
 main parts, one of which is composed of the nerves which 
 lead from the sense organs to the spinal cord and the brain, 
 or of the nerves which lead from these central parts to the 
 muscles. These nerves are sometimes called the peripheral 
 part of the nervous system. The rest, which is located within 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 
 
 13 
 
 the spinal column and the skull, is called the central nervous 
 system. 
 
 The divisions of the central 
 nervous system. A general view 
 of the chief parts of the central 
 nervous system is given in Fig- 
 ure 1. We may readily distin- 
 guish the large mass which is 
 located in the skull. The gen- 
 eral term for this mass is the 
 brain. Contrasted with this is 
 the spinal cord which is situated 
 in the spinal column. Each of 
 these has subdivisions which 
 may be studied by consulting 
 works on anatomy or physiolog- 
 ical psychology, but we shall de- 
 scribe here merely the outlines 
 of the chief parts. 
 
 The nerve circuits 
 The nervous system is com- 
 posed of stimulus-response cir- 
 cuits. The nervous system is 
 made up fundamentally of a 
 series of arcs l or paths of dis- 
 charge which connect the va- 
 rious sense organs 2 with the 
 
 1 A nervous arc is a series of nerve 
 units leading either directly or indirectly 
 from a sense organ to a muscle. 
 
 2 The sense organs are structures in 
 the body which are sensitive to various 
 kinds of stimuli. Thus the eye is sensi- 
 tive to cither vibrations or to light; the 
 ear, to air vibratious or to sound; the 
 
 Fig. 1. The Brain and Spi- 
 nal Cord, viewed from the 
 Side, in their Relation to 
 the General Structure of 
 tiii: Body 
 
 One seventh nntnrnl size. (From 
 E.L.Thorndike'a The Elements of Psy- 
 chology, by permission of the uulhor.) 
 
14 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 muscles of the body. For example, there are certain neurons 1 
 which connect the sensitive part of the eye, the retina, with 
 the muscles which move the eye. There are paths of discharge 
 in the nervous system which connect the organ of taste in the 
 mouth with the excito-glandular fibers in the salivary glands 
 in the mouth. There are other paths of discharge connecting 
 the lining of the nose with the muscles which produce sneezing, 
 etc. The foundation of the nervous system is to be thought 
 of as composed of such a series of neurons as these leading 
 from sense organs to muscles. It is clear that if this is a cor- 
 rect description of the nervous system it is entirely in agree- 
 ment with our view of the mental life as being made up of 
 responses to stimuli. We shall see that this agreement is not 
 only true in a general way, but that it holds with the different 
 kinds of responses which can be made. Just as there are 
 more direct and simpler forms of responses, so there are 
 simpler kinds of nerve arcs; and just as there are indirect, 
 more complicated kinds of response, so there are circuits in 
 the nervous system which are appropriate to produce these 
 kinds of reaction. 
 
 The Levels of Response 
 
 The first level 
 
 The reflex arc. The simplest, most elementary form of 
 stimulus-response circuit in the nervous system is illustrated 
 in the examples given above. The neurons which connect a 
 sense organ, such as the eye, with muscles which produce a 
 response following immediately and invariably upon a par- 
 skin to contact with physical objects, and to heat and cold. Besides these 
 are sense organs for taste and smell, movement and strain, and for certain 
 vague sensations, as for hunger. 
 
 1 The neuron is a nerve cell and its branches, which conducts the nervous 
 impulse from one part of the body to another. A more minute description is 
 given later in the chapter. 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 15 
 
 ticular kind of stimulus, make up what is called a reflex arc. 
 The structure of the reflex arc is illustrated by means of the 
 diagram in Figure 2. 
 The response which 
 is made when a reflex 
 arc is stimulated is 
 called a reflex act. 
 For example, the pu- 
 pil of the eye en- 
 larges or contracts in Fig. 2. Diagram of Reflex Circuit 
 response to the de- 
 crease or the increase in brightness of the light which 
 falls upon the retina. This response follows invariably and 
 immediately upon the stimulus. It is a response which is not 
 made intentionally; and, in fact, is a response of which we are 
 not conscious. Of other reflex acts we may be conscious, but 
 they are carried on independently of our intention or per- 
 haps in spite of it. Sneezing and coughing are good exam- 
 ples of such reflex acts. We may think of these reflex acts 
 as like the earliest kind of response which an animal is ca- 
 pable of making. Even the animal which consists of but a 
 single cell is able to react by moving toward a favorable stim- 
 ulus and moving away from that which is harmful. As ani- 
 mals grow more and more complex through evolution, they 
 acquire a larger number of these reflex acts. The human 
 being possesses a great many of them. 
 
 The reflex act is not completed when the outward re- 
 sponse is made. When we sneeze or cough we are aware not 
 only of the existence of the annoying object or condition 
 which produced the response, but we are also aware of the 
 act itself. When we withdraw the hand from the hot stove 
 we are conscious not merely of the burn, but also of the jerk- 
 ing back of the hand. In the reflexes which are carried on 
 entirely without our awareness there is still a return current 
 
16 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 from the muscle to the central link of the arc. The return 
 current is not a continuation of the nervous current which is 
 produced by the original stimulus, but is a new current pro- 
 duced by the contraction of the muscle, which acts as a new 
 stimulus. This return current is represented by the lower line 
 in Figure 1. This return current often serves to start a 
 second response, and this may be followed by a third, and so 
 on. Since the stimulus is thus followed by a return current in 
 addition to the current which produces the movement, it is 
 appropriate to speak of the system as a "reflex circuit," 1 
 instead of a " reflex arc." We shall accordingly use this 
 completer term. 
 
 Reflex acts are combined to produce instinctive action. 
 Many responses are very similar to reflex acts except that 
 they consist of chains of movements rather than of single 
 movements. Each movement in the series may be thought 
 of as a response to the situation created by the previous 
 movement in the chain, as well as to some aspect of the 
 external world of objects. Thus a beast of prey in stalking 
 its victim responds to a series of smells and sights as they 
 appear from one instant to another as a result of its own 
 movements or the movements of its prey; and also responds 
 by each successive movement in stalking, crouching, leaping 
 and seizing and tearing, to its own bodily movements and 
 positions which form the preceding links in the chain. In 
 human beings the act of walking is an illustration of a chain 
 of reflexes which together compose an instinctive act. 2 Such 
 chains of reflexes, which make up an instinct, differ from 
 single reflexes, in that instinctive acts depend more on the 
 
 1 A reflex circuit is a reflex arc plus the return path leading from the 
 muscle back to the central part of the circuit. 
 
 2 An instinctive act is an inborn or inherited form of response, like a re- 
 flex act, but is distinguished from a reflex net in that it consists of a whole 
 chain or series of acts. Both reflexes and instincts serve a useful purpose, 
 but the purpose served by au instinct is more remote. 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 17 
 
 internal condition of the animal and are somewhat less fixed 
 and machine-like in their operation. It is probable also that 
 we should regard an instinct as something more than merely 
 a series of reflexes. It is necessary to explain how the succes- 
 sion of acts which make up the instinct come to be arranged 
 in this order so as to be so nicely adapted to produce a use- 
 ful and satisfactory result. This explanation is supplied if 
 we regard the series of reflexes taken together as combining 
 to form a reaction to an object, and each step as a stage 
 toward the completion of the act as a whole. Thus, a swal- 
 low which returns from its Southern migration to the same 
 chimney in the North is really reacting to the chimney 
 throughout the whole course of its journey. 1 
 
 Internal bodily adjustments correspond to emotions. 
 Many instinctive acts consist of internal responses. The 
 sight of a wild animal or the sound of thunder may cause 
 trembling of the legs, tension of the abdominal muscles, 
 slowing-down or holding of the breath, weakening or quick- 
 ening of the heart-beat and contraction of the blood vessels 
 of the skin producing paleness, or other internal responses. 
 These are some of the familiar symptoms of the emotion we 
 call fear. The other emotions have their own forms of inter- 
 nal bodily responses. The emotions and their accompanying 
 bodily responses form an important class of instincts. 
 
 The mechanism of instinctive acts. Instincts are carried 
 on through the cooperation of whole series and groups of 
 reflex circuits. This union of circuits into groups is effected 
 by means of paths joining the different circuits at their cen- 
 tral parts, as indicated in Figure 1 by the vertical arrow- 
 head lines. 
 
 The reflexes and primary instincts may be modified 
 slightly. The instincts and reflexes have been described as 
 invariable. This is true only comparatively. The chick's 
 1 The author is indebted for this illustration to Professor R. P. Angier. 
 
18 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 general reflex tendency to peck at small objects becomes 
 modified as the result of the experience of getting a bad- 
 tasting worm into its mouth. Henceforth a discrimination is 
 made, and the tendency to peck at this worm is checked. 
 The spider's instinct for building its web is modified in some 
 of the details to suit the position of the objects which fur- 
 nish its support. If we think of an instinct as an inherited 
 means of reaching a goal useful to the animal, we must 
 recognize the possibility of some slight variation in this 
 means of attaining its end. 
 
 Some human instincts are less definite. Besides these 
 comparatively fixed instincts there are in human beings cer- 
 tain attitudes and types of activity which are universal and 
 evidently inherited and not learned, though they are not 
 represented by particular, fixed sets of acts, but now by this 
 and now by that particular act. We may perhaps regard the 
 home-building impulse in human beings as such an indefinite 
 instinct. It is not represented by a series of definite acts, 
 each of which may be a reflex, as in the case of the nest- 
 building instinct of birds or the web-building instinct of 
 spiders. But it is none the less a native impulse which must 
 be based on some inherited organization in the nervous 
 system. 
 
 The level of sensori-motor learning and perception 
 Habit formation is an advance beyond instinctive action. 
 In the higher animals, and preeminently in human beings, 
 the individual acquires modes of meeting the situations 
 which confront him, and of satisfying his needs and im- 
 pulses, which are not simply slight modifications of instinc- 
 tive actions, but are radically new. When confronted by 
 a situation to which no instinct furnishes a satisfactory re- 
 sponse, the higher animal or man finds a new mode of re- 
 sponse; and finally, after sufficient repetition, crystallizes 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 
 
 19 
 
 the new response into a habit. The habit then becomes in 
 some respects like an instinct, but is different in its origin. 
 
 Illustration : Sensori-motor learning in the cat. An illus- 
 tration of habit formation may be found in the action of a cat 
 in escaping from a cage. If a hungry cat is put into a cage, 
 the door of which is fastened shut by a latch or string so 
 constructed that the animal is capable of opening it, the cat 
 first goes through all manner of clawings and scratchings 
 which are its instinctive mode of getting out of close quar- 
 ters. Finally, out of this variety of movements one by chance 
 presses the latch which opens the door and the cat escapes. 
 The next time the cat hits upon the correct movement some- 
 what more quickly, and the next still more quickly, until 
 finally it responds immediately with the correct movement, 
 and a new stimulus-response circuit or habit has been 
 formed. 
 
 Learning is effected by means of additional, superimposed, 
 arcs. What arrangement in the nervous system makes 
 possible the f orma- 
 
 ) Circuits for 
 perception 
 and 
 motor habit 
 
 tion of such new 
 circuits? The sys- 
 tems of reflex cir- 
 cuits allow of some 
 slight modifica- 
 tion, but there is 
 an additional sys- 
 tem which much 
 more readily al- 
 lows the formation 
 of such new cir- 
 cuits. Leading up- 
 ward from the re- 
 flex circuits are paths of connection with higher centers. 
 These higher centers may be compared roughly to a telc- 
 
 Fig. 3. Diagram of the Connections in the 
 Level of Perception and Motor Habit 
 
20 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 phone switchboard. Each incoming wire may be connected 
 in these centers with any one of a great many outgoing wires. 
 This possibility is suggested by the diagram in Figure 3. 
 This nervous organization has the additional property, un- 
 like the telephone exchange, of uniting many of the paths, 
 either incoming or outgoing, into groups or systems. 
 
 Perception is developed by many responses to the same 
 object. From the time when the infant begins to play with 
 his ball or his rattle, he begins to do a variety of things with 
 the same object, and in doing so to gain a variety of experi- 
 ences from it. He grasps his rattle and gains from it experi- 
 ences of movement and touch. He runs his hand over it 
 and enriches his experience. His eye falls on it while he is 
 waving it and another connection is made between this thing 
 with the familiar feeling and a thing that has a certain 
 appearance of brightness. His eye explores the object and 
 in doing so gives a new combination of experiences of eye 
 movement with those of sight which gives him a more 
 definite apprehension of its shape. The sound of the rattle 
 falls on his ear and this is added to the qualities of this 
 strange thing, beside giving a new starting point for the 
 development of a new sense of direction. The uniting of a 
 variety of experiences in an object, which thus takes place 
 through the variety of responses to it, is designated by the 
 term perception. It is but the other side of the union of 
 responses into habit groups. The one is viewed from the 
 standpoint of the combination of stimuli, the other from the 
 standpoint of the combination of movements. Neither takes 
 place alone, and both are made possible by the higher nerve 
 circuits. 
 
 Consciousness guides in sensori-motor responses. The 
 reflex actions, as we have seen, may take place without our 
 being aware at all that they are being made. When the nerv- 
 ous impulse passes to the second level, however, we become 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 21 
 
 aware of the stimulus which causes the response. In a good 
 many reflexes this stimulation of the higher arc regularly 
 takes place. When we sneeze or cough, the cause of the 
 reaction produces a sensation, but the reaction would take 
 place whether we had the sensation or not. The action 
 ceases to become a reflex when consciousness not merely ac- 
 companies the act but produces some modification in it. This 
 more advanced type of response, in which the movement is 
 guided or modified by the sensation which is received, is 
 appropriately called a sensori-motor response. The difference 
 between the reflex and the sensori-motor response may be 
 illustrated by comparing the act of withdrawing the foot 
 when it is tickled with the process of learning to skate. With- 
 drawing the foot is a reflex act, which is accompanied by a 
 sensation produced by the stimulus which sets off the re- 
 sponse and by the response itself. But the sensation may be 
 regarded as superfluous since the act would be carried on if 
 the person were unconscious, as in sleep. In learning to 
 skate, on the other hand, the sensations which accompany 
 gaining or losing one's balance are used directly to select 
 the kind of movements which maintain balance and elimi- 
 nate those which destroy it. 
 
 The level of ideation 
 The use of ideas represents a still less direct response. 
 We saw in our catalogue of the different kinds of responses 
 of which the human being is capable that there are many 
 responses which do not consist in immediate, outward 
 actions, but which rather consist in thinking or in reflection. 
 In the nervous system also there is a division which corre- 
 sponds to these remote or indirect types of response. This 
 division we may call, in distinction from the others, the third 
 level. As the second level consisted in arcs which were super- 
 imposed on the reflex arcs of the first level, so the third level 
 
HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 1 Reflex 
 
 consists in still further and much more complicated arcs 
 superimposed on those of the second level. (See Figure 4.) 
 
 }This form of struc- 
 Circuits i •, 
 
 for ideas ture makes it possi- 
 
 1 1 ble for a stimulus to 
 
 set up not merely a 
 direct, outward re- 
 sponse, but also a 
 variety of activities 
 in the nervous sys- 
 tem which do not 
 immediately issue in 
 [circuit impulses to the mus- 
 cles. 
 
 Illustration. The 
 contrast between the 
 responses of the sec- 
 ond and third level 
 may be illustrated 
 by a comparison of 
 the way in which a 
 cat finds its way out of a cage which is fastened by a latch, 
 with the way in which a human being might attack a sim- 
 ilar problem. The method which is pursued by the cat is 
 merely to make a great many movements of clawing, 
 scratching and reaching, until finally one of these move- 
 ments presses the latch and opens the door. The satisfaction 
 that follows the successful movement gradually causes it 
 to be selected out of the mass of useless movements, and 
 in this hit-or-miss fashion a sensori-motor connection is 
 made. The human being when confronted by such a situa- 
 tion may respond in the same way, but he is capable of 
 responding in a different manner. He may sit down and 
 call to mind other experiences which he has had with locks, 
 
 Fig. 4. Diagram of the Connections 
 in the Level for Ideas 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 23 
 
 facts he has heard or read about them, or the reasons which 
 lead one to suppose that one kind of fastening rather than 
 another had been used in this instance. After the lock has 
 been opened he may draw conclusions from his experience 
 to help him in meeting a similar problem another time. 
 
 The higher processes consist in associations of ideas. On 
 the mental side we may call these various responses associa- 
 tions. The stimulus may call to mind a great variety of 
 ideas, and these ideas in turn may call up other ideas or 
 trains of thought. This process of association of ideas with 
 one another may be carried to great length and constitute 
 what we call thought or reflection. The nervous impulses 
 which are set up ultimately issue, it is true, in paths of dis- 
 charge towards the muscles; and the thoughts or reflections 
 which are caused ultimately lead to conduct; but the associ- 
 ations and thoughts themselves are so important that we 
 come to think of them as being only remotely connected 
 with the stimuli which arouse them or the actions by which 
 they are expressed. 
 
 Summary. We see, then, that the nervous system may be 
 thought of as composed of different levels. On the lowest 
 is the simple reflex arc which produces the mechanical reflex 
 or instinctive acts. On the second level we have sensations 
 and perceptions, and these sensations and perceptions serve 
 to govern in an immediate way the kind of response which is 
 made. The actions of this level we call sensori-motor re- 
 sponses. On the third level we have represented all of the 
 higher mental processes, in which we do not respond immedi- 
 ately and directly to the objects of our environment, but 
 through which we associate these objects with other experi- 
 ences which we have had, anticipate future results of our 
 actions, consider their relation to other actions, and in 
 general reflect upon the stimulus or the response to be 
 made. 
 
Fig. 5. Scheme of the Principal Neueons of the Cerebral 
 Cortex 
 
 p' ' p" ax\6.p r " are " pyramidal " cells, the axons of which convey impulses to the mus- 
 cles in various parts of the body, pu and pc are neurons, the axon's of which convey im- 
 pulses to other parts of the brain. C'and C are neurons which connect near-by areas. 
 The axons of neurons, the remainder of which are in other parts of the nervous system, 
 which convey impulses toward the region which is here shown, are indicated by the arrows 
 pointing upward. (From Foster, Textbook of f/iysiotogy.) 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 25 
 
 The neurons and their connections 
 The branching of the neurons connects the different arcs 
 with one another. With this general scheme of the mode of 
 action of the nervous system in mind, we may turn to a 
 description of the detailed structures which compose these 
 general systems of arcs. The nervous system is made up en- 
 tirely of groups of nerve cells, called neurons. The simplest 
 kind of arc always consists of at least two or three of these 
 neurons placed end to end in a series, as shown diagram- 
 matically in Figure 1. We shall see that this fact, that even 
 the simplest reflex arc is composed of more than one neuron, 
 is what makes possible variation in response, and the con- 
 nections between the different arcs and levels of the nervous 
 system. If a single neuron led from a sense organ to a muscle, 
 there would be no means, according to the structure and 
 function of the neuron as it is now conceived, by which the 
 impulses might be diverted to the brain or to some other 
 muscle. The presence of intermediate neurons in the nervous 
 arcs introduces junction points between the successive links 
 of the chain, at which the branches of the neuron are con- 
 nected with other arcs besides the one to which it belongs. 
 Thus one branch of a neuron entering the central system 
 from one sense organ may be connected with a neuron lead- 
 ing to a near-by muscle, while another may lead to a more 
 remote muscle and a third to the brain. As a consequence 
 an object touching the hand may result in withdrawal of 
 the hand or clasping the hand about the object, and also in 
 a movement of the other hand, in the movement of the 
 mouth in speech, or in the movement of the body as a whole, 
 as in walking. 
 
 The structure of the neuron. The way in which this dis- 
 tribution of impulse is possible may be seen more clearly from 
 a description of the detailed structure of the individual 
 
26 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 neuron. A neuron is composed of a cell body and a large 
 number of prolongations extending from it. These prolonga- 
 tions are of two sorts. As shown in Figure 5, one kind of 
 prolongation consists in numerous filaments having many 
 branches which ordinarily do not extend far from the cell 
 body. These branches, because of their tree-like appearance, 
 are called dendrites (from the Greek word dendron, tree). 
 Ordinarily they carry the nervous impulse toward the cell 
 body. The other kind of prolongation is usually long and 
 has fewer side branches. There is but one of these to a cell 
 and its side branches go off more nearly at right angles to the 
 main stem. This prolongation is the axon and usually car- 
 ries the nerve impulse away from the cell body. This whole 
 structure, composed of the cell body, dendrites, and the 
 axon, is called the " neuron." 1 
 
 It will be readily seen how the structure of the neuron 
 makes it possible for an impulse to be gathered from a vari- 
 ety of sources through the dendrites and to issue in a variety 
 of directions through the branches of the axon. 
 
 Resistance at the connections determines the direction 
 of the nerve current. In view of the great number of inter- 
 connections between the neurons and the great variety of 
 directions which the impulse may take, the question immedi- 
 ately arises as to what it is that makes the nervous impulse 
 more likely to go in one direction than in another. We found 
 that there were a great many reflex acts in which a particu- 
 lar stimulus is almost invariably followed by a particular 
 kind of movement. Since each reflex arc has superimposed 
 upon it another arc of the second level, and since the sensory 
 nerve is connected with other muscles as well as with those 
 
 1 The neuron is the structural unit of the nervous system. It consists 
 of a single nerve cell, composed of the cell body which is the nutritive center 
 of the cell, and of two kinds of branches: the dendrites which are usually 
 short and carry impulses toward the cell body, and the axon which is 
 usually long and carries the impulse from the. cell body. 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 27 
 
 of the immediately associated reflex, how does it happen 
 that, in a reflex or a habit, a particular reaction is almost 
 sure to follow a particular kind of stimulus? The answer of 
 this question is to be found in the peculiar character of the 
 connection between the branches of one neuron and those 
 of another. This connection is of such a nature that it may 
 offer a low resistance or a high resistance to the passing of 
 the nerve current. Thus, although a neuron may be con- 
 nected with a great variety of other neurons, the resistance 
 at the points of connection with certain neurons may be so 
 much lower than the resistance at other points that most of 
 the nervous current may pass immediately over to the one 
 rather than to the other set of neurons. 
 
 Resistance at the synapses may be low through inherit- 
 ance or through training. These points of connections be- 
 tween different neurons have been called synapses. The 
 meaning of the word synapse l may be readily grasped from 
 its derivation. It comes from two Greek words meaning 
 " together " and " unite," so that it means the place where 
 branches are joined together. We have found that there are 
 two ways in which a connection between a stimulus and a 
 response may come into being. There are certain of these 
 connections which are inborn, and there are others which 
 are formed through the experience or the activities of the 
 individual during his life-time. We must therefore assume 
 that there are certain synapses at which there is a low 
 resistance through the inborn structure of the nervous sys- 
 tem, and that there are other synapses at which the resist- 
 ance becomes low as the result of some kind of training. The 
 higher up we go in the nervous system, the more numerous 
 the interconnections between neurons become, and the less 
 
 1 A synapse is the surface of contact between the axon of one neuron 
 and the dendrites of another, at which the nerve current passes over from 
 one neuron to another. 
 
28 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 is any particular connection as compared with others deter- 
 mined by inherited structure. 
 
 Summary. A person acquires appropriate responses, then, 
 through the development of preferred paths of discharge by 
 means of a lowering of resistance at certain synapses. We 
 may think of the brain of the child as being made up partly 
 of certain paths of low resistance at the start, and as also 
 including many points of contact at which there is not much 
 greater probability at the beginning that the nervous im- 
 pulse will pass over one path than another. Development 
 consists in the selection of certain paths of discharge and 
 the lowering of resistance so that the nervous energy passes 
 in one direction more easily than in others. 
 
 The location of the nervous arcs in the brain and spinal cord 
 In order to avoid misconceiving the statements which fol- 
 low regarding the location of different level circuits it must 
 be clearly understood that no hard and fast separation of 
 the circuits into the different regions can be made. There are 
 exceptions to any general scheme of division which could be 
 laid down. Probably the most accurate statement regarding 
 the location of the various kinds of circuits is that in certain 
 parts of the nervous system certain kinds of circuits pre- 
 dominate. With this understanding the following para- 
 graphs should be read. For the sake of simplicity the excep- 
 tions will not be mentioned. 
 
 The reflex arcs in the spinal cord. Our chief problem is 
 to understand the relation of the arcs of the three levels to 
 the brain and spinal cord. In order to do this we may begin 
 with the spinal cord, which is simpler and more like the 
 original structure in the lower forms of animals from which 
 man developed. We must think of the body and the spinal 
 cord as divided into sections and of each section of the body 
 as supplied by nerves from the corresponding section of the 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 
 
 29 
 
 spinal cord. The skin of each section is connected through 
 reflex arcs with the muscles of the same section. This is 
 illustrated by the withdrawal of the foot when it is tickled. 
 The different sections are not independent, however, but 
 through the branching of the neurons, the reflex arcs of one 
 section have been connected with those of other sections 
 and with the arcs of higher levels. Thus if one tickles the 
 side of a dog it will respond at first with the reflex act of 
 
 •spinal lemniscus 
 
 correlation neuron 1 
 
 funiculus dorsalis 
 
 C^) sp.g.1 
 correlation neuron 2 
 
 (T) sp.g.2 
 
 n 
 
 sKin 
 
 sp.g.3 
 
 correlation neuron 9 
 
 C ) s P9 4 
 
 Fig. 6. Diagram of the Spinal Cord Reflex Apparatus 
 
 Some of the connections of a single afferent neuron from the skin (d. r. 2) are 
 indicated: d. r. 2, dorsal root from second spinal ganglion; m., muscles; sp. g. 1 
 to sp. g. I t , spinal ganglia; v. r. 1 to v. r. b, ventral roots. (From C. J. Herrick's 
 Introduction to Neurology, by permission of W. B. Saunders Company.) 
 
 scratching with the hind foot, but if this movement does not 
 alleviate the tickling other acts will be resorted to. The 
 arrangement of the reflex arcs in the spinal cord is shown in 
 Figure 6. 
 
30 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The reflex arcs and instinctive centers in the head. Orig- 
 inally the part of the nervous system in the head differed 
 little from the parts in the rest of the body. It contained 
 reflexes from the skin to corresponding muscles. It early ac- 
 quired importance from the fact that the mouth was located 
 here, and that stimuli in this region regularly set up re- 
 sponses in the body as a whole. It acquired still further 
 importance from the development of the organs of distance 
 sense in the head — smell, hearing, and sight. These senses 
 had their own local reflex responses, as they still have, and 
 the centers for these reflexes are located in the head; but 
 they also served to unite the various parts of the body into 
 unified activity, and as a consequence the head centers 
 came to be the centers for instinctive activity. The part 
 of the brain which contains both the reflex centers of the 
 head, and, for the most part, the centers for instinctive 
 activity, is called the brain stem. This is a general term 
 which covers a variety of organs, but it will suffice for our 
 purpose. 
 
 The higher level arcs in the cerebrum. In the higher ani- 
 mals (higher vertebrates) these centers of the brain stem are 
 completely overshadowed — in fact, literally covered over 
 — by the additional development of the higher arcs in the 
 cerebrum. The superimposed neurons which convey incom- 
 ing impulses upward from the reflex and instinctive circuits, 
 and the neurons which convey corresponding outgoing im- 
 pulses to these lower circuits, pass into the cerebrum from 
 the center, and thence outward to the outside, where the cell 
 bodies are located. It is possible also that the cerebrum is 
 the organ for some of the instinctive activities. These con- 
 nections are shown in Figure 7. This outside is gray in color, 
 because of the presence of the cell bodies, and is called the 
 cerebral cortex (literally rind) . The inner part, composed of 
 fibers, is white. The cerebrum is divided into two hemi- 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 
 
 31 
 
 spheres, each hemisphere in general being connected with 
 the opposite side of the body. The two hemispheres are inti- 
 mately connected with each other. 
 
 cerebral 
 
 akin 
 
 muscle 
 
 Fig. 7. Diagram of Certain Connections between the 
 Spinal Cord and the Cerebral Cortex 
 
 (From C. J. Herrick's Introduction to Neurology, by permission of W. B. 
 Saunders Company.) 
 
 An additional coordinating center, the cerebellum, unifies 
 the movements of the body as a whole. It appears to have 
 little direct connection with mental activity. 
 
32 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The. localization of the arcs of the second level in the 
 cerebrum. In the course of the development of the second 
 level arcs they have become grouped into special areas in 
 the cerebral cortex. There are certain areas to which the 
 sensory nerves come, and others from which motor nerves 
 go. They are called sensory and motor areas. There are not 
 only sensory and motor areas in general, but special areas for 
 each of the senses and for each group of muscles. The locali- 
 zation of the chief areas is shown in Figure 8. 
 
 Fig. 8. The Human Cerebral Hemispheres Seen from the Left 
 Side, upon which the Functional Areas of the Cortex are located 
 
 The areas marked "Toes," "Foot," etc., to "Lips," are motor areas. The area back of 
 (to the right of) the motor areas is the area for touch and muscle sense. (From C. J. Her- 
 rick's Introduction to Neurology, by permission of W. B. Saunders Company.) 
 
 The localization of the arcs of the third level. It is evident 
 that the arcs of the third level must be arranged in such a 
 way that they form connections among a great variety of 
 the lower level arcs. We saw that even on the reflex level 
 there were interconnections between different arcs. The 
 action of the third level makes it possible to govern the 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 33 
 
 response to a stimulus by bringing to bear upon it through 
 association a great variety of experiences and ideas. The 
 neurons of this level, in consequence, are connecting, or 
 associating neurons. Even in the highest of the lower ani- 
 mals the brain is almost entirely made up of sensory and 
 motor areas. This corresponds to the fact that the action of 
 these animals, as for example the monkey, is chiefly on the 
 second level. There is little or none of what we call memory, 
 imagination, association of ideas, reasoning, etc. These 
 forms of mental life, which compose what we call the third 
 level, are based upon the action of another sort of brain 
 area. It will be seen from the figure that the definitely lo- 
 cated areas, either sensory or motor, in the human brain, 
 do not by any means exhaust the surface of the brain. There 
 are large areas existing between these. For example, there 
 is a large and unaccounted for space between the auditory 
 and the visual areas, also between the area for vision and 
 the area for movements, and finally the area located in the 
 front part of the brain. These have been called association 
 areas because they do not form the basis for sensations or 
 for movements, but rather for the formations of connections 
 or associations between different sensations, or between 
 combinations of sensation and movement. 
 
 Summary. To sum up this description of the nervous sys- 
 tem, we may say that it consists partly of series of arcs of 
 simpler nature connecting the sense organs and the muscles 
 directly, and that these arcs are located chiefly in the spinal 
 cord and the brain stem. In the second place, there are, in 
 addition to these simple, direct arcs, other arcs which con- 
 nect the lower centers with centers of sensation and move- 
 ment in the brain. These arcs of the second level make pos- 
 sible the formation of complex types of recognition which 
 are called " perception," and the development of new forms 
 of activity which are called " sensori-motor habits." In the 
 
34 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 third place, especially in the human being, there is a third 
 level, comprising the association areas of the brain, which 
 make possible not merely a variability in response but the 
 development of ideas and the association of ideas, in such a 
 way as to bring to bear on our responses trains of thought, 
 memories of past experiences, anticipations of future experi- 
 ences, and the consideration of general principles as govern- 
 ing our actions. 
 
 A knowledge of the nervous system gives a concrete basis 
 for understanding mental facts. We have described the 
 general structure and mode of action of the nervous system 
 in order to make it possible to convey an idea of the physical 
 conditions and limitations of mental action. The laws of 
 mental action are probably fundamentally merely laws of 
 nervous action. It is true that in most cases the observation 
 of mental life throws more light upon the activities in the 
 nervous system, than direct observation of the nervous 
 system throws on the laws of mental activity; but a general 
 notion of the structure of the nervous system, which has 
 been developed both from the study of the physical struc- 
 ture itself and an observation of human conduct, enables 
 us to get a concrete idea of the conditions which underlie 
 the laws of mental activity. In other words, this study 
 enables us to visualize the physical facts corresponding to 
 the mental facts, and this visualization of the physical facts 
 serves to make an explanation of the mental facts more 
 concrete than it would otherwise be. 
 
 The nervous structure emphasizes the motor side of 
 experience. Besides enabling us to understand better the 
 reason for many of the facts of our mental life, and to give 
 them a systematic and concrete foundation, the conception 
 of the nervous system which has been outlined causes us to 
 take certain general points of view in regard to the princi- 
 ples of mental activity and mental development. In the 
 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 35 
 
 first place we are made to see clearly that the nervous sys- 
 tem is arranged not merely in such a way that it may re- 
 ceive impressions or be sensitive to stimuli, but that it is 
 equally adjusted to bring about responses to these stimuli. 
 We have a concrete, material basis for the view that was 
 presented in the introductory chapter, and are prepared to 
 recognize that a person's mental attitude toward the world 
 about him depends on the motor expression through which 
 the nervous impulse finds its outlet, as well as upon the 
 impressions which he receives. A child and an adult see a 
 circus parade. The impression in the two cases is the same. 
 But the child reacts by running, jumping, shouting, and 
 keeping time to the music. The adult reacts by noting the 
 animals which are new to him, or by comparing the elabo- 
 rate circus of the present with the simple affair of his child- 
 hood. The different modes of reaction makes the whole 
 experience different. 
 
 The three levels emphasize the distinction between 
 different kinds of responses. In the second place the dis- 
 tinction between different levels in the nervous system 
 helps us to classify the different kinds of responses. The 
 child is born with a number of reflex and instinctive re- 
 sponses of the first level. He builds up in the course of his 
 experience many sensori-motor responses of the second 
 level. So far we may compare his development with that 
 of the animal. The dog scratches himself, snaps at objects, 
 swallows food which is in his mouth and chases cats, all as 
 matters of reflex response. He can be taught to " speak," 
 to roll over or to " point " through the development of the 
 sensori-motor responses of the second level. The child, in 
 addition to such acts as these, remembers, imagines, thinks, 
 compares and associates his experiences. In this he employs 
 the third level. The mistake is sometimes made of attempt- 
 ing to describe the whole mental development as though it 
 
36 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 were made up of reflexes and sensori-motor responses. We 
 shall see again in the chapter on Transfer of Training how a 
 mistaken idea of the nervous system may lead to this error. 
 The third level is as real a part of the nervous system as are 
 the first levels, and of vastly more importance. It is, how- 
 ever, built on the basis of the lower levels, and it is an 
 equally serious mistake to ignore the importance of reflex 
 and instinctive activity as a basis for the higher mental life. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Find two specific illustrations which show the intimate, connection 
 between the nervous system and mental life. 
 
 2. Name as many kinds of sensation as you can. 
 
 3. Give examples of delayed responses. 
 
 4. Illustrate further learning on the sensori-motor level and on the level 
 of ideas in human beings. 
 
 5. What is the general significance of the neuron in the nervous system? 
 
 6. Through what means do groups of neurons acquire a working relation- 
 ship to each other? 
 
 7. Trace, if you can, the path traversed by the nervous impulse in the 
 reflex turning of the eye to look toward' an object at the margin of the 
 field of vision. 
 
 8. Look up and describe Broca's area. 
 
 9. Locate in a rough drawing of the brain the center in the cerebrum for 
 movements of the right hand. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Herrick, C. J. Introduction to Neurology. (W. B. Saunders & Co., 1915.) 
 Judd, C. II. Introduction to Psychology, chaps, n and III. (Chas. Scribner's 
 
 Sons, 1911.) 
 Ladd, G. T., and Woodworth, R. S. Elements of Physiological Psychology. 
 
 (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1911.) 
 McDougall, Wm. Physiological Psychology. (Dent.) 
 Sherrington, Chas. S. Integrative Action of the Nervous System. (Chas. 
 
 Scribner's Sons, 1906.) 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE RELATION OF NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 
 
 1. The problem 
 It has been believed by some that education is of chief 
 importance in the child's development. Two extreme views 
 have been held concerning the importance of native re- 
 sponses in comparison with acquired responses. On the one 
 hand, it has been thought that the child is born with a nerv- 
 ous system capable of any sort of development, within the 
 range of human possibilities, which the environment may 
 be fitted to produce in it. This view is that the child pos- 
 sesses a great variety of possibilities, any one of which is 
 equally capable of being fulfilled. As the great English phi- 
 losopher, John Locke, expressed it, the mind of the child is 
 a blank tablet or tabula rasa upon which experience traces 
 its forms. In the first section of his Some Thoughts on Edu- 
 cation Locke sums up the relative importance of inborn 
 constitution and education as follows : — 
 
 I confess, there are some Men's Constitutions of Body and Mind 
 so vigorous and well framed by Nature, that they need not much 
 Assistance from others; but by the strength of their natural 
 Genius, they are from their Cradles carried toward what is excel- 
 lent; and by the privilege of their happy Constitutions, are able 
 to do Wonders. But examples of this kind are but few; and I 
 think I may say, that of all the Men we meet with, nine parts of ten 
 are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their Education. 1 
 
 The mind of the mature person, according to such a view, 
 is almost entirely a product of the experiences which he has 
 had during his lifetime. 
 
 1 Locke, John. Some Thought.? on Education, p. 1. Edited by R. H. 
 Quick. (Cambridge University Press.) 
 
38 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Others have held that the inborn nature is the chief factor 
 in development — Rousseau's view. On the other hand, it 
 is sometimes thought that the child's development is chiefly 
 an unfolding of certain instincts which he possesses at birth, 
 or which develop in him apart from any peculiar experiences 
 which he may have. The child's possibilities are thought of 
 as strictly limited by his inborn capacities. He is supposed 
 to possess certain traits which unfold themselves in a man- 
 ner which is very little if any influenced by the surroundings 
 in which he may live. If the general trend of the writings of 
 the philosopher Locke may be taken to represent the first 
 extreme, the French philosopher and political writer, Rous- 
 seau, may be taken to represent the second point of view. 
 
 If children leaped at a single bound from the state of nurslings 
 to the age of reason, the current education might be the best for 
 them; but in accordance with natural progress they require an 
 education of a totally different sort. They must do nothing with 
 their soul until it has all its faculties; for it is impossible for the 
 soul to perceive the torch which you present to it while it is blind, 
 and to follow in the boundless field of ideas a route which the 
 reason traces so faintly even for the sharpest eyes. 
 
 The first education, then, ought to be purely negative. It con- 
 sists not at all in teaching virtue or truth, but in shielding the 
 heart from vice, and the mind from error. If you could do nothing 
 and allow nothing to be done; if you could bring your pupil sound 
 and robust to the age of twelve years without his being able to 
 distinguish his right hand from his left — from your very first 
 lessons the eyes of his understanding would be open to reason. 1 
 
 Karl Pearson's conclusion from his study of inheritance. 
 Many have been led by the modern scientific study of inher- 
 itance to emphasize the importance of inborn capacities. 
 Karl Pearson, who succeeded Sir Francis Galton in this 
 study, states his position emphatically : — 
 
 1 Rousseau, Emile, pp. 58, 59. Translated by Paine. (Appleton, 1905.) 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 39 
 
 We stand, I again feel certain, at the commencement of an 
 epoch which will be marked by a great dearth of ability. The 
 remedy lies beyond the reach of revised educational systems; we 
 have failed to realize that the psychical characters, which are, in 
 the modern struggle of nations, the backbone of a state, are not 
 manufactured by home and school and college; they are bred in 
 the bone. ... I have striven by a study of the inheritance of the 
 mental and moral characters in man to see how it (ability) arises, 
 and to know the real source of an evil is half-way to finding a rem- 
 edy. That remedy lies first in getting the intellectual section of 
 our nation to realize that intelligence can be aided and trained, 
 but no training and education can create it. You must breed 
 it. That is the broad result for statecraft which flows from the 
 equality in inheritance of the physical and psychical characters 
 in man. 1 
 
 Our verdict is of practical importance. The practical 
 bearing of this question is well indicated in another passage 
 from Locke. This passage also indicates that in spite of the 
 general trend of his philosophy and the statement which is 
 quoted above, he modified his theory when it came to its 
 practical application. 
 
 He therefore that is about children should study their Natures 
 and Aptitudes, and see by often Trials what Turn they easily take, 
 and what becomes them; observe what their native Stock is, how 
 it may be improved, and what it is fit for. He should consider 
 what they want, whether they are capable of having it wrought 
 into them by Industry, and incorporated there by Practice, and 
 whether it be worth while to endeavor it. For in many cases all 
 that we can do, or should aim at, is, to make the best of what 
 Nature has given, to prevent the Vices and Faults to which a 
 Constitution is most inclined, and give it all the Advantages it is 
 capable of. 2 
 
 If education is everything and the differences due to 
 inheritance of no account, then we may hope to produce any 
 
 1 Pearson, K. "On the Inheritance of Mental and Moral Characters in 
 Man"; in Biometrika, vol. in, p. 159. 
 
 2 Locke, op. cil., p. 40. 
 
40 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 sort of result, of which human nature is capable, with any 
 child. The school would still have to take account of the 
 kind of training the child received in the home, but this 
 might also be directed. If, on the other hand, children 
 differ in native capacity, then it is necessary to find out 
 what these differences are and suit the training to them. 
 This is the practical problem. 
 
 Neither extreme is correct. Scientific studies of both ani- 
 mal and human development have shown that neither of 
 these extreme views can be justified. The development of 
 the nervous system and of the mind is always due to certain 
 stimuli which produce responses, but the responses which 
 are made depend upon the native capacities or tendencies 
 of the animal or the person as well as upon the stimuli. The 
 way in which experience may serve to direct or modify the 
 development of the instincts we shall discuss particularly 
 in another place. The question which we have before us 
 here is, to determine to what extent the child's development 
 is limited by his native capacities, or to what extent it 
 depends on the sort of training or education he receives. 
 
 2. The evidence for the importance of inborn nature 
 The evidence from a comparison of primitive with civilized 
 man. One kind of evidence which we may use in attacking 
 this question is derived from an observation of the differ- 
 ences in the responses of persons of different grades of civili- 
 zation. It was formerly thought that the difference between 
 the savage or the primitive man, and the civilized human 
 person, is chiefly due to an evolution of the physical organ- 
 ism, — that is, to development of a higher type of nervous 
 system. The civilized person was thought of as standing 
 on a higher plane because he had progressed farther in the 
 course of physical evolution. Students of primitive man, 
 however, have come to think that the greater part of the 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 41 
 
 difference between primitive modes of response and those 
 of civilized communities, can be accounted for by the de- 
 velopment of traditions, of institutions, and of ideas and 
 means of expressing and communicating these ideas, rather 
 than by any such physical evolution. If we examine the 
 mental capacity of the so-called savage, we find that it does 
 not differ as greatly as we have been wont to think from 
 that of the civilized person. The chief difference is in the 
 ideas regarding what conduct is right or appropriate, and in 
 the ideas which comprise our science, art, and letters. This 
 comparison rather emphasizes the importance of education 
 and of training as distinguished from physical capacity. 
 
 The evidence from individual differences within the same 
 community. Besides these differences between people at 
 different levels of civilization, we find many differences 
 between persons of the same social group. The question 
 still remains, then, What is the chief cause of these differ- 
 ences between persons who have had in the main the same 
 kind of education or training? In the primitive community 
 we find certain persons who are leaders and others who seem 
 able or disposed only to follow the leadership of another. 
 We find some who are capable of innovations of an intel- 
 lectual sort, while others merely are capable of understand- 
 ing so much of science as has been developed in the past. 
 We find some who conform to the customs and ideas of 
 morality which are prevalent in the group while others 
 assert their own interests and will in opposition to the group. 
 We might give many other illustrations of differences be- 
 tween persons who are in the same general scale of social 
 development. 
 
 Galton's study of English judges gave evidence of the 
 inheritance of intellectual capacity. Let us consider for a 
 moment the sorts of evidence which have been presented 
 to support the view that inborn capacities or traits are 
 
42 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 important as a factor in the development of the individual. 
 The English scientist, Sir Francis Galton, studied the biog- 
 raphies of English judges who were on the bench from 1660 
 to 1885. He found that of the 286 judges, 109 had eminent 
 relatives — an enormously higher percentage than would 
 have been found in the case of 286 persons picked at random. 
 It appeared, further, that by far the greater number of 
 eminent relatives were near relatives — as father, son, or 
 brother. These Galton named relatives of the first degree. 
 There were about one quarter as many eminent relatives of 
 the second degree — uncles, grandfathers, etc. In a word, 
 near relatives of eminent persons have a much greater chance 
 of being eminent than distant relatives. Finally, it was 
 found that more of the judges of the highest eminence, the 
 chancellors, had eminent relatives than the rest, the per- 
 centage being 80 and 36 respectively. 
 
 Galton's study of twins showed striking similarity due to 
 close relationship. Galton also made a study of persons who 
 are the most closely related of any, namely, twins, in order 
 to see whether their resemblance is due to some capacity or 
 trait which is born in them, or to a similarity of early sur- 
 roundings. His study was not extremely exact, but it indi- 
 cated that if twins were alike, a difference of training or 
 surroundings was not likely to modify that similarity. If, 
 on the other hand, they seemed not to be particularly alike 
 in their original nature, they would not grow alike even 
 though they had very similar training. 
 
 Woods traced the inheritance of mental and moral traits 
 in royal families. Another study of heredity somewhat sim- 
 ilar to Galton's study has been made by F. A. Woods, upon 
 royal families in Europe. Here again a study can readily 
 be made because there are on record biographies of the vari- 
 ous European royal personages and their relatives. Woods 
 found that there are different strains among royal families, 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 43 
 
 and that in some of these strains there is to be found high 
 intellectual ability, and in others a mediocre or low degree 
 of ability. He found also that there are specially pronounced 
 particular traits which may be followed in certain strains. 
 Woods describes a striking case of the transmission of a 
 physical characteristic in the Hapsburg lip. One may ob- 
 serve this feature in photographs of the present King of 
 Spain. It consists of an enlarged lower lip and protruding 
 jaw. This trait can be traced back through eighteen gener- 
 ations to one of the progenitors of the house in the fourteenth 
 century. In a similar manner a strain of insanity was intro- 
 duced into the same line by Joanna the Mad, and appears 
 in her descendants according to a regular law. In any family 
 among her descendants one can predict roughly how many 
 will be affected by the mental trait by calculating the pro- 
 portion of its ancestry who inherit her blood. 
 
 Davenport and Goddard have made similar studies. A 
 similar study of genealogies among American families has 
 been made by C. B. Davenport, who is able to trace the 
 inheritance of certain traits through many generations. 
 Davenport traces the descendants of a remarkable woman 
 of colonial times named Elizabeth Tuttle. This woman 
 combined extraordinary mental ability with immoral ten- 
 dencies. She gave rise to two lines of descendants, both of 
 which were remarkable, but in one the immoral trait was 
 present and in the other it was not. The most eminent repre- 
 sentative of one line was Jonathan Edwards, and of the 
 other Aaron Burr. Some of the students of the feeble- 
 minded, for example, H. H. Goddard, believe that they 
 can demonstrate that feeble-mindedness is passed from 
 generation to generation by heredity. From a study of 327 
 family histories of feeble-minded persons, Goddard assigns 
 heredity as the cause in 54 per cent of the cases, and as the 
 probable cause in 11.3 per cent of additional cases. In 
 
44 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 another 12 per cent the cause assigned is defective nervous 
 organization in the ancestry, which appears as feeble- 
 mindedness in the offspring. In only 19 per cent of the 
 cases are the causes believed to be accidental. 
 
 Eminent families also illustrate inheritance. The way 
 in which eminent mental ability may run in a family is illus- 
 trated in the accompanying chart (Figure 9) which repre- 
 sents several generations of the Darwin family, and the 
 related Wedgwood and Galton families. The extraordinarily 
 large proportion of eminent men, represented by black 
 squares, among the descendants of the three eminent men, 
 Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, and Samuel J. Galton, 
 is evident at a glance. If we examine the relatives of Charles 
 R. Darwin, the great student of evolution, we are struck 
 with the eminence of both his ancestors and his descendants. 
 
 Studies in school grades bring out differences in native 
 capacity. The notion that a person possesses a certain de- 
 gree of intellectual capacity, which can be modified by his 
 education only within certain limits, is supported by studies 
 which have recently been made in school grades. W. F. 
 Dearborn and others have shown that a pupil maintains 
 very much the same general rank in the different schools 
 which he attends. If he is at the top of his class in the ele- 
 mentary school, he is likely to remain near the top in the 
 high school and the college. President Lowell of Harvard 
 has shown that this correspondence exists between the 
 standing of students in the college and in the medical school, 
 even though the work taken in the college may be of a clas- 
 sical rather than of a scientific nature. 
 V Special as well as general ability appears to be inherited. 
 There is evidence which leads us to believe that certain par- 
 ticular kinds of ability are inherited or possessed by the 
 person as inborn capacities. There is evidence, for example, 
 that musical ability is something which a person possesses, 
 
46 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 and which, although it requires training to develop, yet can- 
 not be created by training. Even a difference in ability in 
 addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, indicating 
 a superiority in one, or an inferiority in another of these 
 operations, may perhaps be traced from parent to child. 
 
 Different degrees of capacity are distributed in a regular 
 manner. If these marked differences exist between persons, 
 
 c d 
 
 Fig. 10. Actual Distributions found in Mental 
 Measurements 
 
 A. Reaction time of college freshmen. 
 
 B. Efficiency in marking A's on a sheet of printed capitals; twelve-year- 
 old boys. 
 
 C. Memory of digits of women students. 
 
 D. Efficiency in writing the opposites of words; twelve-year-old boys. 
 
 due to their native capacities, the question arises as to how 
 are they distributed among the individuals of the whole 
 population. These differences are sometimes thought of as 
 separating people into several groups, according as they 
 possess a high degree, a medium degree or a low degree of 
 ability. Considerable study has been made, on the basis of 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 47 
 
 mental tests and of school grades, of the form of this dis- 
 tribution. The general result of the study has been that all 
 of the different degrees of ability between both extremes are 
 represented. It is further found that more individuals ap- 
 pear at the middle point between the extremes than at any 
 other point, and that fewer and fewer persons are found as 
 we progress from the middle point toward either extreme. 
 This means that there are very few persons of either excep- 
 tionally good or exceptionally poor ability, but that there 
 are a great many of average or about average ability. An 
 illustration of the way in which different degrees of a trait 
 may be distributed is given in Figure 10, which is taken 
 from Thorndike's Individuality. The manner of construc- 
 tion of the charts is described in their titles. 
 
 The distribution of capacities should be recognized in 
 school organization and in teaching. This form of distribu- 
 tion of abilities corresponds to the distribution of different 
 degrees of physical traits as, for example, height and weight. 
 It may be used in a practical way in assigning school grades, 
 provided we use a system of relative marks; or in calculating 
 the extent to which any uniform mode of treatment will 
 be likely to suit the different persons of a group. If school 
 grades are so given that half the class receive the highest 
 grade, or a third fail to pass, it is clear that the marks are 
 not so distributed as to correspond with the differences in 
 ability of the pupils. Yet such extremes of these may be 
 found in the marks given by teachers in the same school. 
 If, again, a school system is so arranged that one half the 
 children cannot do the work which is planned and keep up 
 with their grade, while only two or three per cent can do 
 work which is superior to that which is supposed to be suited 
 to the majority of the children, it is evident that the work is 
 not adjusted to suit the ability of the children. 
 
 Degrees of ability in different subjects are related. An- 
 
48 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 other question which arises, is whether a person is likely to 
 take the same rank in tasks involving the different sorts of 
 mental ability, or whether he is likely to be highly special- 
 ized and to stand near the top of the group in some kinds of 
 ability and toward the bottom in others. When we find 
 persons standing in about the same rank in different kinds 
 of ability, we say that there is correlation between these 
 abilities, and when there is no apparent relation in the 
 standings in two kinds of ability, we say there is no correla- 
 tion. When there is apparent opposition between two sorts 
 of ability, we say there is negative correlation. 
 
 There is a higher degree of correlation among some 
 traits than among others. In general, the results of tests 
 have indicated that there is a fairly high degree of correla- 
 tion between what we call the higher mental traits, such 
 as memory, the ability to make judgments, the ability to 
 reason, and to discriminate between shades of meaning. 
 There does not appear, however, to be a close correlation 
 between these higher mental traits and the simple elemen- 
 tary capacities, such as rapidity of movement, or sensitive- 
 ness to differences in sensation. There is low correlation 
 between the standing of pupils in manual training on the 
 one hand, and in English, mathematics, and science on the 
 other, but there is rather a high correlation between the 
 academic subjects themselves. Within certain limits we 
 can predict that if a pupil does well in one subject he will 
 also do well in another, and we know something about what 
 those limits are. We know, for example, that the prediction 
 is a little more certain in the case of very good or very poor 
 pupils than in the case of mediocre ones. This ability to 
 predict the degree of ability a person will be able to attain 
 in a particular kind of work on the basis of his previous 
 achievements may possibly ultimately be developed so as 
 to be useful in guiding a youth to the vocation for which he 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 49 
 
 is best suited. This will depend on a fuller knowledge of the 
 kind of ability which will be required in the various voca- 
 tions than we at present possess. 
 
 Zeal must be taken into account as well as ability. Al- 
 though this correlation exists, caution is necessary in inter- 
 preting the results of any single test of ability. As James 
 points out, 1 a person's total performance may not be deter- 
 mined merely by his capacity in this or that single mental 
 trait, or even in a combination of intellectual capacities, 
 but also by the enthusiasm and the persistence with which 
 he applies the capacities which he possesses in the pursuit 
 of his desires. We must avoid assuming, because there are 
 fairly definite limits set to individual capacities, that we 
 have discovered what those limits are with reference to any 
 particular person. The result of training a person in any 
 direction will depend in large measure, it is true, upon the 
 ease with which he is able to profit by that training. For 
 example, it is not worth while to give a person who is defi- 
 cient in musical ability a high degree of musical training. On 
 the other hand, if a person desires very intensely to possess 
 a certain kind of ability, or if this ability is very essential 
 from the point of view of his social usefulness, then a great 
 amount of effort may rightly be expended in giving him the 
 necessary training. 
 
 There are native differences in all mental traits. Native 
 differences between persons exist not merely in intellectual 
 capacities, but also in their temperament, their social atti- 
 tudes, and the character of their reaction on moral questions. 
 We shall see what these differences are when we come to dis- 
 cuss social types, and we shall attempt to determine how far 
 native tendencies in these directions may be modified by 
 education. These temperamental differences and differences 
 in a child's social attitudes have to be taken into account, 
 1 James, W. Talks to Teachers, p. 113. 
 
50 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 as well as his intellectual traits, in determining the voca- 
 tion for which he is fitted, and his probable success. 
 
 3. The importance of education or training 
 In spite of these forms of evidence that the individual's 
 development is governed largely by the nature which he 
 inherits, we must not conclude that education is of little 
 importance. There is perhaps not so much evidence which 
 has been collected in a rigid and scientific manner on this 
 side of the question. The reason for this probably is that 
 the common belief has been that education is all-powerful. 
 The need was not felt, therefore, for supporting this belief 
 by gathering scientific evidence. Now that the issue has 
 been definitely raised, however, some of the evidence which 
 exists is being carefully weighed and some scientific work is 
 being done in gathering additional evidence. 
 
 Many delinquent children are not defective. In recent 
 years, mental and physical tests have been made of many 
 children who have committed offenses against the law and 
 have been brought into the juvenile court. In very many of 
 these cases no inherent defect of either a physical or a men- 
 tal nature has been discovered. Many of the children are 
 as bright or brighter than the average child. There is some 
 difference of opinion as to the proportion of delinquent chil- 
 dren who are defective. Different investigators have arrived 
 at widely divergent conclusions, but it seems clear, as 
 pointed out by Dr. William Healy, of the Chicago Juvenile 
 Court, that the children who are brought into the court are 
 among the duller of those who have committed offenses; 
 and that therefore when we find that a considerable number 
 of them are perfectly normal, we must conclude that a still 
 larger number of all of the children who are delinquent are 
 normal. We must therefore conclude that the offense of 
 many of these children is not due to anything peculiar in 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 51 
 
 their nature, but to the fact that their ideas or attitudes 
 have been warped by the surroundings in which they have 
 been brought up. 
 
 A change of environment regenerates many children of 
 the slums. This evidence, which has been produced by the 
 examination of delinquent children, is backed up by the 
 experience with children who are rescued from their evil 
 surroundings by philanthropic agencies, and placed in insti- 
 tutions or in private homes. Miss Thompson has made a 
 study of the records of several hundred such cases in which 
 the life of each child was followed for five years after having 
 been placed out; and she finds that in the large majority 
 of the cases, when the children have been rescued before 
 twelve years of age, they lived law-abiding, self-supporting 
 lives. 
 
 Individual experience gives evidence of the importance of 
 environment. If we examine our own experience, we find 
 evidence that the course of the development of our ideas 
 and sentiments has been influenced very largely by the 
 persons we have met, by the books we have read, and by 
 the beliefs or opinions which are current in the social group 
 in which we move. It is possible in some cases to point to 
 particular sources of influence which have governed much 
 of the course of our thinking or action. The demands which 
 are made upon us by our vocation have a large influence on 
 the course of our development. It is a commonly observed 
 fact that one can often detect in the manner and mode of 
 thought of a person what vocation he pursues. Even one's 
 emotional attitudes depend to some extent upon the char- 
 acter of the persons with whom one is in daily contact. 
 
 The child responds differently to different persons. It is 
 a matter of common observation that children differ largely 
 in their mode of response when they are in the presence of 
 different persons. A child is so responsive to his surround- 
 
m HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 ings that he may seem to be a different creature when under 
 the control of different persons. We shall see in the chap- 
 ter on Mental Control that in order to enable children, 
 especially those who are inclined to nervousness, to gain 
 self-command, it is necessary that the persons who surround 
 them be calm and self-controlled. Some children are more 
 seriously affected by unfavorable surroundings than are 
 others. This proves that inborn nature is important. But 
 the same children react differently to persons of different 
 temperament. This proves the importance of surroundings. 
 
 The influences of early childhood are the most important. 
 In general, the early period of childhood is the time in which 
 the influences of education and environment are the most 
 important. The accounts which we have of the special 
 training received by a number of men in their early child- 
 hood, which produced in them a very unusual degree of 
 early intellectual development, indicate that much more 
 can be done to train the child in the ability to think in the 
 early years than has been commonly supposed. The auto- 
 biography of John Stuart Mill illustrates the possibilities 
 of this early training. 
 
 Education gives the tools of thinking. It is clear that one's 
 mental development depends on the material and the tools 
 of thought which one gets through education. We know 
 that language is one of the most important of the conditions 
 for thinking. Therefore the type of language which the 
 child learns will be of importance in his development. The 
 knowledge of certain words makes it possible to think the 
 ideas which these words express. The ability to read is a 
 necessary condition of obtaining information and intellec- 
 tual stimulus from books. Furthermore, the influence of this 
 sort of training upon one's mental development is cumula- 
 tive. Learning to read does not only give the child a certain 
 amount of intellectual training or information, but it opens 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 53 
 
 up to him exhaustless fields of information and sources of 
 stimulus to thought and reflection. Every new book which 
 is mastered opens up avenues of thought and makes possible 
 the appreciation of many other books and new systems of 
 thought. 
 
 Education affects accomplishment more than capacity. 
 In considering the significance of heredity and environment, 
 we must recognize that the value and significance of a person 
 depends not so much on his ability or his innate capacity as 
 it does upon what he is able to accomplish; and what one 
 can accomplish or achieve, depends not merely on his capac- 
 ity, but also on the sort of training he receives, which 
 enables him to use his capacity and develop it into useful 
 forms of ability. From the point of view of achievement, as 
 distinguished merely from capacity, the mastery of tools of 
 intellectual activity, and of the use or application of the prin- 
 ciples of mental work, is very important. We shall see in 
 the last chapter that there are efficient and inefficient ways 
 of working. One can be taught in a large measure the 
 efficient as distinguished from the inefficient methods. 
 Training, then, may determine to a very great extent 
 whether a person shall accomplish much or little. 
 
 Erratic children especially need proper guidance. Train- 
 ing is of especial importance in the case of children of a 
 particular type. Some children have an especial bent or 
 a particular form of capacity in which they are superior. 
 They are of a somewhat nervous or unstable temperament, 
 however, and if they are not properly treated they will 
 develop into one-sided persons who are not able to make 
 practical use of their talent. With a proper education so 
 as to develop somewhat the weak side of their mind and to 
 give proper balance and direction to their efforts, such chil- 
 dren may develop into very well-balanced and efficient 
 persons. 
 
54 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Inheritance gives capacity, education develops it. In 
 addition to saying in a general way that a person's develop- 
 ment is partly due to his inborn traits and partly to his 
 education or training, it is possible to distinguish the kind 
 of influence which the one or the other factor exerts. We 
 have seen that one's capacity is largely due to his inborn 
 nature. On the other hand, the ideas which the individual 
 has, and which govern the direction in which his capacities 
 will find their development, are largely due to his environ- 
 ment and training. For example, the sensations and images 
 which are parts of the material of thinking come from ex- 
 perience; and the moral standards which a person possesses 
 — the estimate of things as being worth while or trivial — 
 will be largely adopted from the beliefs and attitudes of his 
 associates. The direction in which a person's capacities will 
 be applied is fully as important as the degree of those capaci- 
 ties themselves. It is a trite saying that the development 
 of extraordinary mental abilities is of no value if a person 
 exercises them in a baneful direction. Therefore we must 
 conclude that education, in determining the kind of training 
 which the child should receive, must take account of his 
 inborn capacities and traits; but in calculating what the 
 final result of his development is to be, it must take account 
 also of the influence both of his formal education and of the 
 experience which he gains in his life outside of the school. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Give some definite, practical illustration of a case in which one's view 
 regarding the issue of the chapter would be important. 
 
 2. Mention some differences among people whom you have met, which 
 are like the differences between primitive and civilized persons, though 
 less in degree, and which are due to differences in education. 
 
 3. Describe any striking instances of family resemblances which you may 
 have observed. 
 
 4. Why does the likeness between twins have a bearing on the chapter? 
 
 5. Mention several capacities which are necessary to musical talent. 
 
NATIVE AND ACQUIRED RESPONSES 55 
 
 6. Make a distribution chart to represent the following grades, given 
 to a class of students. C, B, E, A, C, D, C. B, C, D, B, B, D, C, C, C, B, 
 C, E, C, D, D, C, B, B, B, C, D, C, C, D, B, C, D, C, B, C, A, D, C, 
 C, D, C, C. 
 
 7. Give instances you have met of a change in a person produced by a 
 change of environment. 
 
 8. Give further specific illustrations of the office of education in giving the 
 tools of thinking. 
 
 9. Illustrate further the effect of education on accomplishment as com- 
 pared with capacity. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Conn, H. W. Social Heredity and Social Evolution, The Other Side of 
 Eugenics. (Abingdon Press, 1914.) 
 
 Davenport, C. B. Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, chap. vi. (Holt, 1911.) 
 
 Dearborn, W. F. The Relative Standing of Pupils in the High School and the 
 University. (University of Wisconsin Bulletin, no. 312, 1909.) 
 
 Galton, Francis. Hereditary Genius ; an Inquiry into its Laws and Conse- 
 quences. (Macmillan, 1892.) 
 
 Galton, Francis. Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development. 
 (Macmillan, 1883.) 
 
 Goddard, H. H. Feeble-Mindedness ; its Causes and Consequences. (Mac- 
 millan, 1914.) 
 
 Locke, John. Thoughts on Education. (Cambridge University Press, 1902.) 
 
 Lowell, A. Lawrence. "College Studies and Professional Training"; in 
 Educational Review, vol. xlii, pp. 217-33. (October, 1911.) 
 
 Simpson, B. R. Correlations of Mental Abilities. (Teachers College Con- 
 tributions to Education, no. 53, 1912.) 
 
 Thompson, Mary H. Environment and Efficiency. (Longmans, 1912.) 
 
 Thorndike, E. L. Measurement of Twins. (Archives of Philosophy, Psy- 
 chology, and Scientific Methods, no. 1, Columbia University, 1905.) 
 
 Woods, F. A. Mental and Moral Heredity in Royalty. (Holt, 1906.) 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE CHILD'S NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 
 
 In order that the education of the child may be effective 
 it must suit his capacities as determined by the traits com- 
 mon to humanity, by his own peculiar traits, and by the 
 stage of development which he has reached. A full discus- 
 sion of these matters would form the subject of a book on 
 child-study. We can only summarize the most important 
 facts in the next four chapters, and refer the reader for a 
 fuller account to a book on that special subject. In these 
 chapters we shall describe some of the more important native 
 responses of the child. We shall not attempt to make a full 
 catalogue of his native responses, but only to select such for 
 brief treatment as seem to be of greatest practical signifi- 
 cance. In a following chapter we shall treat some of the 
 more general problems of the child's development. 
 
 1. The instincts and their importance 
 The use of the term " instinct." Native or instinctive 
 responses are sometimes interpreted in a narrow sense to 
 mean only very definite kinds of movements, which the 
 person is capable of making without learning, and which he 
 makes more or less invariably in response to certain kinds 
 of stimuli. The term " instinct," however, may also be 
 applied to those more general impulses or interests which 
 are embodied now in one and now in another specific form 
 of movement. Thus we may catalogue curiosity among the 
 instincts, although it is expressed in a great variety of forms 
 of response. It may cause the child to handle an object, or 
 to attempt to take it to pieces in order to see how it is con- 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 57 
 
 structed. It may be expressed in walking to some object 
 which has excited interest; or, in an older person, it may be 
 satisfied by reading or gaining information from a book. 
 It is in this sense that we here employ the expression 
 " native or instinctive response." In many cases these na- 
 tive responses are expressed in certain definite forms, but in 
 others the form of expression varies widely. The more 
 definite and fixed forms of response are to be thought of as 
 based on the activity of the lower level in the nervous sys- 
 tem. The development out of these simple activities of the 
 broader interests, purposes, and aims, which demand new 
 and varied activities for their satisfaction, is due to the 
 higher level activities. 
 
 The human being has the instincts necessary to preserve 
 life. The human being, in common with animals, possesses 
 certain fundamental and simple forms of instinctive ac- 
 tivity, which serve to maintain the individual's physical 
 existence or the existence of the race. The important 
 fundamental instincts are connected with food-getting, the 
 avoidance of enemies, the relation between the sexes, and 
 the home-building and parental activities. Objection is some- 
 times made to classifying the instincts in this way according 
 to the results which are obtained by their operation, and the 
 attempt is made to observe and catalogue all the detailed 
 responses which are made to particular objects. The pro- 
 priety of classifying together all the varieties of activities 
 which attain a common end rests partly upon the fact that 
 it is convenient to regard an individual from the point of 
 view of the means by which he maintains his existence, and 
 partly upon the fact that the various responses which attain 
 a certain end come to be classed together more or less closely 
 in the mind of the person who acts, when he becomes con- 
 scious of the goal which is unconsciously aimed at in the 
 simple, mechanical, instinctive responses, and more or less 
 
58 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 clearly adopts aims about which are grouped a great variety 
 of activities which are not in themselves instinctive. 
 
 The satisfaction of these instincts is attained through 
 activities which demand higher mental development. The 
 fact that the human being has these instincts in common 
 with the lower animals does not mean that they serve merely 
 the purpose which is their primary reason for existence. 
 The food-getting activity is not merely, as in the case of 
 animals, represented by a few definite acts. In the human 
 being the acts by which the infant gets its food are simply 
 the starting point of his food-getting activities. These are 
 simple lower-level activities. The animal in large measure 
 continues to get his food in such definite instinctive ways, as 
 in stalking, seizing, and devouring his victim. But in the 
 child food-getting ultimately develops into a host of new 
 and varied kinds of activity. These activities make up our 
 agriculture, and much of our commerce, trade, and pro- 
 fessional life. They are higher level responses. Thus the 
 fundamental instincts, originally represented by a few 
 definite, instinctive activities, taking place largely through 
 the action of the lower level of the nervous system, develop 
 into recognized needs which are satisfied through complex 
 and varied occupations, the learning of which employs the 
 higher levels. 
 
 The higher development is stimulated by certain less 
 definite instinctive impulses. Childhood is the period dur- 
 ing which the development of these higher activities that 
 serve the fundamental needs takes place. This development 
 is brought about by the instrumentality of other activities, 
 or impulses to activity, which are native to the child, and 
 yet which for the most part are less definite and fixed than 
 the primary instincts. These activities are play, including 
 manipulation, curiosity, and the social responses. It is 
 largely through the play activities, through imitation and 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 59 
 
 through competition, social cooperation, etc., that the child 
 gets the experience and the training which enable him to get 
 his living through the less direct methods than those which 
 are represented in his fundamental instincts. Just how we 
 should place these secondary instinctive activities in the 
 nervous system is not certain. They are represented by 
 much less definite activities than the more fundamental 
 instincts, and probably take place partly on the level of the 
 cerebrum. 
 
 These indefinite impulses also satisfy other than life needs. 
 These less definite responses not only serve to develop in the 
 child those habits by which he will be enabled to satisfy his 
 fundamental instincts in human ways, but they also lead 
 to the development of aims and interests which do not serve 
 these fundamental instincts directly, but which are valued 
 for their own sake. In this way are produced our literature, 
 science, and art. These more distinctly human activities 
 were not developed primarily from the impulse to gain a 
 living or to avoid destruction. They grew up along with 
 play, when the pressure of physical needs was lessened by 
 the development of more efficient ways of meeting them. 
 
 The less definite instincts are largely social. Two types 
 of native and instinctive activities or impulses have been 
 distinguished. First, there are the very definite sets of 
 activities, which are primarily chains of reflexes, and which 
 serve the more immediate physical needs. Second, there are 
 the less definite types of activity or attitude which serve 
 as the motive power for the development in the child of 
 new ways, not provided by instincts, for meeting his life 
 needs, and which stimulate the development of other human 
 activities that satisfy the intellectual and aesthetic inter- 
 ests. We may further describe this less definite type of 
 native responses by saying that they are in the main social 
 in character. It is through imitation, the stimulus and means 
 
60 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 to communication which is furnished by language, the desire 
 for the approval of others and the impetus which comes 
 from competition with them, and the like, that these higher 
 activities are fostered. Manipulation and curiosity are 
 more individual than the rest, but even these are greatly 
 influenced by the social group. The family is the first great 
 social group in which the child gains the human activities. 
 The school comes next in order; and finally he finds himself 
 in the larger community and comes under its influences. 
 
 Both sets of activities must be recognized in the school 
 and college. In directing the child's education we must 
 recognize both these sets of responses. After the child has 
 emerged from babyhood, the secondary impulses, such as 
 play, imitation, and curiosity, form his chief motive to 
 action. His immediate life needs are provided by his par- 
 ents, and with these he is not concerned. These secondary 
 impulses can be utilized to develop in him certain forms of 
 knowledge and skill which will enable him to gain his liveli- 
 hood when he is thrown on his own resources. But it is a 
 mistake to think that the child must see the purpose and 
 value of the things he learns. The social impulse, the artistic 
 and intellectual impulses, and the pleasure in successful 
 achievement — particularly if it has the approval of his 
 associates — these furnish the chief driving power. But 
 with the dawn of youth he begins to feel the desire to make 
 his own way in the world, — to support himself and to cre- 
 ate a home. Now he begins to look forward, and wishes to 
 see some connection between his schooling and a future 
 vocation. Play and the other secondary activities have 
 their place, intensified by the group spirit, but not the 
 whole place. At this stage it is a mistake to ignore this strong 
 vocational impulse and to attempt to carry on high-school 
 and college work simply from motives of culture. The 
 student should now begin to lay his plans for preparation 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY r 61 
 
 for his life work, and to arrange his school activities with a 
 purpose in mind. The fulfillment of the purpose may be 
 remote, and the purpose may change, but it will give a 
 stability and earnestness to the work of these years that is 
 very likely otherwise to be lacking. 
 
 2. Meaning and value of play 
 The child's play is less fixed than the animal's. A funda- 
 mental impulse which the child has in common with the 
 lower animals is play. 1 Much study has been made of the 
 play of animals and of children, in order to find out what 
 they have in common. These studies have shown that the 
 play of children is very much more varied in its form of 
 expression and very much broader in its meaning and 
 results than is the play of animals. The play of animals is 
 chiefly practice in the development of the instincts which 
 will be useful to the animal in its adult life. In the case of the 
 child, play is to a much greater extent the development of 
 general capacities and powers, which give the child a prepa- 
 ration for a great variety of activities. Thus the special 
 kinds of play which the child carries on are due more to the 
 tradition which is passed down from one generation to 
 another than to any definite instincts. 
 
 Play is not of immediate practical use. If we look on 
 play from the point of view of its usefulness in maintaining 
 the life of the animal, that is, from the biological point of 
 view, we find that its aim is not the satisfaction ' of an im- 
 mediate need, but rather the development of the animal in 
 anticipation of its future needs. In this it is distinguished 
 from those instincts which lead to the getting of food, or the 
 
 1 Play is an activity which, from the point of view of the observer, meets 
 no need except that of development; and from the point of view of the one 
 who plays, is carried on entirely for its own sake and not for the sake of 
 the results. 
 
62 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 avoidance of enemies, or the other more fundamental in- 
 stincts. In accordance with this biological nature of play, 
 the aim which the animal or the human individual has in 
 carrying it on is different from that which is present with 
 the more immediately useful kinds of conduct. Play is car- 
 ried on for its own sake rather than to serve as a means for 
 gaining something else. In this, play differs from work, 
 which is carried on for the sake of gaining a reward aside 
 from the pleasure in the activity itself. 
 
 The play attitude gradually merges into the work attitude. 
 This play attitude, in which the person is absorbed in the 
 thing which he is doing instead of in its results, is the domi- 
 nant attitude of the young child. It is difficult to get the 
 child to do anything unless it is interesting in itself. He 
 cannot keep his mind for a considerable length of time upon 
 an activity which is uninteresting in itself, because it will 
 bring him a pleasant experience later on. This play attitude 
 does not break off sharply and give way to the work atti- 
 tude. On the contrary, it passes gradually over into the 
 other attitude of mind. The child in his play has occasion 
 to do things which have their place in the game as a whole, 
 but which would not be done merely for their own sake. 
 He thus learns gradually to see that the doing of certain 
 things, while not in themselves of interest, is necessary to 
 accomplish his whole purpose. This adoption of the view 
 that certain kinds of activity are related to our wider aims, 
 and the acquirement of a readiness to perform them because 
 they are a part of a broader purpose, is the means by which 
 the child learns to merge the play attitude into the work 1 
 attitude. 
 
 Drudgery, as distinguished from work, is without an aim 
 
 1 Work is activity, whether pleasurable or not, which is carried on pri- 
 marily to attain some desired end. Drudgery is work without a clear idea 
 of a result to be reached or an interest in it. 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 63 
 
 which gives the activity meaning. We must distinguish 
 between an act which is work and one which is regarded as 
 drudgery. In both cases the chief stimulus to the activity is 
 some end or motive outside itself; but in the case of work 
 the activity is recognized to be a means to some result 
 which we desire to accomplish, while in the case of drudgery, 
 it is something which merely has to be got through with. 
 Drudgery, then, is work done in an attitude of mind which 
 is produced when one is forced to perform something of 
 which he cannot see the purpose or the aim. When work is 
 done to attain a result in which the worker is interested, the 
 work itself acquires a meaning and interest. When work is 
 performed simply from compulsion it is liable to become 
 increasingly distasteful. The development of the work atti- 
 tude instead of the attitude of drudgery is accomplished by 
 accustoming the child to hold in mind gradually more re- 
 mote objects or aims, while still retaining his interest in 
 the immediate activity because it is a means to the accom- 
 plishment of his purpose. 
 
 The doctrine of play, or of interest, has been adversely 
 criticized. This account of the meaning of play suggests the 
 doctrine that the work of the school should be so conducted 
 that the child will be interested in it; because it is clear that 
 being interested is very much the same as having the play 
 attitude. There is no doubt that there was much room for 
 criticism in the older school because it made no appeal to 
 the interests of the child. On the contrary, the teacher de- 
 manded that he perform his tasks regardless of whether he 
 cared anything about them or not; and it was supposed 
 that he was gaining the most important kind of mental 
 discipline from the effort which he expended in doing that 
 in which he was not interested. To conduct the work of the 
 school so that it should appeal to the child was branded 
 " soft pedagogy," which, it was argued, would develop 
 
64 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 moral and intellectual weaklings. On the other hand, the 
 opponents of this doctrine of effort pointed out that neither 
 the child nor the adult really puts forth his full effort when 
 he is acting from compulsion, but only when he is interested 
 in- his task. Under such circumstances one only gives so 
 much of his attention as is absolutely necessary, and there- 
 fore gains neither intellectual nor moral discipline. 
 
 The solution of the conflict between the doctrines of 
 interest and of effort. We see from the above account of the 
 matter that the conflict between the doctrine of interest * 
 and the doctrine of effort may be solved. The child should 
 not be encouraged, on the one hand, to act merely when the 
 thing of the moment appeals to him. This is the extreme 
 form of the application of the doctrine of interest in which 
 the child adopts wholly the play attitude. Yet a person does 
 not naturally expend effort unless he sees the purpose of 
 what he is doing or sees how it is related to something which 
 he desires. When we attempt to arouse in the child effort 
 without any purpose, we are in reality using as a motive the 
 fear of punishment or of disapprobation, or of other un- 
 pleasant consequences, which is entirely extraneous to the 
 thing which he is doing. The only proper solution of the 
 problem is one in which interest and effort are both included, 
 and in which their proper relation is kept. Interest should 
 be of such a nature that the child's effort is called out in 
 prosecuting it to its conclusion. Effort should be expended, 
 in the main, in carrying on an activity which possesses a 
 positive interest for the child instead of merely for the sake 
 of avoiding something which is unpleasant. 
 
 Play is not the chief guide in determining what the child's 
 
 1 Interest is an attitude of mind toward a course of action or an object 
 in which one is impelled from within to carry on the action, or to give 
 attention to, examine, handle, approach or in other ways act toward the 
 object; and in which the satisfaction of this impulse gives pleasure. 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 65 
 
 education should be. Play should not be the only form of 
 activity or the chief form of activity in the child's educa- 
 tion, but should rather be employed as one among several 
 forms, all of which are necessary for complete education. 
 To a limited extent the play impulses of the child may 
 serve as a guide in determining what kind of activities are 
 good for his general development. To a large extent the 
 play impulse may be employed for the purpose of awaken- 
 ing in the child a motive to an activity which the school and 
 society have determined to be for his best present or future 
 interests to perform. There are many things which the child 
 must learn in order to prepare him for the life which he shall 
 live when he has grown up. Play may be used in teaching 
 him these things, but the play impulse does not furnish a 
 guide as to what they are. In brief, play is a valuable instru- 
 ment in education but does not give the means of deter- 
 mining what the content or aim of education should be. 
 
 Play as a means of drill, and spontaneous plays and 
 games, should both be employed. Play may be used in the 
 school in two ways. As has been suggested, the child's play 
 interests may be used to lead him to a repetition of the 
 acts which will fix them either as habits of movement or 
 of thought, — that is, play is useful as a means of making 
 drill interesting. 1 On the other hand, the spontaneous play 
 of the child or the organized form of play which is a later 
 outgrowth of his simple, spontaneous play, should be fos- 
 tered as an important means of general development. The 
 games which the child carries on in the playground, or the 
 social forms of amusement, are not to be regarded only as 
 concessions to his desire for relaxation. They should be 
 consciously adopted by the school as an important means to 
 
 1 Drill consists in repeating an activity, not for the sake of understand- 
 ing, but to increase one's facility or skill, or to 6x associations in the 
 memory. 
 
66 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 his social and physical development. Association in games 
 is one of the best means of educating the child in dealing 
 harmoniously with other people; and it has come to be re- 
 cognized that the vigorous and pleasurable movements of 
 the body in play are the best means of physical development. 
 In directing the child's spontaneous plays or games it is 
 necessary to know how his play interests or his capacity 
 for different kinds of play change with age. We shall, there- 
 fore, describe the kinds of play which are suited to the child 
 in the different periods of his life. 
 
 3. Changes with age in play 
 
 Play in infancy. In the period of infancy, during the first 
 two years of life, the child's play is chiefly of three sorts: 
 making movements for the pleasure of making the move- 
 ment itself, seeking stimulation through sensations, and 
 producing effects through handling objects. 
 
 Movement play in infancy. Making movements is one of 
 the most pleasurable forms of experience for the infant. He 
 makes a great variety of spontaneous movements, such as 
 waving his arms and legs, swaying his body, and rolling 
 about; and he also greatly enjoys making the more organized 
 movements by which he gains control over his body. He 
 learns in this way to balance his body in sitting, in standing, 
 and finally in walking, running, and climbing. Gaining a 
 mastery over these forms of movement is rightly to be 
 regarded as play because the child's aim is the movement 
 itself, and his satisfaction is the pleasure he gains from mak- 
 ing it. As soon as the child has gained sufficient control 
 to enable him to use these movements to gain other ends, 
 such as walking to get some object, the activity ceases to be 
 play. 
 
 The infant takes great pleasure in sensations. The infant 
 is also tremendously interested in all sorts of intense sensa- 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 67 
 
 tions. He enjoys bright colors, loud sounds, sensations which 
 he gets through handling objects, etc. The propensity of 
 the child to carry objects to his mouth is probably due to 
 this pleasure in touching objects. The lips are the most 
 sensitive to touch of any part of the body, and the child, 
 by carrying objects to his lips, gets a fuller experience of 
 them than when he merely touches them with his hands. 
 The great and universal attraction which the rattle has for 
 infants is explained by the fact that it involves both these 
 forms of play. The child, in shaking the rattle, makes 
 vigorous movements, and at the same time gets sensations 
 of sight, of sound, and of touch. 
 
 The infant's play with objects consists in " hustling 
 things about." In addition to making movements and gain- 
 ing sensations the child also greatly enjoys producing such 
 effects with objects as shall give him a sense of power or of 
 accomplishment. This is undoubtedly a fundamental source 
 of satisfaction, which serves to explain and to bring together 
 into the same class a great variety of actions. It explains 
 the interest which we have in all those kinds of constructive 
 activity in which we are reasonably successful, because by 
 them we produce effects which are evident to us, and which 
 display in some concrete form the results of our effort. The 
 earliest form of this general kind of activity has usually not 
 been classed with construction, but it is evidently based on 
 the same kind of satisfaction. This very simple form of deal- 
 ing with objects is called by Groos " hustling things about," 
 because it consists merely in moving things from one place 
 to another. The child runs through the house and tears up 
 rugs, or pulls the books off the table, or in any way makes a 
 change in the location of objects. This is his means of pro- 
 ducing an effect, and it undoubtedly gives him a pleasurable 
 feeling of power. 
 
 The next stage of play with objects is destruction. The 
 
68 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 next stage is one in which the effect produced is still more 
 striking. This form of play has been contrasted with con- 
 structive activity and has been called " destruction." As a 
 matter of fact, destruction and construction, while different 
 in their results, are probably alike in their motive. Some of 
 the child's destruction is undoubtedly due to curiosity — he 
 wishes to see the wheels go round, or to see how a thing is 
 made. Much of it is probably due to the fact that he is not 
 yet capable of building up things, and so he resorts to the 
 simpler operation of tearing down. 
 
 Simple dramatic play begins in infancy. In addition to 
 these three chief forms of play, there are some slight begin- 
 nings of dramatic or make-believe play in this period. The 
 child will put on a hat and say he is going to the store, or 
 take his father's walking-stick and pretend that he is out 
 walking. This play is always very simple, 
 
 The infant's play is not social. In this period there is very 
 little social play. The infant plays largely by himself be- 
 cause he has not yet reached sufficient mental development 
 to be able to play with others. He enjoys older persons as 
 companions, to be sure, so that they may form an audience 
 for his play, or may help him; but he is not capable of any 
 cooperation. If a companion is doing something which is 
 interesting, the infant wishes to do the same thing. He has 
 not sufficient self-control to suffer a division of the roles in 
 the game, and to take only a particular share for himself. 
 
 The play of early childhood. In early childhood, from 
 about two until eight years of age, the child retains his 
 enjoyment in some of the same sorts of play as were carried 
 on in the first period, but his activities become more com- 
 plex. For instance, his movements are intensified by the 
 use of apparatus such as the swing, the giant-stride, the 
 seesaw, or the rocking-horse. 
 
 Play with objects develops into simple kinds of construe- 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 69 
 
 tion. The early form of construction is one in which objects 
 are combined in simple ways as in play with blocks. After 
 he has acquired a little skill, the child may do the more 
 difficult things, such as cutting out paper and nailing and 
 pasting objects together. In the constructive play of this 
 period the child wishes to make something which has a 
 meaning. The child is neither interested in the perfection of 
 skill or technique, nor in making objects which are so well 
 constructed that they will work, or be of practical use. He 
 is satisfied if the thing can be recognized as the thing he 
 intended, and may stand as a symbol for it. 
 
 The most radical development in this period is the growth 
 of dramatic play. The child of this period is continually 
 making-believe that he is somebody else, and the objects 
 about him fit into the drama which he is enacting. The 
 common games of young children illustrate this attitude of 
 mind. Observers have recorded the fact that boys play such 
 games as Indian, policeman, soldier, motorman, or postman. 
 In this play the boy lives through the life of the men whose 
 activity he observes or hears about, and whose activities 
 he can comprehend. The girl at this age plays house or 
 school, or plays with dolls. She also lives through the life of 
 older people who carry on activities which are appropriate 
 to her. The difference between the play of boys and girls 
 at this period is probably not chiefly an expression of a dif- 
 ference in their natures, but is one which they are led to 
 adopt through convention. If boys are not discouraged, 
 they often play with dolls until they are six or seven years 
 of age. Ordinarily the conversation and the influence of 
 older persons directs their attention toward the occupations 
 of men, and the attention of girls toward the occupations 
 of women. 
 
 Play is social but not cooperative. Play in this period is 
 carried on with others, and so is social, but is not, except to 
 
70 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 a very slight extent, cooperative. Each child wishes to do 
 the most interesting thing or wishes to do the same thing 
 which others are doing. There may be a change through 
 taking turns, but ordinarily each one is in competition in- 
 dividually for the most desirable part in the game. 
 
 Play of later childhood : at about eight years the make- 
 believe attitude wanes. In the period of later childhood, 
 from about eight to twelve, the child changes from the 
 make-believe attitude to a more matter-of-fact attitude of 
 mind, and this is very clearly brought out in his play. If one 
 observes the child of the previous period, one will see that 
 he is almost continually living through some kind of drama. 
 He seems very much of the time to be in a sort of dream 
 world, and it is difficult to recall him to the matter-of-fact 
 needs and demands of the world about him. He is satisfied 
 by the things which he can do in this imaginary world, and 
 does not feel keenly his deficiency in dealing with the real 
 world. 
 
 The transition appears in drawing, movement play, and 
 constructive activities. Observers have pointed out that at 
 about this period the child awakens to a realization of the 
 inadequacy of his make-believe view. He recognizes in his 
 drawing, for example, that the highly symbolic figures 
 which represent various objects, such as a house or a man, 
 have very little resemblance to the things which they stand 
 for. He recognizes, further, that the things which he con- 
 structs could not be actually used to serve practical needs. 
 He therefore develops an interest in gaining such a mastery 
 or control as will enable him to deal effectively with the 
 actual facts of the world about him. He becomes interested, 
 for instance, not merely in making movements, but in devel- 
 oping skill of movement, or strength, or speed. He measures 
 his movements, as when he attempts to jump certain dis- 
 tances, or certain heights, or to run with a certain speed. 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 71 
 
 He becomes interested in mechanical contrivances and in 
 knowing how they work so that he can understand or make 
 them. There is a development of his constructive interest 
 and ability. 
 
 The puzzle interest culminates in this period. The child 
 develops during this period an interest in testing his mental 
 powers also, not for the purpose of accomplishing some out- 
 ward result, but for the purpose of displaying his skill. This 
 sort of interest is aroused in solving puzzles, and it has been 
 found that the interest in puzzles reaches its culmination at 
 about the twelfth year. This fact leads to a comment on the 
 well-known view that the child is not capable of anything 
 in the way of reasoning or thinking except of a routine sort. 
 His education, it is said, should consist merely in memoriz- 
 ing and drill, — that is, in the development of non-rational 
 habits. If this type of education is given, it may discourage 
 the development of an interest in intellectual activity, but 
 there is ample evidence that the interest exists. This inter- 
 est should be encouraged so that it has an opportunity for 
 expression in the child's work in school as well as in his 
 outside activities. 
 
 Individual competition is prominent. The interest in the 
 development of skill finds its expression in the enjoyment 
 of competition between pairs. The pleasure in learning to 
 make movements skillfully and rapidly is enhanced by the 
 pleasure of making them more skillfully and more rapidly 
 than some one else. The boy keeps a definite record of his 
 achievements to compare it with the record of others, and 
 also to compare it with his own past record. This interest 
 in definite accomplishment should be used more largely than 
 it is in encouraging the child to gain a mastery over the 
 problems in school. This may be done by making careful 
 tests, as in arithmetic, handwriting, or spelling, and by 
 stimulating the child continually to improve his record. 
 
72 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Simple drama may be written and played. Dramatic play, 
 while it is not carried on so spontaneously as in the earlier 
 period, and although it does not dominate the child's whole 
 mental attitude, may still be enjoyed; and because of the 
 child's greater mental development, it may be carried on in 
 a more highly organized form. The child in this period may 
 participate in both the production and the representation 
 of simple drama. He is particularly capable of this kind of 
 representation because he is not yet sufficiently self-con- 
 scious to make it difficult for him to appear before others. 
 
 There is simple cooperation. There is some cooperation 
 in the play of this period, but it is of a rather loosely organ- 
 ized form. It is incorrect to say, in this as in other matters, 
 that the child develops an entirely new form of activity at 
 a certain definite period. We shall find that at adolescence 
 the most prominent form of development is in socially 
 organized play. This development is anticipated, however, 
 by play in groups during later childhood. 
 
 Play of adolescence: competition is intense and is gov- 
 erned by rules. In the adolescent 1 period from twelve to 
 maturity, as in the two previous periods, the kinds of play 
 which characterize the child persist ; but certain of them are 
 more highly developed, and certain kinds are emphasized 
 more than others. Individual competition continues and 
 becomes very intense. This is illustrated in boxing, wres- 
 tling, fencing, and in more elaborate games, such as tennis. 
 These games also illustrate another feature of the play of 
 this period, namely, that it is characterized by complex 
 rules. These rules govern every phase of the game, and are 
 strictly adhered to. The younger child in his games makes 
 
 1 Adolescence is the period of youth. It is the time when the body 
 attains its maturity, and is marked by the maturing of the social and sex 
 instincts. The time of beginning varies widely, but is usually about eleven 
 years for girls and thirteen years for boys. 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 73 
 
 his rules as he goes along, or may break them if he can gain 
 the consent of his comrades; but the youth has a keener 
 sense of law and of the necessity of conforming to it. 
 
 Constructive and dramatic play are modified. The con- 
 structive and mechanical forms of play also develop and 
 become connected with more serious purposes, so that they 
 are not merely forms of play but may be carried on with a 
 vocational motive. The interest becomes more continuous 
 and may be given to a project requiring a longer time for its 
 completion. Dramatic performance becomes for a time 
 more difficult on account of the increase of self -consciousness. 
 
 The social games are highly organized. The most sig- 
 nificant and characteristic form of development in play 
 during adolescence is the growth of group games. In a 
 group game the interest in individual success or the display 
 of individual prowess is overshadowed by the desire for the 
 success of the team. The pleasure of succeeding is enhanced 
 by the fact that it is accompanied not merely by one's own 
 self-approbation, but also by the approbation of the group 
 to which one belongs. There is also the feeling of loyalty to 
 the group as a result of which the individual gains pleasure 
 from the success of the team without regard to his personal 
 success. This group loyalty is expressed in subordination 
 to a leader. The leader represents the interests of the group, 
 and is a leader by virtue of the fact that he can promote the 
 success of the group as a whole. Subordination to the will of 
 the leader, as representing the whole group, may go so far 
 as to lead to sacrifice of one's individual success in the game. 
 This is illustrated by the well-known play in baseball called 
 a sacrifice hit. In this play the batter hits the ball in such a 
 way that he is likely to be put out, but so that the runner 
 on the base will be advanced toward the home plate, and 
 the likelihood of the side's making a score will be increased. 
 The same self-subordination is illustrated in football, in 
 
74 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 which only a few members of the team run with the ball, 
 although other players may do equally important service in 
 opening a way for the runner, or in protecting him from 
 being tackled. 
 
 Group loyalty is valuable, but may be narrow. This devel- 
 opment of group loyalty is the foundation of social conscious- 
 ness which causes the individual to identify his interests 
 with those of the group to which he belongs. It may, it is 
 true, be accompanied by antagonism to other groups with 
 which one's own group comes into competition. It may 
 thus be narrow and partisan, and do harm by the fact that 
 it creates division in the larger community. If the develop- 
 ment of group loyalty remains narrow in its scope, it may 
 develop into the spirit of caste, or the exaggerated spirit 
 of nationality, of which we frequently see evidence. The 
 difficulty, however, is not in the spirit of loyalty itself but in 
 the fact that it has been too narrowly applied, and the rem- 
 edy is to extend it by cooperation with wider and wider 
 groups. 
 
 Group games involve specialization. In group games the 
 efficiency of each player is increased by specialization, and 
 by careful and extended training for the performance of his 
 special part. The child takes with equal readiness different 
 parts in the game; but the youth, by taking the part for 
 which he is best fitted, gives the best services of which he is 
 capable. The rules which govern such groups are complex 
 and rigid, as in the case of games involving individual com- 
 petition which have been mentioned. 
 
 The changed relation between boys and girls appears in 
 play. In the earlier periods boys and girls either play to- 
 gether on the same footing, or boys play by themselves and 
 girls by themselves, because of their different interests. In 
 the games of adolescence there is another relationship which 
 develops, due to the fact that the boys in their games are 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 75 
 
 conscious of the approval and favor of the girls who are the 
 spectators of their combats. This introduces an element 
 into play due to the growing difference between the sexes, 
 and to their changed attitude toward each other. There are 
 other games, such as dancing, in which the relationship be- 
 tween boys and girls as members of the opposite sex is one 
 of the chief elements. This form of play appears promi- 
 nently in the latter part of the adolescent period. 
 
 Intellectual competition is carried on. There also devel- 
 ops in the latter part of this period an interest in combat 
 which is intellectual in its nature rather than physical, — 
 that is, debating. The interest in debating is not so intense 
 as the interest in the more vigorous forms of physical 
 play, but by encouragement it may develop and lead to the 
 awakening and strengthening of the interest in intellectual 
 pursuits. Debate, to be of value in the development of 
 intellectual sincerity, should be the expression of genuine 
 conviction on the part of the participants, and not, as is 
 too often the case, mere intellectual juggling. 
 
 Intellectual competition between classes gives whole- 
 some stimulus. This interest in intellectual competition 
 may be applied to very good advantage by introducing 
 rivalry between classes or sections of classes. In class com- 
 petition there is much less danger of the growth of the feel- 
 ing of personal animosity that frequently accompanies in- 
 dividual rivalry. Furthermore, the task can be better suited 
 to the individual ability of each member of the class, and 
 each may contribute to the success of the group according 
 to his ability. In individual competition, if one of the rivals 
 is inferior to the other he is beaten before he begins, because 
 of his handicap. Group competition also encourages group 
 loyalty, which has already been described. It is therefore 
 desirable to take advantage of this cooperative spirit in 
 intellectual work, as in the youth's spontaneous games. 
 
76 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Group feeling in general is characteristic of the youth. 
 In general, we have seen that the play during adolescence is 
 modified largely by the new social feelings which develop 
 at this time. The youth feels himself to exist in a commu- 
 nity with others. He feels that his interests are bound up in 
 their interests, and that his welfare is to be worked out by 
 bringing about the welfare of the whole group. This sense 
 of solidarity is perhaps greater at this period even than it 
 will be in adulthood. The adult develops interests which are 
 connected with his family and the necessity of maintaining 
 its welfare. These cares and interests in a measure separate 
 him from others through the competition which is stimu- 
 lated by them. The youth does not feel the responsibility 
 for these matters, and therefore there is greater opportunity 
 for the development and expression of group feelings. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Is the statement that the work of the school should be made to meet 
 some need of the child equivalent to the doctrine that the work of the 
 school should be given direct practical meaning? Support your answer. 
 
 2. What is the relation between play and recreation? Between play and 
 amusement? 
 
 3. Give illustrations of what you would regard as opposite errors with 
 reference to interest. 
 
 4. What can be done to aid the infant in his play? 
 
 5. Mention kindergarten and primary games that are in accord with the 
 nature of the play impulse of this period. 
 
 6. Mention any changes in school demands or activities in the intermedi- 
 ate grades which take account of the matter-of-fact attitude. 
 
 7. What is the bearing of the youth's disposition toward group action and 
 his group loyalty on the problem of the high school fraternity? 
 
 8. What are the dangers connected with school teams and contests be- 
 tween teams? Interschool debating? 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Appleton, L. E. Play of Adult Savages and Civilized Children. (University 
 
 of Chicago Press, 1910.) 
 Curtis, Henry S. The Practical Conduct of Play. (Macmillan, 1915.) 
 
NATIVE RESPONSES: PLAY 77 
 
 Dewey, J. Interest and Effort in Education. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.) 
 Fiske, John. The Meaning of Infancy. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909.) 
 Groos, K. Play of Animals. Translated by E. L. Baldwin. (D. Appleton 
 
 & Co., 1898.) 
 Groos, K. Play of Man. Translated by E. L. Baldwin. (D. Appleton & Co., 
 
 1901.) 
 Gulick, L. H. "Psychological, Pedagogical and Religious Aspects of 
 
 Groups Games"; in Ped. Sem., vol. 6, pp. 135-50. (1898.) 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A. The Individual in the Making. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 
 
 1911.) 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study, chap. ix. (Macmillan, 
 
 1903.) 
 Lee, Joseph. Play in Education. (Macmillan, 1915.) 
 Wilson, H. B., and G. M. The Motivation of School Work. (Houghton 
 
 Mifflin Co., 1916.) 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 
 
 1. The social attitudes 
 
 We have already found it necessary in the chapter on 
 " Play " to make many comments upon the influence of 
 other persons on the child's attitudes and activities. In 
 most of the child's play, what he does, or the manner in 
 which he does it, or the motives which impel him to act, 
 come from the presence of other persons or his thought of 
 other persons. It is possible to find illustrations of most of 
 the phases of the child's social development from his play 
 life. Many of these have been remarked upon incidentally. 
 It will be the mission of the next chapters to describe the 
 child's feelings toward other persons and the influence of 
 other persons upon him in a more systematic way. Some of 
 the attitudes which will be described are not confined solely 
 to other persons, but they all take place most commonly in 
 relation to others, or grow out of the child's consciousness 
 of himself, which has been developed through his reactions 
 to others and others' reactions toward him. 
 
 Imitation is very prominent in the child's activities. The 
 observer of the child cannot fail to note frequent instances 
 of imitation very early in his life. The little boy likes to 
 take his father's hat and cane and pretend that he is going 
 for a walk. The little girl will have a bit of cloth and a needle 
 and thread, and at least go through the general motions of 
 sewing. The child sees his father reading a newspaper and 
 he must have one to read too, although for a time he is as 
 well satisfied when the paper is upside down as when it is 
 right side up. The imitation, in such a case, is of a merely 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 79 
 
 external sort, but it paves the way for a real imitation as 
 the child's development makes it possible. The child's 
 speech gives continual illustration of his disposition to imi- 
 tate. He first imitates merely the general intonation and 
 sequence of sounds. Later he imitates the sounds of words 
 quite precisely. It is only through the process of imitation 
 that the child who is brought up in one country learns the 
 speech which is spoken by the people of that land, rather 
 than the speech of other peoples. As the child grows into the 
 youth still other forms of imitation appear. He imitates the 
 dress and the manner, and even, we may say, the standards 
 and the ideas of the society about him. 
 
 Imitation conserves social progress. If we look at the 
 matter broadly we can see how this tendency of the indi- 
 vidual child to duplicate the actions and attitudes of people 
 about him is one of the most prominent means by which 
 groups of people develop and maintain certain modes of 
 living. The child of the American Indian learned to hunt 
 and fish, to endure great physical hardship, to fight and re- 
 venge himself of wrong, and to live a roving life. The child 
 of the white man, who displaced the Indian, learned to read 
 and write, to cooperate with his fellows in making elaborate 
 laws, and to maintain such institutions as the school, the 
 court, the legislature, and the church. He learned the art 
 of tilling the ground and of simple manufacture. In the 
 external mode of life, and in the idea of what was right or 
 wrong, or what is to be admired or to be despised, the child 
 of the white man became very different from the child of the 
 Indian. But it is only to a minor degree that we can account 
 for these differences by any inborn or native characteristics. 
 They are differences of up-bringing or training, and the 
 factor which produced these differences was the disposition 
 of each child to imitate the mode of life which he saw going 
 on about him. 
 
80 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Imitation describes the child's attitude as well as his 
 actions. It is entirely clear that the child is stimulated to 
 do such things because he observes other people doing these 
 things. We might account for this fact without supposing 
 that the child wished primarily to copy others. It has been 
 supposed by some that the child's sole desire was to find out 
 more about the actions which he saw others performing by 
 performing them himself, and so getting them in a more 
 direct way into his own experience. That is, we may think of 
 the child's attitude of mind as something like this : " That 
 thing which that person is doing looks very interesting; I 
 wonder what it feels like to do that. I think I shall find out 
 by doing it myself." No doubt this attitude of mere curios- 
 ity is responsible for a good part of the child's imitation, — 
 or possibly most of it. It seems very likely, however, that 
 the child is also impelled to imitate by a general desire to par- 
 ticipate in the life about him. If we may read into the child's 
 experience the experience of older persons in this matter, it 
 seems unquestionable that he likes to feel himself to be a 
 member of the group, and that he gets this feeling by acting 
 like others of the group. It gives one a feeling of uneasiness 
 to act in a radically different way from one's companions. 
 This indicates a very strong impulse to conformity on the 
 part of human beings. Why then should we not suppose 
 that the child gets satisfaction from those actions in which 
 he conforms to the mode of life of people about him? In fact, 
 it seems very plausible to suppose that this motive is strong 
 in the child in proportion as his definite instincts are inade- 
 quate to give him the training necessary as a preparation 
 for his later life. The willingness of the child to go to school 
 and to acquire the social arts must be ascribed to his desire 
 to adopt the activities of other people. 
 
 Emotions are communicated through reflex imitation. 
 There are certain forms of imitation which the child has in 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 81 
 
 common with many of the lower animals. The chicken can 
 communicate to other chickens the attitude of fear by 
 means of the danger call. This is also characteristic of 
 other animals. Similarly the expression of the emotion of 
 fear through a cry, through the expression of face or the 
 bodily attitude, is communicated from one person to another. 
 The same is true of other emotions, such as anger, and of the 
 less definite feeling attitudes, which we call moods. Dejec- 
 tion or joy may be spread from one person to another by 
 the unconscious reflex power of the imitation of the other's 
 expression. 
 
 The teacher or parent is largely responsible for the child's 
 mood. If moods can be thus communicated, it is clear that a 
 child will be more or less permanently affected by the domi- 
 nant mood of the person with whom he is associated for a 
 large part of his waking life. Observation confirms this con- 
 clusion. Attitudes of calmness, of joyousness, of confidence 
 and optimism, and of politeness and consideration, are best 
 developed by contagion. Preaching is without effect if the 
 practicing of the teacher is contrary to the preaching. It 
 is of very little value in comparison with a good example. 
 
 The child enters imaginatively into the life of others in 
 dramatic imitation. Make-believe play has already been 
 fully dealt with in the previous chapter. It may be pointed 
 out here that this is the means by which the child is enabled 
 to go beyond direct imitation by the use of imagination. By 
 imaginatively acting out a character, he throws himself into 
 a particular type of personality without having to be 
 directly influenced by another person's presence. In the 
 earliest stages of dramatic imitation the child simply goes 
 through the form of another's outward action, but in 
 its later more developed stages he acts out his conception 
 of another's character. Thus the young man or woman who 
 culers into a profession does not simply go through the mo- 
 
82 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 tions of that profession, but for a time also acts a part. The 
 part which he acts will depend on his idea of what a member 
 of his profession should be, and this idea is often adopted 
 from some prominent member of the profession whom he 
 has known or read about. What he does or does not do will 
 be influenced by his ideas of what is appropriate to a mem- 
 ber of his profession. In time he actually grows into the 
 character which has existed at first as an ideal or concept in 
 the mind. This process may also be thought of as taking 
 place in a more general fashion. One becomes a person of a 
 certain character because at the beginning he thinks of him- 
 self in imagination as having that character. 
 
 Acts of skill are learned in part by copying others. In the" 
 later description of sensori-motor learning we shall see that 
 there are many ways in which one may profit by observing 
 others who are skilled in the act which we wish to learn. 
 There are some features of such an act which we can only 
 acquire through our own individual practice, but there are 
 others which we can be saved from learning in a blind fash- 
 ion by good models. The child does not have to learn 
 through blind trial how best to hold his pen in writing — at 
 least so far as the chief features of the matter are concerned. 
 These have been discovered in the past, and he can learn 
 them by observing others or by being told how to act. The 
 same is true of handling any tools, or of learning games of 
 skill or gymnastic feats. It is important that the child be 
 saved useless experimentation in such matters as he can 
 learn through imitation. The development of an act of skill 
 is not useful mainly as an opportunity for thinking, and 
 therefore the value of independent experimentation in this 
 field is very little. It is very important, therefore, that the 
 teacher of any act of skill should be able to show the child 
 how the act is to be performed. He must therefore have 
 skill in the act himself. 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 83 
 
 In suggestion the ideas or attitudes of others are adopted 
 uncritically. We are concerned in suggestion not so much 
 with the communication of general moods or feelings from 
 person to person in a reflex manner, which has already been 
 described, but with the communication of more definite 
 ideas or attitudes toward particular things as a result of 
 the influence of one person upon another. The person who 
 receives the suggestion is not aware of the manner in which 
 he is influenced. A simple illustration may be taken from 
 the experiments on report. If a person is asked to report 
 from memory what he has seen in a picture, he can frequently 
 be led into saying that he saw objects that were not in the 
 picture at all. If one asks such a question as, " What kind 
 of picture was hanging on the wall ? " when, in fact, there 
 was no picture at all, he will frequently obtain from his 
 subject a definite description of a picture. In the Binet 
 tests the child is shown six pairs of lines to compare in 
 length, one at a time. In the first three the line upon the 
 right-hand side is longer than the line upon the left-hand 
 side. In the next three both lines are equal. The child will 
 very frequently continue to say that the right-hand line is 
 longer, or in some cases he will be led by negative sugges- 
 tion to report that the left-hand line of one or more of the 
 last three pairs is the longer. In every-day school practice 
 the child is very frequently influenced in his response by the 
 manner of the question. Such a question as, " Do you not 
 think that this picture is pretty, or that this person in the 
 story did right? " directly suggests an answer. From the 
 point of view of a test of the child's judgment such responses 
 are of no value whatever. Such questions are called in courts 
 of law leading questions. Their use with children may be 
 allowable in those cases in which the teacher wishes to form 
 the child's opinion, but if the aim is to develop the child's 
 own judgment or to discover what the child's judgment is, 
 
84 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 then a question which does not imply its answer must be 
 used. 
 
 Suggestion is a legitimate means of moral training. The 
 view that the child should develop independently of social 
 influence would not permit of the use of suggestion in the 
 growth of his moral ideas and standards. But such a view 
 is contrary to the obvious facts of human nature. Persons 
 who have been brought up to different views on some moral 
 question, such, for example, as the observance of Sunday, 
 or the use of alcoholic beverages, are ready to defend their 
 views with arguments, and believe that their view is based 
 upon a rational interpretation of the reasons for their con- 
 duct. The fact that the large majority of people accept, in 
 the main, the belief in which they were brought up, and 
 that people who have been brought up differently will de- 
 fend with equal force their opposing views, indicates that 
 these views have been developed chiefly through suggestion 
 and not through deliberate thought. Reflection is resorted 
 to in explaining or in justifying one's views, but in most 
 cases it was not used originally in forming those views. It is 
 true, of course, that the more enlightened and independent 
 individuals develop more or less away from the traditional 
 beliefs of parents or teachers, but this independent thinking 
 is seldom as important as the less conscious influence of 
 early examples and teaching. 
 
 Desirable suggestions are a defense against undesirable 
 ones. As the child grows older he becomes more independent 
 in his moral judgment; but he seldom modifies the main 
 foundation of his moral attitudes, and in the period of child- 
 hood this foundation is largely laid by suggestion. The 
 child is open to suggestion whether we will or no, and our 
 only choice is to see that the suggestions are good rather 
 than evil. The conversation in the home, the manner of 
 speaking concerning other persons and their actions, or 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 85 
 
 even the tone of voice or facial expression with which an 
 act is referred to, has a strong influence in forming the child's 
 own attitudes. The child may acquire a strong immunity 
 to direct attempts to influence him by preaching, but he is 
 always sensitive to the standards of conduct which the peo- 
 ple about him are observed actually to live by. It is doubtful 
 whether much talking about principles of right conduct is a 
 successful method of moral training in the school; but the 
 child may be strongly influenced by the attitude which he 
 observes the teacher, or elders, or the other children to take 
 with reference to particular acts which take place under his 
 observation, or with reference to the conduct or attitude of 
 those about whom he reads. 
 
 The influence of suggestion is opposed by the critical atti- 
 tude. The reason that suggestion has force over us is that 
 we do not meet it by ideas which would serve the basis of an 
 independent judgment. The extreme form of this giving up 
 to suggestion from without is seen in hypnotism. Suggestion 
 may go so far in the hypnotic state that a person will believe 
 a blank piece of paper to be a check. We may describe the 
 state of mind to be one in which all of the mental processes 
 except those through which the suggestion comes are asleep, 
 or at least are not brought to bear upon the idea which is 
 presented. The ability to bring one's experiences and ideas 
 to bear upon a suggestion, in order to judge of it independ- 
 ently, is one which develops with age. Its development is 
 dependent partly upon the acquirement of those experiences 
 which will serve to check up the presented idea, and partly 
 upon the attitude of self-possession in which one preserves 
 his own independence or judgment in the face of outside 
 influence. This attitude is a desirable one to produce in the 
 child. We must recognize, however, that the child is rela- 
 tively incapable of it in his early years; and while the atti- 
 tude of openness to suggestion should not be encouraged, we 
 
86 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 must recognize its existence, and, particularly in the realm 
 of moral education, must take advantage of it. 
 
 The child has native impulses to independence. It would 
 be a mistake to leave the subject of suggestion with the 
 implication that the child is completely absorbed in the 
 effort to copy or to conform to other people. Strong as this 
 impulse is, it is checked up by the opposite impulse which 
 at times is still stronger. At the age of about three the child 
 passes through a period in which there appears the opposite 
 attitude or bias. This period is sometimes called the period 
 of negative suggestibility. The child has the impulse con- 
 tinually to do the opposite of that which is suggested to him. 
 He seems to be controlled by what in common language is 
 called a contrary spirit. To one who is not familiar with the 
 development of children this trait appears to be an evidence 
 of innate depravity, but in reality it is simply the expression 
 of the child's disposition to develop his own individuality, 
 rather than to conform completely to the influences from 
 the outside. 
 
 In the period of later childhood, from about eight to 
 twelve, the child sometimes passes through what has some- 
 times been called " the young barbarian period." At this 
 time he seems to lose a good part of his desire to become a 
 conforming member of the society about him, and becomes 
 absorbed in working out his own individual desires and pur- 
 poses. He is not particularly sensitive to the customs and 
 demands of society and finds it irksome to have to do the 
 little things which are demanded of him because they are 
 the things to do. 
 
 In the period of adolescence the child regains his sensi- 
 tiveness to the opinion and attitude of the group, but it is 
 the group of his own fellows rather than adult society to 
 which he is the most subservient. He is in the period when, 
 as a member of the clan or the group, he has a disposition 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 87 
 
 to rebel against the traditional restrictions of adult society. 
 Here again there appears the impulse to independence, al- 
 though in this period it is complicated by the fact of his 
 dependence upon those of his own age. 
 
 The current school practice places emphasis on initiative 
 and self-reliance. There have been many educators, from 
 the time of Rousseau to the present, who have criticized the 
 school because it subjects the child too completely to the will 
 of his elders. It has been pointed out that the development of 
 strong intellectual and moral character depends upon inde- 
 pendent effort and discovery. The most prominent modern 
 representative of this view is Madame Montessori. In 
 expounding her theories of child development, she asserts 
 that directions or commands by the teacher should be ex- 
 cluded so far as possible, and that the child should be left to 
 his own devices to use the apparatus which is presented to 
 him without interference from others. It is true that in the 
 actual conduct of the Montessori method much restriction 
 is placed upon the child. In the first place he is restricted to 
 the use of the material which is furnished him, and he can 
 only do with this material that which it was intended for. 
 In the second place, while direct command is reduced so far 
 as possible, the child is influenced very greatly by suggestion. 
 This method is therefore not calculated to produce so great 
 independence as it pretends to do. 
 
 Independent thought is a prominent element in social life. 
 Writers on social psychology have often laid great stress on 
 the imitative or suggestive side of social life, so as to make it 
 appear that this was the chief consequence of contact of 
 people with one another. 1 The action of the mob, in which 
 the individual person is almost completely subordinated to 
 
 1 For a very illuminating account of the effect of social contact in 
 promoting thought rather than mere suggestion, see E. A. Ross, "The 
 Organization of Thought"; in American Journal of Sociology, vol. xxn, 
 pp. 300-23. (1910.) 
 
88 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the group feeling and action, is presented as a typical case 
 of social life. Group action in this case is usually dominated 
 or led by some forceful personality, and the independence 
 of each individual is smothered by the group. This results 
 from a restriction on his movements through being packed 
 into the crowd, and from the very intense feeling tone of 
 the group which carries each individual off his feet. This 
 suppression of the will and independence of the individual 
 is the primitive kind of social influence, and it cannot be de- 
 nied that it exists as a form of social life. The development 
 of civilization, however, has led to the greater and greater 
 independence of the individual person in his thought and 
 action, and there are other typical social groups which repre- 
 sent this higher form of social life. If the mob may be taken 
 to represent the more primitive life, the deliberative assem- 
 bly may be taken to represent the higher form of social 
 group. In such an assembly there are always persons who, 
 because of their more vigorous thought, are more influential 
 in guiding the deliberations than the others; but there is 
 opportunity afforded to each person to contribute his own 
 ideas, and the composite result is based on the contribution 
 of many individuals, rather than on the dominant leadership 
 of a single person. This must be looked upon as the sort of 
 interaction between persons which is to be desired, rather 
 than the more primitive form which is represented by the mob. 
 Educational practice and theory have drawn the contrast 
 between obedience and freedom. Obedience has often been 
 regarded as the center and essence of moral conduct. We 
 are often told that the child's first duty is to learn to obey. 
 There is much to support this view. Action is moral only 
 when mere impulse and desire for self -gratification are sub- 
 jected to law, or to a broader principle of conduct, and to 
 the social feeling. A person who acts merely from impulse, 
 even though his impulse be good, cannot be thought of as 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 89 
 
 acting morally, unless this impulse is the habit which has 
 resulted from his previous choice. Unless one subjects his 
 personal whims to the recognized principles of right his 
 action cannot be said to have moral character. On the other 
 hand, it may truly be said that if a person acts simply from 
 outward compulsion the action does not represent his own 
 personality. He is simply the instrument or the agent of the 
 will of some one else, and hence his actions cannot be thought 
 of as moral. 
 
 The child's moral nature is the result of growth. The solu- 
 tion of this difficulty is to be found in the fact that the 
 child, in the beginning, does not possess a full moral char- 
 acter, and that the business of education is to lead him 
 gradually in the development to full moral stature, and to 
 control the formation of his habits through the period when 
 he is largely dependent upon others for the guidance of his 
 conduct. Conduct does not depend simply on intentions 
 for its guidance, but also upon knowledge and experience; 
 and the older person, because of his greater experience and 
 knowledge, and also because of his self-control which has 
 resulted or should have resulted from his greater maturity, 
 has a large share of responsibility in the guidance of the 
 child's conduct. To shrink from this responsibility on the 
 theory that development of character is from within rather 
 than from without is to fail to recognize the undeveloped 
 nature of the child at the beginning, and the fact that the 
 attainment of self-direction is a gradual affair. The child 
 must first learn to obey his parents and teachers because 
 their knowledge and maturity give them the necessary 
 authority over him. As a result of this obedience he will 
 develop the disposition to subject himself to principles of 
 right conduct, and will be able to guide his own conduct 
 when he reaches the stage in which he can himself see what 
 is best to do. 
 
90 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The exercise of authority, it must be admitted, does not 
 always produce this desirable result. Authority frequently 
 arouses in the child revolt, instead of producing the virtue 
 of self-control and subjection to law. Authority must be 
 exercised without thwarting the development of judgment, 
 initiative, and self-control. External control must gradu- 
 ally merge into self-control. This is to be brought about by 
 making a distinction, which the child finally comes to recog- 
 nize, between arbitrary commands, expressing merely the 
 desires of the older person, and the enforcement of a law 
 or principle which the child recognizes as being both over 
 himself and the person who gives the command. The adult 
 must stand simply as the representative of this law, and 
 not as a personal dictator. The child must see that the 
 thing commanded is to be done because it is right, and not 
 simply because some one wishes him to do it. It may be 
 necessary in the preliminary stages to enforce commands 
 without giving reasons, because the child is not capable of 
 understanding the reasons, and because they will use the 
 opportunity simply as a means of evasion. But even after 
 he arrives at the age when he can himself recognize some- 
 thing of the basis of the requirements which are laid upon 
 him, he needs the support of another to back up his own 
 resolution. The same principle holds also with adults. The 
 only difference is that in their case the support is given by 
 public opinion and, if necessary, by law. The older person 
 stands toward the child in place of this broader public 
 opinion, until the time comes when he is able to recognize it 
 and bring himself into conformity to it. 
 
 2. The social 'periods 
 Mention has been made in connection with other topics 
 of the differences in the child's attitude at different ages. 
 The present section will briefly summarize the changes 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 91 
 
 which take place in the child's attitude toward the social 
 group in general as he develops from the period of infancy 
 to maturity. 
 
 Infancy may be called the breaking-in period. The child 
 starts life as a complete individualist. He enjoys the pres- 
 ence and approval of others, but he recognizes no duties or 
 obligations to others, and his own desires and wishes are 
 the sole, or at least the chief, impulse in his conduct. " I 
 want to " is a sole and complete reason for any action, or 
 the possession of any object. Gradually, through reward 
 and punishment, and to a less extent through affection, love 
 of approbation, and so forth, the child is led to subject him- 
 self to the interests and wishes of others. With the exception 
 of the period of negative suggestibility, at about three, 
 which has already been mentioned, the child enters into 
 the period of early childhood so transformed that he seems 
 for a time to subject himself almost completely to the social 
 will. 
 
 The period of early childhood is the period of docility. 
 After the rebel period of negative suggestibility the child 
 usually becomes very teachable. It is during this period, 
 in the kindergarten and the primary grades, that the child 
 is willing and anxious to learn the various social arts which 
 are taught in the school. It is not necessary at this time to 
 bring to bear upon the child those influences or motives to 
 lead him to do his school work which are found to be neces- 
 sary in the following period. The child realizes his depend- 
 ence, his weakness, and his lack of knowledge, and is anxious 
 to make good his deficiency so far as may be. 
 
 The intermediate period — the period of individual inde- 
 pendence. The intermediate period of the child's school life 
 has long been recognized as presenting particular problems 
 of control, and of guidance of the child's interests. It has 
 already been pointed out that the child of this period has 
 
92 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 been characterized as a young barbarian. He does not 
 recognize or particularly desire to conform to the customs 
 and usages of society. A trivial illustration of this attitude, 
 in the case of the boy, is the carelessness which he exhibits 
 with reference to such matters of personal appearance as a 
 clean face, or brushed hair, or neat clothing. This attitude 
 of independence has sometimes been met by the exercise of 
 further authority, and by subjecting the child to a greater 
 degree of formal drill and memorization, as an answer to 
 his revolt against this type of work, which to him has be- 
 come less interesting and more or less meaningless. This 
 practice rests upon a theory in regard to the nature of the 
 child's intellectual development at this period which we 
 shall see, in a later chapter, to be ill-founded. While the 
 older child is capable of drill, and of enduring rather severe 
 work, he is also capable of a greater amount of initiative 
 than is the younger child, and his social attitude disposes 
 him to greater independence. This is the time, then, when 
 he should be put more upon his own resources. The some- 
 what excessive attitude of personal independence which he 
 exhibits at this time can be left for correction to the social 
 instincts which develop in the next period. 
 
 Adolescence, the period of the development of the group 
 spirit. The development of a sensitiveness to the group 
 attitude, and of a disposition to cooperate, has been com- 
 mented on in several connections already. The youth 
 awakens from his preoccupation with his own interests and 
 desires to a sense of the larger world, and to interests in 
 enterprises which can only be worked out by a group of 
 persons working together, rather than by an individual 
 working alone. He develops a sense of social responsibility, 
 which is a different thing from the unquestioning docility 
 of the young child. A symptom of this development is his 
 growing interest in preparing for and getting a life job. 
 
IMITATION AND SELF-ASSERTION 93 
 
 Work has been defined as the activity by which one makes 
 good in society, and the type of work, at least, in which the 
 youth becomes interested is of this sort. The youth now 
 becomes keen to find a use in the studies which he takes, 
 and he seems for a time to have less disinterested intellectual 
 interests than he had in the period which preceded. The 
 vocational interests may become strong enough to cause 
 the child to desire to leave school, and this must be met by 
 showing him that his school work is of use in the preparation 
 for his later life, thus leading him to lay a broader founda- 
 tion for his future career. Supplementing this interest are, 
 of course, the broader human interests as expressed in litera- 
 ture and history, the intellectual interest in discovery, or in 
 working out scientific principles, and the aesthetic interest 
 as manifested in art or literature. But to attempt to 
 smother the vocational interest, and to substitute these 
 other less intense interests, is to cause the youth to do his 
 school work in a listless and half-hearted manner, and to 
 transfer his more intense interests to activities outside his 
 studies. The attempt to make the work of high school and 
 college rest chiefly on motives of self -culture is to substitute 
 what is essentially, in the life of the majority of individuals, 
 a play attitude, for the serious work attitude which is now 
 developing. It is not surprising under these circumstances 
 that the student frequently devotes more time to his student 
 societies or to athletics than he does to his school or college 
 work. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Compare the position taken in the opening paragraphs with that of 
 Dewey in the article referred to below. 
 
 2. Find other illustrations of reflex imitation in animals. 
 
 3. Find examples of dramatic imitation in the child. 
 
 4. Arc different persons alike in suggestibility? Give illustrations. 
 
 5. Give one specific illustration of a case in which suggestion is desirable, 
 and one of a situation where it is undesirable. 
 
94 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 C. Illustrate the value of initiative in life outside the school. 
 
 7. What should you say is the relation of training to initiative? 
 
 8. Discuss the statement: The first and most important virtue in the child 
 is obedience. 
 
 9. Show how the vocational interest is social. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Baldwin, J. M. Mental Development in the Child and the Race, vol. I. 
 
 (Macmillan, 1895.) 
 Dewey, J. "Imitation"; in Cyclopedia of Education. Edited by Paul 
 
 Monroe. (Macmillan, 1911-13.) 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study. Chapter on "Imitation." 
 
 (Macmillan, 1903.) 
 King, I. Psychology of Child Development, chap. x. (University of Chicago 
 
 Press, 1903.) 
 McDougall, W. An Introduction to Social Psychology. (John W. Luce & 
 
 Co., 1909.) 
 Montessori, M. The Montessori Method. Translated by Anna E. George. 
 
 (F. A. Stokes Co., 1912.) 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES, AND TYPES 
 
 1. Instinctive social attitudes 
 
 Among the prominent social attitudes of the child is the 
 love of approbation. Sensitiveness to the expression of 
 approval or disapproval of other persons appears early in 
 the life of the child. This sensitiveness is at first to the more 
 outward or more obvious forms of expression. A word of 
 anger, or a look of pleasure accompanied by a smile, is re- 
 sponded to by the child even in the period of infancy. Some- 
 times the child is thrown into a fit of weeping merely by the 
 tone of voice in which he is spoken to. The response of the 
 child by smiling to the smile of another person may be ob- 
 served in the first year. This sensitiveness to the approval 
 or disapproval of others is of great influence in governing 
 actions of persons of all ages. The adult finds it very diffi- 
 cult to do things which are not regarded commonly as the 
 thing to do, even although he does not think of any one per- 
 son as expressing disapproval. Even in trivial matters, such 
 as wearing a hat out of season, this sense of the attitude of 
 other persons is very powerful. 
 
 Differences with age. The young child is more sensitive 
 to the approbation of older persons than he will be as a 
 youth. The youth pays more attention to the attitudes of 
 those of his own age and social group. In order to influence 
 the youth it is necessary to govern or control the attitude 
 of the group as a whole, which constitutes the public opinion 
 to which he feels himself subject. It is easier to reach the 
 young child by direct individual influence. It may be that 
 this is due to his greater feeling of dependence. As the youth 
 
96 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 outgrows this childish feeling and becomes more independ- 
 ent, he chafes at the necessity of governing his actions 
 according to the opinions of an older person. 
 
 Children of all ages are particularly susceptible to the 
 attitudes of their mates. In spite of this distinction between 
 the child and the youth, it is probable that children of all 
 ages are more sensitive to the approbation or disapprobation 
 of those of the same age than they are to the attitudes of 
 adults. An illustration of this may be taken from the life 
 of a child five years of age. This boy had not yet had his 
 hair cut short, and was perfectly satisfied with the manner 
 in which it was cut until some of his playmates called him a 
 sissy. He was thereupon very anxious to have his hair cut 
 in the same way as the other boys. When asked what a 
 sissy was he could not tell, but he knew it was something 
 undesirable. If his parents had applied such an epithet to 
 him, it would probably have had much less effect. 
 
 The characteristics which inspire the desire for approval. 
 There is a difference also in the child's degree of sensitive- 
 ness to approval by others according to the individuality of 
 the other persons. The approbation of some persons is more 
 effective than that of others. One of whom a person is afraid 
 will inspire a desire for approval. This, however, is only 
 operative when the person who is feared is present, or when 
 it is felt that he is capable of doing something that will be 
 unpleasant. Severity of manner may be the source of such 
 fear as well as punishment. A more wholesome and effective 
 source of desire for approval exists when the child recognizes 
 that another is sympathetic with his desires and purposes, 
 and when he has respect for the person whom he feels to be 
 in sympathy with him. The child must feel that a person 
 is in some way superior to himself in ability, or in attain- 
 ment, or in moral force, if the desire to please that person 
 is to be intense. 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 97 
 
 The child exhibits sympathy. Contrary to the opinion 
 which is sometimes expressed, the child is also capable of 
 entertaining concern for the welfare, and sympathy for the 
 feelings of others. It is sometimes said that the child is 
 wholly selfish in his attitude toward his associates; but there 
 is very clear evidence that this is not the only attitude of 
 which he is capable. In the early years his sympathy is of 
 the nature of an instinctive, mechanical response to the 
 outward expressions of pain or grief. The sympathy in this 
 case seems to be little more than a reflex imitation of the 
 expression of the emotions, and the effect which this has in 
 producing a similar emotion in the imitator. 
 
 Sympathy develops with the growth of imagination. As 
 the child grows older he becomes capable of placing himself 
 in imagination in another person's position, and of making 
 somewhat the same response which he would make if he 
 were in that position. Through the imagination he may 
 sympathize with a friend concerning whose misfortune he 
 had received word, without witnessing his friend's distress, 
 or receiving a direct emotional appeal. The sympathetic 
 person's response to the misfortune of another is not iden- 
 tical with that which he would make in the same situation. 
 For this reason he is able to render service to the person in 
 trouble, because he can have a more detached attitude of 
 mind toward the difficulty. Because he does not wholly 
 adopt the attitude which he would have if he were in the 
 same situation, however, does not mean that he has not in 
 some degree the same feeling. Sympathy is this tendency 
 to put one's self in the place of another or to identify one's 
 own interests and welfare in a measure with those of another. 
 
 The young child exhibits rapid alternation in mood. There 
 is a marked change in the kinds of sympathy which the 
 child can experience at different periods. In his early life 
 the child is chiefly responsive to the outward expressions of 
 
98 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 distress or pleasure, as has already been said. Along with 
 this goes the rapid alternation from an attitude of sympathy 
 to one of a different or perhaps an opposite sort. The child 
 may be angry at a person one moment or be jealous of his 
 possession of some coveted thing, and the next moment be 
 sympathetic with him. He may even, as a result of anger, 
 cause pain to another, and in the next moment be sympa- 
 thetic because of the pain he has caused. Thus we may 
 observe the very rapid alternation in the child between the 
 attitudes of sympathy or of affection and those of jealousy 
 or anger. 
 
 Later, permanent attitudes are developed. This illus- 
 trates a general characteristic of the child and one which 
 perhaps has led to wrong conclusions. His whole social 
 attitude is impulsive in its nature instead of consisting of 
 permanent sentiments, such as that of hatred. As he grows 
 older the child becomes more reflective and self-conscious. 
 He is not merely moved by the feeling of the moment, but 
 he broods over this feeling, and develops in his mind an 
 attitude toward a person which remains even when particu- 
 lar occasions for it are not present. This has a very im- 
 portant effect upon the moral bearing of the child's social 
 responses. 
 
 The child exhibits affection. Somewhat like sympathy, 
 but not identical with it, is affection. The child can very 
 early respond to expressions of affection, and very early 
 he manifests such expressions himself. One of the most 
 striking illustrations of the fact that the child appreciates 
 such expressions, is the jealousy which he often exhibits 
 when they are bestowed on another child. This fact ought 
 to be recognized in dealing with the child. We make a mis- 
 take when we think that the child is swayed merely by pain 
 and pleasure, and when we attempt to deal with him in a 
 cold and calculating way. The child has a different attitude 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 99 
 
 toward persons from that which he has toward inanimate 
 objects. He more or less vaguely recognizes that another 
 person's reaction toward him is a different matter from the 
 effects which are produced by physical objects. The failure 
 to recognize this social atmosphere in which the child lives 
 is the great defect of Herbert Spencer's doctrine of natu- 
 ral punishments, which would make one's responses to the 
 child of the same mechanical, unvarying nature as the 
 laws of the physical world. 
 
 Sympathy and affection are important means of governing 
 the child. These positive feelings with reference to others 
 — the feelings which lead the child to appreciate and be 
 sensitive to the welfare of other persons — form an impor- 
 tant leverage by which his development can be governed. 
 The recognition of them is important, since otherwise the 
 attempt is made to control the child wholly through fear 
 or through his self-interest. If these are the only motives 
 which are appealed to, they will, of course, seem to be the 
 most prominent in the child; but if the responses of sympa- 
 thy and affection are encouraged, they will grow in strength 
 and become important elements in the motives which govern 
 his actions toward others. 
 
 In jealousy one sets his own interests over against the 
 interests of another. Opposed to the feelings of sympathy 
 or of affection are those of jealousy and anger and the less 
 pronounced attitude of emulation. As in sympathy one's 
 own interests are identified with those of others, in jealousy 
 a sharp contrast is recognized between one's own good and 
 that of somebody else. We may trace this feeling in the life 
 of the lower animals. A dog may have no hostility whatever 
 toward another until the other is seen in possession of some 
 desirable article of food. This immediately arouses, pro- 
 vided the animal is hungry, a belligerent attitude. Because 
 it recognizes that the possession of the desired thing by 
 
100 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 another prevents its own possession, anger toward the other 
 is aroused. Jealousy may even go so far as to cause things to 
 be regarded as valuable because others possess them. This, 
 of course, is the attitude which is portrayed in iEsop's 
 classic fable of the Dog in the Manger. 
 
 Anger is commonly the response which is made to oppo- 
 sition. Anger, while not identical with jealousy, may accom- 
 pany it, or it may be aroused in other situations than those 
 which awaken the jealous response. It is a more general 
 attitude of mind which may not only be adopted toward 
 other persons but also toward things. It is aroused most 
 readily by some obstruction to the course of one's action or 
 the fulfillment of one's purpose, or when one is deprived of 
 a coveted possession. The child exhibits the emotion of 
 anger very early in his life. For example, if he is led to 
 expect that he will be fed when he is hungry, and then is 
 disappointed, he exhibits all the outward forms of the 
 expression of anger. His anger is easily aroused when the 
 freedom of his movements is obstructed, or when he is pre- 
 vented from obtaining something which he is attempting 
 to get. These continue to be the kinds of situations which 
 arouse anger throughout the various stages of life. 
 
 Anger and jealousy are to be supplanted rather than 
 directly suppressed through punishment. Anger and jeal- 
 ousy are perfectly natural and normal manifestations on the 
 part of the child. In fact, there are situations in which the 
 adult should also be angry. They should not, therefore, be 
 regarded as expressions of depravity, nor should they usu- 
 ally be directly punished. The child has the capacities 
 which make it possible in any particular case to take one 
 attitude or another. His education should consist in leading 
 him to take the attitudes which are desirable. If this is done, 
 the undesirable attitudes will gradually fall away or develop 
 into different forms. We have seen that the child does not 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 101 
 
 possess merely the capacity for those responses which are 
 inimical to others, but that he also has the germs of the 
 development of the friendly attitudes. Education does not 
 consist, then, in directly suppressing certain kinds of re- 
 sponse and creating new forms in their stead, but rather in 
 encouraging those desirable forms which already exist, thus 
 causing the others to be starved out through being sup- 
 planted by the better. 
 
 Anger should not commonly be met with anger. In the 
 treatment of anger, if one attempts to suppress it by meet- 
 ing it with a display of anger in return, the result is usually 
 the aggravation of the original trouble. One of the common 
 sources of the attitude of anger is its expression by another 
 toward one's self. It is true that if another person exhibits 
 anger, the result may, under certain conditions, be fear, or 
 amusement, or some other response. In spite of this possi- 
 ble variation of response, the expression of anger usually has 
 the tendency to reproduce itself in the one toward whom it is 
 directed. The older person, then, by exhibiting anger toward 
 the child, is merely adding fuel to the fire. While the child's 
 attitude may be excused because of his immaturity or lack 
 of control, that of the adult cannot be excused on the same 
 score. That this mode of treatment is usually not calculated 
 to overcome the difficulty is contrary to the opinion ex- 
 pressed by some authorities, who hold that a child should 
 not be punished in cold blood, but in anger, and that pun- 
 ishment given in this spirit will commonly have the most 
 wholesome effect upon the child. With this view the writer 
 cannot agree, on the basis either of theoretical considera- 
 tions or of observation. For the adult to become angry with 
 the child is for him to put himself on the same plane of 
 instinctive impulse. He is then merely meeting force with 
 superior force. He fails to lead the child to see that his anger 
 is an unintelligent mode of expression, and to induce him by 
 
102 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the calm consideration of other aspects of the case than those 
 which aroused his anger to produce in himself contrary 
 forms of emotional attitude. 
 
 Other modes of treating anger. There are other ways of 
 treating anger which make the child aware that he is exhib- 
 iting a type of emotion which does not meet with social 
 approval. One may, for example, make the child see that his 
 display is ridiculous by friendly bantering, or the like. In 
 particular cases to show that one is aggrieved is a more 
 effective method to pursue. The mode of treatment depends 
 on the child. It may sometimes be necessary to show some 
 warmth of indignation which the child may recognize not 
 as personal resentment but as disapproval of wrong action. 
 In this way the child will come to make distinctions of right 
 and wrong between actions which at the start are merely 
 instinctive responses. 
 
 With increasing maturity the child gains control over his 
 impulses. As has been implied, the older the child grows, 
 the more he becomes capable of getting above his instinctive 
 reactions and of controlling them by controlling the ideas 
 by which they are produced. The child is largely absorbed 
 in the feeling or idea of the moment. The means of gaining 
 control over the momentary impulse is the ability to bring 
 to mind other considerations than those which have pro- 
 duced the momentary attitude. As one becomes less impul- 
 sive and more reflective, he gains the power of exercising 
 over his own responses somewhat the sort of control which 
 the older person can exercise over the responses of the child; 
 he becomes capable of substituting the response which he 
 has come to recognize as more desirable for one which in 
 his calmer moments he recognizes as undesirable. 
 
 Anger develops into indignation. What has been said 
 should not be taken to mean that the emotion of anger is 
 wholly useless or undesirable. W r e recognize this when we 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 103 
 
 distinguish between anger and indignation. We disapprove 
 of anger, first, chiefly because it is impulsive in its nature, 
 and is an expression of lack of self-control. We disapprove it 
 further when it is based exclusively on a sense of personal 
 injury. In anger one does not consider necessarily whether 
 the source of his anger is just or unjust, whether it is reason- 
 able or unreasonable, or whether there is any legitimate 
 cause for being angry. In the case of indignation, whether 
 it is directed toward an injury to ourselves or to somebody 
 else, we always have in mind the consideration whether the 
 action which arouses our indignation involves the violation 
 of right or justice. The ability to be indignant, then, means 
 that a person is capable of distinguishing between a just 
 and an unjust act. The child may be indignant as soon as 
 he can recognize justice and injustice. We sometimes make 
 the mistake of believing that the development of this re- 
 sponse is delayed until a late period of life. The common 
 view probably is that indignation does not appear until 
 about adolescence, but there are clear evidences of a much 
 earlier beginning of the reflective attitude of mind. 
 
 Jealousy develops into emulation. As anger is based 
 upon an attitude which goes beyond the simpler instinct to 
 the more complex attitude of indignation, so jealousy may 
 lead to the less violent and more permanent attitude of 
 emulation. While the jealous person does not at the same 
 time entertain a benevolent feeling toward the object of his 
 jealousy, emulation may exist together with an entirely 
 friendly feeling. It is therefore not necessarily an undesir- 
 able attitude of mind. When it is directed toward objects 
 which are in themselves worth while, it frequently forms a 
 useful stimulus to effort. It is very easily misdirected, how- 
 ever, as when it causes one to strive for objects which are not 
 in themselves worth while. It is also undesirable when, as is 
 frequently the case, it leads a person to strive for things 
 
104 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 which are beyond his capacity, or which do not lie in the 
 direction of his abilities. Thus a pupil in school may be led 
 to give undue attention to one particular kind of work 
 because a prize is offered in that work, whereas he has 
 greater capacity in some other direction, and his efforts in 
 this other direction would be rewarded by results of greater 
 consequence. 
 
 Emulation should not be a substitute for direct interest 
 in the activity. It is probably safe to say that when emula- 
 tion becomes so intense that it causes one to desire some- 
 thing that otherwise would awaken no interest it is out of 
 place. It is true that one might argue that we may properly 
 through emulation induce the child to learn that which would 
 otherwise have no interest for him, but which is essential to 
 his education. It is to be said in opposition to this argument, 
 however, that things which are learned in this way are less 
 thoroughly learned and produce fewer associations in the 
 mind than things which are learned for their own sake, and 
 that in addition to this the child is forming an undesirable 
 habit of mind. It is not likely, moreover, that it is necessary 
 to resort wholly or chiefly to emulation to induce the child to 
 learn anything which is essential. The child has such intense 
 curiosity and takes such great pleasure in successful accom- 
 plishment that the possibilities of such motives should be 
 exhausted before we assume that the child's interest cannot 
 be awakened. 
 
 Emulation, properly safeguarded, naturally supplements 
 other motives. Because emulation in excess is harmful it is 
 not necessary to go to the other extreme and hold that it 
 cannot be used at all. As was said in the chapter on Pla3 r , 
 competition is a natural form of activity. We could not 
 entirely eliminate it if we would. What we can do is to 
 avoid misusing it. One safeguard which has already been 
 mentioned is to encourage emulation chiefly between groups 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 105 
 
 rather than between individuals. Another is to avoid too 
 much artificial stimulation. It is a question whether prizes 
 do not usually produce such excessive artificial stimulation. 
 If a prize is to be offered at all, the best kind is one which 
 gives opportunity for further attainment, and not simply 
 for enjoyment. 
 
 2. Social types 
 
 There are individual differences in social attitudes. Dur- 
 ing the consideration of these forms of social response in the 
 child it will doubtless have occurred to the reader that there 
 are differences in different children in the comparative 
 prominence of the various traits. In some children the atti- 
 tude of sympathy will be more prominent while in others 
 jealousy will be the dominant attitude. The same distinc- 
 tion between types appears in another form of social atti- 
 tude which has not been mentioned, — namely, bashfulness 
 and sociability. In some persons the instinct of sociability 
 is much stronger than that of bashfulness, and they seem to 
 have no difficulty from the distressing embarrassment to 
 which others are subject. In persons of the latter type, 
 bashfulness may be so strong that they are not comfortable 
 in the company of any but their intimate friends. We may 
 then attempt to distinguish some of the more important 
 forms of social types. This distinction does not mean that 
 all persons can be classified as belonging to one or the other 
 extreme. It means merely that persons may vary in one 
 direction or the other, and that extremes are occasionally 
 met with. In the practical application of these facts it is 
 the extremes which raise the problem. The majority of per- 
 sons belong in this, as in other cases of individual differ- 
 ence, to the intermediate type. 
 
 Individuals may have positive or negative self-feeling. 
 The first distinction on which types may be based is one 
 
106 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 which is not confined merely to one's social attitude, but it is 
 especially prominent in this connection. The distinction on 
 which this type rests is between an attitude in which one 
 feels self-confident, able to meet the situation which con- 
 fronts him, with an accompanying sense of satisfaction or 
 pleasure; and the opposite attitude in which one has a sense 
 of incapacity, of depression and of inability to meet the 
 demands which are made upon him. These two opposing 
 attitudes are sometimes called positive and negative self- 
 feeling. 
 
 Positive and negative self-feeling do not necessarily go 
 with the possession or the failure to possess ability to meet 
 the situation. A person with negative self-feeling may be 
 capable and efficient, whereas one with positive self -feeling 
 may be inefficient. Positive and negative self -feeling each 
 finds extreme expression in a particular form of insanity. 
 In the one case there is elation, sense of power and of capac- 
 ity, and in the other case is melancholy and depression. In 
 neither of these cases is there anything in the facts to justify 
 the feeling. In the same way in normal mental life there 
 may be something of elation or depression which character- 
 izes a person's attitude without regard to the causes which 
 may exist for the feeling. The cause may be native tem- 
 perament or the condition of health and degree of physical 
 vigor. 
 
 Both extremes should be discouraged. When a person 
 represents either extreme, his attitude furnishes something 
 of a problem to those who have in charge his education. 
 The person with extreme positive self -feeling is apt to be 
 over-confident, to overrate his powers in comparison with 
 those of his associates, and to underestimate the difficulties 
 which confront him. He is apt to act in a reckless fashion 
 without due consideration of the difficulties. The person 
 with negative self -feeling, on the other hand, needs to be 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 107 
 
 encouraged to attack the problems of his life and vocation. 
 The difficulties appear to him to be larger than they should, 
 and he does not put forth sufficient effort. When properly 
 encouraged and stimulated he may be very efficient; but he 
 is apt, as is illustrated in the extreme case of the melancholic, 
 not to make an attempt because of his fear of failure. 
 
 Some individuals are bom leaders. There is another 
 group of persons who possess a capacity for leadership in 
 a marked degree. With these is contrasted, not a special 
 group who are deficient in this capacity, so much as all the 
 rest of the people who do not possess this trait in an espe- 
 cially high degree. Studies have been made to determine 
 what it is in a person's mental nature which qualifies him 
 for leadership, and a number of traits have been found to be 
 held in common by such persons. 
 
 The leader is self-confident. One of the traits which 
 seems to be most uniformly present among natural leaders 
 is that of self-confidence. In order to be a leader a person 
 must believe that he is capable of planning and carrying out 
 some campaign of action. He must not hesitate too greatly, 
 at least in the presence of the group which he wishes to lead. 
 The possession of a definite plan of action and confidence 
 in its feasibility is more important, apparently, than the 
 actual worth of the plan. The followers rely more upon the 
 expressed confidence of the leader than upon their own 
 recognition of the worth of his proposed course of action. 
 
 The leader plans a course of action for the group. As has 
 been said, self-confidence in the leader is accompanied by 
 the habit of thinking out a course of action for the future. 
 The leader must be prepared with some plan whenever a 
 contingency arises. He must therefore be continually schem- 
 ing so that he will have a plan to suggest before one is pro- 
 posed by another. The more thoroughly a plan is worked 
 out in detail, the more effective it will be, although some- 
 
108 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 times a vague and Indefinite plan is sufficient to bring a 
 group of persons into a united course of action. 
 
 Critics are a check on leaders. It has been said that lead- 
 ers are marked off as a class from the general group of per- 
 sons. There is, however, another class of persons, who, 
 although they do not have some of the capacities for leader- 
 ship, yet do not have the disposition uncritically to accept 
 any plan which may be proposed. They, therefore, are not 
 well suited to be either leaders or followers, and are often 
 regarded with suspicion and dislike by practical persons 
 who have the responsibility for carrying on some plan of cam- 
 paign. These persons may merely take a critical attitude 
 toward plans, and appear usually in the opposition to popu- 
 lar movements. In politics these persons are the independ- 
 ents. A larger view of the whole situation than that which is 
 possessed by the leaders, who are committed to some plan 
 of action, will make it clear that such persons are of great 
 value even although they are not themselves capable of 
 organizing definite plans of campaign. They serve to pre- 
 vent too uncritical following of leaders, merely because they 
 have the personal qualities which cause people to follow 
 them. 
 
 The aggressive type is contrasted with the meek type. 
 Another distinction between social types may be made 
 between persons who are aggressive in pushing their own 
 interests and working for their own satisfaction, and those 
 who have not such a keen sense of their own rights, or dispo- 
 sition to demand the satisfaction of their own desires. The 
 one type of person may be called the aggressive person and 
 the other the meek person. Here again it is important chiefly 
 to watch for and give the proper treatment to those who 
 represent the extremes. The extremely aggressive child 
 needs to be checked and to be led to the development of a 
 recognition for the rights of others and of habits of thinking 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 109 
 
 for and providing for others' welfare. The meek child needs 
 to have the habits of self-assertion developed, and needs to 
 be led to recognize that his usefulness will depend in large 
 measure upon the degree to which his own individuality is 
 developed. 
 
 The cooperative type. There is another distinction which 
 resembles somewhat the distinction between sociable and 
 bashful types and yet is somewhat different. This is the dis- 
 tinction between those who seem naturally fitted for coop- 
 eration with others, and those who find it difficult to carry 
 on cooperative endeavors. The cooperative persons may not 
 always be particularly sociable in disposition and the more 
 individual type of person may not be especially bashful. 
 The cooperative person seems rather to possess more of the 
 traits of tactfulness, of the disposition, in following out his 
 own purposes, to consider the ideas and opinions of others, 
 and to modify his purposes in their execution so that they 
 may be in harmony with those of others. Such a person is 
 willing to compromise when compromise seems to be essen- 
 tial to united action. 
 
 The uncooperative type. The opposite type of person 
 finds it very difficult to modify his plans at all in order to 
 adjust them to the opinions of his associates. His plan must 
 be carried out in whole or not at all. He is willing to see the 
 whole purpose wrecked rather than to have it modified in 
 any particular. Such a person is usually more earnest and 
 enthusiastic in his advocacy of measures than is the more 
 practical person, who is willing to compromise something 
 in the means if the general end is accomplished. The one 
 type of person is represented by the politician, who is able 
 to bring things to pass; while the other is represented by the 
 agitator who, while he himself does not accomplish definite 
 results, may so arouse public opinion as to lead to progress 
 in the direction of his ideas. These types may undoubtedly 
 
110 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 be found among children, and something may be done to 
 soften the more extreme contrasts. In each case a person 
 who represents either extreme would be usually more effi- 
 cient if he possessed something of the traits of the opposite. 
 There is probably no anti-social type among normal chil- 
 dren. It will be recognized that, although there are differ- 
 ences corresponding to the various types of persons which 
 have been described, and although extremes in general are 
 not advantageous, yet none of the types which have been 
 mentioned represent the disposition actively to do injury to 
 other persons, or to break down or destroy the relations 
 between people. That is, there has not been included what 
 might be called an anti-social type of person. It is a ques- 
 tion whether, among normal children at least, there are 
 any who are entirely anti-social. What we very often regard 
 as an expression of this type of mind is only so regarded 
 because of our blindness to the child's real motives. We 
 may make the child anti-social, perhaps, by our stupid treat- 
 ment of him, and by our misunderstanding of his real feel- 
 ings or attitudes. We may even so far mistake the child's 
 motive that when he is doing something intended to benefit 
 another, we blame and censure him because the results are 
 not what the other person desires. We may thus sometimes 
 cause him to adopt for himself an anti-social motive because 
 it is ascribed to him and because he recognizes the injustice 
 of the judgment. Those acts which are more commonly 
 interpreted as anti-social — the " selfish," and even the 
 " mean " acts — are often to be interpreted as due to the 
 weakness of motives which should prevent them, rather 
 than to any positive desire to harm or injure others. The 
 chief problem before the teacher in such cases is to develop 
 in the child in their due proportion such attitudes of mind 
 as sympathy and a sense of justice, which will lead to the 
 less selfish sorts of action. 
 
INSTINCTIVE SOCIAL ATTITUDES 111 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Is love of approbation as good a motive as interest in the work of the 
 school? Are the two motives opposed to each other? Are a person's 
 motives usually single or mixed? These questions are intended to sug- 
 gest a discussion of the whole question. 
 
 2. Should the attempt be made to suppress all fighting among boys? 
 Why? 
 
 3. Discuss the effect and value of prizes. 
 
 4. Describe persons of your acquaintance who exhibit positive and nega- 
 tive self-feeling. 
 
 5. Do extremely meek children have much influence among their com- 
 rades? 
 
 6. Give illustrations of anti-social actions. If anti-social actions exist, is 
 there any justification for maintaining that there is not an anti-social 
 type among normal children? Discuss. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Dewey, J. "Imitation"; in Cyclopedia of Education, vol. in. Edited by 
 
 Paul Monroe. (Macmillan, 1911-13.) 
 King, I. Psychology of Child Development, chap. x. (University of Chicago 
 
 Press, 1903.) 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study, chaps, vn and vni. (Mac- 
 millan, 1903.) 
 Mark, Thistleton. The Unfolding of Personality, chap. v. (University of 
 
 Chicago Press.) 
 O'Shea, M. V. Social Development and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 
 
 1909.) 
 Spencer, H. Education, chap. rv. (D. Appleton & Co., 1861.) 
 Tarde, G. Imitation. Translated by E. H. Parsons. (New York, 1903.) 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, chap, vin on "Imitation" and 
 
 on other forms of response. (Teachers College, Columbia University, 
 
 1914.) 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 Large importance of speech. Speech has long been re- 
 garded as the most characteristic human activity and the 
 one which separates man most clearly from the animals. 
 While this is true in a general way, and the researches into 
 the supposed language of the higher animals have not dis- 
 covered anything which corresponds to the highly developed 
 human language, yet we shall find here, as in the other forms 
 of mental development, that there are similarities between 
 the child in the early stages of his development and the 
 animal. Those elements of speech which are instinctive, 
 and which serve to communicate feeling, are largely the 
 same in animals and in human beings. But those elements 
 of human speech by which ideas can be expressed are dis- 
 tinctly different from anything to be found in animal lan- 
 guage. It is words, which serve to convey or express ideas, 
 that make human speech the foundation for progress in all 
 arts, sciences, and civilization. Before the development of 
 writing, oral tradition made it possible to hand down from 
 one generation to another the beliefs and the philosophy of 
 human kind. The development of language has made pos- 
 sible the institution of laws, and the regulations for conduct 
 which go beyond the mere instinctive reaction of one human 
 being upon another. The handing down of literature and 
 laws of a preceding generation has made it possible for the 
 next one to stand upon the shoulders of its predecessor and 
 progress beyond it. The human institutions of the state, 
 the school, and the church have been made possible by this 
 means of communication. The development of barter, com- 
 
SPEECH 113 
 
 merce, industry, and science all owe a large part of their 
 existence to this human instrument, which enables persons 
 to convey in a definite way their ideas from one to another. 
 Training in the understanding and use of language is an 
 important part of the child's education. If speech is so 
 important for mental development as has been indicated in 
 the previous paragraph, it is not surprising that it has long 
 been regarded as the most important if not the sole subject 
 of instruction in the school. Recent writers on education 
 have argued that the emphasis on speech has gone to an 
 extreme, and that the other elements of the child's experi- 
 ence — those which he gets through direct contact with the 
 world about him — have been neglected. The error which the 
 school has sometimes fallen into has been to train the child 
 in the use of words without giving him that experience 
 which makes words understandable to him. The mistake is 
 not in giving language training, but in not supplying also 
 the other forms of training which should go with it. The 
 danger in language training is that the teaching should fall 
 into the error of verbalism. In verbalism words are used as 
 the substitutes for ideas, rather than the expression of ideas. 
 When a child uses a word in a sentence without knowing 
 what that word means he is falling into the error of verbal- 
 ism. This does not mean that language can be dispensed 
 with. The child cannot either learn to express his ideas, or 
 to formulate them in his own thinking, without the use of 
 words. The use of names stimulates the child to distinguish 
 and to give attention to the objects in the physical world. 
 Still more are they the stimulus to the formation of more 
 abstract ideas. A well-coined phrase may be the crystalliz- 
 ing point for a political party. The beginnings of speech 
 lie in the home, but its development and perfection to serve 
 as a more delicate instrument of thought is the duty of the 
 school. 
 
114 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The general impulse to speak is instinctive. So far as 
 concerns the general impulse to expression, and the general 
 mode of expression, speech may be called instinctive. The 
 child does not learn to speak because he recognizes that it is 
 of value to him in a practical way to communicate with 
 others. He has a native impulse to communicate which is 
 exhibited very early in his life. Furthermore, the method 
 which he adopts, even apart from any impulse to imitate 
 others or to be instructed by them, is expression through 
 the use of his voice. 
 
 The expression of feeling through the tone of the voice is 
 instinctive. The child, in common with certain of the ani- 
 mals, uses instinctively certain kinds of vocal expression. 
 These are chiefly the expression of the emotions. For ex- 
 ample, fear is universally expressed by a cry or a shriek, 
 which is the same among all mankind, and which we recog- 
 nize without having been taught its significance. In the 
 same way anger, or affection, or the finer shades of feeling, 
 may be expressed or recognized. These forms of tone qual- 
 ity or of inflection, by which the emotions are conveyed to 
 others, do not merely exist as separate forms of expression, 
 but they persist as a means of giving additional significance 
 to the words by which we learn to express our ideas. Speech, 
 then, is both the expression of ideas by the articulation of 
 particular words, and the accompaniment of certain tones, 
 inflections, and even gestures, by means of which the feeling 
 attitudes which accompany the ideas are conveyed. 
 
 Words are got through imitation. The special form of 
 articulation which is used in the words of one's native tongue 
 is got through imitation. The child does not have an in- 
 stinctive predisposition to one language rather than another. 
 The grammatical structure of the sentence also, and the 
 broader forms of usage of the language, the child gets 
 through hearing and imitating others. The models which 
 
( ■ 
 
 SPEECH 115 
 
 are set before the child, therefore, are extremely important 
 as governing the correctness or the appropriateness of the 
 usage which he learns to adopt. 
 
 The first words are learned through double imitation. In 
 acquiring the ability to pronounce the words of his native 
 language, the child profits by a sort of double imitation. 
 This is illustrated in the explanation of the universality of 
 the words mamma and papa. The child, through his own 
 spontaneous babbling, gains control over the production 
 of a few simple syllables. The adult listens to the child's 
 vocal play, and, catching certain sounds, repeats them and 
 applies them to some object. The first words which are 
 thus taken and applied are naturally referred by the parents 
 to themselves. The child then merely repeats expressions 
 which he has himself already used, giving them a meaning 
 which has been associated with them by the adult. As he 
 gains wider and wider control over the production of differ- 
 ent sounds, he comes finally to be able to pronounce new 
 words through hearing them. Thus double imitation gives 
 him the starting point for the acquirement of words. 
 
 The language which the child learns is conventional. We 
 may examine in further detail the stages through which the 
 child passes in the imitative learning of his mother tongue. 
 We have found that he possesses some forms of expression 
 which are instinctive, and which therefore do not have to be 
 learned. He can convey his feeling to others by the tone of 
 his voice, or by the expression of his face, or the gestures of 
 his body. He early learns to supplement these by pointing 
 to objects to which his attention is attracted, and to which 
 he wishes to attract the attention of others. These may be 
 called natural forms of language. Words, on the contrary, 
 are conventional, which means that we do not understand 
 their meaning instinctively, but have to learn it by experi- 
 ence. This conventional language is made up of articulated 
 
116 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 words, and articulated words are composed of definite com- 
 binations of vowel and consonant sounds. 
 
 Learning to talk consists in substituting conventional 
 words for the more primitive, instinctive forms of expression. 
 The word is at first little more than a means of designating 
 that about which the child wishes to express his thought. It 
 is of the same nature as pointing. The idea or feeling which 
 the child wishes to express concerning an object is given 
 through gesture or through intonation or facial expression, 
 or a combination of these various means. For example, the 
 child will say hat, at the same time pointing to the hat and 
 indicating by his intonation that he wishes it. Again, the 
 child learns to express his desire for something by means of 
 the verb want, whereas previously it was expressed merely 
 by the intonation of the voice. While in the earlier speech 
 the subject is usually understood and the object is expressed, 
 the child later finds a word to express also the subject of a 
 sentence. The finer shades of thought expressed by adjec- 
 tives, adverbs, prepositions, etc., come still later. 
 
 Meaning is expressed also through sentence structure. 
 Another means by which the child learns to express defi- 
 nitely that which formerly was expressed through facial 
 expression, gestures, or intonation, is sentence structure 
 and sentence order. In the beginning the difference be- 
 tween the question and the declaration is expressed merely 
 by the intonation, but as the child gains more mastery over 
 the language he gives a different order to the words in the 
 sentence in which he asks a question, from that in which he 
 makes a declaration. The development of compound and 
 complex sentences indicates a further progress in ability in 
 expression. At the first use of sentences the child merely 
 asks questions or makes declarations, and strings one clause 
 after another by the use of the connective and. When he 
 begins to use various relative particles such as when, 
 

 SPEECH 117 
 
 expressing time, or if, expressing condition, he is making 
 explicit a form of thought which previously had been 
 expressed merely through the context in which the clauses 
 occur. The progress in mental development in the child 
 may be traced through the kinds of clauses which he intro- 
 duces into a sentence, and the words by which they are 
 introduced. He expresses a cause and effect relation by the 
 word since; and an alternative by the words either — or. 
 Such words as nevertheless and accordingly are not found in 
 the vocabulary of the very young child. 
 
 Learning to pronounce presents difficulties. Besides gain- 
 ing an understanding of more and more complex words and 
 the ability to use them, the child must also overcome diffi- 
 culties in learning to pronounce the words. This ability in 
 pronunciation is one which is founded in the first instance 
 upon the vocal play of the child. By this means he gains 
 control over the production of the various sounds which are 
 used in the language. It is a still more complex and difficult 
 performance, however, when he not merely pronounces the 
 different sounds spontaneously, but learns to articulate 
 them voluntarily in copying a sound which he hears, and to 
 combine them with other sounds in the syllables of a word. 
 The acquirement of skill in pronunciation is one which comes 
 gradually and is in process of development through a con- 
 siderable period of childhood. 
 
 Pronunciation depends on hearing. The development of 
 skill in this pronunciation depends on the accuracy with 
 which the child hears the sound, or discriminates among the 
 various sounds, on the one hand, and upon the control of the 
 various elements of the movement by which the sound is 
 produced on the other. Development in pronunciation, 
 therefore, may be hastened by calling the child's attention 
 more minutely to the sound of a word, and this may be 
 done by pronouncing it slowly so that the sounds are made 
 
118 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 distinctly. The ability which the child displays in distin- 
 guishing the various sounds of a language is remarkable, 
 considering the imperfect way in which they are pronounced 
 by adults. In order to hasten the process, those who asso- 
 ciate with children should be careful to speak slowly and 
 distinctly. 
 
 There is additional difficulty in pronunciation itself. The 
 development of control of the breathing apparatus, the vocal 
 cords, tongue, lips, etc., which are involved in speaking, 
 should be gained by practice in the production of sounds 
 with the attention on the sound itself, and not upon the 
 movement with which it is produced. With the child, it is 
 usually a mistake to call his attention to the details of the 
 movements by which he is attempting to perform an act. 
 The more natural method of learning, as we shall see in a 
 later chapter, is to keep the attention fixed upon the results, 
 while the movement is varied until the desired result is 
 obtained. It is a well-known fact that when one attempts 
 to think of the means by which the habits that are becoming 
 or have become automatic are carried on, one becomes con- 
 fused. This is particularly true of children. The exception 
 to this rule occurs when the position or movement of the 
 lips, tongue, and teeth is easily seen and may be copied 
 by the child in getting the beginning of control over a new 
 sound. 
 
 Speech may be retarded by physical defects or by pro- 
 longed baby talk. When the child does not make ordinary 
 progress in learning to talk, as for example when he lisps 
 beyond the usual period, the difficulty may be due to sev- 
 eral causes. There is a possibility that it is due to a mental 
 defect, or a physical impediment, such as tongue-tie or a 
 cleft palate. These causes are infrequent, however, in com- 
 parison with the whole number of cases; and the difficulty 
 is usually the result of the lack of proper training. When 
 
SPEECH 119 
 
 this is the case the precautions which were mentioned 
 above — the use of distinct and pure speech in talking to 
 the child, and practice by the child in correct speaking — 
 should be insisted upon. The child is often retarded in his 
 speech development by the persistence of baby-talk which 
 is unwisely encouraged by his nurse or parents. 
 
 Stammering is a higher degree of the same defect. When 
 the persistence of the infantile characteristics of speech 
 becomes unduly prolonged and is continued into the later 
 childhood, the difficulty is called stammering. In this case 
 it is somewhat more serious since the bad habits have been 
 longer in formation and have become more firmly fixed. 
 They are, however, of the same general character as those 
 which have been mentioned above, and must be treated in 
 the same manner. The difference is that the treatment must 
 be more systematically carried out, and with more persist- 
 ence. 
 
 Stuttering is not so much imperfect speech as partial 
 inability to speak. The interruption of speech in stuttering 
 results from the inability to combine the various movements 
 which make up speech as they should be combined. For 
 example, the child does not properly coordinate the breath- 
 ing and the production of sound. The breath should of 
 course always be expired or driven out during the speaking 
 of a word or a sentence. In the case of the stutterer the 
 attempt is very often made to speak while the breath is 
 being inspired or drawn in. The lack of proper coordination 
 between the various elements of speech sometimes results 
 in the entire inability to speak. Sometimes the effort to 
 speak results in saying over and over again the same sylla- 
 ble without being able to progress to the next one. This is 
 to be regarded not as the imperfect development of the 
 habit, so much as the breaking down of the habit. 
 
 The origin of many of the cases of stuttering is instructive 
 
120 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 as to its cause and as to its means of treatment. It is fre- 
 quently found that a person begins to stutter at some 
 definite time, or as the result of some definite experience. 
 Sometimes it is due to the imitation of another stutterer. 
 Another peculiarity about his defect is that it is not at all 
 times present or equally troublesome. The stutterer can 
 very often speak with perfect freedom under certain circum- 
 stances. Some stutterers, for example, can speak in public. 
 Most stutterers can sing without difficulty, and can speak 
 when they are alone. The difficulty is often aggravated 
 when in the presence of certain persons, and particularly 
 in the presence of strangers. These characteristics of the 
 malady indicate that it is chiefly of a mental nature rather 
 than of a physical, and that it should be treated by psycho- 
 logical means. 
 
 Treatment should overcome the stutterer's anxiety. The 
 most characteristic symptom of stutterers is an anxiety that 
 they will not speak correctly. This anxiety may be con- 
 nected particularly with certain words. In such cases the 
 person will be able to speak freely except when trying to 
 pronounce these particular words. The object of the treat- 
 ment, therefore, is to enable the stutterer to regain his con- 
 fidence in his ability to speak. Every situation which causes 
 him anxiety should be avoided. It may be desirable for a 
 time not to require a stutterer to recite in class. Some assist- 
 ance is gained by slow, deliberate speaking. A stutterer 
 may use various devices, such as whistling or speaking 
 rhythmically. While these may assist him, yet the main 
 point is the acquirement of mental control by which he 
 may overcome his anxiety. 
 
 Correct habits of speech are not the same as knowledge 
 of grammar. While the child acquires his native language 
 largely through imitation, the school has commonly supple- 
 mented this method by instruction in the rules and princi- 
 
SPEECH 121 
 
 pies which govern the usage of the language. The study of 
 these rules and principles is called grammar. The knowledge 
 of the grammatical rule is not the same as the habit of speak- 
 ing so as to conform to the rule. For example, it is not the 
 same thing to know the principle that the verb and its sub- 
 ject should agree in number, and to construct one's sen- 
 tences so that the subject and verb shall agree. To take 
 another illustration, a person may have learned through 
 imitation to say " he seen " instead of "he saw," but may 
 persist in the wrong usage even after he has learned to recite 
 the fact that the past tense of see is saw and not seen. On 
 the other hand, a child may have learned the correct usage 
 through imitation whereas he has never heard of the princi- 
 ple. See in this connection Hoyt's investigation referred to 
 at the end of the chapter. 
 
 A study of grammatical principles is of value in using the 
 native language. Such facts as these have led many to con- 
 clude that the knowledge of grammar is useless and that 
 the time spent on its study is wasted. It is thought that a 
 person will use a language more naturally, correctly, and 
 fluently if he learns it merely by getting his ear and voice 
 accustomed to correct speech, than by analyzing and learn- 
 ing general rules. There are certain points, however, where 
 such habits, formed merely through practice, break down. 
 In the first place, the habits based on imitation cover only 
 the individual cases which have been learned. If a new case 
 comes up the person who has learned solely by this method 
 is at a loss. A knowledge of the grammatical principle will 
 in such a case often enable one to know what construction 
 to use. The principle is general, while the habit, in the 
 main, covers only special cases. Not only is this true in 
 new cases, but it is also true that a knowledge of the general 
 principle helps one out in cases in which a doubt arises as to 
 what construction to use, even if the habit has been previ- 
 
122 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 ously formed. Take the common error of the pronoun illus- 
 trated in the sentence, " The teacher called on Jane and I." 
 The knowledge that I becomes vie when it is the object of 
 a verb or preposition makes clear what form should be used. 
 If the habit fails, one may have recourse to a rule governing 
 the case. Finally, the study of a rule or principle is helpful 
 in those cases in which one has formed the wrong habit in 
 the first place and needs to break it. 
 
 The grammar which has been commonly taught has been 
 too elaborate. While it is probably of advantage to familiar- 
 ize the child with the chief facts regarding the grammatical 
 structure of his native language, and to cause him to learn 
 the simpler rules, the grammar taught in the school has usu- 
 ally gone into much greater detail than can be justified by 
 its application to the needs of speech or writing. The minute 
 and formal classification, inflection, and parsing of words, 
 and the detailed analysis of the sentence and definition of 
 its component parts, have probably been carried much 
 farther than is worth while. A beginning in the discovery of 
 the kinds of grammatical facts that are profitable to teach has 
 been made in Charters's study of the errors found in the 
 speech of the school-children in Kansas City. The mistakes 
 which the child is likely to make should be anticipated by 
 the development of the contrary habit of correct speech, 
 and probably by learning the rule or principle which covers 
 the case. This will necessitate a familiarity with a few dis- 
 tinctions and grammatical terms. But, if the author may 
 cite his own experience in evidence, the larger share of the 
 formal grammar which has commonly been taught in the 
 school has no discoverable relation to the development of 
 habits of either oral or written expression. 
 
 A knowledge of grammatical principles helps in the study 
 of a foreign language. The reasons which were given in the 
 preceding paragraph for the study of grammar apply to all 
 
SPEECH 123 
 
 children. There are additional reasons which apply to those 
 who study a foreign language. The moment a person begins 
 to use a foreign language he comes in contact with forms 
 which differ from those to which he has been accustomed. 
 The sentence order may differ widely, as in German or in 
 Latin; nouns and adjectives may be more highly inflected 
 so as to express various relations by the form of the word 
 itself rather than by the use of prepositions; distinctions in 
 gender may be made more freely, and so on. In the case of 
 all such differences, the student will appreciate more clearly 
 the usage of his own and of the foreign language if he makes 
 some study of the structure of his own tongue either before 
 or during the study of the foreign tongue, and compares the 
 two, than if he merely learns them both " by ear." 
 
 Grammatical study should be deferred. The view that a 
 study of grammar is helpful to one who studies a foreign 
 language may seem contrary to the fact that young children 
 learn foreign languages easily in the same way that they learn 
 their native tongue. There would be a contradiction unless 
 it were made clear that grammatical study should not come 
 until the child is fairly well along in the formation of his 
 language habits. As was indicated in the reasons which were 
 given for the study of grammar, this study is not the chief 
 basis for the formation of language habits, nor can it be a 
 substitute for these habits. Its function is rather to supple- 
 ment these habits by making the reasons for the usages 
 clear to the child. Hence this study does not come properly 
 until the later years of the elementary school. 
 
 Oral expression is fundamental. Expression through oral 
 speech is so important for the child's ability in any form 
 of expression, and for his ability in thinking, that its right 
 development deserves especial attention. The child gains a 
 control over oral expression long before he has command of 
 written expression. He therefore is capable of sustained and 
 
124 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 fairly complex expression of thought in speech, long before 
 he can express his thoughts with any fluency or ease through 
 writing. It is a matter of common observation that the child 
 in the earlier grades finds it very difficult to compose his 
 thoughts in writing. The writing process itself is so difficult 
 that it distracts his mind from the thought which he is 
 trying to develop. Speaking also encourages a fullness, a 
 fluency, and a connectedness of expression which is apt to 
 be absent from written expression. The child should there- 
 fore have ample experience with the easier type of expres- 
 sion, in order that he may be able to develop the ability to 
 express his thought in language by the use of the easier 
 medium. 
 
 Writing requires special training. Though written expres- 
 sion is secondary to oral expression, it, itself, requires spe- 
 cial training. It is incorrect to assume that because the 
 child has learned to express his ideas in speech, he can 
 express them easily in writing. The changed conditions 
 modify the problem, so that the skill gained in the one form 
 of expression does not entirely meet the demands of the 
 other. In writing it is necessary to express one's thought 
 more clearly and explicitly than in speech. Inflection, 
 gesture, and facial expression may, as in the case of the 
 young child, make the meaning of one's words clear when 
 he is speaking, whereas it would be ambiguous in writing. 
 When one uses written expression, therefore, it is necessary 
 to pay particular attention to the choice of words, to the 
 sentence structure, and to the order of words in the sen- 
 tence, by which the meaning may be most clearly conveyed. 
 Hence written expression is of value in addition to oral 
 expression in that it gives system and definiteness of 
 thought. Imperfections and inaccuracies which would pass 
 unnoticed in oral expression become evident as soon as they 
 are put in writing. The fact that what is written is presented 
 
SPEECH 125 
 
 to the eye simultaneously also encourages logical arrange- 
 ment and coherence of thought. 
 
 The acquirement of a vocabulary depends on a wide 
 experience with words. The importance of the ability to 
 choose words which best express one's meaning, and the 
 means by which one may learn to use the most appropriate 
 words deserve comment. Studies of the understanding 
 that children have of the words which they have met in 
 their reading, but which are not in their common every-day 
 vocabulary, indicate that their grasp of the meaning of such 
 words is very imperfect. Many children's ideas of such 
 words as monk or armor are very grotesque, and depend 
 often upon the resemblance of the sound of the word to 
 some word with which they are familiar, or upon some such 
 superficial analogy. It is not sufficient, in order to give a 
 child an adequate grasp of the meaning of a word, that he 
 should read its formal definition in the dictionary. What 
 he needs is wide experience with the word, through hearing 
 it used or reading it in a large variety of connections. If the 
 word is the name of a concrete object, he must have come in 
 direct contact with the object, so that he can recall this 
 experience when the word is used, or at least he must have 
 had the best possible substitute for such experience through 
 pictures or descriptions. To understand words other than 
 those of a concrete nature the child must have met them 
 often in conversation or reading. Those children have the 
 best grasp of words who have the widest experience with 
 them, through hearing them used in the home, and through 
 wide reading. In order to give children in the school the 
 same grasp of word meanings similar experience must be 
 furnished them. 
 
126 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Give illustrations of instinctive vocal expression in animals. 
 
 2. How may ideas be communicated otherwise than by words? 
 
 3. What are the advantages of words for the communication of ideas? 
 
 4. What is verbalism in teaching and how is it to be avoided? 
 
 5. Give illustrations of two common errors in speech and of the gram- 
 matical principles or rules which they violate. 
 
 6. Illustrate the variation of meaning or emphasis which is produced by a 
 change of the order of words in the sentence. 
 
 7. Show in more detail than is given in this chapter why it is difficult for 
 the child to distinguish clearly the speech he hears. 
 
 8. Give an illustration from your own observation, if you can, of the fact 
 that the knowledge of a rule of grammar does not guarantee against its 
 violation. 
 
 9. Illustrate and describe a formal definition of a word. In what way does 
 such a definition contribute to our understanding of the word? 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Charters, W. W., and Miller, Edith. A Course of Study in Grammar, etc. 
 
 (University of Missouri, Educational Bulletin, no. 9.) 
 Fletcher, J. M. "An Experimental Study of Stuttering"; in American 
 
 Journal of Psychology, vol. xxv, pp. 201-55. (1914.) 
 Hoyt, F. S. "The Place of Grammar in the Elementary Curriculum"; in 
 
 Teachers College Record, November, 1906. 
 Judd, C. H. Introduction to Psychology, chap. x. (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 
 
 1909.) 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study, chap. xm. (Macmillan, 
 
 1903.) 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ACQUIRING SKILL 
 
 The child is born with the ability to make a very small 
 number of movements, besides those of the internal organs. 
 He is not able to walk, or talk, or use his hands in handling 
 objects, or to direct his eyes toward an object, or to focus 
 them upon an object. Some of the movements which later 
 develop are largely instinctive in their nature, such, for 
 instance, as walking. Others the child has to learn largely 
 by experience and practice. An illustration of this type of 
 learning is handling objects, and later the more delicate 
 types of manipulation involved in using tools or writing. 
 The child is born with the ability to perform fewer move- 
 ments than are the higher animals, but with the capacity 
 to develop a larger number, and greater delicacy of move- 
 ment than any of the animals. This capacity for develop- 
 ment is partly due to the possession of a better adapted 
 organ of movement, the hand, and partly to a more deli- 
 cately organized nervous system, and a higher intelligence, 
 by which he is able to direct his movements toward the 
 results which he wishes to produce. 
 
 Skill is acquired through the formation of connections 
 between sensory stimuli and motor responses. The acquire- 
 ment of skill may be described in more exact terms as 
 sensori-motor learning. We may take any form of skill we 
 please, and it can readily be shown that in each case the 
 movements are guided by the recognition of outward stim- 
 uli, or at least by the sensations which outward stimuli pro- 
 duce. Even such an act as walking, which is in the. main 
 instinctive, must be carried on through a delicate and con- 
 
128 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 tinuous adaptation to sensations. The disease of locomotor 
 ataxia, or tabes dorsalis, illustrates the necessity of sensa- 
 tions as guides to movement. In this disease the patient 
 loses the sensitivity to touch in the soles of the feet, and to 
 movement in the muscles, joints, and tendons in the legs. 
 As a consequence, the patient becomes unable to walk if he 
 is also deprived of the guiding sensations of the eyes; and in 
 the advanced stages even vision is incapable of serving as a 
 substitute for the other sensations. Sensations are necessary 
 in the development of skill, just as they are in the proper 
 control of movements after they have been learned. In 
 learning to write the child is concerned not merely with 
 movements, but with the adjustment of movements to the 
 form of the letter which he apprehends through visual 
 perception. 
 
 1. The classes of sensori-motor learning 
 In the first class, the task is to connect movements already 
 under control with perceptual elements. We may take as an 
 illustration of this type of learning the maze experiment. 
 This is illustrated in the labyrinths which are sometimes 
 found in amusement gardens. These labyrinths consist of a 
 series of paths on the way from the entrance to the exit, 
 arranged in such a way that many of them lead into blind 
 alleys. The task is to learn to turn in the right direction at 
 each turning-point, so as to pass through the maze by the 
 shortest route, and without having to retrace any steps. 
 Animals, such as the white rat, and human beings are on 
 much the same level in learning the maze. It may be seen 
 on a moment's reflection that the chief requirement in this 
 form of learning is to make the proper association between 
 the situation at each point in the maze where there is a 
 choice of paths, and the movement of turning in the right 
 direction. A second form of learning in which the same 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 129 
 
 general character is found is that of sorting cards, or of dis- 
 tributing letters or cards alphabetically. Here the require- 
 ment is that one should connect the sight of the initial letter 
 of the name on the object which is to be distributed with the 
 movement of putting the object in its appropriate, pigeon- 
 hole. It is a matter of connecting a movement over which 
 the learner already has control with an object or aspect of 
 the situation, which is fairly easily distinguished from the 
 surrounding objects. Running an automobile is a third 
 illustration of the same type of sensori-motor association. 
 The movements of turning the steering-wheel or of pulling 
 the brake-lever or of pressing the foot-levers are not in 
 themselves difficult or new, but the ready association of 
 these movements with the aspect of the situation which 
 demands starting the machine, or stopping it, or turning 
 to the one side or the other must be learned. 
 
 The second class demands the organization of new move- 
 ments in response to their stimuli. The simplest case of the 
 second class of learning, which illustrates fully only one 
 phase of it, is found in an experiment by Bair on learning 
 to move the ears. This movement is one which is commonly 
 made when one smiles broadly or raises the eye-brows 
 strongly, and the muscles and nerve connections which are 
 necessary to make the movement are present to start with. 
 The chief process which is involved in learning to make this 
 movement voluntarily is its isolation from the movements 
 with which it was originally associated. This has to be done 
 by associating this particular movement with some percep- 
 tion, either the sight of the movement as one looks in a 
 mirror, or the effect which is produced when a system of 
 levers is attached to the ear, — as was done in this experi- 
 ment. Other examples of this class of learning are more 
 complex, such as handwriting, handling tools, performing 
 gymnastic feats or playing games of skill. In these types of 
 
130 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 learning, of which handwriting may be taken as an illus- 
 tration, it is necessary not only to select the individual 
 movements from the groups with which they were previ- 
 ously associated, but also to associate the individual move- 
 ments into combinations which did not exist before. In 
 handwriting, for instance, the action of the four fingers, 
 which is similar in the primitive act of grasping, must be 
 differentiated. The first and second fingers must be used in 
 grasping the pen and the third and fourth in supporting the 
 hand. The first and second fingers in grasping the pen must 
 also be associated with the thumb, and these adjustments 
 of the fingers must be associated with certain movements 
 of the arm either in moving along the line or, in the extreme 
 arm movement, in forming the letters themselves. The 
 other examples of this class which have been mentioned — 
 such activities as skating, bicycle riding, and in learning to 
 pronounce new words, or words in a new language — are all 
 illustrations of this process of breaking up the movements 
 which have previously been associated together, and asso- 
 ciating them into new patterns. 
 
 This type of learning begins with diffusion and involves 
 inhibition. Whenever one attempts to develop a radically 
 new movement, he makes at the outset a large number of 
 excess movements. The bicycle rider exerts altogether too 
 much force in gripping the handle bars and there is a general 
 tenseness of the whole body. The same diffusion of impulse 
 is shown in the contortion of face, and the twisting of the 
 body and the feet, in a child who is learning to write. There 
 is what may be called an overproduction of movement 
 through the scattering of the nervous impulse to other 
 muscles than those which are appropriate to the task. This 
 is due to the fact that the correct associations have not been 
 formed, and it is a necessary condition in order that new 
 paths of connection may be made. The selection of move- 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 131 
 
 ments from this diffused number of movements has as its 
 other side the inhibition of the useless movements. One 
 may look upon the process either as the selection of the suc- 
 cessful movements, or the elimination of the others. From 
 the practical point of view the selection of movements is to 
 be regarded as the primary process, and inhibition simply 
 as the result of the process of selection. In particular, we 
 can select the correct movement more readily by fixing our 
 attention on the result which we wish to produce, or in a 
 few cases upon the movement itself, rather than upon the 
 movement which we do not wish to make. There are some 
 exceptions to this rule, but in the main it holds good. 
 
 The elementary movements in a coordination have to be 
 properly combined with reference to both time and force. 
 Such a combination of movements, which is built up through 
 the selection of certain elements of previous movements, and 
 their organization into new groups, is called coordination. 
 The coordination may be faulty through the failure of the 
 movements to follow one another in the proper time, or to 
 have the proper strength in comparison to each other. In 
 all feats of skill the correct timing of the successive move- 
 ments is a very important element. This is clearly seen in 
 the gymnastic feat which is called the " kip." In this act 
 one suspends himself by his hands to a horizontal bar and 
 swings backward and forward until the body has acquired a 
 rapid motion, and then, when the forward extreme of the 
 swing is reached, raises the toes to the bar and by a sharp up- 
 ward and outward kick raises the body so that the bar crosses 
 it at the extremities of the arms. The crucial requirement of 
 this feat is that the kick be made at the proper time. If this 
 is done the body is raised with comparative ease; if not it is 
 next to impossible to get the body up. Faults in writing illus- 
 trate the improper balance of the component movements in 
 force. If the middle finger, for instance, presses too hard 
 
132 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 against the hand on a downward stroke, the stroke is pushed 
 too far to the left. If the thumb presses too vigorously the 
 stroke is deviated toward the right. 
 
 Rhythm is a valuable help in forming coordinations. The 
 proper adjustment of movements to one another in time 
 and also in force is promoted by making the movement 
 rhythmically. Rhythm has long been made use of by work- 
 men to assist them to adjust properly the movements of 
 different individuals to one another. For instance, in raising 
 the anchor by turning the windlass, sailors use songs which 
 enable them to give the impulse all at the same time. In the 
 same manner the different individual movements which com- 
 bine in a coordination seem to work together more harmoni- 
 ously when the movement as a whole is made in a somewhat 
 regular or rhythmical fashion. A smoothness and ease may 
 be observed in a movement that is rhythmical which is 
 absent from an irregular movement. The rhythmical move- 
 ment may be made for a longer time without fatigue than 
 one which is not rhythmical. A prominent example of the 
 long continuance of rhythmical movements is to be found 
 in the involuntary movements of the heart, the lungs, and 
 other vital organs. Investigations of handwriting have 
 shown that well-coordinated writing is made with greater 
 rhythm than writing which is ill coordinated. For these 
 reasons, therefore, it is a good practical rule to attempt to 
 develop rhythm in any movement which we wish to learn. 
 
 In the third class of sensori-motor learning the series of 
 movements is more complex, and the stimulus to which the 
 response is made is more highly organized. The third class 
 of sensori-motor learning is not different in kind from the 
 two preceding classes, but is rather different in degree. 
 Illustrations may be used to bring out this difference. In 
 typewriting and piano-playing, for instance, the require- 
 ment is not that radically new or different or individual 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 133 
 
 movements be made, so much as that these movements be 
 organized or arranged in complex series or patterns; and 
 this arrangement of the movement is promoted by learning 
 to recognize the words or the groups of notes to which the 
 movements are the response. 
 
 2. Methods and factors in sensori-motor learning 
 The trial and success method is fundamental to sensori- 
 motor learning. If one will examine his experience in learn- 
 ing an act of skill he will recognize that to a large degree he 
 did not foresee the favorable variations by which his move- 
 ment became better. Nor did he recognize with any degree 
 of clearness how the improvement was made after it came. 
 The good performer is not necessarily a good teacher of 
 others, because he does not know how he himself succeeded. 
 The teacher needs to make a different sort of study of his 
 activity than does the learner; and it may even be that the 
 kind of analysis which is desirable for the teacher is unfavor- 
 able to the highest degree of skill as a learner. The attitude 
 of the learner is not to so high a degree the analytical atti- 
 tude as is that of the teacher. The learner fixes his attention 
 upon the result he wishes to produce and then attempts to 
 repeat the movement which proves successful. The method 
 is more or less one of blind trial. Each successful move is a 
 step toward perfection. For this reason the method is called 
 the trial and success method. 
 
 The application of the trial and success method varies in 
 the different classes of sensori-motor learning. In the first 
 class, the trial and success method is necessary in those 
 cases in which it is not possible to foresee what move to 
 make. This is true in the maze form of learning with both 
 human beings and animals. In the true maze one does not 
 have any means of foretelling at each turn what path to 
 take. He can therefore only discover the correct path by 
 
134 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 trying one of them out, and governing his actions by the 
 result. If one had a guide to lead him through the maze the 
 learning process would simply consist in associating the 
 right movement with each turn in the path, without previ- 
 ously having to determine by trial what the right move was. 
 It is significant that human beings learn a maze in the 
 same way as animals. In some of the other illustrations 
 of this class of learning, however, the connection between 
 the movement and the stimulus does not have to be discov- 
 ered by blind trial. This is true, for example, of the act of 
 sorting letters. Here the main purpose of practice is to fix 
 the association between the stimulus and the response. The 
 connection can be learned without having first to be dis- 
 covered. In such cases as this trial and success is only 
 applicable to learning the best mode of carrying out the 
 movement in detail, such as the best method of handling the 
 cards and throwing them into the box. 
 
 When new movements have to be organized trial and suc- 
 cess is the preeminent method. In those forms of learning 
 which were included in the second class, such as ball-tossing, 
 skating, bicycle riding, games of skill, handwriting, and 
 pronunciation, our control of the individual movements 
 which are to go into the final coordination is so limited, and 
 so little under conscious direction, that we have no means 
 of determining by analysis or reflection how the new move- 
 ment is to be organized. This conclusion is emphasized by 
 the study of the development of skill in the psychological 
 laboratory, and by the study of the characteristics of those 
 persons in ordinary life who possess a high degree of manual 
 skill. The study of the development of skill in the labora- 
 tory indicates that, in the majority of cases, the learners 
 hit upon the successful method of performing a movement 
 without foretelling how the movement is to be made and 
 without any clear recognition after it was made of the man- 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 135 
 
 ner in which their success was attained. The improvement 
 seems to come of itself with practice, although strict atten- 
 tion is necessary in order to make good the gains which 
 came thus in unforeseen manner. The study of those per- 
 sons in every-day life who possess high manual skill indicates 
 that this gift does not necessarily go with high ability in 
 more intellectual pursuits. The exceptionally gifted baseball 
 player, or expert in other games of skill, is not preeminently 
 a person who shows high ability in science, art, politics, or 
 in any other intellectual pursuit. In fact, it is quite common 
 to observe men who have attained high distinction in their 
 calling present a ludicrous spectacle on the golf links or on 
 the tennis court. This does not mean that there is neces- 
 sarily an opposition between manual skill and more abstract 
 intellectual activities, nor does it mean that thinking may 
 not properly be used in the development of skill; but it 
 means that the fundamental and basic process in the devel- 
 opment of skill is not the higher form of thought analysis. 
 
 Trial and success is important in the forms of learning of 
 the third class, although it is not preeminent, as in the sec- 
 ond. In learning to play the piano, or to use the typewriter, 
 or to carry on other highly organized complex movements of 
 the same sort, there are elements of skill which have to be 
 acquired through the trial and success methods. Since, how- 
 ever, these forms of learning do not involve so radical a 
 reorganization as those in the second class, and since the 
 recognition of the stimulus and its organization is an 
 important element, the trial and success method is not so 
 prominent here as in the cases just described; but in such 
 matters as developing the proper touch, or great ease, free- 
 dom and rapidity of movement, the trial and success method 
 is here also essential. 
 
 Imitation and verbal direction supplement the trial and 
 success method. It was pointed out under the head of the 
 
136 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 trial and success method that a guide might be a substitute 
 for blind trial in learning the maze. There are also certain 
 elements in other cases of sensori-motor learning in which a 
 person who has himself been through the process is able 
 to furnish directions or a model for guidance to the learner, 
 which will somewhat reduce the necessity of discovering 
 the best method of procedure by blind trial. One cannot 
 doubt that the manner of holding the pen, the position of 
 the paper, the attitude which one takes at the desk, and 
 numerous other elements of one's position, contribute to- 
 ward success or failure in forming a good habit of hand- 
 writing. In the game of golf, while a person may sometimes 
 be able to attain a moderately good score although he vio- 
 lates most of the rules laid down by the experts, yet the 
 following of the more fundamental of these rules unquestion- 
 ably is favorable to the attainment of the highest degree of 
 skill of which an individual is capable. The teacher of the 
 violin or the piano quite rightly insists upon certain ele- 
 mentary practices in hand position. In playing the violin, 
 for instance, the wrist must be kept fairly well arched rather 
 than be allowed to slump down. In learning to use the 
 typewriter it is much better to use all of the fingers than 
 to follow the natural practice of the untrained writer of us- 
 ing only two or three, and there are certain fingers which 
 are best to use in pressing certain keys. 
 
 Form can be taught, execution must be learned. The 
 elements of learning which have been used as illustrations 
 of the possible usefulness of imitation and verbal directions 
 may be summed up under the head of form. The form of 
 any act comprises those positions or adjustments which 
 one can assume in a more or less voluntary manner, because 
 his previous experience has given him the necessary control 
 over the parts of the body which are used. Thus in hand- 
 ling the tennis racket it is a simple matter to grasp the 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 137 
 
 handle toward the end rathef than toward the middle. 
 In driving a golf ball one can voluntarily assume such a 
 position that the line joining his two feet will be approxi- 
 mately parallel to the direction in which he wishes the ball 
 to go. In studying the process of learning to keep two balls 
 in the air with one hand, Swift found that the learners dis- 
 covered accidentally that it was better to throw up a ball in 
 a different position from that in which it was to fall so that 
 the ball going up would not collide with the one coming 
 down. There is no reason why the learners might not have 
 been able to adopt this method of throwing if they had been 
 so instructed. The application of blind trial in this case 
 might therefore have been avoided by the use of instruction 
 or by the use of a model to be followed. 
 
 Imitation and instruction supplement each other. Imi- 
 tation has value of a certain sort which is not possessed by 
 verbal instruction, and the reverse is also true. Ordinarily 
 the learner can get the more correct idea of the form which 
 should be adopted by watching the teacher rather than being 
 simply told how to assume the correct position. Imitation 
 should therefore be used as the starting-point. In fact, in- 
 structors commonly say that a young learner will adopt the 
 correct form if he has good models to imitate, without any 
 explicit instruction. Frequently, however, the learner does 
 not succeed entirely in assuming the correct position from 
 imitation. He does not realize the difference between his 
 own position and that of the teacher. In such cases it is 
 necessary to supplement imitation by means of verbal di- 
 rection. That is, the pupil's attention must be called to the 
 points in which his position differs from that of his teacher. 
 By this means he may be led to examine the details of his 
 position more carefully and to correct those which are 
 wrong. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that the adoption of 
 
138 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 good form is the whole story. A person's form may be fault- 
 less and yet, in some manner or other which it is difficult to 
 detect, the movement may always go wrong in the execution. 
 The carrying out of the movement is a matter of such rapid- 
 ity and such complexity that it cannot be directed in detail 
 by means of attention to the details. Form or position is 
 something which can be adjusted slowly and piecemeal. 
 Execution can never be built up in this manner. Recent 
 experiments by Gilbreth indicate that the study of motion 
 picture records of movements may enable the learner to 
 modify advantageously his movement in the direction of 
 greater economy, but the possibility of this kind of analysis 
 has not been completely explored. Attention to the details 
 of execution are apt to overemphasize one part of the total 
 movement in comparison to the other parts, and thus to 
 throw the coordination off because the adjustment in time 
 and force is not properly made. To put the matter in another 
 way, in the acquirement of good form one's attention may be 
 largely on his bodily adjustment, but in the acquirement of 
 execution attention must be chiefly on the results which one 
 is aiming to produce. By giving attention to results, after cor- 
 rect position has been assumed at the start, the complemen- 
 tary parts of total coordination fall into their proper places 
 by the process of adjustment through success and failure. 
 
 Passive or guided performance may have limited value. 
 It is a serious question whether the completely passive 
 performance of an act contributes anything toward its ac- 
 tive performance. That is if one's hand is simply allowed to 
 be guided through the making of a movement, when he is 
 making no effort himself, it is doubtful whether the nervous 
 connections which are essential to the development of the 
 act are affected in the slightest degree thereby. The case 
 may be different, however, with guided performance. In this 
 case the learner is attempting to make the movement, but 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 139 
 
 does not know just how it is to be made. The teacher may 
 assist him in making the movement, and in this way he gets 
 the feeling of the movement in association with the success- 
 ful result. It is probable that there is thus some contribution 
 made to the connection which he is desiring to form between 
 the stimulus and the response. Thus Bair found that in the 
 study of learning to move the ears electrically stimulating 
 the ears was of some assistance to the learner. It is com- 
 monly believed that to take the child's hand and guide him 
 in forming the letters in handwriting gives him such a feel- 
 ing of the movement that he is better able to repeat it vol- 
 untarily. In gymnastic feats the practice of putting the 
 learner in a harness and assisting him to make the move- 
 ment is common. One object of this practice, of course, is 
 to prevent injury in performing somewhat dangerous feats, 
 but the experience of making the movement, which is gained 
 in this way, is probably of some assistance. 
 
 Reflection or thinking is of limited value in sensori-motor 
 learning. It has already been said that those who are suc- 
 cessful in activities which require a high degree of skill are 
 not as a class characterized by unusually high ability in 
 abstract thought, or in intellectual pursuits. There are two 
 possible ways in which thinking may be employed in fur- 
 thering sensori-motor learning. In the first and simplest, 
 thinking is simply a matter of recalling those experiences of 
 the past which throw light upon the methods of learning. 
 That is, one may recall the methods he used when he was 
 successful, and contrast them with the methods which he 
 pursued when he was unsuccessful. Such methods may 
 be not simply the detailed adjustments which have pre- 
 viously been made, but also the attitudes of mind with which 
 the task was approached. This type of thinking is undoubt- 
 edly of value. It is an extension of the trial and success 
 method by means of memory. The other way in which think- 
 
140 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 ing may be used is to attempt to figure out theoretically the 
 best adjustments with which to meet the demands of the 
 task. This may be called the application of science to the de- 
 velopment of skill. However this may be possible theoreti- 
 cally, it is not the actual method which has commonly been 
 pursued. The baseball pitcher does not learn to throw a 
 curve by the application of the theoretical principles of 
 science. The tennis player does not learn how best to hit the 
 ball to obtain various kinds of strokes through the applica- 
 tion of the principles of physics. There is no question but the 
 principles of the sciences do have application in these fields, 
 but the ordinary player certainly is not in a position to dis- 
 cover the best methods to pursue by the application of these 
 principles. There is another way in which science is being 
 applied to the discovery of the best methods of learning. 
 This procedure is illustrated in the experiments upon learn- 
 ing which form the background of the principles set forth in 
 these chapters. Science in this case is not applied to the 
 external situation, but to the discovery of the kinds of ad- 
 justments which the learner makes in order to be successful. 
 Science is applied here to the learner himself, rather than to 
 the situation in the physical world which confronts the 
 learner. Even here, while we believe that science has much 
 to say which is of help to the learner, the individual learner 
 can investigate the principles of science for the purpose of 
 discovery to only a limited extent, and then only when the 
 learning is carried on under definitely controlled conditions. 
 The attention in learning is commonly best directed on 
 the objective conditions and the results of the learner's 
 effort. Certain systems of teaching those acts which in- 
 volve skill have called the learner's attention to the struc- 
 ture and activity of the bodily organs which are used. There 
 is a school of teachers of singing, for example, which instructs 
 the learner in the anatomy and physiology of the organs of 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 141 
 
 speech, including the lungs, the vocal cords, the cavities 
 of the mouth, the tongue, the lips, etc. There are certain 
 methods of teaching handwriting which direct the pupil's 
 attention intensely and for long periods toward his hand and 
 his arm, as distinguished from the letters which he is form- 
 ing. Contrary to these practices, Swift found in his experi- 
 ment with ball-tossing that the learners directed their eyes 
 and their attention chiefly upon the ball as it went through 
 the air, and that their eyes never, and their attention seldom, 
 reverted to their hands or arms. This represents the ex- 
 treme opposite of the practice suggested above. In the case 
 of singing this would mean that the learner's attention 
 would be chiefly upon the tone which he is producing and the 
 comparison between this and the model which he was at- 
 tempting to imitate. In the case of handwriting this would 
 mean that the pupil's aim would be to produce a form which 
 was like the form which he is copying, or to discover the 
 defects in his own writing and to remedy these defects. The_ 
 extreme practice of giving attention wholly or chiefly to 
 the result which is being produced is preferable to the ex- 
 treme practice of giving chief attention to the method by 
 which the result is reached. But it is not necessary to choose 
 either of these two extremes. The distinction which has 
 already been made in discussing the different methods of 
 learning will apply to this issue. The discovery or the at- 
 tainment of good form in the movement may be furthered 
 by some attention to the process, or to the adjustment of 
 the part of the body which is being used. It is related that 
 an American crew defeated an English crew in rowing by 
 means of a stroke which was not at all in accord with the 
 traditional principles which governed the sport. The coach 
 of the American crew had developed what he called the 
 "Git-thar" stroke. His aim had been to discover the kind 
 of stroke which produced the greatest speed, and he was not 
 
142 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 bound particularly by the traditional form which had been 
 handed down. The individual, of course, must be conserva- 
 tive in modifying the form which has been determined by 
 previous experimentation to be the best, but he should never 
 lose sight of the results in his endeavor to acquire correct 
 form. 
 
 The Golden Rule of sensori-motor learning is much repe- 
 tition. It follows clearly from the analysis of sensori-motor 
 learning that progress can be gained only through a large 
 amount of practice. This principle has frequently been vio- 
 lated. In drawing and writing in the past the child has been 
 so taught that he produced a very limited amount during 
 a practice period. The drawing book and the copybook were 
 designed to last for a whole year, and yet might be filled by 
 a child using the modern method in a few weeks. The ideal 
 of the older procedure was to stimulate the child to reach 
 a high degree of perfection by slow and painful effort. The 
 principle of the modern method is to tolerate a large amount 
 of inaccuracy in the child's early efforts and to expect him 
 to attain a moderate degree of speed, and then to improve 
 in both speed and accuracy together. 
 
 Repetition to be of value must be progressive. Not- 
 withstanding the need of repetition mere repetition may be 
 worse than useless. The careless going over of an act with- 
 out strict attention to the results, so that improved methods 
 are taken advantage of and poor methods are continually 
 being eliminated, serves to confirm the learner in the errors 
 which he happens to be making, or even permits him to fall 
 into new errors. Repetition produces progress only by the 
 application of the principles of reward and punishment. 
 Reward and punishment may be applied in a literal and 
 physical sense, as when an animal is taught to approach 
 red rather than blue, by being given food when he approaches 
 red and being given an electric shock when he approaches 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 143 
 
 blue. Reward and punishment, on the other hand, may be 
 of a more remote character, and may consist in the satisfac- 
 tion which follows gradual attainment by the learner of an 
 aim which he has set up for himself. Thus, in learning to 
 write the reward comes when the pupil succeeds better in 
 producing easily and rapidly the standard forms, and the 
 punishment is the uncomfortable feeling he has when he fails. 
 The application of reward and punishment in this case de- 
 pends altogether on the pupil's discrimination between those 
 efforts which are in the right direction and those which are 
 in the wrong direction. This necessitates that he be given 
 aid in the analysis of his results. He must be induced not 
 only to compare in a general way his own writing with the 
 model, but also to criticize his own writing from various 
 particular points of view, such as uniformity, quality of 
 line, letter formation and spacing. 
 
 The feeling attitude in learning must be neither too in- 
 tense nor too relaxed. The psychologists, Bryan and Har- 
 ter, in their study of the telegraphic language, laid down the 
 principle, "It is only intense effort that educates." This 
 principle has been questioned by other investigators, who 
 point out that very intense effort may cause anxiety and con- 
 fusion, and thus retard progress rather than further it. In 
 the consideration of this question we may recognize both the 
 fact that an easy-going or a lazy attitude toward one's work 
 is not productive of gain, and at the same time that anxiety 
 and an effort artificially to stimulate oneself may entirely 
 miss the mark. It is not only necessary to put forth effort, 
 but the effort must be under control. The speed of perform- 
 ance must not be allowed to exceed the point at which accu- 
 racy can be maintained. Effort must not be allowed to pro- 
 duce confusion of mind. The application of effort must be 
 consistent and not spasmodic. Finally, the effort to be most 
 productive should not be worked up in an artificial manner, 
 
144 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 but should be the result of one's interest and absorption 
 in the matter in hand. His desire should be not so much to 
 put forth energy as to accomplish results. Here, again, at- 
 tention to the objective results is a corrective of error. 
 
 The practice curve is complicated by a number of factors. 
 The first factor which influences the practice curve is the 
 method by which the curve itself is constructed. This is 
 a purely technical affair, and is not influenced by the real 
 
 140 
 
 
 
 130 
 
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 120 
 
 - 
 
 
 MO 
 
 - 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 - 
 
 
 o> 80 
 
 . 
 
 r Main line rate / 
 
 ^70 
 
 y 
 
 
 J 60 
 ^50 
 S.40 
 
 J 
 
 
 52 30 
 
 <v 
 £20 
 
 J3 io 
 
 // i i i i i i 
 
 i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i | i i i i i_i_i 
 
 4 8 12 
 Weeks of practice 
 
 16 
 
 20 24 28 32 36 40 
 
 Fig. 11. Curves of Sending and Receiving of One Learner 
 
 in Telegraphy 
 
 (From Bryan and Barter's article in Psychological Review, vol. iv, by permission 
 of the publishers.) 
 
 nature of the process in learning itself. In general, the prac- 
 tice curve is constructed by plotting a series of points, each 
 of which represents by its height above the base line the de- 
 gree of skill the learner has reached, and by its position on 
 the horizontal line the stage in the total learning period 
 when that degree of skill was reached. Thus a curve which 
 rises from left to right represents improvement in skill. 
 The method of constructing the practice curve which is 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 
 
 145 
 
 probably the best, is to divide the whole practice period into 
 equal units of time, to be represented by the divisions on the 
 base line, and to calculate the proficiency which is attained 
 at these successive periods of time by the number of acts 
 which can be performed in a given unit of time. For example, 
 in typewriting this would mean that the base line would rep- 
 resent hours or days of practice, and that the height of the 
 
 2100 
 1900 
 1700 
 IS00 
 
 m 
 
 § 1300 
 a 
 
 « 1100 
 o 
 
 S: 900 
 | 700 
 
 o 
 
 & 500 
 
 •M- 
 
 u 300 
 
 I 100 
 55 
 
 J L 
 
 J. 
 
 JL 
 
 -i_ 
 
 J. 
 
 ■ — i 
 10 20 30 40 50 W 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 
 Amount of exercise: io hours. 
 
 Fig. 12. Curves of Progress in Typewriting 
 
 (From E. L. Thorndike's Educational Psychology, vol. n, by permission of Teachers 
 College, Columbia University.) 
 
 curve above each point on the base line should represent the 
 number of letters which could be written in a minute or an 
 hour. Figures 11, 12, and 13 show three curves constructed 
 according to this plan. The first represents progress in tele- 
 graphic language by Bryan and Harter; the second repre- 
 sents progress in typewriting from Book; and the third prog- 
 
146 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 ress in mirror drawing. There are evidently represented 
 here three types of practice curves, one in which the progress 
 is rapid for a time and slow later on, showing what is called 
 negative acceleration, another in which the progress is 
 fairly uniform throughout the learning period, and the third 
 which shows more rapid progress toward the end of the 
 
 Drawings 
 per minute 
 6 - 
 
 i i i t t t i t i i i i i i i i iii 
 
 I 5 10 
 
 20 Second Intervals 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 Fig. 13. Practice Curve in Mirror Drawing 
 
 Based on the average scores of a group of individuals (using drawings per 
 minute in equal intervals of time to construct the curve). 
 
 learning period than at the beginning. The form of the prac- 
 tice curve doubtless depends largely upon the nature of the 
 learning, and in particular upon its relation to previous 
 acquisitions. If a previously learned movement can be 
 applied without very radical alteration to the new task, 
 progress will be likely to be rapid at the beginning and slow 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 147 
 
 later on, as the limit of the improvement is approached. 
 If, on the other hand, a radical reorganization of move- 
 ment is necessary it seems likely that the progress will be 
 slower at the beginning, perhaps increasing later on and 
 finally reaching a point where it slows down again. We 
 cannot say that there is any one universal form of practice 
 curve. 
 
 The practice curve shows many fluctuations in ability. 
 The fluctuations in the practice curve may be of a tempo- 
 rary character or longer continued. A sudden drop or sudden 
 rise in achievement may last only for a day at a time or may 
 extend over several days or even over weeks and months. 
 It has been customary to distinguish between minor fluctua- 
 tions and longer fluctuations in the curve, and to give the 
 name of plateaus to these longer retardations in progress. 
 No such sharp line as this can be drawn, however. We find 
 fluctuations which represent all the degrees between a 
 daily rise or fall in the curve and a plateau. The most 
 general statement which can be made in regard to progress 
 is that it is not uniform, but that every learning curve has 
 its ups and downs. Some of these ups and downs are of very 
 short duration, but others last for longer periods of time. 
 The short time fluctuations are difficult to explain. It 
 seems probable that they are due partly to chance. In 
 some cases different degrees of difficulty in the task itself 
 may account for them, and in other cases changes in one's 
 physical condition or attitude may be the source of the 
 fluctuation. Frequently the learner is not conscious of the 
 fact that he is doing especially well or especially poorly, 
 until he examines his score. It is not possible to connect the 
 good or the bad scores directly with physical condition, 
 or at least the attempts which have thus far been made 
 have not been able to find close connection between phys- 
 ical condition and rate of progress. We must accept these 
 
148 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 minor fluctuations as apparently necessary elements of the 
 practice curve, and possibly ascribe them to the great com- 
 plexity of the factors which influence it. If they are recog- 
 nized as perfectly normal manifestations we are in a position 
 to avoid becoming discouraged by them. 
 
 Plateaus appear in the more complex forms of learning. 
 The discovery of the long time fluctuations or retardations 
 in the practice curve was made by Bryan and Harter in their 
 study of the telegraphic language. It was significant that 
 they found the plateau to exist, not in the process of sending 
 a message, but only in receiving a message. The retardation 
 in progress came in the organization of the perceptual stim- 
 uli rather than in the development of the movement of 
 tapping the key and sending the message over the wire. 
 Plateaus have often been found in such complex processes 
 as learning to use the typewriter and learning a foreign lan- 
 guage. In ball-tossing and mirror drawing, on the other 
 hand, and in some of the simpler forms of associative learn- 
 ing, plateaus do not appear. Plateaus seem to be particularly 
 prominent in those forms of learning which require a com- 
 bination of activities, and in which the learning process is 
 in large measure the development of these combinations. 
 Since this process is most largely characteristic of perceptual 
 learning, plateaus can be most appropriately discussed in 
 that connection. 
 
 3. Individual and age differences 
 The child is commonly thought superior in sensori-motor 
 learning. It is the common belief that the child is capable 
 of developing skill more readily than is the older person. 
 This belief is found frequently among those whose business 
 it is to teach various forms of skill. One hears it said that 
 in order to learn to play the piano or to use the typewriter, 
 or to play a game such as golf or tennis, with the highest 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 149 
 
 degree of skill, it is necessary that the earner should begin 
 during childhood. 
 
 The child is inferior to the adult in rapidity of movement 
 and steadiness of adjustment. To the disadvantage of the 
 child are certain facts which have been clearly brought out 
 by experimentation. It appears from a study of the rate 
 of movement oi: persons of different ages that the child is not 
 capable of such rapid movement as the older person. Com- 
 parative measurements of children of different ages from 
 six to seventeen years show an increase in the rapidity of 
 tapping of sixty per cent. Similar improvement has been 
 found in the ability to make rapid strokes with the pen. A 
 marked improvement is also found in the ability to main- 
 tain the body as a whole, or any part of the body, in a steady 
 position. This has been measured by recording the amount 
 of involuntary movement which a person makes when he 
 tries to hold still. One investigator found that the amount 
 of involuntary movement of the body as a whole is only one 
 fourth as great, and of the finger one sixth as great, in case 
 of the adult as it is in the case of the child just entering 
 school. This increase in steadiness is a very marked ad- 
 vantage in any form of development of skill. 
 
 To attain the highest skill, one should begin early ; but the 
 child learns more slowly than the adult. Two forms of 
 this question should be distinguished. We may ask first 
 whether children can reach a higher degree of attainment 
 than the adult; or whether a person can reach a higher 
 attainment when he begins as a child than when he begins 
 at a later age. Or we may ask whether a child or an adult im- 
 proves more quickly in the development of skill. The two 
 questions are not identical. It may be possible that a child 
 can ultimately reach a higher stage of development when he 
 begins early, although he is not able to improve so rapidly 
 in the beginning. It will probably be conceded that in order 
 
150 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 to reach the highest degree of ability in motor skill, it is 
 usually necessary to begin during childhood, though there 
 are exceptions to this rule. With reference to the immediate 
 effect of a given amount of practice, however, it is doubtful 
 whether the child can attain as much improvement by the 
 same amount of practice as can the adult. 
 
 A controlled experiment with one child indicates inferi- 
 ority to adults. Since we have not at hand more extensive 
 
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 80- 
 
 60- 
 
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 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 li 
 Trials (averages of 4) 
 
 Fig. 14. Curves of Two Adults and an Eight-Year-Old Girl 
 in the Same Kind of Sensori-Motor Learning 
 
 studies in the comparison of children with adults in sensori- 
 motor learning one case may be cited as a bit of evidence. In 
 this study the child of eight years was put through a training 
 experiment in tossing shot into a tumbler. The child's par- 
 ents also went through the same experiment under exactly 
 the same conditions. All three individuals were interested 
 in the experiment and pursued it with vigor. The accom- 
 panying Figure 14 shows the practice curves of the child and 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 151 
 
 the two adults. The child is observed to be inferior to the 
 adults throughout the practice period, and to improve with 
 about the same degree of rapidity as the adults. At the end 
 of the training period the child was inferior to the adults by 
 about the same amount as at the beginning. 1 
 
 The child's plasticity is an advantage from the point of 
 view of final attainment, and a disadvantage from the point 
 of view of rapid progress. It is common to say that the 
 child has the advantage over the adult because of the fact 
 that he is more plastic. It is necessary to define clearly what 
 we mean by plasticity. It is true that the child has not so 
 many habits of movement as has the older person, and it 
 is therefore probably easier for him to develop habits of a 
 special sort because of the fact that older habits do not in- 
 terfere with them. Thus, in the case of language, the child 
 has not acquired firmly fixed habits of pronunciation, which 
 interfere with his acquirement of the different modes of pro- 
 nunciation of a new language. On the other hand, habits 
 which have been learned previously are, in a large measure, 
 the means of rapid learning of a new form of activity. The 
 adult in so far has an advantage over the child, in that he 
 has more habits of control which he can apply to the new 
 situation. It may very well be that the adult can attain more 
 rapid improvement because he has more older habits which 
 can be applied in the new problem, but that he cannot 
 finally attain such a high rank, because of the fact that the 
 older habits are not exactly like the ones which have to be 
 formed in the new task, and that therefore they interfere 
 with the formation of the newer habits. This conclusion 
 would seem to be supported by the fact that adults rarely 
 learn to pronounce foreign languages without an accent. 
 
 Plasticity in the child is contrasted with control in the 
 adult. As has just been said, the child is less hampered by 
 
 1 From an unpublished study by Mr. J. F. Gonnelly. 
 
152 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 previously learned ways of acting than is the older person. 
 He is capable of doing new and different things more easily. 
 On the other hand, the habit which the adult has already 
 formed may serve as means of control by means of which new 
 habits may be formed. The adult has more control over his 
 activities, and this control is represented by his existing 
 stock of habits. If these habits, which he already possesses, 
 can be readily used in the activity which is to be learned 
 they are of advantage. Since old habits can be used in most 
 forms of learning the adult has in most cases an advantage 
 at the beginning. Since, however, these habits have to be 
 modified, in the great majority of cases, before the new ac- 
 tivities can be perfected there is a certain degree of inter- 
 ference between the adult's control and the new activity 
 which he has to develop. 
 
 The child's plasticity favors imitation as a method of 
 learning. When the adult sees another person perform a new 
 act he has a tendency to translate it in terms of acts which 
 he himself can perform. He is limited, so to speak, by the 
 vocabulary of action which he already possesses. He may not 
 realize that he is failing to copy the teacher accurately, and 
 this places a limitation upon progress. The child begins 
 without such definite habits of movements and therefore 
 he is in a position to copy more faithfully the model which 
 is set before him. Since the nervous impulse does not have 
 such a pronounced tendency to flow into particular channels, 
 there is greater freedom for the child to develop the chan- 
 nels of discharge which will produce a movement most like 
 the one which he is attempting to imitate. 
 
 The child's suppleness is an advantage. The child may 
 have an additional advantage due to the fact that his 
 muscles and joints are more supple than are the adult's. 
 The fact of plasticity mentioned in the preceding paragraph 
 has to do with the connections in the nervous system. 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 
 
 153 
 
 Apart from this type of plasticity, it may be that the child's 
 body is a more pliable tool for the nervous system. It cer- 
 tainly is true that he is more supple and this undoubtedly 
 gives him a certain advantage. 
 
 There are wide individual differences. It must be kept 
 in mind that in addition to differences due to age, there are 
 wide differences among individuals. There is a great over- 
 lapping between the ability of children of the early and 
 later ages. Many children of six years will have a greater 
 skill of movement than others many years older. These 
 facts have to be taken into account in teaching manual 
 training, handwriting, or sewing, or any other subject which 
 involves the development of manual skill. 
 
 Table I. The Distribution or all the Fifth-Grade Pu- 
 pils in one City in Writing, with reference to Form 
 and Speed 
 
 
 
 
 
 Form 
 
 
 
 
 Ay rea scale 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Letters -per minute 
 
 SO and 
 
 30 and 
 
 Ifi and 
 
 50 and 
 
 60 and 
 
 70 and 
 
 80 and 
 
 90 
 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 45 
 
 65 
 
 65 
 
 75 
 
 85 
 
 
 100 and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 above 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 
 90-99 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 
 80-89 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 29 
 
 27 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 _ 
 
 
 70-79 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 42 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 <v 
 
 a, 
 
 00-69 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 38 
 
 32 
 
 37 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 w 
 
 50-59 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 
 40 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 40-49 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 14 
 
 22 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 _ 
 
 
 30-39 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 _ 
 
 
 20-29 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 Children's handwriting shows remarkable individual 
 differences. The importance of individual differences may 
 perhaps be best brought out by reference to the activity of 
 handwriting. If we measure the range and the excellence 
 
154 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 of writing of the children of any school grade we will find 
 that they differ among each other to a very surprising degree. 
 Children of the same school grade may vary from the bottom 
 to the top of the scale in form, and from twenty letters a min- 
 ute to over one hundred letters a minute in speed. The scat- 
 tering of the children in the same grade and the same school 
 system is brought out in Table I. This table was made up 
 by locating each child with reference to both form and speed. 
 The scores in form are represented by the numbers across 
 the top of the table and the scores in speed by the numbers 
 on the left-hand margin. Thus, if a child makes a high score 
 in form he will be placed toward the right of the table and 
 if he makes a high score in speed he will be placed toward 
 the top. His position will be determined by the square on 
 the table which forms the intersection of the numbers rep- 
 resenting his form and his speed. After a tally was placed 
 in this way for each child the tallies were added and their 
 number placed in the squares. These numbers are repre- 
 sented in the table. For example, there were forty children 
 who wrote with a speed of fifty to fifty -nine letters a minute, 
 and whose form was rated at sixty or sixty -five. The star- 
 tling fact is that we find the children so widely scattered over 
 the various parts of the table, which shows that there are 
 very wide variations in the speed and the form of the writing 
 of this grade, and also in the relation between speed and 
 form. Some children may write very well but very slowly 
 while others write well and rapidly. On the other hand, some 
 children write very rapidly and poorly while others write 
 slowly and poorly. 
 
 Training should be adjusted to individual differences. 
 The ordinary school training which gives the same kind and 
 amount of practice to children who differ so widely in their 
 abilities, is an injustice to all of the children except those who 
 are in the middle rank. The study of tables for the fifth, 
 
ACQUIRING SKILL 155 
 
 sixth, and seventh grades, of the sort which is represented 
 here, indicates that twenty-five per cent of the children are 
 already superior in the characteristics of both form and speed 
 to the next grade above them, and that fully forty per cent 
 of these children would be superior in both form and speed to 
 the next grade above them if they had developed these two 
 characteristics in proper balance. There can be no question 
 that much time is wasted in giving these children training 
 which they do not need. On the other hand, the children 
 who are at the lower end of the scale are not profiting as 
 they should by the training which they receive. They re- 
 quire special training either in amount or in kind, and prob- 
 ably in both, to raise their ability to the point which it 
 should reach. It is probably not advisable to attempt to so 
 reduce the differences between the children of the same grade 
 as to bring them all to the same point of achievement. 
 This is an extreme which it would be hardly possible to 
 reach; but a reduction of the amount of divergence which 
 now exists by one half would very greatly improve the 
 present situation. Undoubtedly the same wide divergences 
 could be found in other subjects which have not been sub- 
 jected to as precise study as has this. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Take a pack of cards containing several series numbered from 1 to 10, 
 shuffle them, and sort them into piles by their numbers. Do not 
 arrange the piles in a regidar sequence. Repeat the sorting often 
 enough to acquire considerable facility. Keep a record of the time 
 required for each sorting and draw a curve to represent your progress. 
 
 2. Arrange a mirror in front of you on the table so that it will give a view 
 of a piece of paper on the table before you. Place a cardboard or paper 
 screen so that you cannot see the paper directly. Prepare a series of 
 sheets of paper by drawing on them each a square 2 inches in diameter. 
 Place the paper with the square upon it squarely before you and draw 
 the diagonals as rapidly as possible while viewing the figure in the 
 mirror. Keep a record of the time required. Repeat ten times and draw 
 a curve of your progress. 
 
156 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 3. Compare the two cases of learning represented above. 
 
 4. Is diffusion involved in both examples of learning? If so is it equally 
 prominent? 
 
 5. In mirror drawing is coordination with reference to time or force the 
 more prominent? Compare mirror drawing in this respect with dancing. 
 
 6. Was the trial and success method involved in sorting cards? In mirror 
 drawing? 
 
 7. Compare the role of repetition in those cases in which trial and success 
 is and is not prominent. 
 
 8. Give two additional illustrations of advantageous good form in learning. 
 
 9. In what would attention to the result consist in wood working? 
 10. Apply the facts regarding the child's inferiority in motor ability. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Bair, J. H. "The Development of Voluntary Control"; in Psychol. Rev., 
 vol. vm, p. 474. (1901.) 
 
 Book, W. F. The Psychology of Skill. University of Montana, Publications 
 in Psychology. 
 
 Bryan, W. L. "On the Development of Voluntary Motor Ability"; in 
 Amer. Jour, of Psychol., vol. v, pp. 125-204. 
 
 Bryan, W. L. and Harter, N. " Studies in the Physiology and Psychology 
 of the Telegraphic Language "; in Psychol. Rev., vol. iv, pp. 27-53. (1897.) 
 
 Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. (Ginn & Co., 1915.) 
 
 Swift, E. J. Mind in the Making. (Scribner's, 1908.) 
 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, vol. n. (Teachers College, Co- 
 lumbia University. 1913.) 
 
 Washburn, Margaret Floy. The Animal Mind. (New York, 1908.) 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 
 
 It was shown in the preceding chapter that the develop- 
 ment of skill depends on the response to stimuli which are 
 presented to the senses. No learning is possible without the 
 apprehension of the stimulus, and hence some perceptual 
 learning is involved in learning of the simplest sensori- 
 motor sort. There are particular forms of learning, however, 
 in which the recognition of the stimulus is not simply a„nec- 
 essary means to an immediate reaction, but is the main 
 object or aim. Thus, in writing, it is necessary to learn the 
 form of the letter and the meaning of the combination of let- 
 ters in words in order that we may produce them on paper. 
 In reading, on the other hand, the aim is not to learn the 
 form in order that it may be reproduced, but rather to gain 
 such recognition of the form that it may be understood. 
 
 In perceptual learning the first aim is to obtain a clear and 
 correct apprehension of the object. The gaining of a clear- 
 cut sensory impression is itself the result of development. 
 The child in the beginning does not recognize form, al- 
 though to the adult form appears to be inherent in the sen- 
 sation itself. That this recognition is not inherent in the 
 sensation, but is the product of development, is shown in 
 those cases in which our form recognition is erroneous. Such 
 cases are illustrated in optical illusions. The Mtiller-Lyer 
 illusion, shown in Figure 15, is an illustration of this. The 
 two lines which are inclosed in arrow-heads, the one set 
 pointing inward and the other outward, are of equal length, 
 as may be demonstrated by measurement. They appear to 
 the ordinary observer, however, to be very unequal in length. 
 
158 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Our comparison of the length of these two horizontal lines is 
 therefore affected by the presence of the oblique lines. Such 
 
 Fig. 15. Muller-Lyer Illusion 
 
 a simple perception as this turns out to be a complicated af- 
 fair. It has grown up as a result of the early experience of 
 the child. But ordinary experience has not given the train- 
 ing necessary to perfect this particular recognition. By 
 means of special training on this particular point the com- 
 parison of length in the Muller-Lyer illusion can be made 
 more accurate. This is done by gradually learning to dis- 
 regard the distracting oblique lines. This illustration shows 
 that in what we call in ordinary language sensory impres- 
 sions there is more than simple sensations. There is in such 
 an experience a combination of sensations ; and there is added 
 to the sensory impression itself the interpretation which has 
 come from experience. In the more exact language of psy- 
 chology, such seemingly simple but really complex experi- 
 ences, which are caused by sensory stimulation, are called 
 perceptions. What in ordinary speech are called sensations, 
 and in technical language perceptions, require training and 
 experience for their development. 
 
 In other examples of perceptual learning the interpreta- 
 tion of the sensory impression is a more prominent feature. 
 This is illustrated well in reading, either of words or of musi- 
 cal notation, or of any other symbols such as mathematical 
 symbols. In this case we have to learn, not only to clearly 
 distinguish the form of the object, but also to associate a par- 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 159 
 
 ticular form with its appropriate meaning. If the child has 
 learned to observe a card with the letter a printed upon it, 
 and to pick out from a miscellaneous assortment all of the 
 cards which have the same letter upon them, he has de- 
 veloped a rather simple sort of form recognition. If he has 
 learned to connect the names of the letters with the letters, 
 he has developed an additional type of recognition. But 
 if he can also recognize words, such as dog, cat, house and 
 knows that these printed words represent particular objects 
 in his experience, he has developed an interpretation which 
 is of a still higher sort. It is this sort of interpretation which 
 represents the highest form of perceptual development. 
 
 1. The processes in perceptual learning 
 Perceptual learning requires first the discrimination be- 
 tween sensations. In order that an orange and a lemon may 
 be recognized and distinguished, there are certain discrim- 
 inations between the sensations which we receive from these 
 two objects which must be made. The color of the orange 
 will commonly be distinguished from that of the lemon. This 
 is visual discrimination. The shape of the orange will be 
 distinguished by the recognition through the eye of the 
 round orange as distinguished from the more elliptical lemon. 
 This discrimination in form goes back to earlier experience 
 in handling objects, and has as an important element the 
 experience of running the hand over objects, to gain the 
 impression of their shape through touch, and through the 
 sensation of movement. If one is in doubt as to which ob- 
 ject is presented to him he may resort to taste. In any 
 case, the earlier taste experiences form a part of his recog- 
 nition of the sourness of the lemon and the greater sweet- 
 ness of the orange. Thus, in this simple distinction between 
 two objects there is involved a considerable number of 
 simple sensory discriminations. 
 
1G0 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The bearing of sensory discrimination on the more com- 
 plicated processes may be illustrated further from the field 
 of music. In music the ability to discriminate between the 
 pitch of different tones is essential to the recognition of 
 melody and of harmony. There are some persons who are 
 called monotones, and who are unable to distinguish be- 
 tween a high and a low tone. Such persons very obviously 
 cannot appreciate the chief elements of music. The only 
 distinctions of musical nature which are possible are those 
 of rhythm and of loudness. 
 
 Other illustrations of discrimination. One's ability to 
 discriminate between sensations is comparatively easily 
 tested, and experiments have even been carried on in con- 
 siderable number to test the ability of animals in sense 
 discrimination. One may measure discrimination between 
 sensations of sight, as the different shades of color, or of 
 grays, or the differences in intensity of light. One may meas- 
 ure the discrimination between the length of lines. In hear- 
 ing, besides pitch discrimination, one may measure discrim- 
 ination in loudness. This is the test which is ordinarily given 
 for acuity of hearing. In the field of touch one may measure 
 the ability to distinguish between one and two points of 
 contact on the skin. If two points are placed simultaneously 
 on the skin near together they cannot be distinguished, but 
 if they are separated a sufficient distance they can be dis- 
 tinguished as two. The point at which they can just be 
 distinguished as two is called the threshold of two-point dis- 
 crimination. One may measure the discrimination of strain 
 sensations by testing an individual's ability to distinguish 
 between weights of small difference. One may pursue simi- 
 lar investigations in the field of taste or of smell or of tem- 
 perature. 
 
 Improvement in sensory discrimination as a result of 
 practice is limited. The improvement in the ability to dis- 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 161 
 
 tinguish between sensations of slight difference appears to 
 be based on two elements. All discrimination as tested in 
 the laboratory depends in the first place upon the subject's 
 ability to understand the directions which are given him, 
 and to pay attention at just the right time and in just the right 
 way. For example, if we are testing the child's ability in pitch 
 discrimination he must know what we mean by a high tone 
 or a low tone. In addition to this he must be able to tell 
 us correctly the result of his observation. If we tell him to 
 report whether the second tone which is given is higher or 
 lower, he must remember the directions correctly and report 
 in accordance with them. Otherwise there may be an error 
 which is not due to his discrimination but to his ability to 
 follow the directions. Finally, he must have his attention 
 focused upon the tones and upon their pitch at just the right 
 instant of time. Certain experimenters who have found 
 improvement to take place in ability to discriminate have 
 ascribed that improvement to the improved ability to pay 
 attention to just the right element of the stimulus. In addi- 
 tion to this improvement in the ability properly to meet the 
 experimental conditions it is possible that there may be 
 some improvement in the sense itself. In the case of a ma- 
 ture person it is very doubtful whether there is improve- 
 ment of this latter sort as a result of training. There is 
 possibly more improvement with age on this score, though 
 even this is denied by competent investigators. This con- 
 clusion is borne out by the fact that one's highest possible 
 ability in sense discrimination may be reached with a com- 
 paratively short period of training. This improvement may 
 be rather large if one has not been accustomed to practice 
 in discrimination, and in reporting the results of his dis- 
 crimination; but a fairly definite limit is likely to be 
 reached rather soon. As we shall see later, this is reached 
 at different points by different persons; and it appears 
 
162 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 to be fairly definitely fixed by the nature of the sense 
 organs. 
 
 Sensory discrimination is a subordinate element in the 
 higher forms of perceptual learning. We may recur to the 
 illustration of music. While pitch discrimination is an im- 
 portant element in the appreciation or production of music 
 one may have a high degree of pitch discrimination with 
 little or no musical ability. Fine discrimination of colors is 
 undoubtedly necessary to the painter or to the art critic; but 
 mere color discrimination is not sufficient for one to distin- 
 guish between good and bad color harmony, or to judge the 
 composition of a picture. There are perhaps a few occupa- 
 tions in which a very high degree of sense discrimination is 
 the chief requirement. It is probably true that this is the 
 chief requisite for a tea taster. In most occupations, however, 
 a very high degree of sensory discrimination is not required; 
 and even in most of those in which fine discrimination is 
 necessary or desirable it is not the most important element. 
 
 Training in sensory discrimination is acquired for the most 
 part incidentally. The musician does not set himself to long 
 periods of practice in distinguishing different tones. He 
 acquires the ability to discriminate finely between tones, but 
 he does so as a consequence of his other training. The 
 violin player acquires this ability in tuning his instrument, 
 and in paying attention to discover whether his own instru- 
 ment is in tune with others. The painter does not give him- 
 self formal exercise in distinguishing or matching colors, but 
 gets his training in attempting to match the color on his 
 painting with that of the object which he is trying to rep- 
 resent. The blind person develops his extremely fine dis- 
 crimination of touch by learning to recognize different ob- 
 jects or to read the Braille print. 
 
 Furthermore, what we often ascribe to high ability in 
 sense discrimination is really ability in interpretation. Thus 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 163 
 
 the fact that the sailor can recognize land before the lands- 
 man is not due to the fact that his eyes are keener, but to 
 the fact that he knows what signs to look for and knows the 
 meaning of the signs he sees. The ability of the woodsman to 
 follow the traces of an animal or a human being through the 
 forest is due to his ability in observation rather than to his 
 ability in sense discrimination. He knows where to look for 
 the broken twig or the faint foot-print, and he knows what 
 these signs mean. 
 
 The value of specific drill in sensory discrimination is 
 therefore limited. The facts which have been mentioned all 
 point in the same direction. We have been told recently by 
 certain educators that the most important type of training 
 that can be given the young is development of keenness in 
 sensory discrimination. In application of this general prin- 
 ciple exercises have been devised for the purpose of training 
 discrimination. Such formal exercises run the risk of entail- 
 ing great waste of time. A small amount of formal training 
 properly devised to give the child just the kind and degree of 
 ability which he will need in some more complicated form of 
 learning may be of value. But unless the training is limited 
 in this way it is likely to produce mere keenness of the senses 
 without the ability to use this keenness in better understand- 
 ing or control of the objects of the physical world. What the 
 child needs is a wide acquaintance with many sorts of phys- 
 ical objects, and the sort of experience with them that will 
 enable him to know what they mean. When the practical 
 demands make it necessary that he should have a higher 
 degree of discrimination than he possesses, this motive will 
 stimulate him to acquire incidentally training which will be 
 sufficient for his needs. 
 
 The second process of perceptual learning is the com- 
 bination of sensations into perceptions of objects. We 
 very rarely, if ever, experience single sensations. A sensa- 
 
164 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 tion always stands, to us as the sign of an object; and if we 
 analyze objects we will see that they represent whole groups 
 of sensations to us. When the child picks up his rattle, he 
 also sees it, and hears it, and gets movement sensations 
 in waving it, in addition to the touch sensation in handling 
 it. Any one of these sensations will at a later time call to 
 his mind, more or less clearly, the other sensations which he 
 has experienced from the same object at the same time. This 
 combination of sensations which come from the same object 
 is called in technical language complication or fusion. It 
 takes place at a rapid rate in the early months and years of 
 the child's life. There is a period in which the child has not 
 learned to connect the sight sensations which he gets from 
 objects with the touch sensations which he receives in han- 
 dling them. The closeness which this fusion finally attains is 
 well illustrated in the size-weight illusion. If two bottles or 
 boxes which are very different in size, but the same in weight, 
 are lifted simultaneously the smaller object appears to be 
 much the heavier. This is because we have learned to make 
 a vigorous movement in lifting a large object, and we there- 
 fore lift the large object so much more energetically than 
 the small one that it appears light by contrast. The chief 
 point at which this matter of complication is of interest for 
 later learning is in the recognition of form. Form recog- 
 nition is susceptible of a large degree of development, even 
 in the case of the average mature person. We commonly 
 think of the recognition of form as based altogether on sight. 
 Sight, however, is in this matter largely a means of repre- 
 senting the experiences which we have previously had in 
 touching and in moving our hands and eyes over an object. 
 The earlier recognition of form which is obtained through 
 experiences of touch and of movement is the more funda- 
 mental, and the later sight experiences serve to revive or to 
 represent these. 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 1G5 
 
 The recognition of form is complex and subject to in- 
 definite development. The features of learning to recognize 
 a new or complex form are illustrated in drawing a compli- 
 cated figure. In the beginning one has only a vague and 
 indefinite idea of the figure that he is to draw. He has a 
 general comprehension of its shape, or he may, if his type of 
 mind is of another sort, see more clearly a few more isolated 
 details, but he fails to combine the comprehensive view and 
 a clear recognition of the parts. If we study the process 
 by which he attains this clear and comprehensive view we 
 discover a number of significant facts. In the first place, 
 the process in general is not one of merely receiving pas- 
 sively an impression. The figure is not, so to speak, photo- 
 graphed on one's mind, but one proceeds in an active way to 
 the exploration and study of it. This activity is well brought 
 in the manner in which one learns to draw a series of lines 
 which are arranged in a generally horizontal direction. The 
 study and drawing of such a figure is almost universally be- 
 gun at the left hand end. So far as the impression itself is 
 concerned, there is no reason why the right hand end should 
 not be developed as early as the left end; but the habit 
 which we have formed of beginning at the left end in reading 
 and writing undoubtedly influences us in the study of such 
 a figure. Previously formed ideas are also actively used as 
 well as previously formed habits. If the figure is of a na- 
 ture which permits, the lines which compose it are likely to 
 be counted. This means that the idea of number is em- 
 ployed. Further, the angles which are formed by the lines 
 are likely to be estimated, and the lines themselves are classi- 
 fied according as they are straight or curved. Their length 
 is noticed, and the other characteristics which we have 
 learned to observe because of our previous knowledge and 
 the customary classification of different kinds of lines and 
 of figures. Through this active process, in which previous 
 
166 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 habits and ideas are used, we finally come to a cleared-up 
 recognition of the figure as a whole. We commonly fail to 
 pay attention to the manner in which we arrive at this later 
 and more complete comprehension. It appears to us to be 
 a simple matter of impression, and we therefore fail to un- 
 derstand that the development of ideas of form is really 
 complex, and dependent on our previous training and prep- 
 aration. 
 
 The recognition of form is dependent on movement. It 
 has already been incidentally mentioned that the combina- 
 tion of sensations which enables us to recognize the forms of 
 objects is brought about by means of movement. After we 
 have made a detailed exploration by running our hands 
 around the borders of objects, or by folding our hands over 
 them, or running our eyes about the outline, we learn to rec- 
 ognize familiar objects by the particular picture which we 
 get from one particular view of them; but it is apparent from 
 the way in which we learn to recognize new forms that this 
 later stage is based upon an earlier one in which a study was 
 made part by part by the use of movement. The value of 
 movement in the study of form is well brought out in the pro- 
 cess of learning to write. In his early reading the child may 
 get a preliminary and rough idea of letters from looking at 
 them. Even here he uses eye movement, but the movement 
 is not so precise or detailed as when he is required to make 
 a more minute examination for the purpose of writing. The 
 act of guiding the pencil so as to produce the forms of the 
 letters gives the child a much more minute and detailed rec- 
 ognition of them than he has previously had. If an adult is 
 asked to study a new form with a view to drawing it, he will 
 commonly be seen to make a tracing of it in the air, while he 
 is studying it, in order to reinforce the impression which he 
 gets through his eyes, by the experience of hand movement. 
 
 Form is usually studied for purposes of understanding 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 167 
 
 and appreciation. We see illustrated in the development of 
 the recognition of form a principle which is similar to that 
 already mentioned in connection with sensory discrimina- 
 tion. This principle is that the perfection of the ability in 
 question is sought in the main with some purpose in mind 
 which goes beyond the development of the activity itself. 
 We do not ordinarily find persons going about comparing and 
 studying various forms just for the purpose of comparing, 
 classifying, and remembering forms by themselves. If we did 
 find such a person we would be inclined to be suspicious of 
 his intelligence. What we do find them doing is comparing the 
 shapes of different leaves so as to get a clue as to the kinds of 
 trees which they grow upon, or comparing the shape of the 
 branches, the way they are joined to the trunk of the trees, 
 etc. We find persons comparing the shapes of land forma- 
 tions in order to trace them to their origin, and to learn how 
 the forces of wind and rain and of the shrinking of the earth 
 or the changes in the interior have produced the superficial 
 forms upon the earth's surface. Or if we find a person who 
 is apparently absorbed chiefly in the study of form for its own 
 sake, we soon discover that it is not the form itself that he is 
 interested in but rather its beauty or its ugliness. He is not 
 interested in forms of all kinds but rather in the forms which 
 are symmetrical and pleasing in appearance. The recogni- 
 tion of form is largely incidental to the satisfaction of other 
 motives. If we may apply this principle to the work of the 
 school, we may say that the most effectual teaching of form 
 to the child is that which he gets when he is trying to iden- 
 tify objects, to represent them for purposes of record or of 
 communication, or to discover beauty in them. 
 
 The last type of perceptual learning is concerned with the 
 recognition of the meaning of complex symbols. This proc- 
 ess of the interpretation of the meaning of complex symbols 
 is illustrated in a variety of forms of learning. It appears in 
 
168 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 learning a language, both oral and written, in learning to in- 
 terpret the telegraphic language, and stenographic signs, in 
 learning to read music, and in the understanding of mathe- 
 matical symbols. In all of these cases the recognition of the 
 elements is only a step in the completer recognition and 
 interpretation of the complex object. In the case of those 
 sorts of meaning in which vision is the sense employed the 
 recognition of form is only a minor element. In all of thess 
 forms of recognition the combination of the elements is a 
 very important feature. In oral language, for example, the 
 number of the separate, individual sounds is not great. The 
 number of the possible combinations of these sounds, each of 
 which has a definite meaning because it represents a word or 
 a group of words, is enormous. The same, of course, is true 
 of printed language. The elements and the combinations of 
 these elements are represented in a similar fashion in mathe- 
 matics. The separate digits each represent a definite num- 
 ber, but they may be combined in an indefinite variety of 
 ways. The learning process in this phase of perceptual learn- 
 ing, then, does not consist merely in simple associations be- 
 tween perceptual elements and ideas. It is rather the abil- 
 ity to recognize the various combinations which may be 
 formed, and the apprehension that certain meanings belong 
 to groups of elements because of the manner in which they 
 are combined. 
 
 The combination of elements makes possible an increase 
 in the range of attention. The number of objects which one 
 can include in his attention span when these objects are 
 not related to one another so as to form an organized group is 
 rather small. It has been found by experiment to be about 
 five to seven. When these objects are combined, as in the 
 letters of a word, or in the grouping of dots into patterns, the 
 range is greatly increased. One may be enabled to recognize 
 accurately fifteen or twenty letters in a word or group of 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 1G9 
 
 words, as compared with five or six letters which are not thus 
 grouped. This effect of organization is much the same as 
 was mentioned in connection with sensori-motor learning. It 
 is well illustrated in the experiences of one who learns the 
 telegraphic language. In the early stages he is able to re- 
 ceive a message over the wire only as rapidly as he can rec- 
 ognize the individual letters. As he becomes more expert, 
 he begins to combine letters into words, and finally reaches 
 the point where he does not pay attention to the individual 
 letters but allows them to group themselves into words or 
 phrases. Thus he enters upon the process of what is called 
 reading behind. His attention at any moment is upon the 
 material which came over the wire some seconds earlier. 
 If he finds that a series of numbers is about to be given, 
 which cannot be organized in the same way as letters, he 
 finds it necessary to catch up in order to be able to appre- 
 hend them. This increase of the range of attention through 
 the arranging and organizing of the elements to which we 
 pay attention is a very important condition of efficiency 
 in learning. The improvement of one's span of attention for 
 isolated objects is very limited, just as is the improvement 
 in mere sensory discrimination. A much higher degree of 
 improvement in the span of attention for organized elements, 
 however, as in the case in reading, is possible, and necessary 
 if we are to reach the higher levels of ability. 
 
 Different degrees of grouping may form hierarchies in 
 recognition. The significance of different degrees of group- 
 ing of objects which are presented to sense, and the meaning 
 of these different levels for progress in learning, was first 
 pointed out by Bryan and Harter in their pioneer work in the 
 study of the telegraphic language. These investigators dis- 
 covered that, in the process of receiving a message over the 
 wire, the progress in ability did not take place steadily, but 
 that after considerable ability had been attained, there en- 
 
170 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 sued a period of little or no progress, which they termed a 
 plateau. As a result of their study of the plateau they con- 
 cluded that the earlier more rapid rise, shown in Figure 16, 
 was due to the development of the recognition of the simpler 
 elements, and that the plateau represented a period when the 
 group recognition was being developed. The later rise came 
 
 4 8 12 16 20 24 % 28 
 
 Weeks of practice 
 
 Fig. 16. Analysis of the Process of Receiving in Telegraphy into 
 Receiving Separate Letters, Disconnected Words, and Con- 
 nected Discourse 
 
 (From Bryan and Harter's Psychological Review, vol. vi, by permission of the publishers.) 
 
 when this group recognition was developed to such a point 
 that it could be carried on with ease. Whether this is the 
 only or the chief explanation of plateaus we shall consider 
 in a moment, but that the development of these higher order 
 habits, as they are termed by Bryan and Harter, is an 
 important feature of learning cannot be doubted. 
 
 Plateaus due to a separation of different orders of habits 
 may not be necessary. There can be no doubt that this dis- 
 tinction between the higher and lower order habits holds 
 for many cases of learning, and that the separation of these 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 171 
 
 different habits may result in a delay in learning which is 
 indicated in the curve by the plateau. Later investigators, 
 however, among them Swift and Book, have shown that 
 such a plateau, while very frequent, is not absolutely nec- 
 essary. They point out the fact, which was recognized by 
 Bryan and Harter themselves, that the higher order habits 
 begin to be formed in the early stages. They go further 
 than this and assert that the development of these higher 
 order habits can proceed sufficiently in the early stages so 
 that it is not necessary that there should be a cessation in 
 progress due to a separation of the lower and higher order 
 habits. To substantiate this conclusion, curves of progress 
 have been obtained in which no such plateau appears. 
 
 Various causes may prevent progress to a higher stage. 
 Plateaus may be also caused by other conditions than the 
 imperfect automatization of the lower order habits. It fre- 
 quently happens that the learner fails to progress beyond 
 a certain point because he rests satisfied with his attainment 
 at this point, and does not make sufficient effort to progress 
 beyond it. The failure to make the effort may be due to lack 
 of confidence that further progress is possible to him, to a 
 lack of knowledge how to go on to a higher stage, or to mere 
 laziness and unwillingness to make the attempt. In any 
 case the learner fails to learn the higher habits or the more 
 efficient ways of performing the task. An illustration may be 
 taken from footing up columns. There are simple and primi- 
 tive modes of adding, and there are more efficient and more 
 complex ways. One may add one figure at a time, going 
 through the process of naming the figures that are added 
 and the sum which is reached ; or he may progress to a higher 
 stage by merely naming to himself the sum and leaving out 
 the naming of the numbers which are added; or he may pro- 
 gress to a still higher stage by making several additions at 
 once and then adding these. This stage is reached by devel- 
 
172 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 oping the ability to apprehend combinations of figures as a 
 total sum, rather than as individual numbers to be added 
 separately. A still higher stage, which would not be reached 
 by the ordinary worker, is the ability to add two or more 
 columns simultaneously. The probability is that very many 
 book-keepers and other workers remain at a lower stage 
 when it would be to their interest to progress beyond it. 
 
 Plateaus may be caused by undue haste. Another rea- 
 son for a delay in improvement is the attempt to hurry too 
 much. In this case the learner unduly speeds up the lower 
 order habits before the higher order habits have had time to 
 form. Retardation in progress is caused by this undue haste, 
 or injudicious spurting. When the activity is forced the 
 whole habit is disorganized. If, in typewriting, one attempts 
 to write more rapidly than his ability at the time warrants, 
 he makes a large number of errors and becomes confused. 
 He connects a letter with the wrong key and when he sees 
 the letter again he has the impulse to press the wrong key 
 instead of, or in addition to, the right one. This is what 
 is meant by saying that the habit becomes disorganized. 
 
 A plateau may be caused by the necessity of breaking up 
 habits which are formed in the early stages. It is probable 
 that if a person learns without expert instruction or guidance 
 he will fall into methods of performance which are not the 
 best from the point of view of the development of final 
 skill. It may be that even under expert guidance one inevit- 
 ably falls into habits which are the best possible while he 
 possesses a moderate degree of attainment, but which are 
 an impediment to the highest skill. In such cases it may 
 be necessary to pause in the onward progress to break up 
 these habits before further advance is possible. 
 
 The development of the higher forms of recognition is 
 usually dominated by certain active responses. As in the 
 case of sensori-motor learning we found that there must 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 173 
 
 always be a stimulus to which the response was made, so in 
 perceptual learning we find that the stimulus is developed 
 as a means to a response which may be remote or imme- 
 diate. In some cases it is clear that the response itself has an 
 active part to play in bringing together or organizing the 
 elements of the recognition. This is brought out, for instance, 
 in the study of reading. The elements which compose a 
 word are not brought together simply because they belong 
 together in our perception, but they go together because 
 they represent a spoken word, and the spoken word is a unit 
 of response. The difference between a collection of figures 
 making a large number and a collection of letters making 
 a word indicates this. If collections of figures were rep- 
 resented by single spoken words there is no reason why they 
 might not be recognized as easily as words themselves. But, 
 as a matter of fact, the limit for the span of attention for 
 figures is about the same as that for disconnected letters, 
 and is about a third to a fourth of the span for words. The 
 development of an organized recognition of a group of 
 stimuli, then, will be promoted whenever we can find an 
 appropriate response which corresponds to the organization 
 of the elements presented to sense. 
 
 The higher habit makes greater rapidity in the simpler 
 acts possible. When the higher order habits are formed, the 
 lower, simpler acts are performed more rapidly without 
 causing confusion. A whole series of movements has become 
 associated together so that the performance of one leads to 
 the next without the necessity of thinking of it as a separate 
 act. The series of movements is made as a response to one 
 idea rather than to the recognition in detail of a series of 
 separate stimuli. In handwriting the child at first learns to 
 make each letter for itself by responding to each letter or 
 stroke as a separate stimulus; but as his habit becomes 
 organized he progresses to the higher stage in which the 
 
174 HOW CHILDREN LEAEN 
 
 thought of the word sets in motion the whole train of move- 
 ments by which it is written. 
 
 A balance must be kept between the effort to advance and 
 to perfect the simpler processes. While the caution against 
 overhaste in the simpler habits, before the higher ones have 
 been formed, is not opposed to the advice that the formation 
 of the higher habits be not unduly delayed, the overem- 
 phasis of either of these two rules is apt to lead to the neg- 
 lect of the other. Unduly prolonged attention to the simpler 
 habits, in the effort to avoid haste, leads to delay in forming 
 the higher habits. Similarly, the effort to form the higher 
 habits early will, if overdone, lead to overhaste in the simpler 
 habits. Therefore a certain balance between the perfection 
 of the lower habits and the progression to the higher habits 
 must be maintained. 
 
 Plateaus in learning a language may represent real but 
 hidden progress. When the learning consists partly or 
 wholly in acquiring information, or in learning facts, a 
 plateau may be caused in still another way. In learning a 
 foreign language part of the process consists in acquiring the 
 meaning of the various words of the language, and part in 
 gaining a familiarity with the sentence structure, inflec- 
 tions of various parts of speech, etc. When one begins the 
 study of a foreign language, he acquires the meaning of 
 some of the more familiar words, and the ability to under- 
 stand the sentence structure and some of the more common 
 constructions. This acquisition produces a very rapid im- 
 provement at the beginning. After he has gained familiarity 
 with the more frequently recurring words and types of syn- 
 tax, because he meets them frequently, the learner comes in 
 contact with a large number of words and a certain number 
 of grammatical forms which are of less frequent occur- 
 rence. Progress then is slower and may even cease alto- 
 gether for a time, so far as the score made in the perform- 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 175 
 
 ance goes, because that which is learned in one period of 
 study may not appear in the next one, and also because any 
 one fact is not repeated frequently enough to be learned 
 economically. After this larger number of new facts have 
 recurred with sufficient frequency, practice upon them be- 
 gins to tell on the score and rapid progress is again made. 
 
 A knowledge of the meaning of plateaus may make it 
 possible to avoid them or may prevent discouragement. 
 Because of the difference in the kinds of plateaus or in the 
 conditions which cause them, we cannot make general state- 
 ments which will apply to them all. We cannot say that it 
 is always possible to overcome plateaus, nor can we say on 
 the other hand that they are always necessary. They are of 
 very frequent occurrence in learning curves, and they fre- 
 quently cause discouragement to the learner. A knowledge 
 of the cause of the plateau, and of the fact that it is ¥ fre- 
 quently not a sign of lack of progress, will help in acquiring 
 a better attitude of mind toward it. The knowledge of the 
 way in which plateaus are sometimes needlessly caused will 
 also enable one in such a case to diagnose the difficulty 
 and to overcome it. 
 
 2. Development in perceptual learning with age 
 Sensory discrimination does not develop greatly with age. 
 The facts in regard to the development of sensory discrimi- 
 nation with age are not entirely clear. In the case of pitch 
 discrimination, some competent investigators, such as Sea- 
 shore, hold that there is no important increase in the child's 
 ability after early childhood. Others report large improve- 
 ment with age. The development which is found by these 
 other investigators may be due to the increasing ability of the 
 child to adapt himself to the directions of the investigators, 
 and to properly direct his attention to the task. If this de- 
 velopment is allowed for, it seems that pitch discrimination 
 
176 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 develops to its full degree in early childhood. Discrimina- 
 tion between weights appears from Gilbert's investigation 
 to increase markedly with age, and this was included as one 
 of the tests in the Binet-Simon series. The same explanation 
 may perhaps be given for this development, however, as 
 for the apparent development in pitch discrimination. 
 Plausibility is furnished this explanation from the fact that 
 in another sphere the child commonly does better than the 
 adult. This is in the discrimination between two points on 
 the skin. It is possible that this superiority is to be ac- 
 counted for by the greater closeness of the nerve endings in 
 the child's skin, and by the fact that his skin is softer than 
 the adult's. But whatever the explanation the result indi- 
 cates that discrimination is not one of the mental processes 
 which develop greatly with age. This bears out the con- 
 clusion which was arrived at earlier in the chapter that 
 discrimination alone is not a very significant mental proc- 
 ess. Ability to discriminate "between colors among chil- 
 dren of ordinary training develops gradually up to the age 
 of seventeen, but a good degree of color discrimination may 
 be developed in young children. Auditory acuity also de- 
 velops, but this may be due, in large measure, to the 
 development of other structures in the ear than the 
 neurons. 
 
 The child's development in form recognition is dependent 
 upon both inner growth and training. Soon after the child 
 enters school he possesses the ability to apprehend and to 
 reproduce very simple figures. There is little improvement 
 during his school career in this simple type of recognition. 
 The recognition of more complex forms, as shown by his abil- 
 ity to draw, does develop greatly during his school life. 
 
 During about the first two grades the child's drawing is 
 a sort of symbolic sketch, representing some of the marked 
 characteristics of the general class of objects to which the 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 177 
 
 particular thing he is drawing belongs, but not the features 
 of this individual thing. He gradually introduces these 
 individual features until his drawing begins to look like what 
 he is trying to draw. By the time he reaches the grammar 
 grades all the parts of his drawing are copied directly from 
 the object he is representing. Still, the drawing is only in sil- 
 houette. No solidity is shown. If the child receives no train- 
 ing, or if the training is poor, the child is not likely to ad- 
 vance to the representation of perspective. Besides this, 
 the fullness and accuracy of the drawings at the earlier stages 
 depend on the quality of the instruction. While the child's 
 recognition of form is undoubtedly advanced beyond his 
 drawing ability, yet the advance in drawing does indicate 
 an advance in recognition. 
 
 The appreciation of beauty in form appears to depend 
 still more largely upon age. Even young children, who can 
 be trained to reproduce forms pretty faithfully by drawing, 
 do not yet appear to develop the sense of beauty in form 
 in the earlier years of their elementary-school life. One of 
 the six-year-old tests in the Binet-Simon series requires the 
 child to distinguish between pairs of faces, one of each being 
 ugly and the other passably good looking. The typical five- 
 year-old child does not recognize these very marked differ- 
 ences in beauty. Form to the young child is a means of 
 recognizing or expressing meaning but is not a means of 
 gaining or of giving aesthetic satisfaction. 
 
 The development of perception in reading may be almost 
 fully completed in the primary grades. It would be incorrect 
 to say that the child reaches the highest possible degree of 
 development in reading in the early grades. The develop- 
 ment in reading depends upon other elements than that of 
 perception alone. The child may be retarded in his reading 
 ability, not by his inability to recognize words, but by his 
 inability to understand the meaning of these words. So far . 
 
178 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 as perception is concerned, however, we are dealing with the 
 more mechanical phases of reading and not with the cor- 
 responding thought processes. On account of the thought 
 requirements of reading it will show progress as long as the 
 person is developing intellectually. But the child in the 
 third or fourth grade reaches nearly his full ability in the 
 simple recognition of words. 
 
 The facts which have just been presented would lead to 
 the view that so far as many of the simpler features of sense 
 perception are concerned the chief development takes place 
 rather early. There is another aspect of the child's percep- 
 tion which is rather later in its development and which we 
 may call the control of his perceptions or observation. 
 
 Observation and report show improvement throughout 
 childhood. The ability of a child to direct his observation 
 toward the significant features of a scene or a picture which 
 is presented to him, and to report faithfully and accurately 
 what he has observed, requires a control of his attention 
 which goes beyond the recognition of simple forms, or single 
 objects. There are two aspects of situations which children 
 appear to observe about as well as adults. The first of these 
 is action, and the second, number. They observe action as 
 well as older persons because this is apparently what at- 
 tracts their attention. They observe number as well as 
 adults because adults are very poor themselves in observing 
 this feature of their environment. In other respects there is 
 a large increase in ability as the child grows older. The im- 
 provement in the recognition of the color of objects, or of 
 their position, is marked. The child's report of what he has 
 observed becomes fuller as he grows older. The details 
 which a young child does observe and report are also less 
 connected and organized than those reported by the older 
 person. The older child or the adult observes the meaning 
 of the objects in a scene, while the younger child simply 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 179 
 
 enumerates the objects. The development of the older child 
 may be described as consisting in the control or the organi- 
 zation of his perceptions, rather than in the development of 
 the simpler processes themselves. 
 
 The child exhibits a large amount of suggestibility. An- 
 other aspect in which the child's defectiveness of control is 
 shown is in his suggestibility, which has been reported on 
 over and over again by different investigators. This feature 
 of the child's mental life has already been commented on in 
 the discussion of imitation. We may here add another illus- 
 tration. One of the common means of investigating a child's 
 ability of perception is the presentation of pictures, or of 
 groups of objects on a card. A child may often be induced to 
 report that he saw objects in a picture which were not there 
 at all, by the appropriate type of questions. In the experi- 
 ment by Binet a card was shown to the child on which was a 
 button fastened to the card by means of glue. If the child 
 is asked how the button is fastened, he will often say that it 
 is held by means of thread, and if the matter is pursued he 
 will describe the color or the size of the thread with a good 
 deal of minuteness. The great danger which arises from 
 this fact of the child's nature is, that the teacher may be- 
 lieve that the child is getting intellectual training when he 
 is not. To induce the child to give judgments on intellectual 
 questions in a parrot-like fashion, which he has simply re- 
 flected from the teacher, gives him no intellectual training 
 whatever. Except in those cases in which the teacher is de- 
 liberately attempting to build up a particular belief or sen- 
 timent in the child's mind, it is necessary to be very much 
 on guard against using leading questions, or influencing 
 the child in the independent pursuit of his own judgment. 
 The child, of course, requires great assistance in making his 
 judgments. The material must be furnished him, and his 
 attention must be called to particular aspects of the material. 
 
180 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 In this sense the teacher influences the formation of the 
 child's judgment. But the goal of teaching should be the 
 development of as great independence on the part of the 
 child as possible; and both the child and the teacher should 
 learn to recognize the difference between those cases in which 
 he thinks for himself and those in which he copies the 
 thought of another* 
 
 Table II. Pitch Discrimination of 166 Children, Aged 
 6-15 Years (Seashore) 
 
 No. 
 
 Limen in vibrations per second. 
 
 20 
 
 1 to 2 
 
 63 
 
 3 to 5 
 
 48 
 
 6 to 10 
 
 21 
 
 12 to 30 
 
 14 
 
 over 30 
 
 There are large individual differences in all phases of 
 perceptual ability. Differences of large degree have been 
 found in studies of discrimination, in the development of 
 the recognition of form, and in the more complex processes, 
 which may be represented by the various phases of reading. 
 Differences in discrimination may be represented by the 
 results of the study of pitch discrimination. In Table II 
 are shown the differences found by Seashore from a study 
 of one hundred and sixty-six children. This table is to 
 be read as follows: There were twenty children who were 
 able to discriminate differences of pitch of one to two vibra- 
 tions; sixty-three children could discriminate differences 
 of from three to five vibrations; and there were fourteen 
 children who could discriminate differences of over thirty 
 vibrations. In some other forms of discrimination the differ- 
 ences are not as extreme as this, but in all cases which have 
 been investigated they are large enough to be important. 
 In an experiment with a group of adults in learning. to draw 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 181 
 
 a figure, which was composed of eight straight and curved 
 lines in a somewhat complex arrangement, the slowest of 
 the group required ten trials and the fastest only two trials 
 to correctly draw the figure. These two are not isolated 
 cases. The other individuals were scattered fairly uniformly 
 between these two extremes. The distribution of sixty -five 
 individuals according to the number of trials they re- 
 quired is as follows: — 
 
 Trials 2 3 4 5 678 9 10 
 
 Individuals.. 4 10 17 11 11 5 1 3 3—65 
 
 In Table III are shown the differences in the rate of read- 
 ing, and in the ability to apprehend words seen in short ex- 
 posure of a fraction of a second, among a group of adults. It 
 will be seen that the slowest reader in this group took three 
 times as long to read the same amount as the fastest, and 
 that the average of the fastest five readers read over twice 
 as rapidly as the average of the slowest five. In the other 
 column, which represents the apprehension of letters or 
 digits during brief exposure it appears that the individual 
 with the narrowest range of attention apprehended less than 
 half as many letters or digits in one exposure as the indi- 
 vidual with the widest range. 
 
 Training must adapt itself to these individual differences. 
 Every investigation in which the differences between the in- 
 dividuals are measured shows similar variations to these. 
 Moreover, these differences cannot be ascribed in the main 
 to differences of practice, because when a group of individ- 
 uals is subjected to the same degree and amount of training 
 it appears that the differences which exist between them at 
 the start are fully as great after training as before. In some 
 cases the aim of training should be to equalize these differ- 
 ences, and in other cases to emphasize them by giving special 
 training to the child who has the greatest ability. If the 
 

 
 182 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Table III. Typical Individual Differences among Adults 
 in Rate of Reading and the Amount Apprehended 
 During a Single Brief Exposure (Span of Attention) 
 
 
 Rate of reading in 
 
 Average number of digits or 
 
 
 words per 
 
 second 
 
 letters recognized 
 
 per exposure 
 
 Individual 
 
 Rate 
 
 Individual 
 
 Number 
 
 
 1 
 
 6.9 
 
 1 
 
 7.9 
 
 
 2 
 
 5.5 
 
 2 
 
 7.8 
 
 
 3 
 
 5.5 
 
 3 
 
 7.3 
 
 
 4 
 
 5.3 
 
 4 
 
 7.0 
 
 
 5 
 
 4.7 
 
 5 
 
 6.7 
 
 Average of first 5 
 
 
 5.6 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 6.Q 
 6.1 
 
 
 6 
 
 4.7 
 
 8 
 
 6.0 
 
 
 7 
 
 3.9 
 
 9 
 
 5.9 
 
 
 8 
 
 3.7 
 
 10 
 
 5.8 
 
 
 9 
 
 3.5 
 
 11 
 
 5.3 
 
 
 10 
 
 3.3 
 
 12 
 
 5.2 
 
 
 11 
 
 3.2 
 
 13 
 
 4.8 
 
 
 12 
 
 2.9 
 
 14 
 
 4.5 
 
 
 13 
 
 2.9 
 
 15 
 
 4.3 
 
 
 14 
 
 2.9 
 
 16 
 
 4.1 
 
 
 15 
 
 2.9 
 
 17 
 
 3.8 
 
 
 16 
 
 2.9 
 
 18 
 Average 
 
 3.1 
 5.7 
 
 
 17 
 
 2.8 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 2.7 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 2.7 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 2.7 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 2.2 
 
 
 
 Average of last 5 
 
 
 2.6 
 
 
 
 Average of all 
 
 
 3.7 
 
 
 
 aim is to equalize them, training must be given in very differ- 
 ent amounts to the different children. Those who possess 
 a high degree of ability must be allowed to omit special 
 training, and those who possess a low degree must have 
 
BUILDING UP PERCEPTIONS 183 
 
 an unusual amount of training. When a child is weak in one 
 phase of mental activity and strong in another he probably 
 ought in most cases to be given more than the usual training 
 in the ability in which he is weak. In the case of the young 
 child, at least, it is not desirable to encourage a high degree 
 of specialization. This may be more appropriate later on. 
 Where a child is strong in all kinds of mental work he ought 
 to be allowed to progress more rapidly than his slower fellows 
 to the higher levels of learning. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Find some other illustration of an illusion which shows that our per- 
 ceptions are determined by something beside the simple sensory im- 
 pression. 
 
 2. What forms of discrimination are involved in the completest recog- 
 nition of a lead pencil, an apple, a word? 
 
 3. Could the child be given a high degree of training in sensory discrim- 
 ination and still have a very narrow experience? Explain your answer. 
 
 4. Compare the apparent weight of a piece of iron or lead and a much 
 larger pasteboard box by lifting them. Add to the weight of the box 
 until the two objects seem to be equal in weight. Then weigh the two 
 and report and interpret your finding. 
 
 5. Draw a figure which has a somewhat intricate system of lines and draw 
 a star at one side. Show the figure to another person for twenty seconds 
 asking him to look fixedly at the star during the whole time and after- 
 wards draw it. Perform the same experiment with another person with- 
 out requiring him to fixate the star. Interpret the results. 
 
 6. Flash before another person a card on which are eight spots arranged 
 irregularly and another on which are eight spots arranged in two regu- 
 lar groups of four each. Interpret the results. 
 
 7. Formulate a set of rules for dealing with plateaus. 
 
 8. Why does the appreciation of beauty of form develop later than simple 
 recognition of form? 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Ayer, F. C. Psychology of Drawing. (Warwick and York, 191G.) 
 
 Book, W. F. Psychology of Skill. (University of Montana Publications in 
 
 Psychology.) 
 Bryan, W. L., and Harter, N. "Studios in the Physiology and Psychology of 
 
 the Telegraphic Language"; in Psychol. Rev., vol. G, pp. 345-75. (1899.) 
 
184 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Gray, W. S. Studies of Elementary School Reading through Standardized Tests. 
 (Supplementary Educational Monographs. University of Chicago Press, 
 1917.) 
 
 Hall, G. Stanley. "The Contents of Children's Minds upon Entering 
 School"; in Ped. Sem., vol. 1, pp. 139-73. 
 
 Huey, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading. (Macmillan, 1908.) 
 
 Judd, C. H., and Cowling, D. J. Perceptual Learning. (Monograph Supple- 
 ment to Psychological Review, vol. 8.) 
 
 Swift, E. J. Mind in the Making. (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1908.) 
 
 Whipple, G. M. Manual of Mental and Physical Tests. (Warwick and 
 York, 1914.) 
 
 Winch, W. H. Children's Perceptions. (Warwick and York, 1914.) 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 
 
 1. Memory, perception, and habit contrasted 
 Perception and memory both depend on past experience. 
 In the description of those forms of learning which involve 
 chiefly the development of perception, or of the better rec- 
 ognition of the stimulus, we saw that the past experience 
 is of great importance. In fact, the meaning which a per- 
 son gives to the sensation that is produced by the stimu- 
 lation of a sense organ by a physical object, exists only be- 
 cause he has had previous experience with the object, or 
 others similar to it. We saw, further, that the meaning 
 which an object acquires in perception is not distinguished 
 in the mind of the perceiver from the sensation which he 
 gets from the object. Indeed, one is very often unable to dis- 
 tinguish between the interpretation which he gives to the 
 sensation and the sensation itself. In memory l we have 
 also an example of the effect of past experience upon the ex- 
 perience of the present; but, in this case, we are definitely 
 conscious of the fact that part of our experience is derived 
 from what we have experienced before. 
 
 An illustration. In both immediate interpretation in per- 
 ception, then, and in memory, our responses depend upon 
 experiences which we have had in the past. An illustration 
 will make clear the difference between these two modes of 
 
 1 Memory, in the restricted sense, is living over again previous experiences 
 and placing them more or less definitely in our past life. In the broader 
 sense memory is the correct reproduction of previously formed associa- 
 tions, whether they are associations between ideas, or between stimuli and 
 movements. 
 
186 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 response. The animal is affected by past experience so far 
 as his attitude toward objects is determined by the imme- 
 diate interpretation which is characteristic of perception. 
 A chick will learn to discriminate between an edible worm 
 and one which is not edible, as a result of having experienced 
 the bad taste of the one and the good taste of the other. A 
 chick will at first peck at any sort of worm, but when it gets 
 one which is distasteful, it rejects it. After one or more ex- 
 periences of this sort, the tendency to peck at the distasteful 
 worm is restrained. We may assume that in this case the 
 worm acquires such a character to the chick that it imme- 
 diately dislikes it on sight. It does not recall that it tasted 
 the worm in the past and that it did not taste good, but 
 rather has a disgust for the worm without realizing why it is 
 disgusted. 
 
 Contrast with this the case of the human being who has 
 acquired a similar distaste for some article of food, due to 
 the fact that this particular article has made him sick. The 
 immediate attitude of disgust is the same in the two cases, 
 but the human being is likely not only to reject the food, 
 but also to ask himself the reason for his dislike. He may 
 then recall the circumstance of eating the food and the 
 resulting illness, and thus be able to explain his feeling 
 attitude. The chick's experience is probably a matter of 
 perception merely; the human's experience may include 
 memory. 
 
 A series of movements is designated memory when the 
 movements represent ideas. The dependence of habit 
 upon past experience is evident in the very definition, or the 
 simplest description of a habit, since a habit is a mode of 
 activity which is acquired and gradually perfected through 
 the repetition of an act. Memory is sometimes used in a 
 broad sense to include habits, as when we say we remem- 
 ber how to skate or to swim. But in the narrower sense, in 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 187 
 
 which memory is distinguished from such sensori-motor 
 forms of learning, we apply memory to an habitual chain of 
 movements only when they represent a series of ideas, as 
 in the case of repeating the alphabet or the multiplication 
 table, or a poem. 
 
 Memory distinguished from perception and habit. In 
 brief, there are two forms of the survival of past experience, 
 which are similar to memory in the fact that they are due 
 to the more or less permanent results of experience in the 
 formation of systems of connection among the neurones of the 
 nervous system, — namely, perception and sensori-motor 
 habit. With these are contrasted two other forms of survival 
 of past experience, to which we give the name memory. The 
 first form of memory is the revival of a previous experience, 
 together with its location more or less definitely with refer- 
 ence to other experiences which make up our notion of our 
 past life, as when we remember our last year's vacation. 
 The second form is the repetition of a series of associated 
 ideas, together with the acts which correspond to them, in 
 the order in which they have been previously learned, as 
 when we repeat the list of the presidents of the United States 
 in order. 
 
 2. Memory and association 
 Memory of the first type is a case of association. It will 
 readily be seen from the illustrations used, that memory, 
 which consists in the recognition and placing of past ex- 
 perience, is based upon the recall of ideas which have been 
 previously associated with the object or idea which is pre- 
 sented to the mind, and which serves to explain or give mean- 
 ing to the present experience. The meaning in this case does 
 not, as in perception, seem to belong to the thing which is the 
 object of our attention. It rather arises from the fact that 
 the object calls up other ideas with which it has been con- 
 
188 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 nected previously. Memory of the first type may then be 
 said to be a case of association 1 of ideas. 
 
 Memory of the second type, or memorizing, is the forma- 
 tion of associations so that they may be reproduced at a fu- 
 ture time. Memory of the second type is obviously a case 
 of association of ideas. It is concerning this type that the 
 laws of efficient memorizing have been developed. When a 
 student memorizes a poem, for example, he is making asso- 
 ciations between the successive words of the poem, and also 
 between the words and the ideas which are expressed by 
 them. In a similar way, in learning a vocabulary he is form- 
 ing associations between English words and their meanings 
 and the corresponding foreign words. Memorizing thus 
 means the formation of associations in such a way that at 
 some future time when certain of the associated ideas are 
 attended to, the others will be called up also. We call such 
 mental processes memory, not because they recall to us the 
 idea of a definite experience and of a time when we had this 
 experience in our past life, but rather because they repro- 
 duce in our present experience something which is very 
 similar to that which we have experienced previously. 
 
 The associations of memory differ from other associations 
 in the fact that a standard of correctness is applied to them. 
 We may get further insight into this type of memory by com- 
 paring the nature of the association which is involved in it 
 with other sorts of association. When an idea occurs to our 
 mind, it may call up a variety of other ideas, and from the 
 point of view merely of association they may be all equally 
 appropriate. The idea "house," for example, may have as- 
 sociated with it, and may therefore call to mind, ideas of 
 other kinds of building, or ideas of different kinds of houses, 
 
 1 Association is the process by which one idea calls up another. Ideas 
 may be associated because they have been associated in the past, or be- 
 cause they have some logical relation. 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 189 
 
 or of the contents of a house, or of the people who dwell in 
 houses, and so on. These would all be equally cases of asso- 
 ciation; but if our purpose is to recall a particular association 
 which has been previously formed, as for example, "The 
 house that Jack built," we bring to bear on this association 
 a form of judgment which we have not brought to bear on 
 the others. We then raise the question whether the particular 
 association which has occurred to us is one which has been 
 formed with this word in the past, and which it is our pur- 
 pose to bring up again. We bring to bear upon the associa- 
 tion in this case the question of its correctness or incorrect- 
 ness, according as it corresponds or does not correspond with 
 a particular previously formed association. This, then, is 
 the type of association to which we refer under the term 
 memorizing. Memorizing consists in forming associations, 
 so that at some later time we may reproduce the same ideas 
 in the same sequence in which they originally existed. 
 
 Association is also the means of recall. To call memoriz- 
 ing the formation of associations throws light also upon 
 another matter, namely, the means by which we are able to 
 recall what has been memorized. Just as memorizing con- 
 sists in the formation of associations, so recall consists in the 
 reproduction of an idea through its association with another. 
 A typical case of recall is illustrated when we are thinking of 
 a person's face and attempt to recall his name. In this case 
 we attempt to reproduce the association between the face 
 and the name, which has been previously formed in our 
 mind. In the same way when we attempt to recall a poem, 
 having in mind the title, we attempt to associate the first 
 line, and the second line, and so on in order, with the title; 
 or we have in mind certain phrases in the poem, or certain 
 of the ideas which are expressed in it, and we attempt to 
 associate with these the words in their correct order. 
 
 Most apparent exceptions are not genuine. It may some- 
 
190 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 times seem that ideas are recalled to mind independently of 
 this process of association. Ideas sometimes seem to pop 
 into the mind; but the usual explanation of such cases is that 
 the association is not noticed by us. We find a tune running 
 in our head, and do not know what caused the appearance 
 of the tune. The cause has merely escaped our notice, as 
 may be shown by a simple experiment. We may start a 
 person humming a tune by ourselves humming or whistling 
 it, although the subject of the experiment himself is not 
 aware of the cause of his own action. 
 
 This fact that recall is a matter of association has impor- 
 tant practical bearings. Since recall is based upon association 
 it is dependent upon the formation of the appropriate asso- 
 ciation in the first place; and it is necessary, in order that 
 recall may be accurate and ready, that the association be 
 properly formed. This principle means further, that, in at- 
 tempting to recall anything, the method to pursue is not to 
 try to force the idea into the mind blindly, so to speak, or to 
 try in a random manner to bring up the idea; the better 
 method is to call to mind the ideas which we know to have 
 been associated with the one which we wish to recall, and 
 then to allow the idea in question to be brought up by 
 means of these associations. 
 
 3. Memorizing: Efficiency in the formation of associations 
 The main question which we have to face with regard to 
 memorizing, is concerned with the most effective way in 
 which associations may be built up, so that they can be 
 recalled at some time in the future in an efficient manner. 
 
 Association may be arbitrary or logical. We can best in- 
 troduce our discussion of the laws of efficient memorizing 
 by distinguishing between two kinds of association. On the 
 one hand, we may form an association between ideas in a 
 purely arbitrary manner. In this case we do not recognize 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 191 
 
 any similarity or other rational connection between the 
 ideas. Take the case of the telephone number which is as- 
 sociated with a person's name. There is no rational con- 
 nection between the number and the name of the person 
 who possesses it. They are associated merely because they 
 have been frequently named, or heard, or thought of to- 
 gether. On the other hand, there are other ideas which seem 
 to belong together, and which we speak of as logically re- 
 lated. When ideas are related in this manner we call the 
 association a logical association, and the formation of such an 
 association we speak of as logical memorizing. Thus when 
 we memorize a piece of prose or poetry, the words follow one 
 another, not in a purely arbitrary way, but because they ex- 
 press a series of thoughts. The successive words are sug- 
 gested, not merely because they have previously existed to- 
 gether in our minds, but because they also express thoughts 
 which follow one another naturally. We may distinguish, 
 then, between logical memory and rote memory, by saying 
 that, in logical memory, the associations which are formed 
 fit into a group of associations which have been previously 
 formed, and which constitute a system of thought. This 
 fact gives them a meaning. In the case of rote memory, on 
 the other hand, we have to form the associations between 
 the things which are presented, without making a connec- 
 tion between them and a larger system of thought. 1 As an 
 example, we may compare the process of memorizing such a 
 sentence as, "The country went democratic by a small ma- 
 jority," with the process of memorizing the following series 
 of nonsense syllables: neb, siv, dof, rin, sog, tuz, muv, gaj, 
 fid, kel, bip, cag. In the one case we may memorize the 
 sentence which expresses a coherent meaning by a single 
 
 1 Logical memory is the association of words, facts, events, etc., which 
 are so connected in meaning that the relation is recognized. Rote memory 
 is association which has little or no meaning. 
 
192 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 repetition, whereas it would probably require ten or more 
 repetitions to memorize the nonsense syllables. 
 
 The same fact or event may often be associated in either 
 manner. This distinction between logical and rote memory is 
 not, however, a perfectly sharp one. There are intermediate 
 cases between memorizing in which the associations are with- 
 out meaning, and those in which the meaning is at the maxi- 
 mum. Furthermore, the same piece may be memorized by 
 one person by means of logical memorizing, whereas to an- 
 other person the association may be of the purely arbitrary 
 kind. A date may be memorized without connecting the date 
 with others, or without connecting the events which corre- 
 spond to the date with other previous and succeeding events. 
 In this case one merely makes a mechanical and arbitrary 
 association and fixes it by means of many repetitions. The 
 person who has some knowledge of history, however, may be 
 assisted in making the association by recalling the period 
 in which the event took place, and the general location of 
 the period in time, — such as the century or part of the cen- 
 tury in which it occurred. By this means he will have nar- 
 rowed down the possible choice of dates to a fairly small 
 number. If he is thus able to determine in what century 
 the event occurred he has determined the first two figures of 
 the date, assuming that the number is in the thousands; and 
 if further he can locate it in its decade, he has determined the 
 first three figures. It is then very much easier to supply the 
 last one or two missing figures than it would be to supply all 
 four of them. 
 
 The more the associations possess a logical character the 
 fewer repetitions will be required to fix them. This illus- 
 tration suggests the difference between the mode of learning 
 when the associations are of the logical sort and when they 
 are of the arbitrary sort. The more the memorizing has the 
 character of rote learning, the more it must be accomplished 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 193 
 
 through mere repetition. The more logical it becomes, on 
 the other hand, or the more associations the learner is able 
 to make with the things which are to be memorized, the less 
 the necessity for a large number of repetitions. At one 
 extreme of logical memory is the case in which the material 
 is learned by a single perusal. At the other extreme is the 
 memorizing of nonsense syllables, or of a series of meaning- 
 less numbers, in which it is necessary to make a large num- 
 ber of repetitions. Here again the distinction is not a sharp 
 one, because even in logical memorizing it may be necessary 
 to repeat the material several times before it is sufficiently 
 well learned to be reproduced. There are usually certain ele- 
 ments of the material that are arbitrary. The ideas of a poem 
 or a prose selection might be expressed in several ways, or the 
 various ideas which are expressed might come in one order 
 or another, so that the memorization is to some extent ar- 
 bitrary. In general, however, the more one can find meaning 
 in what is being memorized, the fewer will be the repetitions 
 necessary. 
 
 4-. Rules for memorizing 
 First rule : Get the meaning clearly in mind. The distinc- 
 tion just mentioned leads to the first practical rule which may 
 be laid down for memorizing: namely, so far as possible, work 
 out clearly the meaning of the material which is to be mem- 
 orized. Facility in memorizing depends in large measure 
 upon the extent to which the learner is able to find systems 
 of associations into which the ideas that are being memo- 
 rized can be fitted. The illustration of various methods of 
 learning dates is an example of this principle. Another 
 example may be taken from memorizing the words of a con- 
 nected piece. In such memorizing, one may go about the 
 work in a very mechanical way. He may repeat the words 
 over and over again and try merely to learn them so that 
 
194 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 they can be repeated without much thought of the meaning 
 which they express. This is the method which the child is 
 likely to pursue unless he is directed to a better one. It is the 
 purely verbal method of memorizing. A better method is to 
 first read over the piece and get as clear an idea as possible 
 of the leading and subordinate thoughts which together 
 make up the meaning of the piece. One should then give 
 attention to the logical order of the thoughts or the order of 
 development of the main thought. After this has been done, 
 the main parts of what is to be memorized will fall into their 
 proper order without much difficulty, and the remainder 
 consists chiefly in associating the particular words and sen- 
 tences with one another. We shall discuss the methods more 
 in detail when we come to the question of the relative value 
 of the whole and part method of memorizing. 
 
 Second rule : Make as many repetitions as are necessary 
 to fix the arbitrary associations. However much attention 
 we may give to the thought of the piece which is to be memo- 
 rized, there will still remain the necessity for some mechani- 
 cal association or of some arbitrary or rote memory, as has 
 already been said. For most persons this will necessitate, 
 even in the case of logical memory, more than one reading 
 or recital before the piece is learned. With some persons, 
 it is true, who have a very high degree of skill in verbal mem- 
 ory, one reading of a fairly long poem will suffice to fix it in 
 mind; but this simply means that such persons have a high 
 degree of ability in rote memory, and not that rote memory 
 is not present in such cases. A second rule may accordingly 
 be stated thus : When memorizing is intended to be verbally 
 accurate a number of repetitions are necessary. Even in 
 logical memory repetition is usually an essential feature 
 of the learning process; and of course the more the memo- 
 rizing is of the arbitrary sort, the more this is true. The 
 next question is concerned with the best way of making the 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 195 
 
 repetitions, in order that we may remember with the least 
 amount of effort and the greatest amount of permanence 
 and accuracy. 
 
 Third rule : Continue the repetitions beyond the thresh- 
 old. One principle which may be mentioned first regarding 
 repetitions in memorizing, is that they ought to be car- 
 ried beyond the point at which the learner can repeat the 
 piece immediately. Put in technical terms the rule is: 
 For permanent memorizing, carry the learning beyond the 
 threshold of immediate reproduction. The reason for this 
 principle is that a person's memory does not permanently 
 remain at the degree of perfection which is reached at the 
 time of memorizing. What has been memorized always fades 
 from the mind to a greater or less extent. The amount which 
 is forgotten in each unit of time is greater soon after the mem- 
 orizing has been completed than it is later. Figures 17 and 
 18 may be taken to represent what may be called the curve 
 of forgetting, or the amount which remains in the memory 
 at various intervals after memorizing has been completed. 
 The extent to which learning should be carried beyond the 
 threshold will depend on the purpose with which the memo- 
 rizing is carried on. If the material is intended to be ready 
 to hand at a distant future time it must be carried very far 
 beyond the threshold of immediate reproduction. 
 
 Fourth rule: Distribute the repetitions. To carry the 
 repetition sufficiently beyond the threshold so that the piece 
 memorized may be instantly recalled at a distant future time, 
 is a wasteful process if the learning is done all at one period. 
 It is necessary in this case to make a very large number of 
 repetitions, in addition to those which are necessary to enable 
 one to repeat immediately what is being learned. A much 
 more economical method is to continue the repetitions a 
 sufficient number of times to make it possible to reproduce 
 the piece immediately, if it is short, or if it is long, to carry 
 
196 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the learning only part way to the threshold of immediate 
 reproduction, and then to go over the material again at a 
 later period. This distribution of the repetitions over several 
 periods of study may be carried, under proper circumstances, 
 to a considerable length. The number of periods which it 
 
 100 
 
 1 
 
 60 —J 
 
 c 
 
 e 
 
 ■3 60 H 
 
 40 — 
 
 o 20 — 
 
 12 6 14 20 
 
 Interval between learning and relearning: in days. 
 
 30 
 
 Fig. 17. The Curve of Forgetting for Nonsense Series learned 
 to the Point of One Successful Reproduction, in the Case of 
 Ebbinghaus 
 
 (From E. L. Thorndike's Educational Psychology, vol. n, by permission of Teachers Col- 
 lege, Columbia University.) 
 
 is desirable to use in memorizing any particular subject 
 matter will depend upon the length of the piece and its dif- 
 ficulty, and upon the age or ability of the learner, and so on. 
 The principle is sufficiently general, however, to warrant 
 the following rule: To secure economy in the number of 
 repetitions distribute them over several periods. 
 
 The degree of distribution varies with circumstances. 
 How far we may profitably go in distributing the periods of 
 study has not been determined in detail for all circumstances. 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 
 
 197 
 
 As has been said, the length of the periods of study which are 
 most economical will depend on the length and difficulty of 
 the material, and on the age and ability of the learner. For 
 young children, the periods of study can be reduced ad- 
 vantageously to rather short ones, perhaps ten minutes. The 
 
 10 20 
 
 Interval between learning and relearning: in days. 
 
 30 
 
 Fig. 18. The Curve of Forgetting for Nonsense Series learned 
 to the Point of Two Successful Repetitions as reported by 
 Radossawljewitsch 
 
 (From E. L. Thorndike's Educational Psyclwlogy, vol. u, by permission of Teachers Col- 
 lege, Columbia University.) 
 
 more the memorizing is of the character of rote learning the 
 more advantageous it is to shorten the periods. When mem- 
 orizing is logical in nature, on the other hand, a longer period 
 may be advantageously used, due to the fact that with a 
 longer period one is better able to get the course of the 
 thought as a whole. 
 
 Too concentrated learning hinders progress through fa- 
 tigue. This principle, that it is more economical to distribute 
 learning throughout several periods rather than to concen- 
 
198 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 trate it all into one period, is found to hold in other forms of 
 learning besides memorizing. At least a partial explanation 
 of this principle may be found in the fact that the longer one 
 works the slower the progress becomes, if the work is all 
 carried on in a single period. The point beyond which one 
 ceases to make progress, of course, varies with individuals 
 and with the kind of work, but with small children, this 
 point comes rather soon. Therefore if the learning is con- 
 centrated the latter part of the period does not produce as 
 much effect as does the earlier part. 
 
 Old associations are most permanent. The distribution 
 of repetitions also results in the more permanent retention 
 of what has been learned as a consequence of another prin- 
 ciple, which may be stated thus: The longer an association 
 has been kept above the threshold, — that is, freshly in 
 mind, — the more permanent it becomes. A clear illustration 
 of the difference between associations which have been kept 
 fresh for some time and those which have been recently 
 formed is furnished by a comparison of those students who 
 keep their work up during a whole course of study with 
 those who cram up for examination at the end. Those who 
 keep their work up retain a good share of what they have 
 learned after the course is over, while the crammers speedily 
 forget their recently acquired knowledge. There may be some 
 subjects on which we wish to acquire information for a par- 
 ticular occasion and then forget it, but this cannot be true 
 of the more fundamental part of the work of the school. 
 We shall see in a later part of the chapter that this principle 
 partly explains the apparently better memory of children 
 than of adults. 
 
 The intention to remember facilitates learning. The 
 most efficient learning of which a person is capable is not 
 guaranteed merely by the proper arrangement of the out- 
 ward conditions of the work. Very much will depend on the 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 199 
 
 attitude of mind of the learner. If he goes over the material 
 in a lackadaisical way, without paying very strict attention 
 to what he is doing, and without the intention to remember 
 what he is reading over or listening to, the repetitions will 
 have very little effect. Even those who have experimented 
 with memorizing, and who are to be considered as possess- 
 ing an average degree of ability, have sometimes found that 
 they did not remember series of words which they had re- 
 peated to their subjects a number of times, although the 
 repetitions were sufficiently numerous to enable three or 
 four persons in succession to memorize them. The differ- 
 ence in the result must be ascribed to a difference in 
 purpose. 
 
 Fifth rule: Attempt to recall during learning. In order 
 that this intention to remember may be prominent in the 
 mind of the learner it is well to form the habit of stopping 
 occasionally to see how much can be remembered of what is 
 being studied. This practice will keep the learner in the 
 proper attitude of mind, so that the repetitions which he 
 makes will result in his being able to reproduce as soon as is 
 possible. We may assume, perhaps, that the continued rep- 
 etitions will make impressions of some sort on one's nerv- 
 ous system, but they may not take the sort of impression 
 which can be turned to account in intentionally recalling 
 the facts which are gone over. In order that the facts may 
 be at the call of the learner, or in order that he may be 
 able to reproduce them when he desires to do so, it is neces- 
 sary that he make the repetitions in the first place with this 
 purpose in mind; and, as has been suggested, the effort to 
 recall during intervals of the learning will serve to maintain 
 this attitude. We may accordingly establish this rule : Pause 
 occasionally during the learning to attempt to recall what 
 has been gone over. 
 
 Sixth rule : Make the first perusal with especial care. Of 
 
200 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the various repetitions which are made in learning, the first 
 one is by all odds the most important. It is often very difficult 
 to overcome a wrong impression which was gained in the first 
 perusal. This is a matter of common observation as well as 
 a fact which has been established by experiment. If the first 
 repetition is made in a careless and superficial way, the 
 others have very much less effect than if the first impression 
 is made carefully. It is particularly desirable that the first 
 repetition be made with the attempt to get the meaning so 
 far as possible of what is about to be memorized, and to get 
 the meaning correctly. The fact seems to be that those 
 parts of any piece which a person neglects on his first read- 
 ing, he tends to overlook in his successive readings, so that 
 if one has studied a book carelessly and without forming cor- 
 rect notions of its meaning, it becomes more difficult for him 
 in the future to apprehend its meaning accurately than it 
 would be to take up in the same way an entirely new book. 
 There are two plausible explanations of this fact of obser- 
 vation. In the first place a superficial reading gives many 
 false interpretations of the meaning of the piece, and these 
 false interpretations are likely to persist in spite of later 
 more careful readings. This is in accordance with the prin- 
 ciple of apperception, that an interpretation of any matter 
 of experience is greatly influenced by our preconceptions. 
 In the second place, the first reading takes the keen edge 
 off our curiosity and it is more difficult afterwards to give 
 close attention than when the interest was at its height. 
 From these facts we deduce the rule: Give close attention 
 and try to gain an accurate interpretation of the thought 
 at the first perusal. 
 
 Seventh rule: Avoid false associations. Partly as bear- 
 ing on the value and importance of first impressions, and 
 partly as it is related to succeeding impressions, another 
 principle is of considerable importance. This principle is 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 201 
 
 that false associations should be avoided so far as possible. 
 The bearing of this principle is frequently seen in common 
 experience. If we are attempting to recollect a person's name 
 and a wrong name comes to our mind, we find it much more 
 difficult than it would otherwise have been to recall the cor- 
 rect one. When we attempt to recall the name our mind is 
 diverted to this wrong association. Other examples are found 
 in learning to speak, which is one form of memorizing. If a 
 person has formed the habit of spelling a word wrong he not 
 only continues to spell the word wrong unless his attention 
 is particularly directed to his error, but he fails to notice the 
 difference between his own spelling and the correct spelling 
 when he meets it in his reading. The reason for the lack of 
 economy from forming wrong associations, then, is that it 
 is necessary in such cases, not merely to form the correct 
 association, but in addition to this, to break the wrong ones 
 which have been formed. It frequently requires greater 
 effort to break up a wrong association than it would have 
 cost to form the correct one in the first place. Whence the 
 rule: Carefully avoid false associations. 
 
 Eighth rule: Learn under some pressure. Although 
 learning should be careful and fairly deliberate, particularly 
 at the first, it must not be carried on too slowly. We must 
 distinguish between undue haste which is accompanied by 
 carelessness and which is likely to produce a large number of 
 errors, and such a degree of effort or pressure as will make 
 the whole process more effective. Some degree of pressure, 
 some urgency or effort in learning, will make the learning 
 more rapid and the results more permanent. Repetitions 
 which are made when the mind is not fully alive, or when it 
 is not accompanied by any feeling of urgency or of desire to 
 learn, are apt not to be economical. There is, of course, a 
 rightly applied effort, and a wrongly applied effort. When 
 the effort is merely the attempt to spur one's self on, it 
 
202 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 may not succeed. It may rather defeat its own end. Just 
 what the conditions are which make effort fruitful or un- 
 fruitful we shall discuss more particularly in the chapter 
 on mental economy, but we may say for the present : Learn 
 under some pressure. 
 
 5. The whole and part methods 
 In memorizing extended pieces, two general methods have 
 been distinguished. We may either repeat the whole piece 
 and attempt to learn it as a whole gradually, or we may 
 repeat small parts at a time, and try to learn it thoroughly 
 as we go along. The two methods are called the whole and 
 the part methods. 
 
 The whole method is, in general, the better. Although the 
 part method is the one most commonly used, experiments 
 seem to indicate that the whole method enables one to 
 memorize with the least waste of time and energy. There are 
 of course qualifications in regard to the kind of piece, and 
 so on, but it is usually better to read over the whole piece 
 and then continue to study it as a whole, rather than to 
 study it piecemeal. 
 
 The whole method avoids false associations and makes 
 associations with the thought easier. The reason for the 
 superiority of the whole method in general seems to be that 
 when one uses this method there are no associations formed 
 which are unnecessary and which have to be overcome. In 
 learning by the part method, the last words of a part are 
 associated with the beginning of the same part instead of the 
 following one. As a result, when one comes to the end of the 
 stanza it often calls up the beginning of the same stanza 
 and one is unable to proceed. This is in fact an experience 
 which is common. In the second place, the whole method 
 has an advantage, not only because the associations are 
 formed between each part and the parts preceding and fol- 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 203 
 
 lowing, but because associations are also formed between 
 each part and the thought of the whole piece. Because of 
 this fact learning by the whole method has more the char- 
 acter of logical memorizing than has learning by the part 
 method, and in accordance with this fact it has been found 
 to be more permanent in effect. 
 
 Extra time must be given to difficult parts. In the appli- 
 cation of the whole method thereare certain difficulties 
 which must be met. It is found that before a piece is learned 
 completely, certain parts prove to be more difficult than 
 other parts. The easier parts may be learned long before the 
 harder parts. It is therefore a waste of time to go over the 
 parts already learned in order to learn the others. We must 
 accordingly modify the method by permitting a more pro- 
 longed study of the more difficult parts as soon as it has 
 been determined what these parts are. 
 
 In the application of the whole method the length of the 
 piece and its general difficulty, as well as the age and memory 
 capacity of the learner, must be considered. The great diffi- 
 culty with the whole method is that the learner feels it to be 
 a formidable task to learn in this way. He does not appear 
 to make progress in the earlier repetitions. He therefore 
 tends to lose confidence in his ability to memorize, and, as 
 we shall see in the later chapter on learning, confidence is one 
 of the most important conditions for economical learning. 
 If the piece is long, then, it should be broken up into sec- 
 tions which are long enough to represent a fairly large divi- 
 sion of thought, but which are not long enough to prevent 
 the learner from seeing any evidence of his progress. In the 
 case of young children, and of those who learn with diffi- 
 culty, the divisions should be smaller than in the case of 
 adults or of rapid learners. Difficult material should be 
 broken up into smaller divisions than easy material. But 
 keeping these qualifications in mind it is safe to say that 
 
204 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 most persons can with advantage learn by larger divisions 
 than they would choose spontaneously. 
 
 The part method may be better for some individuals. 
 There may also be another qualification with reference to the 
 superiority of the whole method, based upon the individual- 
 ity of the learner. Experiments with large classes of adults 
 indicate that without special practice in the whole method 
 there are some who seem to do better with the part method, 
 although the average of the whole class is in favor of the 
 whole method. If this should prove to be true after the whole 
 method has been practiced longer, and if it should prove 
 to be true with children, it would be necessary to make 
 allowances for this fact in directing the learning of the in- 
 dividual child. It is possible that there are differences in the 
 way in which different persons memorize to the greatest 
 advantage. This principle of method, like all others, must be 
 applied with due regard for the capacity and the individual 
 type of ability of each person. 
 
 Summary on the whole and part methods. We may 
 apply the principles concerning the whole and part methods 
 in a series of rules : ■ — 
 
 1. First get a clear idea of the thought of the whole piece 
 and then divide it into fairly large divisions, making the 
 divisions correspond to the natural divisions of the thought. 
 If the piece is short it will not need to be divided at all. 
 
 2. The length of a piece which may be learned as a whole, 
 or the length of divisions, depends on the difficulty of the 
 piece, the age of the learner and the individuality of the 
 learner. There is not yet sufficient evidence upon which 
 to base a more specific rule regarding length. 
 
 3. When the easier parts of a division have been learned, 
 extra repetitions should be devoted to the more difficult parts. 
 
 4. Especial attention should be given to the connections 
 between divisions. 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 205 
 
 6. Individual and age differences 
 Whatever may be the case in regard to individual differ- 
 ences with reference to the preferred method of learning, it 
 is certainly true that different persons vary in their memory 
 ability. The variation is wide and concerns both the speed 
 with which different persons can memorize for immediate 
 reproduction, and the percentage of the material which can 
 be reproduced at a later time. The difference in the rate at 
 which different persons can memorize the same material 
 is very large. Out of a class of persons who do not differ so 
 widely in general ability as do the pupils of most large classes, 
 some can memorize the same material three times as rapidly 
 as can others. Furthermore, if the learners are required to 
 memorize again what they memorized previously, it will take 
 some a correspondingly larger amount of time in the relearn- 
 ing. We may illustrate these differences by two cases from 
 a class of nineteen adults. One of the class memorized a poem 
 at the rate of 28.5 lines per hour and relearned it at a later 
 time at the rate of 101 lines per hour. Another individual 
 memorized the same poem at the rate of 79.5 lines per hour 
 and relearned at the rate of 336 lines per hour. 
 
 Rapidity of learning and permanence may or may not cor- 
 respond. It is not true that the rapid learner always remem- 
 bers the most of what he learns, or vice versa. Some memo- 
 rize quickly and retain a large percentage, — perhaps eighty 
 or more per cent of what they memorize. Others take a com- 
 paratively long time to learn, and retain a small percentage, 
 say thirty. On the other hand, some slow learners retain 
 a large amount, and some fast learners retain a small 
 amount ; and in addition there is an intermediate group com- 
 posed of those who learn with moderate rapidity and re- 
 tain a moderate amount. 
 
 Rapid learning is as likely to go with unusual permanence 
 
206 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 as the reverse. This runs counter to the traditional view- 
 to which we have been accustomed, which is that slow learn- 
 ers remember accurately and for a long time, while fast learn- 
 ers are superficial. If there is any general relationship, it is 
 rather that the faster learner retains better; but there seems 
 to be little connection between speed and retention, if one 
 compares the ability of different persons. These facts must 
 be considered in regulating the different tasks which we set 
 to different children, and the demands which we make of 
 them. We should have some fairly definite notion of the 
 amount which a particular child can learn and should avoid 
 making an undue demand on the slow child on the one hand, 
 or giving insufficient tasks to the fast learner on the other. 
 An individual's memory can be improved. While it is true 
 that persons differ in their ability to memorize, we must 
 not conclude that a particular person's ability may not be 
 modified by training. Training, it is true, will not make all 
 persons alike; but a large amount of training may increase 
 the ability of one who is particularly deficient in this kind 
 of mental work. We know little as yet about the amount of 
 training which w r ould be necessary to raise the ability of the 
 poor memorizer up to the level of the person of average 
 ability in memorizing. We cannot assume that the same 
 amount of drill will produce the same degree of ability in 
 different children. What we do know is that at least a ma- 
 jority of persons are capable of improvement in their mem- 
 orizing ability. The facts which will enable us to suit memory 
 drill to the need and capacity of each individual will have to 
 be determined more completely by future experimentation, 
 
 7. Change with age in association and memory 
 The child's spontaneous associations are restricted. One 
 of the tests of the Binet-Simon series throws light on the 
 range and spontaneity of the child's associations which is 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 207 
 
 rather surprising. In this test the child is asked to give all 
 the words he can think of, and he is given a time limit of 
 three minutes. From our observation of the child's constant 
 activity, and the freedom of his imaginative life, we might 
 expect that he would excel in such a performance as this. 
 But the fact is quite the reverse. After a short spurt at the 
 beginning the child's responses begin to run down. He gets 
 fresh starts by naming the objects he sees about him, but 
 at each lower age the responses are slower than at the ages 
 above. The same poverty in free association is met with in 
 a test in which the child is given a word and is asked to give 
 the first word he thinks of. Frequently the word that the 
 child gives has no relation to the one he hears, or the relation 
 is one of sound rather than of meaning. 
 
 The child's experiences are limited and unorganized. The 
 poorness of the child's free association illustrates the remark 
 which is often made concerning freedom in general — that 
 it is not absence of restriction, but the possession of trained 
 ability to act. The child does possess a certain spontaneity, 
 but the exercise of this spontaneity depends, for one thing, 
 upon those experiences with things and persons which fur- 
 nish him with ideas. He can never create an idea out of whole 
 cloth. The child who has the most experiences, other things 
 being equal, will have the greatest freedom of thought and 
 action because he has the materials out of which thought 
 and action can be built. But it is possible for a child to be 
 overwhelmed with mere experiences. The manner in which 
 the more mature person succeeds in the free association test 
 is instructive. The more successful he is, the more likely he 
 is to give words which exhibit trains of associations. His 
 ideas are grouped or organized, so that, for example, one 
 animal will suggest other animals, one food other foods or 
 one building other buildings. Thus when he gets an idea 
 he has really tapped the course of a whole series of ideas. 
 
208 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The process of organization of experiences is as important 
 in education as is the processes of getting experiences. 
 
 The child is also deficient in the control of associations. 
 The deficiency of the child in following trains of associations 
 is one illustration of the poorness of his control over the con- 
 nections of his ideas. His lack of control is also brought out 
 by another kind of examination. We may ask the child to 
 give, not any word which comes into his mind, but one of 
 some specified sort — as the opposite of a given word, one 
 that is related by cause and effect, or one which designates a 
 part of which the given word designates the whole, or the 
 reverse. For instance, the child may be asked to tell the 
 opposite of high, or to name an effect of the cause designated 
 by cold, or to name a part when house is given to designate 
 the whole. The child can meet these tests, but he can suc- 
 ceed in more and more difficult examples as he grows older. 
 This progress is undoubtedly due in part to the child's 
 increasing experience, which makes him better acquainted 
 with the individual ideas. It may safely be assumed, how- 
 ever, that part of the growth consists in the better control 
 or management of ideas so that their relations are more 
 clearly recognized. The control of associated ideas is a very 
 important phase of reasoning, and its development affects 
 growth in reasoning, as we shall see in the consideration of 
 that subject. 
 
 Memory improves with age up to maturity. The develop- 
 ment of the ability to make permanent associations, which 
 we call memorizing, also grows with age. We have been 
 accustomed to think that the younger child can memorize 
 better than the adult, and that there is a particular stage 
 of development when he can memorize better than he can 
 before or after. Experimentation shows that for certain 
 kinds of memorizing at least, both of these beliefs are er- 
 roneous. When we test the ability of the child to learn 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 209 
 
 nonsense syllables, or to learn voluntarily a piece which has 
 been set for him, we find that his ability increases with age rap- 
 idly up to about fourteen or fifteen and more slowly from 
 then on, but that the adult is superior to the child of any age. 
 
 The child's apparent preference for memorizing may not 
 be real. There may be several reasons for the discrepancy 
 between the results of experiments and the common belief 
 of teachers and others who have to do with children. One 
 reason probably is that children do not avoid memorizing 
 as adults do. This seems to be the method which the child 
 takes to spontaneously when he is required to learn. Prob- 
 ably this is not because he likes memorizing much better 
 than does the older person so much as it is to the fact that he 
 has not yet learned to use other methods of study. Children 
 may perhaps often have a dislike for the mechanical, rote 
 sort of learning, but this dislike may not be brought to our 
 notice because they take it as a matter of course that they 
 are required to do their learning in this way. The adult, 
 when he is left to his own devices, turns away from this 
 rather tedious method, and takes up the more convenient 
 and comfortable method of learning by grasping the ideas 
 of what is being studied. 
 
 The child makes many repetitions. Another reason that 
 the child seems to learn with more facility than the adult 
 is that in many cases he employs a great number of repeti- 
 tions in learning a story or a poem. We do not realize the 
 number of repetitions which he experiences in listening to 
 the recital of the piece. We therefore underestimate the 
 length of time or the number of repetitions which it has re- 
 quired for him to learn it. If we make allowance for these 
 facts it is entirely credible that the child cannot memorize 
 a set piece with the same facility that a youth or an adul I 
 can memorize such a piece. The sum of the evidence goes to 
 show that, in voluntary memorizing, or in deliberate mora:> 
 
210 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 rizing, one becomes more efficient up to maturity; and ex- 
 periments, such as those of Meumann, have shown that 
 there is still a possibility for indefinite improvement. 
 
 The child's spontaneously received impressions appear 
 to be very lasting. There seem to be facts of observation 
 which indicate that some kinds of impressions which a 
 child receives are retained by him with as great or greater 
 exactness than the impressions which are made upon the 
 mind of the adult. Such are those impressions which a child 
 receives through the spontaneous attention he gives to the 
 events about him. The boy who sees a fire engine upon 
 the street is giving his whole attention to this object, and 
 he is tremendously interested in it. The impressions which 
 the objects make upon his mind are very strong on account 
 of this attention and interest. We may assume that a child 
 ordinarily pays attention to those things in which he is 
 intensely interested, and that accordingly the casual im- 
 pressions which he receives may be stronger than most of 
 those made upon the mind of the older person. 
 
 The memory of adults for childhood events is due to 
 keeping impressions fresh for a long time. Aside from the 
 fact that such spontaneous impressions may be very last- 
 ing, the evidence for the superior retentiveness of the mem- 
 ory of a child is probably false. We often hear used as an 
 example of the greatest retentiveness of the child's memory 
 the fact that poems learned in early childhood remain clearly 
 in our minds, when others which have been learned since that 
 time have faded out of our minds. This does not illustrate 
 a superior memory upon the part of the child, but rather 
 another law which has been already mentioned, namely, 
 that the older an impression becomes, the more likely it is 
 to remain a permanent possession. If something has been 
 learned a long time ago, and if we have repeated it suffi- 
 ciently so that we retain our memory of it, it makes a very 
 
ASSOCIATION AND MEMORIZING 211 
 
 lasting impression in our minds. A more recent acquisition, 
 on the other hand, tends to fade out more quickly. This 
 explains our memory of those pieces which have been 
 learned in childhood. Many of them have faded from mind, 
 but those which have been repeated occasionally so as to be 
 kept fresh become thereby firmly fixed, and they probably 
 will be retained in memory through life. By exercising care 
 to revive impressions occasionally by repetition, some time 
 after the original learning, the adult can attain somewhat 
 the same permanence which is possessed by such of the 
 child's memories as persist. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Would you ascribe the horse's turning in at his gate to memory? 
 Why? 
 
 2. Is memorizing wholly like memory in the full sense of memory? How 
 does it compare with habit? Does it in any sense go beyond habit? 
 
 3. Give four illustrations of association other than memory. 
 
 4. Give an instance of a logical association and pick it to pieces to show 
 why it is called logical. 
 
 5. Give an illustration of your own of the way by which meaning may 
 be found in an association. 
 
 6. Mention several kinds of material which ought to be learned beyond 
 the threshold. 
 
 7. Is care in the first perusal inconsistent with making a quick, prelimi- 
 nary survey to get the main points? 
 
 8. Give illustrations from your own experience of the effect of learning 
 under pressure. 
 
 9. Why, do you think, is the whole method of memorizing particularly 
 valuable for permanence? 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Colvin, S. S. The Learning Process, chap. rx. (Macmillan, 1911.) 
 Ebbinghaus, H. Memory. (Tr. by H. A. Ruger and Clara E. Bussenius, 
 
 Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913.) 
 Meumann, E. The Psychology of Learning. (Tr. by J. W. Baird. D. Ap- 
 
 pleton & Co., 1913.) 
 Watt, H. J. The Economy and Training of the Memory. (Longmans. 1909.) 
 Whipple, G. M. How to Study Effectively. (Public-School Publishing Co., 
 
 Bloomington, 111., 191G.) 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 
 
 The puzzle illustrates the problem-solving type of learn- 
 ing. We have thus far been describing the kind of learning 
 which consists in the formations of associations between 
 movements and stimuli, which we have called sensori-motor 
 learning, the acquirement of the ability to recognize and 
 interpret impressions, which has been called perceptual 
 learning, and the formation of associations between ideas. 
 There is another type of learning which is radically differ- 
 ent from these. We may illustrate this type of learning 
 by a simple experiment. Figure 19 is one that was used 
 by Lindley in an experiment which will be referred to 
 shortly. This figure is an example of the unicursal puzzle. 
 The problem is to trace the figure without omitting any 
 
 part, without lifting the pen- 
 cil and without retracing any 
 lines. Let the reader attempt 
 the puzzle and then come back 
 to the discussion and inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 In the solution analysis 
 plays an important part. This 
 puzzle may be solved in a 
 variety of ways. The most 
 efficient method in the long 
 run is to analyze the figure 
 into a number of simpler fig- 
 ures and then trace each of these figures by itself. It will 
 be seen that the central line is a separate element, and in 
 
 Fig. 19. Tait's Puzzle 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 
 
 213 
 
 order to trace the figure one must begin at one end of this 
 line. After this is done the other figures may be traced one 
 
 r 
 
 Fig. 20. Illustrations of Forms of Analysis 
 
 at a time. Figure 20 illustrates two ways in which this 
 analysis may be made. 
 
 The distinguishing feature is the clear recognition of a 
 problem and of its solution. This form of learning is differ- 
 ent from those which have been described, in the fact that 
 it consists in the solution of a problem. We start out with 
 a question in mind, and we examine the problem in various 
 ways until finally we are able, as we say, " to see through " 
 the problem. When we have finished, we understand the 
 conditions and the solution. We have not merely acquired 
 
214 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 a habit of response which we know will succeed because it 
 has succeeded in the past, but we understand why this par- 
 ticular mode of response succeeds. 
 
 Problem-solving is a typically human procedure. The 
 contrast between this form of learning and the simpler forms 
 may be illustrated also by the experiment which is some- 
 times used in animal learning, in which the animal learns to 
 get out of a cage which is fastened by a latch, bolt or other 
 fastening. The animal in this case acquires the appropriate 
 response because he finds through repeated random trials 
 that this response releases the door. The human being, on 
 the other hand, would be likely to attack such a problem by 
 studying the relationship of the bolt and the latch so that 
 he could solve it at the first attempt, and so that after he 
 had solved it he would understand why the movement which 
 he made released the latch and opened the door. 
 
 Other examples. There are many instances in our every- 
 day life which furnish opportunities for thinking or prob- 
 lem-solving. It is true we can and do meet these situations 
 frequently in an habitual or instinctive manner. We do not 
 analyze the situation, discover its various elements and 
 their bearing upon the solution, and reason toward a con- 
 clusion. But the opportunity is there even if we do not take 
 it. In the arrangement of one's life in such a way as to meet 
 the conditions of health in the best possible manner there is 
 a capital opportunity to exercise thought. It is said, prob- 
 ably with truth, that nearly all persons live much below 
 their possible efficiency because they do not properly obey 
 the laws of health. In order to live up to the highest possible 
 efficiency of which one is capable it is necessary to know the 
 general principles which have been discovered by science. 
 This, however, is not sufficient. It requires considerable 
 study to know just how the general principles of right living 
 are to be applied in one's own individual case. Each person 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 215 
 
 has his peculiar capacities and peculiar demands upon his 
 strength. The task before him is to discover how he can best 
 utilize his strength in order to meet his duties. To do this 
 adequately he needs not to follow custom and habit, but to 
 experiment and discover the best possible arrangement of his 
 own life. Vocations also present this problem. The choice 
 of one's life work demands that one should weigh the op- 
 portunities presented by the various callings, and match the 
 opportunities with his abilities and interests and the pos- 
 sible training which he can get for himself. The proper 
 exercise of one's civic and political duties furnishes another 
 excellent opportunity. It requires a strenuous exercise of 
 one's mind to think through the issues which are presented 
 in a political campaign and to attempt to weigh the char- 
 acter and the abilities of the various candidates. If it is 
 possible, then, to train the child to think, it is of the great- 
 est importance that we should do so. 
 
 Problem-solving depends upon the grasp of relationships 
 which contribute to a solution. Put in general terms, the 
 difference between this higher form of learning, which we 
 may call problem-solving, and the lower forms, which are 
 largely the formation of associations, consists in the fact 
 that, in the problem-solving type of learning, one grasps 
 or apprehends certain relationships in the situation. The 
 learner is able to see that one fact bears upon another in such 
 a way that he can solve the problem by proceeding in an 
 orderly manner. When one understands the fallacy or the 
 correctness of an argument, it is not because he has found by 
 experience that one sort of argument succeeds and the other 
 does not; but it is because he sees that, in the fallacious argu- 
 ment, the statements do not hold together, whereas, in the 
 correct argument, one statement depends upon another. 
 We may accordingly define problem-solving or thinking as 
 setting up a conscious goal, the attainment of which presents 
 
216 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 difficulties, and the discovery and recognition of that relation- 
 ship between the elements of the problem which will lead to its 
 solution. 
 
 Chess illustrates the problem-solving attitude. Another 
 illustration of the problem-solving type of learning may be 
 found in learning to play chess, which was studied by 
 Cleveland. Here again we have a case in which the aim is 
 to understand the relationship of the various elements in 
 such a way that one may discover a response which meets 
 certain definite conditions. When the chess player has be- 
 come an expert, he is able to see a large number of these 
 relationships simultaneously and to foresee the result of a 
 long series of moves. The beginner can only see a few 
 relationships and these only one at a time. The expert at 
 chess acquires what is called a sense of position. Sense of 
 position means the ability to grasp the position of the various 
 pieces in such a way that the possibilities of future moves 
 can be apprehended. 
 
 Intelligent problem-solving may be combined with random 
 trial in various proportions. Lindley has shown that in solv- 
 ing the type of puzzle which is illustrated above, a person 
 very frequently is able to break up the problem into its 
 parts, and see how these parts are related to one another, 
 with sufficient clearness so that he can give the correct draw- 
 ing at the first attempt. In other cases a person may proceed 
 in a blind fashion and use a more primitive method of find- 
 ing the solution for this kind of problem. We must not 
 suppose that because the problem is present, a person neces- 
 sarily uses the higher type of learning, or of understanding, 
 in solving it. An extensive study of the problem-solving 
 type of learning has been made by Ruger, who used mechan- 
 ical puzzles. Ruger found that various methods may be 
 used in the solution of such problems. An intelligent or un- 
 intelligent mode of procedure may be used. One may pro- 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 217 
 
 ceed systematically to consider the various modes of attack- 
 ing the problem, or he may go about it in a hit-or-miss 
 fashion. Finally, after the problem has once been solved, 
 one may not understand how it was done and so may find it 
 necessary to blunder about again as he did the first time. 
 In other cases, even a hit-or-miss solution may result in an 
 understanding of the problem and of its conditions in such 
 a way that it can be immediately solved thereafter. 
 
 All forms of learning involve some kind of analysis. While 
 there are differences among the various forms of learning 
 which have been described, there are also some common 
 features. The most common of these are two. In all these 
 forms of learning there is, in the first place, an analysis or 
 breaking up of some phase of the situation or of the response. 
 In the case of sensori-motor learning, the analysis may con- 
 sist in the selection of one movement out of a whole group 
 of movements, or it may consist in the selection of a cer- 
 tain stimulus to which a particular response is to be made. 
 In perceptual learning, as illustrated in drawing, one must 
 break up the figure, or the object which is to be recognized, 
 into parts, before a complete recognition of the organized 
 whole is possible. In the case of the problem- solving type 
 of learning, this analysis or breaking up of a problem into its 
 elements is equally evident from the illustrations which have 
 been given. 
 
 All forms of learning also involve the association of ele- 
 ments. The other phase of learning consists in putting to- 
 gether those elements which have been analyzed, and is 
 again illustrated in both sensori-motor and the higher types 
 of learning. In any complex form of movement it is neces- 
 sary to combine movements into a coordination. Thus in the 
 case of handwriting, after we have separated the movements 
 of the thumb and the first two fingers from those of the 
 last two fingers, it becomes necessary to acquire the ability 
 
218 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 to use these fingers simultaneously or in an appropriate 
 order. We have also to make the finger movements in the 
 proper relationship of time or of strength to the movements 
 of the arm. In perceptual learning we have to organize the 
 elements in order to build up an object which shall have 
 definite meaning. In learning to draw a figure, the lines are 
 combined into a figure which had a clearly recognized form. 
 In learning to read, we put the letters together in the recog- 
 nition of a word or a combination of words. In the problem- 
 solving type of learning we reach the solution by recog- 
 nizing the fact that the different elements of the problem 
 are related to one another in a certain definite way so as to 
 contribute to the solution. In learning to open a lock we 
 see that the springs and the levers have such a relation that 
 by pressing one lever the others will be released. The 
 unique feature of problem-solving, then, is not the fact 
 that it requires that we break up a situation into its ele- 
 ments and associate the elements. It is rather in the man- 
 ner in which this breaking up and associating is done. The 
 analysis is made more or less intelligently, with more or less 
 definite purpose and method, which grows out of an under- 
 standing of the nature of the problem; and the association 
 is not only made, but is also recognized. There is insight into 
 the reason that the particular combination of elements leads 
 to the solution. 
 
 1. Reasoning l 
 Reasoning is a clear recognition of the steps in solving 
 a problem. When this higher type of learning, which is 
 called problem- solving, reaches the stage in which we defi- 
 nitely and consciously pass through a number of steps in 
 order to reach a solution, and clearly recognize that these 
 
 1 Reasoning is sometimes taken to include merely deductive thinking, 
 but the term is here taken to mean both inductive and deductive thinking. 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 219 
 
 steps are dependent upon one another because they lead in 
 the direction of the solution, we call the mental process 
 reasoning. We may describe in a little further detail what 
 the steps of reasoning are, and may illustrate the different 
 kinds of reasoning. 
 
 An illustration of scientific thinking in an every-day situa- 
 tion. A clear description of the steps through which one 
 passes in problem-solving is given by Dewey in How We 
 Think, page 70. An example which he uses may be quoted 
 to illustrate these steps : — 
 
 In washing tumblers in hot soap-suds and placing them mouth 
 downward on a plate, bubbles appeared on the outside of the 
 mouth of the tumblers and then went inside. Why? The presence 
 of bubbles suggests air, which I note must come from the inside 
 of the tumbler. I see that the soapy water on the plate prevents 
 the escape of the air except as it is caught in the bubbles. But why 
 should air leave the tumbler? There was no substance entering to 
 force it out. It must have expanded. It expands by increase of 
 heat or by decrease of pressure, or by both. Could the air have 
 become heated after the tumbler was taken from the hot suds? 
 Clearly not the air that was already entangled in the water. If 
 heated air was the cause, cold air must have entered in transferring 
 the tumblers from the suds to the plate. I test to see if this suppo- 
 sition is true by taking several more tumblers out. Some I shake so 
 as to make sure of entrapping cold air in them. Some I take out 
 holding mouth downward in order to prevent cold air from entering. 
 Bubbles appear on the outside of every one of the former and on 
 none of the latter. I must be right in my inference. Air from the 
 outside must have been expanded by the heat of the tumbler, 
 which explains the appearance of the bubbles on the outside. 
 
 But why do they then go inside? Cold contracts. The tumbler 
 cooled and also the air in it. Tension was removed and hence 
 bubbles appeared inside. To be sure of this, I test by placing a cup 
 of ice on the tumbler while the bubbles are still forming outside. 
 They soon reverse. 
 
 Upon examination, each instance 1 reveals more or less clearly, 
 five logically distinct steps; (1) a felt difficulty; ( L 2) its location and 
 
 1 Other illustrations beside the one her_e reproduced were also given. 
 
220 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 definition; (3) suggestion of possible solutions; (4) development by 
 reasoning of the bearings of the suggestions; (5) further obser- 
 vation and experiment leading to its acceptance or rejection; 
 that is the conclusion of belief or disbelief. 
 
 In induction an explanation is sought for observed facts. 
 It will be seen that in the full solution of a problem, as il- 
 lustrated in this case, there are two forms of procedure which 
 are constantly illustrated in the study of natural science. 
 We may distinguish between two kinds of problems. In at- 
 tempting the solution of the first type of problem, we ask our- 
 selves the question, " What principle may be found which sat- 
 isfactorily explains these facts which have been observed?" 
 In the illustration before us, the facts which were observed 
 were the alternate expansion and contraction of the soap 
 bubbles. In order to explain these facts, it was suggested 
 that the principle of expansion of air through heat and its 
 contraction through cold might explain the fact. In order 
 to determine certainly that this principle did account for it, 
 further observation and experiment had to be made, but 
 the first procedure was to cast about for some general prin- 
 ciple which would explain the fact. This was the form of 
 procedure which in natural science is called induction. It 
 may be illustrated in the case of the problem as to the condi- 
 tions which are necessary to the growth of plants. One may 
 observe a variety of plants, or the same plants under a va- 
 riety of conditions, and notice that certain amounts of water 
 will produce luxuriant growth and that smaller amounts will 
 produce less luxuriant growth, and that still smaller amounts 
 will produce death. The generalization on these observed 
 facts is induction, and, as a result of this procedure, one 
 develops a general principle as to the relationship of water 
 supply to plant growth. 
 
 In deduction the consequences of a general principle are 
 predicted. After the generalization had been reached in the 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 221 
 
 study of the soap bubbles, it was not regarded as proved but 
 rather as a tentative conclusion. We call such a tentative 
 generalization an hypothesis. The application of an hypo- 
 thesis through deduction is the next step. 
 
 A good illustration of the application of a general principle 
 through deduction is the discovery of the planet Neptune. 
 After the general law of gravitation had been discovered and 
 applied to the movements of the planets it appeared that 
 the planet Uranus did not follow the path which was to be 
 expected on the basis of this law. Through elaborate cal- 
 culations it was determined that if the law was correct the 
 movement of the planet Uranus could be explained by the 
 presence of another planet of a particular size and in a par- 
 ticular position. An astronomer then turned his telescope 
 toward this region of the heavens and discovered the planet 
 Neptune. This is a beautiful example of the application of 
 the general principle of gravitation and of the confirmation 
 of that principle by virtue of the fact that the prediction 
 which was based upon its application turned out to be cor- 
 rect. Deduction, then, may be said in general to be the 
 answer to the question, "If this general principle is true, 
 what will be the result in a particular case? " 
 
 Deduction is used to test an induction. In the experiment 
 on soap bubbles, the application of the principle was not 
 made in order to test the reliability of the principle of the 
 expansion of air by heat, but its purpose was to test the 
 reliability of the inference that this principle is the explana- 
 tion of the observed facts. Supposing that the alternate con- 
 traction and expansion was due to heating and cooling, if 
 the cold air were taken into the glass when it was set down 
 the expansion would occur; whereas if the glass were lifted 
 in such a way that cold air was not caught in it, there would 
 be only contraction. This application of the principle was 
 found to work and the principle was confirmed. In this 
 
222 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 case we see another application of the question, " If this prin- 
 ciple is true, what will be the result? " for the purpose of con- 
 firming the correctness of an hypothesis. 
 
 Induction is emphasized in research, deduction in applied 
 science. Induction, or the discovery of general principles, 
 is the general method of research. It is the method pursued 
 by the scientist who wishes to explain facts which have not 
 already been explained by the discovery of new principles, or 
 by the application to them of principles which have been 
 previously discovered. Deduction, on the other hand, is the 
 procedure of applied sciences in which new applications are 
 made of familiar principles. Engineering is an illustration 
 of this process. Engineering takes the laws which have been 
 discovered in regard to the amount of strain which various 
 metals will stand, and the amount of strain to which ma- 
 terials are subjected in different forms of structure, and 
 applies these principles to the building of a bridge or the 
 construction of a building. Deduction may be used in the 
 verification of principles, in the sense that applications are 
 made for the purpose of confirming or rejecting hypotheses; 
 and induction may be made in applied sciences to determine 
 what the general principles are which would apply in a par- 
 ticular case; but, in general, the one method is used mainly 
 in research and the other chiefly in applied science. 
 
 Problem-solving requires independent discovery. There 
 is a marked contrast between true problem-solving and the 
 process which we sometimes describe as thinking or reason- 
 ing. It is not thinking for the student to simply follow the 
 beaten path which another has made before him. True think- 
 ing always involves the element of uncertainty as to the 
 path which is to be followed and the independent discovery 
 of this path. The contrast may be illustrated in the study 
 of geometry. In the old style method in which the demon- 
 stration was clearly set forth in a scries of steps and the pupil 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 223 
 
 was required to follow and learn this demonstration there 
 was very little true problem-solving involved. The true 
 method of solving such a problem as this is to discover what 
 facts are known which will contribute toward the proof of 
 the proposition which is to be demonstrated, and to learn 
 how these facts can be set in such an order that they will 
 lead toward the solution. When the student sets out in- 
 dependently to discover such a proof, he begins with the 
 aim or the goal, and casts about in his mind for suggestions 
 of known facts which will help him toward the solution. 
 When he merely follows the proof in the text he begins with 
 facts which have already been selected for him, and passes 
 from one to another without seeing how they contribute 
 toward the solution until the solution has finally been 
 reached. The element of the discovery and selection of the 
 appropriate facts, which is present in all true problem- 
 solving, is here lacking. 
 
 Independent discovery may be present in greater or less 
 degree. The principle that the student should be thrown on 
 his own resources is sometimes stated in too sweeping fash- 
 ion. It is of course out of the question that the pupil should 
 discover without any assistance those scientific laws which 
 have required centuries of research by the ablest minds of 
 the world to discover. The teacher prepares the way of the 
 pupil to the discovery of the facts which he investigates. 
 The very formulation of the problem itself in precise terms 
 is a help toward its solution. The discovery of a problem 
 may be said to be as important or more important than the 
 solution of the problem itself, and frequently the clear state- 
 ment of a problem is sufficient to make its solution easy. 
 The teacher may carry the assistance a step farther by 
 suggesting possible facts which might contribute toward 
 the solution. The part which would be left to the pupil in 
 this case would be the selection of those facts which are 
 
224 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 appropriate and the rejection of the others. The teacher 
 might even go another step farther without completely 
 doing the work for the pupil. The facts which contribute 
 toward the solution might be stated, but they might not be ar- 
 ranged in such a way as to show their bearings upon the prob- 
 lem. The pupil might then be asked to show how the facts 
 bear on the problem and to draw the conclusion from them. 
 Thinking is related to a knowledge of logic much as speak- 
 ing and writing are related to a knowledge of grammar. The 
 principles of correct thinking of a deductive sort have been 
 worked out and systematized in formal logic. A great many 
 rules have been thus laid down determining what one can do 
 and cannot do in valid reasoning from general principles to 
 conclusions. In order that the relations of the statements 
 which are laid down in an argument may be clearly brought 
 out they are arranged in a particular order. The most gen- 
 eral statement, upon which the conclusion is founded, is 
 called the major premise and is placed first. The particular 
 fact which is assumed by the argument to be true, and is 
 taken as the further basis of the conclusion, is placed next; 
 and the conclusion follows last. Certain rules can then be 
 applied to this series of principles or statements, called a 
 syllogism, to test its correctness. Take for example, the fol- 
 lowing syllogism: — 
 
 Major premise: Oranges will not grow without an amount of 
 moisture equivalent to twenty inches of rainfall. 
 
 Minor premise: There is rainfall amounting to twenty inches in 
 the State of Illinois. 
 
 Conclusion: Therefore, oranges will grow in Illinois. 
 
 One does not have to have been a student of logic in order 
 to realize that this argument is not correct. The province 
 of logic is to determine just where the error gets in. This 
 may be done by recasting the three statements. It may 
 then be shown why they do not hold together. Thus : — 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 225 
 
 All places in which oranges will grow are places in which there 
 is an amount of moisture equivalent to twenty inches of 
 rainfall. 
 
 Illinois is a place in which there is an amount of moisture 
 equivalent to twenty inches of rainfall. 
 
 Therefore, Illinois is a place in which oranges will grow 
 
 This makes each statement an assertion of a relation be- 
 tween two terms. In all three statements, however, there 
 are only three terms; namely, (1) places in which oranges 
 will grow; (2) places in which there is an amount of moisture 
 equivalent to twenty inches of rainfall; and (3) Illinois. The 
 first and third terms are brought into relation in the conclu- 
 sion by first bringing each of them into relation to the 
 second in the premises. The second is therefore called the 
 middle term. Why then is the argument not valid? The fal- 
 lacy may be made clear in a diagram. Let each term be rep- 
 resented by a circle. The following situation is possible. The 
 middle term (2) does not necessarily bring the 
 other two (l and 3) into relation. In order to 
 have done so it should have included all the cases 
 to which it may refer in one or the other pre- 
 mise. Thus if the major premise had been — 
 
 All places in which there is an amount of moisture equivalent to 
 20 inches of rainfall are places in which oranges will grow, — • 
 
 the argument would have held. The technical statement of 
 the rule is that the middle term must be distributed in at 
 least one of the premises. 
 
 A knowledge of logic does not teach one how to think 
 but is of assistance in detecting incorrect reasoning. Be- 
 sides a knowledge of the laws of correct reasoning other 
 characteristics are necessary to make one an efficient rea- 
 soner. In the first place a knowledge of logic is largely a 
 negative affair. It enables one to check up his own errors 
 
226 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 or the errors which are made by other people, but does not 
 point positively to the path which one should pursue. In 
 order to reason one must have a supply of ideas about the 
 subject with which he is dealing, and a knowledge of logic 
 never gives him these ideas. In the second place, just as one 
 may know a rule of grammar and still violate it, so one may 
 know the principles of correct reasoning and still commit 
 a fallacy. The fact that one knows the law does not guar- 
 antee that one will always be alert to his own infractions of 
 the law. Therefore a large amount of practice in thinking 
 and in checking up one's own arguments and the argu- 
 ments of others is of more value than a knowledge of the 
 formal principles, though these are worth while in making 
 clear to one's self the reason for the mistakes which are 
 made. 
 
 A knowledge of the scientific method is of assistance in 
 inductive thinking. The procedure of the trained thinker 
 is contrasted with that of the untrained or careless thinker 
 in several ways. The first and perhaps the most important is 
 the avoidance of the practice of jumping to conclusions. The 
 trained thinker always suspends his judgment until the 
 evidence is sufficient to make it reasonable to draw his con- 
 clusions. The suspension of judgment is always a difficult 
 thing for the untrained or uncritical thinker. He tends to 
 accept the first explanation which offers itself. This, of course, 
 is always more of a temptation in a field in which one's 
 knowledge is not extensive, but it is also a more general char- 
 acteristic of the thinking of some individuals than of others. 
 It is always a rather uncomfortable thing to hold one's judg- 
 ment in abeyance and to give up the pleasure of making 
 up one's mind. The danger in too hastily jumping to a con- 
 clusion is that we thereby become unable to give proper 
 attention to opposing considerations. Our minds are closed 
 to other evidence. 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 227 
 
 The second characteristic of the scientific method is sys- * 
 tematic procedure. An extreme example of this is the method 
 by which Edison is said to have discovered the material from 
 which the carbon filament of incandescent lights could be 
 made. It is said that he systematically tried out thousands 
 of substances before the bamboo filament which was fin- 
 ally adopted was discovered. One needs to ask himself where 
 the evidence is which bears upon the problem before him, 
 and then systematically to search for the evidence until 
 a sufficient amount is discovered to make the conclusion 
 valid. The two general methods of search for evidence in a 
 systematic way are the statistical and the experimental 
 method. In the statistical method the investigator counts up 
 the facts which are already in existence and which might 
 throw light on his problem, and in the experimental method 
 he creates the facts by an artificial means. 
 
 A third requirement of correct scientific thinking is that 
 one should be free from prejudice in the matter which he is 
 investigating. This is perhaps the most difficult attitude to 
 maintain. One may be prejudiced because of his previous 
 scientific beliefs or because the question which he is inves- 
 tigating seems to him to touch upon moral or religious mat- 
 ters and is therefore associated with strong emotions. The 
 mere habit of believing a certain principle makes it difficult 
 to believe the opposite one. It is important that one should 
 form the practice of examining his beliefs in order to see 
 whether he holds them because of the evidence which exists 
 to support them or only because he has grown accustomed 
 to them. All of these characteristics of the scientific method 
 may be cultivated. It is easiest to apply them in a field in 
 which one has worked, and there are persons who are scien- 
 tific in their own field of work but are prejudiced and hasty 
 in their conclusions in other fields. It is possible, however, 
 to get such a clear grasp of these principles, and to get such 
 
228 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 a habit of putting them into practice, that they may become 
 more or less a part of all one's thinking. 
 
 Efficient thinking demands the possession of adequate 
 information. We saw in the analysis of the process of think- 
 ing that the movement of thought from the problem to its 
 conclusion depended upon the suggestion of ideas which rep- 
 resent possible solutions. This fertility of association may 
 depend in part upon the thinker's native constitution of 
 mind. One person may have few ideas and another many 
 because of their inborn nature. The fertility of ideas depends, 
 however, in part upon another condition which is susceptible 
 of improvement. One has many ideas on subjects on which 
 he has large quantities of information and few ideas on sub- 
 jects concerning which his information is limited." It is cus- 
 tomary to draw a contrast between ability in thinking and 
 mere ability to amass information. It is true that we some- 
 times meet persons who have a retentive memory and can 
 give many facts, but who have not put these facts together 
 so as to draw conclusions. They lack the mental control 
 and the recognition of relationship which is necessary for 
 thinking. On the other hand, a person is always limited 
 if he does not possess adequate information. A first-class rea- 
 soner is never lacking in the ability to assemble facts to use 
 as the basis of his conclusions. The possession of a store of 
 facts is always of especial value in the construction of an ar- 
 gument which shall be convincing to other persons. The 
 lawyer is incompetent as a reasoner about health and dis- 
 ease, not because he is a poor thinker in general, but be- 
 cause he does not possess the necessary knowledge in this 
 field. In the same way the physician is not a reliable rea- 
 soner with reference to matters of law. The criticism which 
 has often been made upon the mere collection of facts 
 and the memorizing of information by the child is likely to 
 carry us too far to the other extreme and to lead us to a 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 229 
 
 contempt for facts which will greatly hamper the process 
 of thinking. 
 
 Familiarity with good models of reasoning is of value. If 
 we had to choose between familiarity with examples of rea- 
 soning from masters in the various fields of science and a 
 study of the laws of logic, the choice would lie with familiar- 
 ity with good models. As in sensori-motor learning so also in 
 problem-solving one learns much by imitation. The modern 
 school and college fail to give the student sufficient contact 
 with the writings of the first-rate thinkers of the world. A 
 student may go through high school and college and never 
 read any scientific works except the textbooks. The text is 
 necessary to summarize the present knowledge in any field 
 of knowledge, but it would also be highly valuable for the 
 student to come in direct contact with some of the original 
 investigations which have served as landmarks in the de- 
 velopment of science. To bring the student in contact with 
 such masters as Adam Smith in Economics, Darwin in 
 Biology, or William James in Psychology is to do him a 
 service which cannot be supplied by secondhand rework- 
 ing of these men's ideas. 
 
 2. Individual and age differences 
 The child is said to be fit only for mechanical forms of 
 learning. A stock generalization regarding the child and his 
 development is that before adolescence the child's actions 
 are controlled by habit, memory, and authority, but that 
 he does not learn to reason until the period of youth. This 
 principle is often applied to the education of the child dur- 
 ing the intermediate period of his elementary school life. 
 It is urged that at this time the child is capable chiefly of 
 drill and of memorization, — that is, of the more mechani- 
 cal sorts of learning. It is said that this is the period when he 
 should be storing his mind with a wide range of facts, even 
 
230 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 although he may not understand them at the time; and that 
 he should at this period be acquiring a great variety of habits 
 without himself recognizing the value or the significance of 
 these habits. This recognition he will gain with the develop- 
 ment of his reason at the time of youth. 
 
 Tests show that the child can reason. It is difficult to 
 understand how a person who observes a child in his spon- 
 taneous activities can hold such a belief regarding his abil- 
 ity to reason. • Bonser's experiments, which were made to 
 test the child's ability in this direction, indicate compara- 
 tively little difference between the child of eight and the 
 youth. The test was given to all of the children from the 
 fourth to the sixth grades. In the lower grades there were 
 some children as young as eight years of age and in the upper 
 grades there were some who were sixteen. When these chil- 
 dren were grouped according to age a good many of those in 
 the younger group gave as good responses to the tests as did 
 the better ones of the older groups. There was, to be sure, 
 some error in this comparison, due to the fact that only the 
 brighter of the younger children would be included by such 
 a method of selection, whereas of those above twelve years 
 of age only the slower or the duller ones would be included. 
 But even with this qualification the facts are remarkable. 
 
 An illustration of a child's reasoning. In further support 
 of the belief that the child can reason, the following illustra- 
 tion may be offered from the life of a child of five years of age. 
 This boy was taking his afternoon rest in company with his 
 father, but was restless and wished to get up and play. The 
 following colloquy took place : — 
 
 Boy: "I am not tired." 
 
 Father: "Yes, you are. I can tell because you wiggle so much." 
 
 Boy: "Then you are not tired." 
 
 Father: "Why?" 
 
 Boy: "Because you do not wiggle." 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 231 
 
 There is, of course, a fallacy in the boy's argument, but 
 if we excluded all arguments which contain fallacies, we 
 could materially reduce the evidence of reasoning on the 
 part of adults. 
 
 Reasoning is limited by experience. The child's reason- 
 ing is naturally limited by the experience which he has had 
 and the material which is within his understanding. In 
 much the same way the reasoning of the primitive or the 
 uneducated person is limited. The European peasant who 
 believes in the efficacy of a silly and superstitious mode of 
 treatment for disease is not thereby exhibiting a lack of abil- 
 ity to reason, but rather the lack of opportunity to develop 
 his capacity for reasoning. The child is continually drawing 
 conclusions within his own sphere. The task of the educa- 
 tor is to determine what that sphere is and how rapidly it 
 can be widened at different ages, and what type of reason- 
 ing is suited to the different stages of development. 
 
 The child has characteristic deficiencies in reasoning. 
 This does not mean that there are no differences in the 
 ability of the child to reason at different ages. The child be- 
 fore adolescence certainly does reason, but he suffers from 
 certain defects or deficiencies which very commonly make 
 his reasoning unsound. These defects again are not dif- 
 ferent in kind from those which affect the reasoning of older 
 persons, but they are present in a somewhat higher degree, 
 due to the peculiar conditions of the child's stage of develop- 
 ment. Some of these conditions may be briefly mentioned. 
 
 Narrow range of information is one cause of limitation in 
 reasoning. In the first place, as has already been said, it 
 is clear that the correctness of a person's reasoning will de- 
 pend in a large measure upon the amount of experience 
 which he has had, and the amount of information he pos- 
 sesses on the subject on which he reasons. If this is true 
 in the case of adults, and if the expert in a certain field is 
 
232 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 able to reason better than the person who lacks informa- 
 tion about it, it is clear that the child suffers from a disabil- 
 ity in this matter which affects not only certain subjects 
 but subjects in general. Because of his narrower range of 
 information, it is evident that he does not have the mate- 
 rial with which to reason with the same effectiveness that 
 the older person does. 
 
 The child is deficient in critical judgment. Beyond this 
 difference in his experience, the child seems to lack somewhat 
 the ability to suspend judgment and to bring to bear upon 
 any course of argument a variety of considerations. We ex- 
 press this by saying that he lacks critical judgment. We 
 mean by critical judgment the disposition to examine any 
 conclusion with reference to all the information which may 
 bear upon it. How far this deficiency in critical judgment 
 may be a general feature of the child's mind, and how far 
 it is merely the result of his deficient experience we do not 
 know. A person is more critical in those fields with which he 
 is familiar than in others, and the educated person is in 
 general more critical in his judgment than is the ignorant 
 person. We may ascribe at least part of the child's deficiency 
 in critical judgment, then, to his lack of experience. An- 
 other way of putting this same principle is to say that the 
 child is more suggestible than the adult. He is more apt to 
 follow the course of thinking which is laid down by another 
 person without judging for himself whether it is correct or 
 not. 
 
 The child is less capable of sustained, patient thought than 
 the adult. Some limitation in thinking ability is also due 
 undoubtedly to the child's narrower mental scope, and de- 
 ficient ability in sustaining his attention to a given subject 
 for a considerable length of time. In order to reason prop- 
 erly it is necessary that we keep in mind the various pos- 
 sible considerations which may affect the problem. If we 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 
 
 233 
 
 lose sight of some of these we may reach a conclusion which 
 is unbalanced, in which certain of the facts are not taken into 
 account. The child is notoriously apt to follow out one issue, 
 or one side of a question without taking into account the 
 
 Percent 
 
 00 
 
 II III IV V VI VII VIII 
 
 Grade 
 Fig. 21. Age Progress Curves in Problems of the Same Kind 
 but Different Difficulty 
 
 (Completion Sentences from Trabue.) 
 
234 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 other. Furthermore, he soon tires of pursuing any particu- 
 lar course of thought. This, as in the other forms of dis- 
 ability, is a matter of degree. They do not mean that the 
 child lacks certain powers which the adult has, but rather 
 that certain propensities are not so highly developed in him 
 as they are in the adult. 
 
 The child's intellectual development in general is gradual. 
 The child's development in the ability to meet particular 
 intellectual problems may be somewhat sudden, but the 
 ability to do particular tasks is to be distinguished from 
 ability in a general type of process. Whether we believe that 
 the child's ability to think depends on his individual experi- 
 ence or upon the development of his nervous system and the 
 inner factors of mental maturity, the observation of the 
 child and the more scientific tests which have been made 
 combine to indicate that his development is gradual. There 
 is no sudden evolution in his ability to think. We frequently 
 meet with a fairly rapid development in the ability to handle 
 certain problems, but if we examine the ability of a child in 
 an earlier stage, we will see that he was capable of handling 
 a problem of the same general sort, provided it is an easier 
 example of it. If again we observe him in a still later stage of 
 his development, we see that he has progressed so that he is 
 now able to handle a still more difficult problem of the same 
 general type. To adequately measure the child's growth, 
 then, it is necessary that we test him with a series of prob- 
 lems of advancing difficulty. There are critical periods with 
 reference to any particular task or problem, and such a task 
 or problem is an adequate test only for such a critical period. 
 In an earlier period the child's almost complete inability to 
 do the task is likely to lead to the false conclusion that he 
 has no ability whatever of the type required, and his solu- 
 tion of the problem in a later age may not be a measure of 
 his full ability to meet more difficult ones. 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 235 
 
 x 
 
 Graded tests furnish good illustrations of the child's 
 intellectual growth. A study of the scores made by children 
 of different ages upon a series of tests requiring the same type 
 of ability but of increasing difficulty, furnishes good illus- 
 tration of the principles brought out in the preceding para- 
 graph. A good illustration of such a scale is the comple- 
 tion-test scales organized by Trabue. The scores of children 
 from the second to the eighth grade in several successive 
 steps of the scale are taken as the basis of Figure 21. The 
 chart was constructed in this way: Each line represents the 
 scores of the children for the various grades in one particular 
 sentence. The height of the curve for a particular grade rep- 
 resents the total score made by the children of that grade. 
 The sentences are designated by the numbers used in the 
 original monograph. These sentences are as follows: — 
 
 4x. Time often more valuable money. 
 
 5y. The rises the morning and at night. 
 
 8y. It is a task to be kind to every beggar 
 
 for money. 
 
 lOx. It is very to become acquainted 
 
 persons who timid. 
 
 lly. When one feels drowsy and , it happens 
 
 that he is to fix his attention very successfully 
 
 anything. 
 
 Suppose now we had only the scores for sentence 4x as a 
 basis for judging the child's development in this type of intel- 
 lectual capacity. We should say that the function developed 
 very rapidly from the second grade to the fifth, and more 
 slowly to the seventh grade, and that there it reached its 
 maximum. If on the other hand we had the score of sentence 
 lly only we should say that this intellectual function de- 
 veloped hardly at all until the seventh grade, and then rather 
 rapidly to the eighth, the course of development indicating 
 the probability that it continued beyond this point. On the 
 
236 
 
 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 Ph "3, 
 
 basis of the scores of all the sen- 
 tences, however, the only correct in- 
 terpretation is that the child pro- 
 gresses steadily in his ability to do 
 harder and harder tasks of the same 
 sort, but that in one particular degree 
 of difficulty there is a stage of devel- 
 opment in which there is rather rapid 
 progress preceded by a stage of low 
 ability and followed by a stage of 
 almost complete mastery. 
 
 Differences between individuals 
 are large in comparison with the 
 amount of progress with age. The 
 advance in thinking with age in a 
 problem of particular difficulty is 
 complicated by the differences be- 
 tween individuals of the same age. 
 The advance would be more rapid if 
 it were not obscured by the factor 
 of differences within each age. At 
 any particular age or grade there are 
 a number of children whose ability is 
 less than the majority and another 
 group whose ability is greater. The 
 presence of these better and poorer 
 pupils makes the advance in score 
 gradual. A direct representation of 
 the spread of the ability of different 
 individuals of the same grade may 
 be taken from the same monograph 
 by Trabue. Figure 22 is a some- 
 what hypothetical drawing based 
 upon the degree of scattering of the 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 237 
 
 scores of the children in each of the grades, and shows 
 what we may expect in general the degree of distribution 
 to be. Each bell-shaped curve represents the scores of the 
 children in a particular grade, and the figures on the base 
 line represent the scores. Thus in the fourth grade the scores 
 of the different individual children extend from to 9. The 
 score marked C.G. represents college graduates. The scat- 
 tering of the individuals of a particular group is so star- 
 tlingly large that the only two groups which are entirely 
 separated are those of the second grade and the college 
 graduates. Between every other two groups there is some 
 overlapping. There are some individuals in the second grade 
 who get as good scores as some in the last year in the high 
 school, and there are some in the third grade who do as well 
 as some college graduates. 
 
 The differences in one particular test, especially when it 
 is given only once, are much larger than would be the dif- 
 ferences in a group of tests or in a single test given several 
 times. There are certain accidental factors which place an 
 individual's score high or low when the score is based only 
 on a single determination. Even with these qualifications, 
 however, the differences in ability among individuals of 
 any particular age or among adults are tremendous in the 
 field of thinking or of the higher intellectual processes, as in 
 the field of sensori-motor ability, perception, or of memory. 
 It is not surprising that the school finds great difficulty in 
 classifying the pupils so that those of something like similar 
 ability shall be together. The use of tests, both those of 
 a general character and of tests of ability in the particular 
 school subjects, has proven to be of help in the classifi- 
 cation of children and is probably destined to be of still 
 greater help in the future. 
 
238 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Are the other forms of learning which have been described carried on 
 without purpose or aim? If they also have purpose or aim, is it like that 
 of problem-solving? If not, what is the difference? 
 
 2. Discuss with further illustrations the question whether animals solve 
 problems. 
 
 3. What part of the definition of problem-solving, as it is given in this 
 chapter, sets it off most clearly from other kinds of learning? 
 
 4. Find some illustration of problem-solving from your experience and 
 analyze it into the five steps given by Dewey. 
 
 5. Tell which of the following cases of reasoning are inductive and which 
 deductive, and give your reasons. 
 
 a. The inference from mental and physical tests of children afflicted 
 with malaria and hook worms that these diseases retard the child's 
 physical and mental development. 
 
 b. Using the facts and laws of fatigue and learning to infer what the 
 best time schedule for third-grade pupils is. 
 
 c. Drawing conclusions from the results of an appropriate experi- 
 ment regarding the relative advantages of the part and whole 
 methods of memorizing. 
 
 d. Drawing up a plan for teaching spelling, using the results of ex- 
 perimental studies of the value of the various methods. 
 
 6. How do the deductive inferences indicated in the preceding question 
 serve to check up the validity of inductions. 
 
 7. Mention two methods of teaching science, one of which emphasizes 
 independent discovery and the other not. 
 
 8. How else is an argument to be criticized beside testing it for formal 
 correctness — that is, for correctness in the relation between the 
 premises and the conclusion? What kind of examination would such 
 additional criticism require? 
 
 9. Show that the practice of patiently searching for evidence for beliefs 
 includes the chief elements of the scientific method. 
 
 10. Give any evidence you can that the child reasons from his early years. 
 
 11. Give illustrations of the sorts of defects in reasoning to which the child 
 is especially liable. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Bonser, F. G. The Reasoning Ability of Children. (Teachers College Con- 
 tributions to Education, no. 37. 1910.) 
 
 Cleveland, A. A. "The Psychology of Chess and of Learning to Play It"; 
 in American Journal of Psychology, vol. 18, pp. 269-308. 
 
 Dewey, J. How We Think. (D. C. Heath & Co., 1910.) 
 
PROBLEM-SOLVING OR THINKING 239 
 
 Lindley, E. H. "Study of Puzzles"; in American Journal of Psychology, 
 vol. 8, pp. 431-93. (1897.) 
 
 Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools, chap. ix. (Ginn & Co., 
 1915.) 
 
 Ruger, H. A. "The Psychology of Efficiency"; in Archives of Psychology, 
 no. 15, Columbia University. 
 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, vol. 2, "Psychology of Learning." 
 (Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913.) 
 
 Trabue, M. R. Completion-Test Language Scales. (Teachers College Con- 
 tributions to Education, no. 77. 1916.) 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE CHILD'S 
 MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The contrast between different ages 
 In the discussion of the separate forms of mental develop- 
 ment in the child we have met with illustrations of the dif- 
 ference between the child at different ages. In this chapter 
 we shall attempt to bring together the various facts which 
 appear from a study of the development of the instincts and 
 capacities in order to draw some general conclusions as to 
 the laws of mental growth. In the history of thought re- 
 garding the child and his development we have swung from 
 one extreme to another. The earlier students and writers 
 upon the child emphasized the necessity of understanding 
 and taking account of the differences which exist between 
 the child and the adult. Rousseau, for example, criticized 
 sharply the practice, which was characteristic of his time, 
 of treating the child as a small adult. Rousseau dwelt upon 
 the fact that the child is not merely weaker than the adult, 
 but that his capacities and instincts are different in kind 
 from those of the adult. Writers on child-study from the 
 time of Rousseau to the present have emphasized differences 
 in the constitution of the child's physical nature and in his 
 interests and capacities. It is a well-known fact that the 
 bones of the child contain a less percentage of lime than do 
 the bones of the adult. After the physical analogy it is some- 
 times said also that the child lacks such a capacity as moral 
 discrimination and that this develops at about the time of 
 adolescence. We shall discuss this point more at length 
 presently. 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 241 
 
 An example: The child's docility has been exaggerated. 
 Although it was formerly necessary to emphasize the dis- 
 tinction between the child and the adult, the pendulum has 
 swung so far to the opposite extreme that it becomes neces- 
 sary now to emphasize those points in which the child is like 
 the adult. This is not merely necessary for the sake of gain- 
 ing a correct scientific notion of the child, but also as a cor- 
 rective for some of our practices toward him. For example, 
 we ordinarily assume, and our science affirms,' that the child 
 is more docile than is the older person. The child is depend- 
 ent for the ideas which govern and control his conduct upon 
 the direction of older persons, and he is willing to submit his 
 conduct to such control. Although it is true that the child 
 will cheerfully accept more direction and control than the 
 adult, yet this point can very easily be overemphasized. 
 The child likes to control his own conduct, and very com- 
 monly he resents interference with it. He takes a pride 
 in his ability to do things and very often would rather 
 find out how to solve a problem than to be shown by 
 another. 
 
 It is not fruitful to inquire, When do certain capacities 
 appear? We must not, of course, overlook the differences 
 which actually exist at different ages, but we must avoid 
 an erroneous interpretation of these differences. Because 
 a child does not possess the ability to perform some task 
 at one age and acquires that ability later may not mean 
 that he has acquired any fundamentally new mental capa- 
 city. The first uncritical study of the differences between 
 children of different ages is too apt to lead to this form of 
 interpretation. The questions which such studies are some- 
 times made to answer are put in some such form as this, 
 When does a certain power of capacity develop in the child? 
 The result is a catalogue of the ages at which memory, 
 imagination, reasoning, and so on, develop. 
 
242 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 We should rather ask, What form do the capacities take at 
 a certain age? A more critical study of the facts which have 
 been discovered through studies of the child leads to another 
 view of his development. This development is rather to be 
 viewed as a gradual unfolding of his powers than as the ac- 
 quisition of new powers. This unfolding, in which the same 
 fundamental capacities appear in doing more and more com- 
 plex things, Was illustrated in the development of play and 
 of reasoning. The question in the mind of the investigator 
 or of the observer of the child should be rather, What forms 
 do the fundamental capacities take at different times? 
 than, When do certain capacities develop? 
 
 Changes in social attitude with age are exaggerated. An 
 illustration of the exaggeration of the differences between 
 the younger and the older child may be taken from his social 
 attitude. A common statement is that before adolescence 
 the child is egoistic or selfish, whereas at adolescence the 
 child becomes altruistic. This contrast is not true on either 
 side. The child is not entirely egoistic, even when we inter- 
 pret the statement as meaning that he is merely oblivious 
 to the interests and to the welfare of others. It is sometimes 
 said that the child is not selfish, because he does not feel 
 that the interests of others make any call or demand upon 
 him; but that his attitude can be characterized as one of 
 selfishness, because he is completely absorbed in his own 
 interests. 
 
 The child has social impulses. This characterization 
 leaves out of account the fact that the child possesses, in ad- 
 dition to the instincts which lead to self -gratification, those 
 instincts which identify him and his interests with those of 
 others. It was seen in a previous chapter that the child 
 possesses impulses of sympathy and of affection. It is true 
 that where there is a conflict between these generous im- 
 pulses and the more selfish ones, the latter commonly seem 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 243 
 
 to be the stronger, but to ignore entirely the existence of the 
 social impulses is to misrepresent the child's mental attitude. 
 
 The youth is not wholly unselfish. The other side of the 
 picture is equally false when we take it to mean that the 
 youth is wholly or predominantly altruistic. It could be 
 shown that even in those acts which we think of as altruis- 
 tic or as expressions of self-sacrifice the person is actuated by 
 a sense of the close relationship between himself and those 
 persons who are benefited by his action; that is, his actions 
 are commonly for the sake of a group in which he feels him- 
 self to be closely identified rather than for the sake of others 
 who have no relation to himself. It is rather, then, in the 
 development of a sense of group relations that the youth 
 differs from the child, and even in this it is a matter of de- 
 gree rather than of development of a new sense or capacity. 
 
 The contrast between the child and the older person is due 
 partly to the child's impulsiveness. Another source of the 
 difference between the child and the adult in this and in 
 similar forms of response is that the child is more impulsive 
 in his reactions, while the adult gives more deliberate con- 
 sideration to the situation which confronts him, and to the 
 various reactions which are open to him. We saw that the 
 development of indignation results from the association of 
 the instinct of anger with considerations of justice or of in- 
 justice. The child may often be observed to express radi- 
 cally opposite types of attitude toward the same person 
 in successive moments. As an older brother of five said of 
 his little sister of two years of age, " She first hits me and then 
 loves me." 
 
 The child distinguishes between right and wrong. An- 
 other contrast which has been made between the child and 
 the youth concerns the recognition and expression of moral 
 ideas. A common mode of description is to say that the 
 child is unmoral, — that is, that he lacks the moral sense, 
 
244 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 or the ability to distinguish between actions which are right 
 and those which are wrong. It is difficult to see how this 
 opinion can be held. The child's distinction between right 
 and wrong is imperfect, to be sure. It rests upon a more 
 external form of judgment than does that of the older person. 
 The child learns to recognize one act as being bad and others 
 as being good chiefly by their consequences, and without 
 much reference to the motive which is behind the act. 
 Furthermore, he gains a keen sense of the Tightness or 
 wrongness of the acts of other people before he applies the 
 same distinction to his own acts, but in this he differs from 
 the older person only in the matter of degree. Illustrations 
 of both these defects can be found in the lives of adults. 
 
 The child gains greater independence of moral judgment 
 and greater moral insight with age. It is true that the 
 child's notions of right and wrong are gained chiefly from the 
 attitudes which he observes in those about him. It is true 
 also that as he grows older he comes to a truer appreciation 
 of the reason why certain actions are right and others are 
 wrong. But this insight which he gains is never a complete 
 one, as is shown by the fact that adults in different nations 
 or in different levels of civilization have widely different no- 
 tions as to what is right or wrong. The child shows his ca- 
 pacity for making a distinction both by his ability to rec- 
 ognize it when he sees it made by another and also by the 
 code which children develop in their association with one 
 another. The development in this case, then, is not to be 
 thought of as the acquirement of a new capacity but rather 
 as its development into a completer form. 
 
 2. Factors in the child's development : current theories 
 The child's development waits partly on brain growth. 
 The foregoing conclusion should not be taken to mean that 
 the child's development is wholly due to his increase in ex- 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 245 
 
 perience. We know that the child's brain is immature in 
 comparison with that of the adult. Up to eight years of age 
 the child's brain is increasing rapidly in weight, and beyond 
 that time there is a large amount of development in the 
 formation of associations between the neurones of the brain. 
 This progress in association never ceases so long as the in- 
 dividual continues to learn. It is more rapid, however, dur- 
 ing the period of immaturity than it is during the period of 
 adulthood. How far the child's development must wait 
 upon the growth of the brain cells and how far it is merely de- 
 pendent upon the growth of experience is a difficult ques- 
 tion to determine. We may describe the development of the 
 typical child without settling this question. The question 
 arises when we attempt to explain what causes this develop- 
 ment and attempt to lay down the limits beyond which the 
 child's development at a certain age cannot go. 
 
 Some emphasize the importance of brain growth as a 
 factor. Here, as in many other cases, we may distinguish 
 two radically opposing views. On the one hand, there are 
 those who have interpreted the facts of brain growth to mean 
 that the child goes through a series of definite and widely 
 different stages of growth. It would hardly be an exaggera- 
 tion to characterize this view as meaning that the child is a 
 different creature at different ages. We shall see in a mo- 
 ment how this notion has been developed in the culture- 
 epoch theory. 
 
 Cases of precocious development emphasize the impor- 
 tance of experience. On the other hand, many students of the 
 child are coming to think that too hard and fast a line has 
 been drawn between the possibilities of children at different 
 ages. The popular magazines have contained many descrip- 
 tions of experiments which parents have conducted in the 
 endeavor to bring about a very much more precocious de- 
 velopment of their children than is common. There are his- 
 
216 HOW CHILDEEN LEARN 
 
 torical instances of successful attempts to produce such de- 
 velopment. One of the best known of such instances is the 
 case of the scholar, John Stuart Mill. In Mill's autobiography- 
 is described the method which his father pursued in his edu- 
 cation. It is recorded there that the boy began to read Greek 
 at three years of age, and that he organized and wrote a 
 book on political economy, using the ideas which were given 
 to him orally by his father, at the age of twelve. There are 
 other instances of the same sort on record. The interpreta- 
 tion of such cases is still too uncertain to be made with much 
 confidence or precision, but they should at least raise the 
 question whether we have not held too rigidly to the notion 
 of sharply defined stages of development. 
 
 This notion of the child's development as proceeding by 
 means of the sudden appearance of new powers has been 
 termed the theory of nascent stages. 1 The theory of nascent 
 stages means that at certain definite times in the child's 
 life a particular capacity suddenly appears. In the literal 
 meaning of the word, the capacity is born. For example, 
 this theory assumes that the interest in a particular form of 
 play or that the capacity for imagination or the capacity for 
 reasoning develops at a very definite time. This theory is 
 also taken to mean that if a certain capacity or interest 
 is not fostered at the time that it appears, it will die out and 
 the opportunity for its development will be lost. In the 
 light of the above discussion the theory of nascent stages 
 must be regarded as true only to a limited extent. The child 
 does not develop any important new capacities after the 
 first two or three years at least, and we know so little about 
 the most favorable time for the development of any interest 
 
 1 A nascent stage in the child's development is a stage at which a new 
 ability or a new form of ability is supposed to develop (literally to be born). 
 The theory of nascent stages is that the sudden appearance of new abilities 
 is the common method by which the child develops. 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 247 
 
 or capacity that we cannot say with confidence that there 
 is a certain time when it is necessary to strike the iron in 
 | order that it may not grow cold. 
 
 An explanation of the order of development is offered in 
 the culture-epoch theory. The doctrine of nascent stages 
 has been developed another step in order to explain why the 
 various interests or capacities develop at definite times. 
 This second theory is based upon the assumption that there 
 is such a definite time and order of development. If such is 
 the case, it undoubtedly raises the problem of explaining the 
 reason for such definiteness and such order. The theory 
 which has been worked out to meet this problem is that the 
 order of development in the child repeats the order of de- 
 velopment in animal evolution and in the history of the 
 human race. This is called the "recapitulation" or the 
 "culture-epoch" theory. 
 
 The field covered by the recapitulation theory. The re- 
 capitulation theory is not confined to the explanation of 
 the mental development of the child. In fact it was first 
 formulated to explain certain similarities which were found 
 between the human embryo at certain stages and certain of 
 the lower forms of animal life. For example, at a certain time 
 the embryo has gill slits which suggest the fish stage of de- 
 velopment. This correspondence in physical growth is one 
 which is not by any means complete. Only suggestions 
 exist here and there to indicate a relationship between the 
 human individual and previous stages in animal evolution. 
 
 The field covered by the culture-epoch theory. As the 
 recapitulation theory was developed from the observation 
 of physical growth and is confined largely to correspondence 
 between animal evolution and embryological development 
 (development before birth), so the culture-epoch theory 
 serves to explain chiefly mental development, and deals 
 with an assumed correspondence between the growth of the 
 
248 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 child from birth to maturity, and the advance in human 
 nature and in civilization from the beginning of the human 
 race until the present. This distinction between the two 
 forms of theory is not always maintained, but is usually 
 implied. 
 
 There are difficulties with the theory due to the imperfect 
 knowledge of primitive man. Aside from the criticism of the 
 culture-epoch theory on the ground that the child's capa- 
 cities do not develop suddenly or at definite stages, it may 
 be tested by examining the attempts which Have been made 
 to establish a correspondence in detail. These attempts have 
 been in the main very vague and unsatisfactory. There 
 is an element of uncertainty in them which is based upon the 
 limitation of our knowledge as to the characteristics in the 
 mental life of primitive man. Radical changes are taking 
 place in the views which anthropologists hold of primitive 
 mental life. The illustrations which have been used to sup- 
 port the culture-epoch theory are based chiefly upon the 
 older and now outgrown views of the characteristics of 
 primitive man. For example, Herbert Spencer held the 
 theory that the savage is lacking in inhibition or the ability 
 to check the expression of impulses. The child clearly has 
 this characteristic, and this was used as one of the illustra- 
 tions of a correspondence. Present-day anthropologists, on 
 the other hand, hold that the primitive man is more con- 
 trolled by inhibitions than is the civilized man. Examples of 
 these inhibitions are found in the various sorts of taboo. 
 Various tribes have taboos with reference to food. Under 
 certain conditions food must not be eaten and the savage 
 will undergo extreme privation rather than violate this taboo. 
 This shows that the older view of Spencer was incorrect, and 
 the parallelism with the child's development breaks down. 
 
 Efforts to specify parallel stages are not satisfactory. It 
 would seem that if there is any clear parallelism, it could 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 249 
 
 be most easily displayed by considering merely the broad 
 stages of development. There might very well be a difficulty 
 in establishing details, but the general outlines ought to be 
 clear. In order to determine whether such parallelism can 
 be clearly established we may take a typical attempt to work 
 it out. The development of the child is divided into three 
 stages as shown in the following table : — 
 
 Table IV which attempts to show Correspondence between 
 the Development of the Child and the Race x 
 
 Stages of development in 
 the race 
 
 Stages of development in the 
 child 
 
 Ages 
 
 Mythical and heroic 
 Transition 
 
 Freedom and self-gov- 
 ernment 
 
 Intuitive sense perception 
 Imagination and memory 
 
 Logical thinking 
 
 Birth to 6 
 6 to 10 
 
 10 to maturity 
 
 The description of the stages in the child's development 
 is faulty. In examining the value of this parallelism we may 
 first ask ourselves regarding the correctness of the description 
 of the child's development. On this point the discussion in 
 the earlier part of the chapter throws light. Imagination 
 and memory are in this table placed at the years from six 
 to ten. It is obvious that neither of these begins at six or ends 
 at ten. It is difficult to see that they are particularly more 
 prominent at this period than they are at any other period 
 in the child's life. Again we found that logical thinking does 
 not begin at a definite period but is present in the earliest 
 years. 
 
 The correspondence between the two series is not clear. 
 An examination of the correspondence between the stages 
 
 1 Second Report of National Ilerbart Society (New York, 189G), p. 73. 
 From an article by Levi Seeley, "Culture Epochs." Seeley takes the table 
 from the Herbartian. Rosencranz. 
 
250 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 brings out equally glaring faults. It is difficult to see why 
 the mythical and heroic period should be related to intuitive 
 sense perception. It would seem rather to be related to im- 
 agination. The second period of racial development is called 
 intermediate. This means nothing, and is therefore merely 
 a confession of inability to characterize such a period. The 
 third period of freedom or of self-government does not appear 
 to be essentially related to logical thinking. An assertion of 
 freedom is rather more a matter of vigorous activity than of 
 thinking. One might proceed to discuss the question how far 
 the periods of racial development themselves are in accord 
 with the facts, but the difficulties of the whole parallelism 
 have been sufficiently brought out. 
 
 The safest course is to determine how the child develops 
 by studying the child directly. It is difficult to see why one 
 should attempt to learn about a fact which is near at hand 
 for observation by studying another fact which is remote from 
 observation, particularly when the relationship between the 
 two facts is open to question. A very much more reliable 
 method of determining the child's mental development is to 
 study the child directly rather than to attempt to trace it 
 through a study of racial development. This is particularly 
 evident from the fact that in order to establish a relation- 
 ship between the child and the race it is necessary first to 
 study the child. 
 
 How far is the rate of the child's development fixed? 
 This question of stages of development brings up a further 
 problem with regard to the rate of development of the child. 
 The theory of nascent stages or the culture-epoch theory 
 assumes that there is a fairly definite rate of progress to 
 which most children at least must conform; or at any rate 
 these theories assume that the development of a particular 
 child must take place at a certain rate which has been deter- 
 mined by the character of his nervous system. The child is 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 251 
 
 thought of somewhat after the manner of a clock which has 
 been wound up to go at a certain fixed rate of speed. 
 
 Rate of development may be measured. It is necessary to 
 examine this question of rate of mental development, not on 
 the basis of theories, but on the basis of a study of the actual 
 facts. There are two measures of rate of development which 
 are at hand and which have been widely applied. In the first 
 place, we may take note of the rapidity with which the child 
 progresses through the grades of the school. In addition to 
 this, there has been a scientific attempt to measure the rate 
 of development of the child by testing his individual mental 
 capacities. This latter attempt is embodied in the Binet- 
 Simon Scale of Intelligence. This scale consists in a group of 
 tests for each age which are supposed to be passed by all 
 children at that age. If a child is able to pass tests for 
 ages superior to his own, he is regarded as advanced. If 
 he cannot reach the tests of his own age, he is regarded as 
 retarded. 
 
 Children differ greatly in rate of advancement. On the 
 basis both of school progress and of measurement by the 
 Binet Scale it is found that there is a wide variation in 
 the rapidity of development of different children. This 
 variation is in both directions from that of the typical 
 child; and it is probable that about the same number of 
 children develop more rapidly than the average as develop 
 more slowly. The rough measure which we are able to get 
 from the Binet tests indicates that perhaps fifty per cent of 
 children are either advanced or retarded by an amount 
 equal to a year's development. Many, of course, are ad- 
 vanced or retarded by a larger amount. 
 
 Rapid development corresponds in general with high abil- 
 ity. We have not yet sufficient information to enable us to 
 say with certainty what the significance of this difference 
 in rate of development is, but it seems probable that the 
 
252 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 children who develop more rapidly are in general superior 
 in ability to those who develop slowly. The Binet Scale in 
 its application to the study of feeble-mindedness assumes 
 that the degree of mental deficiency of the child corresponds 
 to the number of years which he is behind the typical child 
 in development. This should not be taken to mean that such 
 a child is altogether like the child of the age at which he is 
 placed by the test. There are undoubtedly differences be- 
 tween the subnormal or the mentally deficient child and 
 the normal child besides this one of a difference in rate of de- 
 velopment; but that there is considerable correspondence 
 between rate of development and ability is probable. 
 
 This view is contrary to one which has been traditional 
 among educators. It has been commonly thought that 
 precocious development is a distinct disadvantage to the 
 child. This view has rested mainly upon the theory that 
 the advance in evolution has consisted in the lengthening of 
 the period of infancy or of immaturity. The longer period 
 of infancy in the higher stages of evolution makes possible a 
 greater mental development. The infant or the immature 
 individual has greater leisure to devote to those activities 
 which stimulate his development, and has greater time in 
 which such development may take place. 
 
 The importance of lengthened infancy for the race does 
 not apply to individual comparisons. This theory may be ac- 
 cepted with reference to a comparison of different evolu- 
 tionary stages without its being necessarily applied to a com- 
 parison of different individuals in the same evolutionary 
 stage. Here again, as in the case of the culture-epoch theory, 
 it is safer to examine the facts which are presented to us 
 rather than to apply a more or less remote theory. One of 
 the facts which has been established, in addition to those 
 resulting from the application of the Binet tests, is that the 
 physically superior child, — that is, the child who is heavier 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 253 
 
 or taller than the typical one, — is farther advanced in the 
 school, on the average, than the physically inferior child. 
 There is, of course, opportunity for a great deal of individual 
 variation, but this is the general rule. This would seem to 
 indicate that there is a correspondence between physical 
 precocity and mental precocity. These children have not 
 yet been followed to adulthood in order to determine how 
 they compare with the slower developing children in the 
 long run, but the conclusion is suggested by the fact that 
 taller and heavier children are the ones who have their rapid 
 growth earlier. 
 
 Cases of extreme precocity suggest the necessity of a 
 modification of the traditional view. The extreme opposite 
 of the common opinion with reference to precocity is repre- 
 sented in experiments already referred to, which have been 
 tried by a few parents who have attempted to bring about a 
 much more rapid development in their children than is usual. 
 The best known case of such an experiment is that made by 
 Professor Boris Sidis of Harvard. Sidis succeeded in so edu- 
 cating his son that he entered Harvard at the age of ten and 
 at this age he was sufficiently advanced in his mathematical 
 studies that he lectured on the fourth dimension to a body 
 of expert mathematicians. Reference has already been 
 made to the case of John Stuart Mill. Experiments of this 
 kind have been watched with interest, but it will be necessary 
 to follow such cases to maturity and to study them from the 
 point of view not merely of proficiency in some special type 
 of intellectual ability but also in their whole conduct of life 
 before definite conclusions can be drawn from them. Further- 
 more, we must know whether or not there are cases in which 
 such attempts do not succeed or produce undesirable results. 
 It is natural that the successful attempts should be the 
 ones which should be given publicity. It may be that there 
 are failures of which we do not know. 
 
254 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 S. Conclusion 
 
 The foregoing discussion has been largely critical of certain 
 types of interpretation of the child's mental development. 
 The view that the child develops in certain definite and 
 clearly marked stages, that he acquires at certain turning 
 points radically new capacities, and that this development 
 can be explained by some such theory as the culture-epoch 
 theory has been combated. It becomes necessary in con- 
 clusion, to attempt to say in what the child's development 
 does consist and what are the conditions or the factors by 
 which it is produced. 
 
 An important factor is the development of interests. One 
 of the important aspects of the child's development is the 
 difference in interest which appears at different ages. The 
 child may have a capacity to perform certain tasks at a cer- 
 tain time, but he may not desire to do so. Those differences 
 in interest which undoubtedly exist may be partly instinc- 
 tive and partly the result of knowledge and experience. To 
 take an illustration from the development of play, we found 
 that the girl is much interested in dolls at about the age of 
 seven or eight. This interest is not so keen a little later. The 
 loss of interest in dolls might be explained partly by the 
 waning of an instinctive tendency, and partly by such 
 growth in mental development that the child substitutes 
 for this interest an interest in something else. A thing may 
 become uninteresting because it has lost its meaning to a 
 person through his ability to appreciate some higher form 
 of activity. In addition to an instinctive basis for the devel- 
 opment of interest, it is undoubtedly to be explained partly 
 as a result of one's growth in knowledge and experience. A 
 person cannot long be interested in trying to perform an 
 activity which is beyond his power, or in an object which he 
 cannot understand. We find that in adult life our interest in 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 255 
 
 a field develops as our knowledge in that field enlarges. We 
 find also another similarity to the development of the inter- 
 ests of the child, namely, that we are at first interested in the 
 more superficial aspects of things, but that we become inter- 
 ested in their fundamental aspects as we become more ac- 
 quainted with them. A person unacquainted with electricity 
 is attracted by the glitter and movement of the machinery 
 by which electricity is produced, whereas the expert in the 
 field may think rather in terms of the energy which is being 
 transformed as expressed in kilowatts or amperes. Thus 
 our interest not merely becomes greater in those fields in 
 which we are versed, but also changes in reference to the 
 aspects of things in which we are interested. 
 
 Mental development is also undoubtedly partly to be 
 explained by growth in the simpler, elementary capacities 
 of the mind. The number of objects to which one can pay 
 attention simultaneously places upon our thinking certain 
 limitations. The child very likely has a somewhat narrower 
 scope of attention than has the adult. Experiments which 
 have been made in order to test this matter, however, indi- 
 cate that the difference is slight. While the adult may grasp 
 from six to eight objects which are presented to his sight, the 
 child of eight years of age may grasp within one of as many 
 objects. 
 
 Growth in scope of attention is partly due to familiarity 
 with the material. Even this difference may possibly be due 
 to a difference in familiarity with the procedure of testing. 
 When we examine the scope of attention for more complex 
 things, such as groups of dots instead of single dots, we find 
 that there is a greater difference. This corresponds to the 
 fact that we can hold in mind a larger number of things with 
 which we are familiar than of those which are new to us. 
 The adult has a larger scope of attention with reference to 
 some things than with reference to others. One unfamiliar 
 
256 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 with machinery can see only one thing at a time when ob- 
 serving a machine, whereas an expert can distribute his at- 
 tention over the various parts of the machine. Thus, in 
 order to discover a fault in the mechanism, the novice would 
 have to examine it part by part while the expert could detect 
 it in a general survey. We can comprehend the directions 
 for a trip throughout a part of the city with which we 
 are familiar very much better than when the region is 
 unfamiliar to us. 
 
 A large factor is the accumulation of experience. Where- 
 as, then, we may ascribe the development of the child partly 
 to the growth in fundamental interests or capacities, we must 
 account for a large part of his mental growth by the accumu- 
 lation of experience. The child's mental development is ex- 
 tremely rapid, largely because he starts out with no experi- 
 ence whatever and has everything to learn in the world 
 about him. The adult has acquired a familiarity with the 
 ordinary facts of his surroundings and his development pro- 
 ceeds only in the direction of certain of the details. 
 
 Instincts are more important as factors in social develop- 
 ment, and experience is more important in intellectual 
 development. This emphasis on experience should not be 
 taken to mean that the development of instincts has no 
 effect upon the child's mental growth in general. W r e may 
 make a distinction between the sphere of mental develop- 
 ment which is more affected by the instincts and that which 
 is more affected by experience. Those attitudes of the child 
 which govern his social responses are probably due in larger 
 measure to the appearance of instincts at certain stages in 
 his life than is the development of the intellectual ability. 
 The outstanding example of the influence of instincts upon 
 social attitudes is, of course, the change or modification which 
 takes place at adolescence. This is the most prominent ex- 
 ample of the importance of instincts in governing stages of 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 257 
 
 development. So far as intellectual development is con- 
 cerned, a much larger share must be ascribed to experience 
 than has commonly been done. 
 
 Stages of development need to be carefully investigated. 
 The emphasis which has been put in this chapter on the like- 
 ness between the child in different stages of development, and 
 the argument that the stages of development are not so rigid 
 as has been thought or so fixed by the inner laws of the child's 
 growth, should not be taken to mean that it is a matter of 
 indifference at what period a particular subject is taught. 
 It is still necessary to examine carefully the natural stages of 
 development, — and would be even if they depended only on 
 the acquirement of experience. The ability to count to one 
 hundred and to understand the higher numbers follows, and 
 does not precede, the ability to count to ten and the familiar- 
 ity with the smaller numbers. In order to understand the 
 meaning of the moral questions which are met in the govern- 
 ment of a nation or in the conduct of a corporation one must 
 have had sufficient experience to know what kind of human 
 relationships are represented in such institutions. 
 
 The aim of the whole book is to describe stages of develop- 
 ment in learning. It appears then that there are two main 
 principles which govern stages of development. The one, 
 which in the past has been overemphasized, is the develop- 
 ment of instincts. In this, mere inner growth has a large 
 share. The chapters on the instincts have been concerned 
 with the description of the main outlines of this phase of 
 the child's mental development. The other is the intellec- 
 tual development of the child as represented in various forms 
 of learning. In this the general principles of learning are of 
 greater weight, though the development of the instincts also 
 has some effect on the process. The chapters upon the va- 
 rious forms of learning were concerned with showing the 
 stages of development in learning. This development was 
 
258 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 seen to be due in part to training in each specific form of 
 learning, and in part to the child's general mental growth. 
 This general mental growth in the forms of intellectual 
 ability turned out to be very largely the composite result of 
 the various particular forms of training — that is, of ex- 
 perience. The more detailed discussion of the relation of 
 particular forms of training to general mental development 
 belongs to the next chapter. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Is the adult equally docile or equally independent under all circum- 
 stances? What are some of the conditions which engender docility? 
 
 2. What practical difference does it make whether we think of the child 
 at a certain age as not having a particular capacity, such as reasoning 
 or moral judgment — or whether we think of him as having the capa- 
 city in low degree or incomplete form? 
 
 3. Give illustrations of the fact that the older person's appearance of 
 superior benevolence is sometimes due to his acquirement of control 
 over the expression of his impulses. 
 
 4. Is any criticism to be made of the view that the adult is radically dif- 
 ferent from the child in his moral life in that his moral judgments are 
 based upon his own independent observation and reflection? 
 
 5. If it were possible for the child to be born with the brain fully developed 
 so far as inner growth is concerned, would he be mentally mature at 
 birth? Explain your answer. 
 
 6. Would there be any similarity between the mental development of the 
 child and the race apart from the inheritance by the child of a predis- 
 position to a particular order of development? Explain. 
 
 7. Illustrate differences between children in rate of mental growth. 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Binet, A., and Simon, T. H. A Method of Measuring the Development of the 
 Intelligence of Young Children. Translated by Clara H. Town. (Chicago 
 Medical Book Co., 1913.) 
 
 Bonser, F. G. The Reasoning Ability of Children. (Teachers College Contri- 
 butions to Education, no. 37. 1910.) 
 
 Bryan, E. B. "Nascent Stages and their Pedagogical Significance"; in 
 Fed. Sem., vol. 7, pp. 357-96. (1900.) 
 
 Dewey, J. "Culture Epoch Theory"; in Cyclopedia of Education, vol. 2. 
 Edited by Paul Monroe. (The Macmillan Company, 1911-13.) 
 
PRINCIPLES IN MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 259 
 
 Hall, G. S. Adolescence. (D. Appleton & Co., 1904.) 
 
 Judd, C. H. Psychological Characteristics of the Intermediate Grades. (School 
 
 Review Monographs, no. 3, pp. 1-60. University of Chicago Press, 1913.) 
 Mill, J. S. Autobiography. 
 Montessori, M. The Montessori Method. Translated by A. E. George. 
 
 (Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1912.) 
 Porter, W. T. "Physical Basis of Precocity and Dulness"; in Transactions, 
 
 Academy of Science, St. Louis, vol. 6, no. 7. (1893.) 
 Rousseau, J. J. Emile. Translated by W. H. Payne. (D. Appleton & Co., 
 
 1892.) 
 Sidis, Boris. Philistine and Genius. (Moffat, Yard & Co., 1911.) 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, vol. 1, chap. xvi. (Teachers 
 
 College, Columbia University, 1913.) 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 TRANSFER OF TRAINING, OR GENERAL TRAINING 
 
 Can the child receive general training? The problem 
 which is the subject of consideration in this chapter has 
 already been incidentally referred to in previous chapters. 
 It is, in general, the question of the effect of learning in cer- 
 tain specific fields upon the development of the child in gen- 
 eral, or upon his ability to act more efficiently in other fields 
 of work. We may put the question in this way: Does the 
 development which the child gains through his education 
 consist merely in gathering information and in acquiring 
 skill in one particular subject or in one particular narrow 
 field of activity, or does he gain abilities which will make him 
 more efficient when he meets problems in other situations? 
 To take a specific illustration which has already been used: 
 Can the child acquire the scientific method in one study in 
 such a way that he may apply this method of approach to 
 problems of another sort? 
 
 Bain emphasizes the element of form in learning. The 
 problem may be put by three quotations, two of which ex- 
 press the affirmative answer to this question, and the other 
 the negative answer. The first of these quotations is from an 
 article entitled Education as a Science, by the psychologist 
 Alexander Bain. 1 
 
 The element of Form, Method, Order, Organization, as con- 
 trasted with the subject-matter viewed without reference to form, 
 has a value of its own; and any material that displays it to ad- 
 
 1 Quoted by Heck, Mental Discipline (1st ed.), P- 18. The page refer- 
 ence given by Heck (Mind, 1878, pp. 139-41) is incorrect, but the author 
 has not succeeded in finding the correct page reference. 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 261 
 
 vantage, and enables it to be acquired, is justified by that cir- 
 cumstance alone. The targets used in learning to shoot, the wooden 
 soldiers which we aimed at in saber drill, although unreal, are 
 effectual. It depends partly on the teacher and partly on the 
 scholar whether the element shall stand forth and extend itself, 
 or whether the subjects shall yield only their quantum of matter 
 or information. 
 
 Thorndike emphasizes specialized habits. The second 
 quotation is from an earlier writing of Thorndike, in which 
 he expresses considerable skepticism as to the amount and 
 value of transfer of training. This quotation is taken from 
 
 Principles of Teaching. 
 
 The mind is by no means a collection of a few general faculties, 
 observation, attention, memory, reasoning and the like, but is the 
 sum total of countless particular capacities, each of which is to 
 some extent independent of the others, — each of which must to 
 some extent be educated by itself. The task of teaching is not to 
 develop a reasoning faculty, but many special powers of thought 
 about different kinds of facts. It is not to alter our general powers 
 of attention, but to build up many particular powers of attending 
 to different kinds of facts. . . . 
 
 Training the mind means the development of thousands of par- 
 ticular independent capacities, the formation of countless particu- 
 lar habits, for the working of any mental capacity depends upon 
 the concrete data with which it works. Improvement of any mental 
 function of activity will improve others only in so far as they pos- 
 sess elements common to it also. The amount of identical elements 
 in different mental functions and the amount of general influence 
 from special training are much less than common opinion sup- 
 poses. The most common and surest source of general improvement 
 of a capacity is to train it in many particular connections. 1 
 
 Judd emphasizes generalization. As contrasted with the 
 emphasis placed by Thorndike and others on habit, Judd 
 
 1 Professor Thorndike has taken a mnch more hospitable attitude 
 toward transfer of training in his later Educational Psychology, vol. n. But 
 the seeds sown in the earlier writings of this and other authors are still 
 bearing a harvest of opinion among practical school men. 
 
262 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 calls attention to the possibility of transfer in the field of 
 thinking : — 
 
 The important psychological fact involved in the above state- 
 ments is that the extent to which the student generalizes his train- 
 ing is itself a measure of the degree to which he has secured from 
 any course the highest form of training. One of the major char- 
 acteristics of human intelligence is to be defined by calling atten- 
 tion, as was pointed out in the chapter on science, to the fact that 
 a human being is able to generalize his experience. James has 
 discussed this matter by using the example of the animal trained 
 to open a particular latch. The animal becomes acquainted with 
 the necessary movements to open one door, but he never has the 
 ability to generalize this experience. He cannot see that the same 
 method of opening doors is applicable to many other latches. The 
 result is that the animal goes through life with one particular 
 narrow mode of behavior, and exhibits his lack of intelligence by 
 his inability to carry this single style of skill over to the other cases 
 which are very familiar to the trained human intelligence. 
 
 James goes on to say that the same distinction appears when we 
 contrast a trained scientific mind with the ordinary mind. The 
 ordinary thinker does not see how to deal with a situation in terms 
 of scientific principles. James cites the example of his own experi- 
 ence with a smoking student lamp. He discovered by accident 
 that the lamp would not smoke if he put something under the chim- 
 ney so as to increase the air current, but he did not realize that 
 what he had done was only one particular example of the general 
 principle that combustion is favored by a large supply of oxygen. 
 The general principle and its useful application belong to the 
 sphere of thinking and experience which the untrained layman has 
 not yet mastered. 1 
 
 1. Typical studies of transfer of training 
 Some attempt has been made to solve this question by 
 means of scientific experiment. For the sake of making clear 
 the issues of the question and illustrating the types of ex- 
 periment which have been tried, we may mention four typi- 
 
 1 Judd, Chas. H. Psychology of High-School Subjects, pp. 413, 414. 
 (Ginn & Co., 1915.) 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 263 
 
 cal experiments, two of which have led to conclusions un- 
 favorable to transfer of training, and two of which have led 
 to more favorable views. 
 
 Thorndike and Woodworth studied the transfer of the 
 ability to make special judgments. The first experiment to 
 be mentioned, and the one which constitutes the earliest 
 attempt to attack this problem experimentally, was made 
 by Thorndike and Woodworth. This, as well as the other 
 experiments which are to be mentioned, are described in some 
 detail by Heck, who also gives references by which they can 
 be followed up to the original articles. Thorndike and Wood- 
 worth attempted to determine, among other things, the 
 degree to which skill in judging lengths or areas would be 
 carried over when one attempts to judge lengths which 
 are different in extent, or areas which are different in size 
 or shape from those which were used in the first practice. 
 They found in most cases that there was improvement in 
 judging those lengths or areas which were different in some 
 measure from those on which the practice was made, but that 
 the improvement was not so great as in the case of the 
 original lengths or areas. They therefore took a critical atti- 
 tude toward the possibility of transfer, and emphasized the 
 smallness of the transfer, although it amounted in some cases 
 to over thirty per cent. 
 
 Bagley found that neatness was not transferred. The 
 second experiment led its author also to take the view that 
 the amount of transfer of habits is so limited as to be of little 
 importance. This experiment was made by Bagley under 
 school conditions and with school subjects. Pupils of a class 
 were trained for the purpose of bringing about an improve- 
 ment in neatness in their arithmetic papers. After they had 
 undergone a certain amount of training in this subject, their 
 geography papers were examined to see whether they had 
 also improved in neatness in this subject, and it appeared 
 
264 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 that the improvement in neatness in the arithmetic papers 
 was not carried over to the geography papers. 
 
 Coover and Angell found transfer in discrimination, which 
 they attributed to improvement in attention. The two other 
 experiments emphasize the existence of transfer and illus- 
 trate some of the methods by which.it may take place. The 
 first of these was conducted by Coover and Angell, and con- 
 sisted in training a number of persons to discriminate be- 
 tween sounds of different degrees of loudness, and then in 
 testing them before and after this training period in the abil- 
 ity to discriminate fine differences in shades of gray. They 
 found a large amount of improvement in the discrimination 
 of grays, and attributed it to an increase in the ability to 
 disregard those features of the task which were not essential 
 and to give attention to those which were. 
 
 Judd studied the importance of generalization in learning. 
 The final experiment to be mentioned was made by Judd for 
 the sake of determining whether the knowledge of the general 
 principle which is involved in a task will enable one to profit 
 by the experience when the conditions of the task are changed. 
 He had two sets of boys trained in throwing darts at a tar- 
 get under water. According to the well-known principle 
 of refraction of light, an object which is placed under water, 
 and is viewed at an acute angle to the surface of the water, 
 does not appear to be as far beneath the surface as it actu- 
 ally is. If a stick is placed in an oblique position in the water 
 it appears to be bent for the same reason. When one at- 
 tempts to hit a target seen in this position, one strikes too 
 high and it is necessary to learn to readjust the aim in order 
 to hit it. These two groups of boys were compared, one of 
 them having been told this principle and the other not. In 
 the first set of trials with the target at a given position, the 
 two groups of boys did equally well. Those who had been 
 told the principle had no advantage over the others. The 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 265 
 
 target was then placed at a different depth, which resulted 
 in a different amount of displacement of its apparent posi- 
 tion. The two groups then carried on a second series of trials, 
 and in this case those who had learned the principle of re- 
 fraction and its effect upon displacement, learned much 
 more quickly than the other group. They were able to use 
 the principle which had been taught them so as to take 
 advantage of their experience in the earlier trials, and to 
 readjust their mode of aiming in the second trial. 
 
 2. Points on which there is general agreement 
 We see from these illustrations, without going farther 
 into a detailed description of other experiments, that there 
 have been somewhat different results obtained from differ- 
 ent methods, and by study of different kinds of learning, 
 and that there have been various conclusions drawn from 
 these experiments. We may sum up briefly the points upon 
 which there is now a general agreement and those upon 
 which there is difference of opinion, and then attempt to 
 draw conclusions on the basis of experiments and of general 
 psychological theory as to the extent to which we may ex- 
 pect transfer to take place. 
 
 It is generally agreed that there is some transfer of train- 
 ing. The earlier experiments led the investigators to report 
 the smallness of the amount of transfer and thus to give the 
 impression that improvement in one application of a mental 
 function did not result from training in others. This appear- 
 ance of denial of any transfer is due in a large measure to 
 the fact that it followed upon the theory that the transfer 
 was complete, that is, that training in one field would 
 produce as much improvement in another field as in the field 
 in which the training itself took place. In contrast with this 
 extreme view, the smallness of the amount of transfer which 
 might take place in certain cases led to an exaggeration of the 
 
266 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 opposite view. The amount of transfer is not the same in all 
 cases, but in most of the experiments, even in those of 
 Thorndike and Woodworth's, some transfer of ability has 
 been found. 
 
 There is commonly far from complete transfer. As has 
 been already remarked, the amount of transfer is usually 
 not so great as was formerly supposed on the old mental dis- 
 cipline theory. In some cases a large amount has been discov- 
 ered. The improvement in the function which is not trained 
 has sometimes been found to be almost as much as in that 
 which has been trained. In general, however, we may expect 
 a very much smaller amount of improvement when we trans- 
 fer a function from one field in which it has been trained to 
 another in which it has not been trained. 
 
 The amount of transfer varies widely with the conditions. 
 This general conclusion must be qualified by the statement 
 that the amount of transfer varies both with the kind of 
 function which is trained, and the kind of subject-matter 
 which is used, and with the way in which the training is 
 given and the capacity and attitude of the learner. We do 
 not think of mental discipline now as analogous to the de- 
 velopment of the muscle. This is a common figure which was 
 formerly used to illustrate mental training. It was thought 
 that the memory could be developed in much the same way 
 that a muscle is developed by exercise, and that as a muscle 
 after having gained increased strength in one kind of work 
 will show an equal amount of increase of strength in an- 
 other kind of work, so the memory could be trained with one 
 kind of subject-matter and show an equal gain with other 
 kinds of material. It is now generally recognized that the 
 training may under some conditions be very narrow in its 
 results, or it may under other conditions be very much 
 broader in its results. Whether it will be confined to the sub- 
 ject-matter which was originally employed will depend on 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 267 
 
 the way in which the learning is guided or directed, and 
 upon the capacity of the learner to generalize and to profit 
 widely by his experience. 
 
 3. Points of difference of opinion 
 Is a small amount of transfer important ? While these con- 
 clusions will perhaps generally be accepted, there are certain 
 points upon which there is still a good deal of difference of 
 opinion. While it is agreed that the amount of transfer is 
 not so great as was formerly thought, yet there is difference 
 of opinion as to whether the smaller amount which is found 
 to exist is important. Many hold that it is so small that it 
 should not be taken into consideration in deciding what 
 kind of training a pupil should have or what subjects he 
 should study. Some believe that no subject can give a 
 sufficient degree of general mental training to warrant its 
 being retained or introduced into the school on that basis. 
 If any subject cannot be shown to give a direct preparation 
 for some particular activity of adult life, it is not, on this 
 view, to be taught in the school, merely because it may be 
 supposed it gives general mental development. On the 
 other hand, there are those who believe that although the 
 transfer may be very small in amount, yet it may be of suf- 
 ficient importance to be of great value. Thorndike, who 
 in his former writings minimized the importance of formal 
 discipline or transfer of training, in his recent Educational 
 Psychology l says that a fraction of one per cent of transfer 
 may be important enough to make the attempt to develop 
 the function distinctly worth while. He uses the illustration 
 of the sense of fairness. "Ifa gain of fifty per cent in justice 
 toward classmates in school affairs increased the general 
 equitableness of a boy's behavior only one tenth of one per 
 
 1 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, Briefer Course, p. 282. 
 (Teachers College, Columbia University, 1914.) 
 
268 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 cent, this disciplinary effect would still perhaps be worth 
 more than the specific habits." 
 
 The structure of the brain does not furnish ground for 
 disbelief in transfer. Some confusion of thinking exists with 
 reference to the bearing of the facts of structure of the nerv- 
 ous system upon the possibility or probability of transfer, 
 and it is therefore worth while to refer briefly to this matter. 
 Heck in his Mental Discipline devotes a chapter to this 
 subject and holds that the demonstrated fact in regard to 
 the localization of functions in the brain make a transfer 
 of training highly improbable if not impossible. The facts 
 regarding localization have been briefly mentioned in a 
 previous chapter. They give no warrant at all for such a 
 view as this. As was indicated in the description of the dif- 
 ferent levels of the nervous system, the highest level, upon 
 which we may expect the most significant transfer to take 
 place, is the level on which the connection between the dif- 
 ferent parts of the nervous system is the most widespread. 
 However much the simple sensory or motor functions may 
 be localized in the nervous system, yet it is perfectly clear 
 that any thought process, or any process of activity of any 
 degree of complexity, requires the cooperation of a large 
 number of parts or areas in the brain. As was pointed 
 out before, the association areas, which bind together the 
 different parts of the brain and enable them to work in 
 conjunction with one another, constitute the distinctive 
 feature of the human brain. Take a comparatively simple 
 intellectual act, such as writing. In this we use the motor 
 centers which control the hand, and the motor centers which 
 control the movements of the eyes, as well as those which 
 make possible the maintenance of position of the rest of the 
 body. We use the language center which enables us to 
 imagine the pronunciation of a word or to pronounce the 
 word inwardly; the center for hearing which makes possible 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 269 
 
 the ability to imagine how the word sounds ; and the center 
 of vision which governs our perception of the word or the 
 presentation to our mind of the image of the appearance of 
 the word. Finally, there is involved in addition to all these, 
 the activity of whatever centers may be involved in the 
 idea as distinguished from the mere mechanics of the word 
 itself. We have here the cooperation of a pretty large share 
 of the brain, and there is manifest a system of connection 
 which renders absurd any view that training may take place 
 through the development of any single localized area. 
 
 Is transfer possible only through ideals or some other 
 single mental process? Another point upon which there is 
 not entire agreement is in regard to the kinds of mental 
 activity in which transfer may be expected to take place. 
 This may be illustrated in a single case from Bagley's experi- 
 ment with neatness. As a result of such facts as appeared in 
 this experiment Bagley concluded that a mere habit does 
 not carry over from one field to another, but that if there is 
 developed, in addition to the habit, an ideal with reference 
 to a certain kind of conduct, this ideal may lead to the de- 
 velopment of similar conduct in another field. Judd, as we 
 have seen, makes generalization the important means by 
 which the results of training can be transferred, and Thorn- 
 dike holds that transfer can best be explained by the exist- 
 ence of identical elements in the mental processes. We shall 
 have to raise the question whether any one formula is suffi- 
 cient to furnish an explanation for all kinds of transfer. 
 
 ^. The various forms of transfer 
 Transfer may be positive or negative. Before entering 
 upon the discussion of the different forms of transfer in de- 
 tail, it will be well to make a distinction which is sometimes 
 overlooked. The relationship between different mental 
 functions or between a mental function in one sphere and in 
 
270 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 another may be of two different and opposite sorts. The 
 result of training in one field may be the increase of ability 
 in another field, or it may result in the decrease of that 
 ability. It is a matter of general observation that a person 
 who has specialized in a profession often becomes thereby 
 unfitted in a certain measure for commercial life. Certain 
 professions are notoriously regarded as making their mem- 
 bers easy victims for all sorts of financial and business sharp- 
 ers. In such cases there is transfer of training, but it is of a 
 negative sort. Transfer is positive when improvement in one 
 function facilitates improvement in another, and it is nega- 
 tive when training in one function interferes with another. 
 Whether training is positive or negative, it indicates a rela- 
 tionship between different functions of our mental life or be- 
 tween the applications of a function in different fields. 
 
 5. Transfer through common elements 
 Some kinds of transfer may be described in terms of 
 elements. A partial account of many of our mental activi- 
 ties, especially the simpler ones, may be given by describing 
 them as made up of elements. Some kinds of learning con- 
 sist largely of the combination of a number of movements, or 
 of the recognition or perception of objects, or of a series of 
 associations which are made between objects and certain re- 
 sponses. The simpler kinds of transfer may be described 
 as taking place between two different activities which have 
 in common one or another of these kinds of elements. 
 
 Movements transferred from one activity to another may 
 produce negative transfer. We may distinguish several 
 kinds of transfer which can be described as due to the pres- 
 ence of common elements. In the first place, a movement 
 which has been learned in response to one stimulus may be 
 transferred bodily to another situation so that it is made in 
 response to a different stimulus. For example, if a person 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 271 
 
 who has learned to make a certain stroke in batting the ball 
 in a game of baseball learns to play golf, he may use the same 
 form of stroke in the new game. But if he does he will find 
 that his progress is hindered, since a different kind of stroke 
 is needed in the latter game. Instead of making a sharp hit 
 in golf, one should make a long sweeping stroke. Another 
 illustration may be taken from piano and organ playing. If 
 one has learned to play the piano first and then learns to 
 play the organ, he is likely to carry over to the organ the 
 sharp, sudden blow he has learned on the piano, instead of 
 exerting a sustained pressure. It is clear that the benefit to 
 be drawn from carrying over movements from one activity 
 to another depends upon their suitability in the second case. 
 The fact that a movement has been used in a former activity 
 may be a hindrance rather than a help when it is transferred. 
 The presence of the same stimuli in two situations may 
 cause interference. Instead of carrying over the same 
 movements from one field to another, one may find it neces- 
 sary to respond to the same stimulus in a second task as in 
 the first, but by a different movement than that which was 
 learned in the former task. This kind of reconstruction of 
 the association between a movement and a stimulus is illus- 
 trated in card sorting. Experiments have been made of the 
 following nature. A pack of cards which contains several 
 series numbered from one to ten, and arranged in the pack in 
 chance order, may be sorted according to number by placing 
 them in a series of piles. These piles may be arranged so 
 that they do not come in serial order, as in the illustration : — 
 
 9 4 6 10 8 
 
 After one has developed considerable ability in sorting the 
 cards with the numbers in one order, the order may be 
 
272 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 changed. In this case one is required to respond to the same 
 numbers as before, but by different movements. The same 
 change would be illustrated if a mail clerk had become ac- 
 customed to sorting letters with the names arranged on the 
 boxes in a certain order, and then was required to change his 
 habit because of a shift in the arrangement of the names. 
 In such a case the presence of the same stimulus in the two 
 tasks acts rather as a hindrance than as a help. If an en- 
 tirely new set of stimuli were used, one would profit by his 
 first experience because he would have gained familiarity 
 with the process of handling the pack, and with the general 
 methods of procedure in sorting. When the experiment is 
 carried far enough, these sources of improvement outweigh 
 the difficulty which is due to a change in the order of the 
 numbers, but the mere fact of the identity of the elements 
 in this case may act as an .interference when they are asso- 
 ciated with different movements. 
 
 Simple, elementary associations between stimuli and 
 movements are sometimes applicable in a variety of situa- 
 tions. There are various kinds of elementary associations 
 which may be similar or identical in different activities and 
 which may serve as a means of facilitating or interfering 
 with progress. In learning to use the typewriter one makes 
 associations between the sight and the thought of the letters, 
 and the keys which are to be pressed; or in learning to play 
 the piano, one associates the notes on the score with the 
 keys on the piano. In learning to spell one associates the 
 idea of a word with the group of letters which represent it 
 on the printed or written page. In all of these cases the 
 formation of these simpler associations will facilitate prog- 
 ress. The formation of the individual association is not 
 the whole matter. One must also learn to put the individual 
 associations together into groups, as we saw in the descrip- 
 tion of learning to use the typewriter; but the association 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 273 
 
 between the sight of an a and the pressing of a key is com- 
 mon to writing the word and, and the word hat, the word 
 man, and so on. This association will, if learned in one con- 
 nection as in writing one particular word, be useful when it 
 is transferred to a somewhat different set of associations. 
 If one learns to spell words in a column test it will enable 
 him the better to spell words in composition. There is thus 
 a transfer of associations from one situation to another. 
 Other cases of transfer of the same general nature we assume 
 as a matter of course. If one learns to recognize a word in 
 one connection, he will be able to recognize the word in an- 
 other connection with a probability of some loss due to 
 change of association. If one learns the meaning of a series 
 of foreign words in a vocabulary, he will be able to inter- 
 pret the meaning of those words again, with some loss due 
 to the changed surroundings, when he reads them in a con- 
 text. And so we may assume in general that the presence of 
 elements of this sort in two situations will serve to make the 
 training in one facilitate progress in the other. 
 
 The relationship of the elements which are common to 
 two forms of learning is often the most important thing. 
 We see from a survey of the different way in which elements 
 may combine in different kinds of bodily and mental activity 
 that no single formula can be used to predict what will be the 
 result. We must know not merely what the elements are in 
 the two cases, but in a still more important degree we must 
 know what the relationship of the elements in the different 
 situations is. In some cases the presence of the same ele- 
 ment may assist learning and in other cases it may be a 
 hindrance. It is necessary to examine each form of learning 
 for itself and to determine how far elements which have 
 been learned in previous experiences may be of assistance, 
 or how far they may be a hindrance. 
 
274 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 6. Transfer through development of attitudes 
 Illustration from attention. The relationship between 
 a mental function or an activity in different situations is 
 not by any means adequately described when we have 
 traced certain common elements in the different cases. 
 Another very important kind of relationship or union be- 
 tween various applications of a mental function is due to the 
 fact that there is developed by means of the exercise of the 
 mental function a more general attitude or set of mind, as 
 well as a series of particular habits. A variety of illustrations 
 of this principle may be found. We may take one from the 
 experiment of Coover and Angell which has already been 
 mentioned. The explanation of the transfer from training 
 in discrimination of sound to improvement in discrimination 
 of shades of gray was that the learners acquired the ability 
 better to direct their attention. This consisted in a large 
 measure in the attitude which they developed toward dis- 
 traction. A person may learn instantly to turn his attention 
 away from a stimulus which would distract him from the 
 task which he has in mind, and when he has developed this 
 attitude of mind, he has acquired an important condition of 
 efficiency in mental work. 
 
 Apperception is largely due to attitudes which are de- 
 veloped. The attitude which is developed through educa- 
 tion may be expressed in paying attention to certain things 
 rather than others. It is a commonplace of observation 
 that different persons who are confronted by the same ob- 
 jects may see very different things in them. We have be- 
 come familiar with this process under the name appercep- 
 tion. We say that a person sees in a thing what he has been 
 prepared to see by his previous experience or his cast of 
 mind. Thus through the training of one's profession one 
 acquires the habit of picking out certain things to pay at- 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 275 
 
 tention to and to think about. A physician notes the signs 
 of disease, the teacher pays particular attention to children 
 and their characteristics, the clothing merchant notices 
 particularly the dress which persons wear, and so on indefi- 
 nitely. This we may describe as due to the development 
 of a general attitude of mind. 
 
 One may develop predominately an analytical, an appre- 
 ciative, or a practical attitude. This development of an at- 
 titude of mind may be very general in its nature. A person 
 may acquire the habit of viewing things from an intellectual 
 viewpoint. The questions which are aroused in his mind 
 by his experiences may be largely those which are concerned 
 with the explanation of the facts which he observes. We say 
 that such a person is analytical. He is trying continually 
 to account for the actions of persons or of the physical events 
 of the world about him. Another person, on the other hand, 
 may have what we call the appreciative attitude of mind. 
 He may continually be seeking to weigh what he sees in 
 terms of beauty or ugliness. Artists have predominantly 
 this attitude of mind. If an artist sees a landscape, he picks 
 out the elements of beauty or ugliness in it, whereas the 
 person of the intellectual or analytical attitude of mind may 
 attempt to explain the geological formation or some other 
 scientific aspect of such a landscape. Still another person 
 may have the practical attitude. His question may always 
 be of the money value of objects which he observes or of 
 the use to which they may be put in satisfying human 
 needs. We have the testimony of the scientist, Charles 
 Darwin, that the development of the analytical or scien- 
 tific attitude of mind in his own case interfered with or 
 displaced the development of the appreciative attitude. 
 He remarked that while in his early years he was very 
 fond of poetry, in his later years he could not endure any 
 lengthy reading of this type of literature, and he deplored 
 
276 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the fact that one attitude of mind has usurped the place 
 of the other. 
 
 The scientific attitude may be developed as a special 
 form of the intellectual attitude. The intellectual attitude 
 may also include a variety of more particular attitudes. We 
 say that a person is scientific in his attitude when he is open- 
 minded, when he is willing to give consideration to new facts 
 or new ways of interpreting facts. We include in this scien- 
 tific attitude the disposition to seek evidence before forming 
 one's opinion, to verify one's conclusions instead of jumping 
 at them, to substitute reason for sentimentality, and so on. 
 
 Differences in social attitude are general in their nature. 
 As a final illustration of the development of attitudes we 
 may take the attitudes which a person assumes toward 
 other persons. These have been referred to in the chapter 
 on the social instincts of the child. For example, one may 
 have predominately an attitude of dominance or one of 
 submission. This is partly due to one's natural temper of 
 mind, or it may be partly due to education. A person who 
 has been continually treated as a slave is likely to acquire 
 a submissive attitude. Again, there may be a general atti- 
 tude of fairness, or of unfairness and prejudice in one's deal- 
 ings with others. One may have developed the courteous 
 way of treating other persons, or may be rude and discourte- 
 ous. One may develop a habit of truthfulness or a habit of 
 shiftiness with reference to the truth. 
 
 General attitudes are subject to the influence of educa- 
 tion. The application of these facts to the problem of the 
 transfer of training raises the question of the extent to which 
 they may be developed by education. One may certainly 
 conclude, without going into the matter in detail, that such 
 attitudes may to some extent be modified and developed by 
 education. Since the experiments on transfer of training 
 have dealt largely with more specialized capacities, it is 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 277 
 
 difficult to estimate with any degree of definiteness how far 
 such attitudes of mind may be developed in general, and 
 how far when they are developed they become a part of 
 one's attitude toward all situations. In some cases it is de- 
 sirable that they should not be applied to all situations. 
 The case of Darwin suggests the conclusion that it may 
 be desirable in some measure to develop various attitudes 
 each of which might be manifested with reference to the 
 particular kind of situation in which it is appropriate. One 
 could develop the appreciative attitude toward poetry, 
 music, and art in general, and the scientific attitude to- 
 ward facts of science, which are to be apprehended through 
 rational processes. It is a mistake to develop either atti- 
 tude in the situation for which the other is appropriate. 
 There is therefore in some cases too much or too general 
 transfer of training in attitudes of mind. 
 
 Mental control is a general attitude which may be in- 
 creased by education. In the next chapter a type of mental 
 attitude which has not been included in this survey will be 
 dwelt upon, which is of large importance, and which un- 
 doubtedly can be developed. This is an attitude which we 
 may describe in general terms as one of mental control, and 
 its opposite consists in various forms of lack of control which 
 are manifested in either temporary or permanent nervous- 
 ness, lack of self-confidence, etc. That these are amenable to 
 treatment is the general opinion of experts in this field. 
 
 Conclusion regarding attitudes. We may conclude that 
 attitudes of mind of this sort are among the more important 
 means by which different particular mental functions are 
 brought into relationship to one another; and although we 
 cannot at the present time define the exact degree to which 
 they are subject to training, yet it is undoubtedly true that 
 they are to a large extent so susceptible. 
 
 Self-conscious attitudes or ideals. General attitudes of 
 
278 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 mind which are still more definitely under control of educa- 
 tion may be developed. In the above description of attitudes 
 nothing has been said regarding the person's knowledge that 
 he possesses these attitudes. Such attitudes of mind may 
 exist in a person without his thinking particularly about it. 
 We may, however, contrast such cases with those cases in 
 which a person not only develops an attitude of mind, but 
 also becomes conscious of it, and deliberately attempts to 
 develop or modify it. A person may not only learn to be in- 
 dustrious but he may learn to value industry. He may de- 
 velop the ideal of industry. This ideal consists in the notion 
 that industry is worthier and more valuable than sloth and is 
 therefore desirable. Many of the attitudes which are de- 
 scribed in the previous section may be ideals, as well as un- 
 conscious attitudes. 
 
 Illustration from the ideal of accuracy in manual training. 
 The development of an ideal, and its transfer to other situa- 
 tions than the one in connection with which it was originally 
 developed, may be illustrated in the matter of accuracy. 
 Suppose that a student in the manual training shop has 
 learned that in order that boards may be fitted together in 
 accordance with the plan, they must be sawn and planed ac- 
 curately. If the work is not done accurately the article 
 which is being made will clearly show it. The result of in- 
 accuracy will then strike the attention of the student, and if 
 he is at all awake to the results of his experience, he will real- 
 ize that in the field of manual training, at least, it is neces- 
 sary to work with care and precision. In other words, the 
 student has developed an idea of the value of a particular 
 quality of mind and action. In the future when he is con- 
 fronted with a problem of the same sort, he may strive to 
 work with greater accuracy because of the fact that he has 
 realized its value in his past experience. This will not mean 
 that he will be capable at a stroke of equaling the accuracy 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 279 
 
 of a skilled worker, but it will mean that the idea of its value 
 will so stimulate him that he will improve more rapidly in 
 skill than he otherwise would. The extent to which he is 
 able to generalize on his experience will determine the breadth 
 of the application which he can make of this idea. He may- 
 apply it only to manual training, or he may apply it to other 
 sorts of study, or to other sorts of work in general. This is an 
 illustration of the statement which was made earlier that 
 training may result in transfer or it may not, according to 
 the attitude of the learner. 
 
 7. General ideas which illuminate the mode of procedure 
 Ideas of method are more specific guides in learning than 
 mere ideals. The development of an ideal or an idea of value 
 in one task stimulates the learner to attempt to attain results 
 which are esteemed valuable in other tasks which he has to 
 perform. It does not, however, give him information as to 
 the method by which he can best obtain the improved 
 ability. It furnishes him with the motive to attempt to 
 attain a particular kind of ability, or to choose one kind of 
 response to a situation in contrast to another. To recur to 
 our example, the ideal may lead him to choose to make the 
 effort to be careful and accurate, in place of being careless 
 and inaccurate. It may lead him to attempt to work indus- 
 triously and persistently in place of making half-hearted and 
 spasmodic efforts. But in addition to such stimulus to effort, 
 training may also affect the learner's responses in a general 
 way by giving him ideas regarding the best mode of pro- 
 cedure to attain the result he desires. Assuming that one is 
 aware of the value of certain attainments, these ideas will 
 indicate how most quickly to attain the result. 
 
 Illustrations of transfer through ideas of method. The de- 
 velopment of the idea of a mode of procedure as distinguished 
 from the idea of the value of the result may be illustrated 
 
280 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 from modes of learning which have been already described. 
 It has been shown that in memorizing it is more economical 
 to distribute one's time and practice into comparatively 
 short periods, and to allow some interval of time between 
 periods of practice. One may learn this better mode of dis- 
 tribution of time as a result of his attempt to memorize, and 
 he may then apply the same method of procedure to other 
 forms of learning. One may also discover in his experiments 
 in learning that it is necessary to acquire the ability to avoid 
 distraction, and he may then apply the knowledge of this 
 principle to every form of learning which he undertakes. He 
 may discover also that it is desirable to disregard fatigue or 
 its symptoms up to a certain point, but that under certain 
 circumstances, or beyond a certain point, the feelings of 
 weariness which accumulate should be taken into account. 
 Finally one may discover and confirm in one's experience the 
 principles of scientific method, and may then apply these 
 principles in other fields of work. 
 
 Training in general principles may be much more widely 
 applied than narrow technical training. In addition to no- 
 tions of the best methods of procedure, the learner may also 
 develop ideas regarding the principles which govern the ma- 
 terial or the subject-matter with which he is working, and 
 may so generalize these principles that he will be able to 
 apply them broadly, at least within the field of the general 
 subject which he is studying. Judd's experiment with the 
 dart throwing illustrates this kind of general notion and the 
 way in which it may be applied to produce transfer of train- 
 ing. In general, the person who develops such principles as 
 a result of his experience is the one who has had a broad 
 scientific training in his subject rather than a narrow, rule of 
 thumb sort of training. We may distinguish the artisan who 
 has learned to perform a number of particular processes and 
 has become skilled in them, but is not acquainted with the 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 281 
 
 more general principles of his work, from the person of broad 
 training, such as the engineer, who is not merely skilled — 
 or perhaps not skilled at all — in performing the various 
 details of work in his field, but who has such a grasp of general 
 principles that he can attack new problems and develop a 
 new method of dealing with them. A person of the narrow 
 kind of training would be able to repair a machine with which 
 he was familiar, or which was rather similar to one with 
 which he was familiar; but one who had the broader training 
 would be able to apply his knowledge to repairing any kind of 
 machine, or at least a very much wider variety of kinds of 
 machines. 
 
 We may apply the same distinction to methods of training 
 teachers. One method which may be pursued in training 
 teachers is to give the teacher a large number of rules 
 of thumb to direct his method of teaching each subject in 
 detail, or to give rules for the administration of the class- 
 room and for all of the particular duties which have to be 
 performed. On the other hand, the training may be of such 
 a sort that it will give the teacher an appreciation of the 
 general problems of education so far as they affect the class- 
 room work; for example, an insight into the mode in which the 
 child attains his mental development, the kind of develop- 
 ment which takes place in the various kinds of study, or the 
 differences in development which one may expect in different 
 children. 
 
 Both general and specific training are desirable. Both of 
 these kinds of training are desirable. If the teacher is given 
 merely a series of rules of thumb, he will be at a loss when 
 these rules do not apply, or will find it difficult to know how 
 to apply the rules in individual cases. The teacher in this 
 case will have a training which may fit him for a special set 
 of circumstances but which will not give a preparation for 
 dealing with a large variety of circumstances or for applying 
 
282 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 the results of the experiences in one case to other cases. On 
 the other hand, a training which is merely general in its char- 
 acter such as that which is got from a study of educational 
 psychology, leaves the teacher' who begins with this prepara- 
 tion alone with the necessity of working out the methods of 
 applying the principles in detail. This means that there is 
 some loss of time and waste of energy in acquiring devices 
 and specialized methods. Both sorts of training are neces- 
 sary, but the point that is here made is that the training in 
 broad general principles is the kind which will enable the 
 student to carry over the result of experience in one field to 
 other fields of endeavor. 
 
 8. The application of the facts of transfer 
 Both the amount and the importance of transferred train- 
 ing must be considered. It may be accepted as a sound con- 
 clusion that training is to a greater or less extent general in 
 its scope. Several principles should be taken into account 
 in attempting to work out the practical application of this 
 conclusion. The first one has already been mentioned in a 
 previous paragraph. We cannot judge of the value of the 
 general effect of special training merely upon a knowledge of 
 the percentage of improvement which occurs in a related 
 field as a result of training in another field. We must also 
 know how important this transferred effect is, and whether 
 it could be attained more effectively in this or in some other 
 form of training. If a form of general training is very de- 
 sirable, and if it cannot be more effectively or more econom- 
 ically developed in some other way, then the effort to reach it 
 through a particular kind of training, or through the teaching 
 of a particular subject, may be justified, even although the 
 amount of development in general intellectual ability which 
 comes as a result is very minute. Thus if a person as a result 
 of scientific training develops even to a slight degree a general 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 283 
 
 idea of the scientific attitude or of the scientific method, so 
 that he can apply it in the general problems of his life, the 
 result may justify the effort which has been expended. If 
 such an idea leads a person, as a citizen, to endeavor a little 
 more carefully to get at the real facts of the social or political 
 situation, in order to enable him to vote intelligently, the 
 value of the result will be very great. It may be sufficient 
 to decide his choice in an important election. 
 
 Both specific and general training are necessary. On the 
 other hand, to use the illustration which has just been cited, 
 because a general scientific training might make a person 
 more judicial in his survey of civic facts, and might enable 
 him to vote more intelligently, this would not justify a neglect 
 of more specific training which would have more direct bear- 
 ing upon the problems of citizenship. This illustrates the 
 error of substituting general training for more specific train- 
 ing in those cases in which the specific training could be 
 given and would be of value to a large number of pupils. 
 General training is not to be considered a satisfactory sub- 
 stitute for special training in those cases in which we know the 
 sort of special training which is appropriate and can give this 
 training to the pupil. 
 
 Considerations of formal training should probably not 
 often be a deciding factor in the choice of studies. In order 
 to determine what subjects shall be included in the course of 
 study it is always necessary to consider the specific or direct 
 value to the pupils of the skill or knowledge which they gain 
 in their pursuit. Reading is taught in the school because it is 
 highly important for the pupil to be able to read in gaining 
 further education, and in pursuing his business and recrea- 
 tion in after life. Music and literature are included because 
 the enjoyment of these arts contribute to the pleasure and 
 contentment of the individual and to his human sympathy 
 and understanding. And so we might catalogue the valuable 
 
284 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 results in specific attainment which are produced in the study 
 of various subjects. But the presence of certain subjects, for 
 example grammar, the ancient languages, much of mathe- 
 matics, and to some extent science and manual training, has 
 often been justified, not because of their direct, bat of their 
 transferred value. But the possibility of generalized training 
 is not confined to certain subjects. All subjects possess it at 
 least in some degree. The degree of generalized training to 
 be gained from a subject is more dependent on the way it is 
 organized and taught than upon the subject itself. To justify 
 the introduction or retention of a subject which has little or 
 no direct value, then, it is necessary to show that its value 
 for general training is overwhelmingly greater than that of 
 its rivals. In spite of our conclusion that general training is 
 a fact, and an important one, it is questionable whether it is 
 of sufficient importance by itself to decide the choice of 
 subjects unless it is combined with large direct value. 
 
 The appropriate kind of general training in each subject 
 should be emphasized. The fact that general training does 
 not result automatically from the teaching of subjects but 
 only results when the subject is taught in a certain way, 
 means that the teacher, in the selection of topics, and the 
 mode of presentation of the topics, or the kind of work 
 which shall be assigned to the student, must take into ac- 
 count the general result as well as the special knowledge or 
 skill which is to be developed by the study. This means also 
 that the teacher must carefully consider the kind of general 
 training which should be expected from a particular study. 
 One should not expect to develop any great appreciation of 
 beauty from the study of mathematics, or the development 
 of the scientific method from the study of literature. Each 
 subject of study has its own appropriate kind of mental atti- 
 tude which is to be developed in it. While in any particular 
 subject there may be opportunity for the development of a 
 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 285 
 
 great variety of attitudes, yet most of these are of such minor 
 importance in any one particular study, that not much 
 general result can be expected from their development. It 
 is necessary then to get clearly in mind the form of general 
 training which is to be expected from any particular subject 
 and so present it that this type of general training will be 
 most effectively produced. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Illustrate the difference between form and content in learning. 
 
 2. If no transfer of training is found in a particular experiment, what is 
 indicated with reference to the possibility of transfer? 
 
 3. What is the practical application of the fact that the amount of transfer 
 is usually small? Does it mean that the transfer of ability is not im- 
 portant? 
 
 4. What is the practical application of the fact that the amount of trans- 
 fer varies with the conditions? 
 
 5. What does negative transfer or interference show with reference to the 
 view that the mind is made up of many highly independent ele- 
 ments? 
 
 6. Does an association, as represented by spelling a word, carry over with- 
 out loss from one set of circumstances to another? For example, is a 
 word which is learned in a column test always spelled correctly in 
 sentences? 
 
 7. Name a specific attitude which is formed when the student learns to 
 concentrate his attention. 
 
 8. How, in general, are attitudes, such as the analytical or the apprecia- 
 tive, formed? What produces them? 
 
 9. Is it always desirable to make attitudes self-conscious? 
 
 10. What is the effect of making attitudes self-conscious upon the extent 
 to which they become general? 
 
 11. What is the limitation upon the successful generalization of ideas of 
 method? May such generalization ever be disadvantageous? 
 
 12. Discuss the illustration from James given in the quotation from Judd 
 in the early part of the chapter from the point of view of the specializa- 
 tion of scientific training. 
 
 13. Should teacher training be entirely specific, or may the teacher legiti- 
 mately be left to make some of the application of general principles? 
 
HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Angell, J. R., Judd, C. H., and Pillsbury, W. B. A series of three articles 
 
 on "Formal Discipline" in The Educational Review, vol. 36, pp. 1-42. 
 
 (June, 1908.) 
 Darwin, Chas. Autobiography, in Francis Darwin, Life and Letters of Charles 
 
 Darwin, vol. 1, p. 81. (D. Appleton & Co., 1887.) 
 Heck, W. H. Mental Discipline and Educational Values. (Lane, 1911.) 
 Judd, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects, chap. xvn. (Ginn & Co., 
 
 1915.) 
 Rugg, H. O. The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School 
 
 Studies. (Warwick & York, 1916.) 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, vol. 2, The Psychology of Learning. 
 
 (Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913.) 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 MENTAL ECONOMY AND CONTROL, MENTAL HYGIENE 
 
 This chapter deals with economy in mental energy. In 
 discussing the most effective methods of learning, we con- 
 sidered to some extent the question of mental economy, — ■ 
 that is, we raised the question as to the most economical way 
 in which one's time and energy can be applied in order to 
 produce the most rapid learning. We may also raise this 
 question with reference to accomplishment in general as 
 well as with reference to rapidity of improvement. We shall 
 therefore in this chapter discuss those principles which 
 govern the most effective or economical performance of men- 
 tal work, whether it has to do with improvement, or with 
 accomplishment at a particular level of ability. We may also 
 raise somewhat more general questions which are appropriate 
 to the topic of mental hygiene. How may we avoid friction 
 or waste of energy through useless acts or useless feelings or 
 emotions? How may we avoid any sort of expenditure of 
 energy which has no fruitful result? 
 
 1. Fatigue 
 Mental economy was formerly thought of chiefly as the 
 avoidance of fatigue. This subject of mental economy was 
 formerly approached largely through the study of fatigue. 
 Work was thought of as producing a certain definite amount 
 of fatigue, proportional to the amount or the strenuousness 
 of the work. Fatigue was regarded as the loss of a certain 
 definite amount of energy which could be measured. From 
 this point of view the determination of the principles of men- 
 tal economy would consist in finding out the amount of 
 
288 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 fatigue which was produced by work of various sorts or 
 under various conditions, and the best method which might 
 be used to avoid or minimize fatigue. 
 
 Typical studies of fatigue are those of Griesbach and 
 Kraepelin. This problem was applied to education in the 
 investigation of the German scientist Griesbach, who at- 
 tempted to measure the fatigue in school children at various 
 times during the day by measuring the fineness of discrimi- 
 nation between two points of contact on the skin. Griesbach 
 thought that he could measure accurately the loss of mental 
 energy resulting from school work by this method. Later 
 studies, however, showed that the ability of the school child 
 did not drop off in anything like the manner that Griesbach 
 thought had been determined by his studies. Another appli- 
 cation of the investigations of fatigue has been made by the 
 German scientist, Kraepelin, and his followers, who have 
 attempted to account for the changes in the efficiency with 
 which one works at different parts of the work period or the 
 practice period, by analyzing the total output of work as 
 due to changes in fatigue, in practice, in warming up, in 
 spurting, and so on. This work throws some light on the 
 causes of changes in efficiency and indicates that fatigue is 
 only one of these causes. 
 
 Winch, Thorndike, and Heck find that fatigue is less than 
 is commonly supposed. Fatigue is undoubtedly one of the 
 factors which affects the efficiency of our work; but recent 
 studies with school children have indicated that the amount 
 of fatigue which we may expect to appear as a result of the 
 ordinary work of the school day is much less than was for- 
 merly supposed. Winch, in England, found that children 
 who practiced solving arithmetic problems on successive 
 days in the early forenoon gained about 5 per cent more 
 than another group which practiced in the late forenoon. 
 Heck gave tests to school children at four periods during 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 
 
 289 
 
 the day; between 9 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., between 11 a.m. and 
 11.30 a.m., shortly after 1 p.m. and about 2.30 p.m. It ap- 
 pears from this experiment that the amount of work done 
 increased in the later periods while the accuracy decreased, 
 but there does not appear to be any large decrease in effi- 
 ciency due to fatigue. The following table shows typical 
 results from one school : — 
 
 Table V. The Percentage of Efficiency of School- 
 Children at Four Periods, taking the Performance at 
 the First Period as 100 per cent 
 
 
 Periods 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 Amount done 
 
 100 
 100 
 
 100.72 
 96.69 
 
 103.63 
 95.64 
 
 101.70 
 
 
 96 38 
 
 
 
 Fatigue is measured by the decrease of efficiency due to 
 activity. In order to estimate properly the meaning of these 
 new facts and to decide how important fatigue is in reducing 
 our mental efficiency, we must get clearly in mind what is 
 meant by the term fatigue. Mental fatigue may be taken to 
 mean several different things. In its most accurate and 
 technical sense it means the falling off in the ability to do 
 mental work either in accuracy, or in speed, or in a combina- 
 tion of both, as a result of mental or physical exercise. The 
 term is ordinarily applied to the result of mental rather than 
 physical work. Fatigue in this sense could be measured by 
 comparing the amount of work which one can do at the be- 
 ginning and at the end of a day of continued activity, or by 
 comparing the amount one can do at the beginning and the 
 end of a week. This simple comparison does not take account 
 of any difference that might occur through practice. Hence 
 
290 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 if a person is improving rapidly in his ability in the work he 
 is performing, it is necessary to allow for this and to com- 
 pare not merely the work at the beginning of the day with 
 the end of the same day, but also the end of the day's work 
 with the beginning of the next day's work after rest; or the 
 end of the week with the beginning of the next week after an 
 interval of rest. 
 
 Fatigue in the strict sense is to be distinguished from the 
 feeling of weariness. This method does not measure what 
 we very often mean by fatigue; and the studies which have 
 been made of fatigue in the laboratory do not take account 
 of some of the results of work which we ordinarily think of 
 when we say that we are fatigued. We commonly refer by 
 this word not merely to the diminished efficiency of our work 
 but also to the feelings of weariness which result from con- 
 tinued work. These feelings of weariness are admitted to 
 have an effect upon one's ability to do work, but in the lab- 
 oratory test their effect is undoubtedly much less than it is 
 in the ordinary work in which one is not undergoing a spe- 
 cial test. While the diminution in efficiency which is shown 
 or appears at the end of an ordinary day's work might be less 
 if one attempted to work at his top speed, yet it is a real 
 diminution and is to be reckoned as the ordinary result of 
 the feelings of weariness which appear in work which is not 
 done under laboratory conditions. It is worth while to have 
 discovered, however, that one may to a certain extent dis- 
 regard these feelings and that one's work may not necessarily 
 diminish to the same extent that it does in everyday life be- 
 cause of the unpleasant feelings which are produced by work. 
 
 The course of physical fatigue is relatively simple, as 
 shown by experiments with the ergograph. The difference 
 between the modern and the older view of fatigue is partly 
 to be explained by the fact that the earliest studies had to do 
 with physical fatigue, and that the course of physical fatigue, 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 291 
 
 at least so far as it has been measured, seems to be different 
 from that of mental fatigue. The classical experiment on 
 physical fatigue was made by the Italian scientist, Mosso, 
 who used an instrument called the ergograph, by which he 
 could measure the ability of a person to raise a weight with 
 one finger. The experiment is conducted by requiring a per- 
 son to raise a weight repeatedly either as rapidly as he can or 
 at a certain regular interval. If the weight is sufficient to 
 necessitate considerable effort, the height to which it is to be 
 raised rapidly diminishes until finally one is unable for a time 
 to raise it at all. 
 
 The course of mental fatigue is more complex. The 
 change in efficiency in mental work throughout a period of 
 work is very much less simple than this. Sometimes one's 
 score rises throughout the period of work instead of falling, 
 as we should expect it to do as the result of fatigue. Some- 
 times it falls rapidly at the beginning, then rises and falls 
 toward the end. Sometimes there is a gradual falling toward 
 the end and then a rise just before the end. There are also 
 differences according to the kind of work or the individual 
 peculiarity of the worker. 
 
 Various factors contribute to the decrease in efficiency of 
 mental work. There is not space here to go into details in the 
 discussion of the causes of these various changes in the work 
 curve. We may say, however, that the curve is very largely 
 governed by one's attitude toward the work, as well as by 
 his ability. Interest may cause the curve to rise or the falling 
 off of interest may cause it to drop. When one has worked 
 for several hours, he may become bored with what he is do- 
 ing and be very desirous of dropping it and doing something 
 else. If he is furnished with some new interest or some new 
 reason for putting forth effort, he may show that his ability 
 has fallen off very little, if any. This distaste for work is due 
 partly to physical conditions. There may be an accumula- 
 
292 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 tion of restlessness which results in an impulse to get up and 
 move about, if the work is such as requires sitting or re- 
 maining in the same position. The mere continuance of an 
 activity of the same sort seems to cause a desire to do some- 
 thing different even though it is another kind of work. In the 
 chapter on transfer of training we saw that general training 
 in mental work consists partly in learning to disregard dis- 
 tractions which arise from such impulses as these. 
 
 The child should gradually learn to work persistently. 
 When applying these facts to the conduct of work of the 
 pupils in the school, it is clear that we must be careful not to 
 conclude too readily that the pupil's real ability to work has 
 fallen off as a result of his school work. Before such a con- 
 clusion is drawn, we must have taken care to see that the 
 pupil's interest is maintained and that he is given sufficient 
 motive to put forth effort in his work. The pupil needs to 
 be trained gradually to disregard the slight inconveniences 
 which appear as a result of prolonged work, just as does the 
 adult worker. On the other hand, we must make allowance 
 for the greater sensitiveness of the child to the distractions 
 which would divert his mind from his work, and his less 
 ability to work in spite of them. It would be a mistake to 
 conclude that the child is able to maintain the same level of 
 efficient work as the adult person under the conditions of a 
 laboratory experiment. 
 
 Fatigue probably affects some kinds of work more than 
 Others. We must also recognize, in applying these facts to 
 school work, that a small amount of fatigue may have a 
 widely different effect upon- some kinds of work than upon 
 others. In all probability it will affect very much more new 
 forms of learning and those which are difficult, than the per- 
 formance of work in which the individual is fairly well prac- 
 ticed, or which is easy for him. For this reason, although the 
 fatigue at the end of the day is not great, it is necessary to 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 293 
 
 take it into account in arranging the program of the day so 
 that the easier studies come toward the end. It is impossible 
 to say what subjects should be put at the end since no stud- 
 ies of sufficient accuracy have been made to determine which 
 are most affected by fatigue. 
 
 Weariness is not to be completely ignored. It is necessary 
 to consider the significance of the feelings of weariness as 
 indicative of the effect of work upon health or upon the 
 permanent physical condition as well as upon immediate 
 efficiency. It is possible that one may be able to disregard 
 feelings of weariness and maintain his efficiency for the time 
 being, and still be overworking, or be injuriously affecting 
 his health. It is necessary to consider this particularly with 
 children. The problem of health is of double importance in 
 their case. The impairment of health in the child does not 
 merely mean temporary loss of efficiency, but also means a 
 loss in growth and development. The problem before us is 
 to know when the feelings of weariness have reached a point 
 at which one should pay attention to them and govern one's 
 work according to them, and when, on the contrary, it is 
 necessary to disregard them, and work energetically in spite 
 of them. 
 
 Permanent weariness is a sign of a harmful degree of 
 fatigue. There are several ways in which we can learn to 
 discriminate between the feelings of weariness which should 
 be ignored and those which are symptoms of debilitated 
 bodily condition, and therefore need to be heeded by a modi- 
 fication of the conditions of work. In the first place we may 
 distinguish between a temporary feeling which does not 
 remain from one day to another and a more permanent feel- 
 ing which lasts for days and weeks and seems to be independ- 
 ent of the amount of work which is done. A permanent feel- 
 ing of lassitude, particularly if it appears in the morning 
 before any work has been done, is likely to be a sign which 
 
294 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 should be given careful attention. This, of course, is to be 
 distinguished from the slight feeling of lassitude which oc- 
 curs on first rising in the morning before one is fully awake 
 or before the circulation has become vigorous. In the case 
 of the school child it is not difficult to recognize permanent 
 weariness, since by the time work is fairly started the early 
 morning lassitude should have disappeared. 
 
 Undue fatigue is manifested also in physical symptoms. If 
 there is doubt as to whether a feeling of weariness is due to 
 an injurious effect of overwork or of work under the wrong 
 conditions, or whether it is due merely to a natural result 
 of work, or even of laziness, the feelings can be checked up 
 by certain other symptoms. If one is overworking, the effect 
 will be seen commonly in more strictly physical symptoms. 
 It may be seen in the loss of appetite, in the poor assimila- 
 tion or digestion of food, in loss of weight or in ansemia. If 
 a permanent feeling of lassitude is accompanied by some of 
 these physical signs, there is reason to believe either that one 
 is overworking or that the conditions under which one works 
 are not correct, — that is, that one is not living under the 
 correct general conditions of hygiene. It is therefore desir- 
 able to keep a record of the child's height, weight and phys- 
 ical condition in order to detect signs of overwork. 
 
 2. Planning and organizing work 
 The feeling of weariness is a factor to be considered in 
 planning work, but not in carrying out the plan. The sug- 
 gestion that feelings of weariness are to be checked up by 
 noticing whether they are temporary or permanent and by 
 taking account of physical symptoms, leads to the remark 
 that such feelings should be taken account of, not while one 
 is working, for the purpose of enabling one to decide whether 
 he should continue or break off work at a particular time, but 
 that they should rather be taken account of at only the time 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 295 
 
 when one is planning one's work. This is the solution of the 
 problem which is raised by the necessity of taking due ac- 
 count of the feelings of weariness without at the same time 
 allowing them to have an injurious effect upon one's con- 
 centration and efficiency. One who is continually examining 
 his feelings while he is working, to find out whether they are 
 of such a sort as to justify stopping work or taking a rest, has 
 destroyed the fundamental conditions for efficient work. 
 He creates for himself all sorts of imaginary feelings, and ex- 
 aggerates those feelings which he has to such a degree as to 
 make it utterly impossible to decide what the significance 
 of his feelings are. It is, however, entirely justifiable to take 
 account of one's feelings in planning work, since they can 
 then be seen in their proper perspective. 
 
 Children should gradually learn to plan their work. The 
 application of this principle to the education of children in 
 habits of work means that they should not be encouraged to 
 pay any attention to their feelings of weariness which are 
 caused by their work until they have reached the point where 
 they begin to plan their own work schedule. Before this time 
 the teacher or parent must decide from the objective symp- 
 toms how much the child can endure without injury. The 
 child may be given some responsibility for planning some 
 of his work in the upper years of the elementary school 
 period when he begins to do home work. Here and in the 
 high school he should learn to study himself and find out 
 the conditions under which he can do work of the largest 
 amount and best quality. 
 
 Plans should include due amounts of rest, recreation, ex- 
 ercise, and food. In planning work either for one's self or 
 for a group of children, one should make provision for all the 
 necessary conditions of health as well as of accomplishment. 
 For this purpose it is necessary to provide not merely for the 
 hours of work, but also for due amount and proper distribu- 
 
296 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 tion of rest, recreation, exercise, and food. The amount of 
 food, rest, exercise, and work which is important for differ- 
 ent persons differs, and it differs for children of different ages. 
 One should determine what the best amount is in each case 
 by experimentation. Each person needs to determine this 
 for himself. He cannot merely apply to himself general rules, 
 although these may serve as a rough guide. 
 
 Plans should be tested consistently and only modified de- 
 liberately. The proper procedure is to make out a tentative 
 plan and then try this plan for a certain length of time, — a 
 week or a month, — and see how it works with reference to 
 feelings of well-being, and with reference to the more exter- 
 nal symptoms which have been mentioned, and to the quality 
 of the work which one is able to perform. If at the end of the 
 set period it seems desirable to modify the schedule in some 
 way, this should be done, and then the modified schedule 
 tried out in the same manner. While the schedule is being 
 worked, one should give one's whole mind to the thing 
 which is being done in the time which is assigned for it. In 
 this way one will attain concentration of mind and at the 
 same time avoid the danger of overdoing at the expense of 
 health. 
 
 Planning work promotes concentration. A plan of work 
 should include a schedule of the kind of work which is to be 
 done in different periods as well as a schedule of periods dur- 
 ing which the work shall be done. The reason for planning 
 in detail both the general and the detailed schedule is that 
 this makes possible a greater concentration of attention. 
 The difficulty which arises when the work is not definitely 
 planned is that one cannot settle down to a particular task 
 with the highest degree of calm. If the worker has not deter- 
 mined beforehand how long he will work, he will before long 
 begin to raise the question with himself whether he has 
 worked long enough. As soon as lie has begun this process, 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 297 
 
 his mind is divided, and efficient work for the rest of the 
 period is prevented. Somewhat the same difficulty arises 
 when one has not beforehand decided what work shall be 
 done in a given period. If both elements have been deter- 
 mined beforehand, one has the assurance in taking up a cer- 
 tain task that there will be time to accomplish it, and further 
 that there will be time to accomplish the other tasks. 
 
 Preoccupation with the present task is a condition of 
 healthy-mindedness. Such an orderly procedure as this, be- 
 cause of the fact that it makes possible more concentrated 
 work and a calmer attitude of mind, makes the work less 
 fatiguing. It reduces the inner friction which leads to nerv- 
 ousness and to the unnecessary application of effort with- 
 out corresponding results in accomplishment. The single- 
 minded absorption in what one is doing makes for mental 
 health in general as well as for efficient work in a particu- 
 lar task. We may lay it down as a general principle that 
 in order that one should be healthy-minded it is necessary 
 to be chiefly absorbed in the present, and in performing 
 one's present duties, rather than to be preoccupied with 
 the past or with the future. A good illustration of the 
 harmful consequences of preoccupation with either the 
 past or the future may be taken from the game of golf. 
 
 Illustration from golf. It is a matter of common knowl- 
 edge among golf players that a poor stroke is apt to have a 
 very much more serious consequence than that which follows 
 merely from the lowering of the score by that one stroke, or 
 by its objective consequences. The reason that a poor stroke 
 is often serious is that the player is not able to forget it. It 
 might be very easy to overcome it without any loss in score 
 at all; but, after the player has made such a stroke, the 
 worry which ensues in his mind leads him to make a whole 
 series of other poor strokes, and this seriously lowers his 
 score. If he could have entirely forgotten the poor stroke, he 
 
298 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 might have completely overcome the disadvantage which it 
 caused. An illustration of preoccupation with the future may 
 also be taken from golf. If a player has proceeded most of the 
 way around the course and has made an unusually good score, 
 he is apt to begin to look forward to a final low score. He 
 conjures up in his mind visions of breaking his record or of 
 surprising his friends with the low score which he is to make. 
 As soon as this idea takes possession of his mind his game is 
 very liable to suffer seriously ; and it frequently happens that 
 while one might with ordinary play get a very low score, the 
 appearance of such an idea causes one's game to go to pieces 
 completely. The general principle, of which all golf players 
 are aware, is that, in order to play well, it is necessary that 
 one be absorbed in the thing he is doing at the moment, 
 rather than be preoccupied with any more remote considera- 
 tion either of a pleasant or an unpleasant sort. This point 
 is put very clearly by Jerome D. Travers, open golf champion 
 of the United States: "There is one thing that has helped 
 me more in the match play than any other factor, and that is 
 to play each shot by itself — to forget what has gone and 
 think only of the shot immediately before you." x 
 
 Illustrations from pathological cases. The harmfulness 
 of preoccupation of either a pleasant or an unpleasant sort is 
 seen in extreme forms in cases of mental pathology. The 
 melancholic person is one who is so absorbed in his painful 
 brooding over the possible evil consequences of any attempt 
 which he may make that his vigor is destroyed and he is in- 
 capable of strenuous effort of any sort. On the other hand, 
 the light-hearted, irresponsible person whose time is mainly 
 occupied in building air castles, is incapable of engaging in 
 serious endeavor, because he finds such mental dissipation 
 more agreeable than attacking the difficulties of an actual 
 situation. These cases represent extremes, but it is possible 
 1 American Magazine, July, 1915. 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 299 
 
 to find illustrations of a less serious effect upon one's effi- 
 ciency of either unpleasant or pleasant preoccupation with 
 the past or the future, instead of absorption in the present. 
 
 Practice mental economy by doing a thing but once. It 
 has become the fashion since attention has been given to effi- 
 ciency in work, to post upon one's desk brief mottoes which 
 epitomize principles of economy. One such motto is the often 
 met Do it now. A very important principle is contained in this 
 simple direction. We waste numberless hours in thinking 
 about duties and tasks and then putting them off. Each time 
 we reconsider the matter and put it off more energy is 
 wasted. In the meantime the task begins to look harder and 
 harder, and a persistent vague consciousness of it prevents 
 whole-hearted devotion to the matters in hand. Sometimes 
 such postponement is necessary, but usually it is a source of 
 unnecessary weakness. By doing a task at the appropriate 
 time it is done only once, but by putting it off it is in effect 
 done many times. 
 
 " The philosophy of the flat-top desk." In this apt phrase 
 a writer in a periodical some years ago summed up a principle 
 which he said had transformed his method of work from in- 
 efficiency to efficiency. With the use of a roller-top desk had 
 grown up the habit of never finishing his tasks — of accumu- 
 lating a great mass of material on his desk which represented 
 unfinished work, and then of escaping from the challenge of 
 this work by pulling down the cover. A happy inspiration 
 showed him that his difficulty was due to a procrastination 
 which caused him to shrink from facing his problems and 
 tasks and having it out with them; and in order to force him- 
 self to a revolution of his habit he adopted the flat-top desk, 
 which had to be cleared off every night before he stopped 
 work. 
 
 Taking stock of the past and forecasting the future has an 
 essential place. It is, of course, not to be concluded that a per- 
 
300 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 son should be like the brute, incapable of imagination, and 
 unable to modify his action in accordance with his past ex- 
 periences or to direct his conduct. by anticipating its future 
 consequences. What is meant is that the backward or the 
 forward look is chiefly to be taken when one is viewing one's 
 life from a more or less detached standpoint, • — when one is 
 not in the midst of the execution of the work. Such is the 
 occasion for taking stock of the past and planning for the 
 future. 
 
 Self-consciousness hampers free and vigorous action. 
 Another form of preoccupation which is very harmful in its 
 effect upon efficient performance is undue thought or anxiety 
 for one's self. This is so well described by Professor James, 
 that we shall quote his account of the matter : — 
 
 Now from all this we can draw an extremely practical conclusion, 
 If, namely, we wish our trains of ideation and volition to be co- 
 pious and varied and effective, we must form the habit of freeing 
 them from the inhibitive influence of reflection upon them, of 
 egoistic preoccupation about their results. Such a habit, like other 
 habits, can be formed. Prudence and duty and self-regard, emo- 
 tions of ambition and emotions of anxiety, have, of course, a need- 
 ful part to play in our lives. But confine them as far as possible to 
 the occasions when you are making your general resolutions and 
 deciding upon your plan of campaign, and keep them out of the 
 details. When once a decision is reached and execution is the 
 order of the day, dismiss absolutely all care and responsibility 
 about the outcome. Unclamp, in a word, your intellectual and 
 practical machinery, and let it run free; and the service it will do you 
 will be twice as good. Who are the scholars who get "rattled" in 
 the recitation room? Those who think of the possibilities of failure 
 and feel the great importance of the act. Who are those who recite 
 well? Often those who are most indifferent. Their ideas reel them- 
 selves off out of their memory of. their own accord. Why do we 
 hear the complaint so often that social life in New England is either 
 less rich and expressive or more fatiguing than it is in some other 
 parts of the world? To what is the fact, if fact it be, due, unless to 
 the overactive conscience of the people, afraid of either saying 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 301 
 
 something too trivial and obvious, or something insincere, or some- 
 thing in some way or other not adequate to the occasion? How can 
 conversation possibly steer itself through such a sea of responsi- 
 bilities and inhibitions as this? On the other hand, conversation 
 does flourish and society is refreshing, and neither dull on the one 
 hand, or exhausting from its effort on the other, wherever people 
 forget their scruples and take the brakes off their hearts, and let 
 their tongues wag as automatically and irresponsibly as they will. 1 
 
 The external conditions may be made an aid to concen- 
 tration. We have been considering the means by which one 
 may be trained to ignore distractions. It is also desirable, in 
 order that the most efficient work should be done, that work 
 should be so arranged that distractions themselves are 
 avoided. It is unnecessary and undesirable to allow too many 
 disturbing conditions. It is a law of habit that one becomes 
 accustomed to working in a certain place. If one has learned 
 to work at a certain desk, for example, upon sitting down at 
 the desk one unconsciously adopts the attitude of w r ork. 
 While it is undesirable so to hamper one's self that one cannot 
 work except under certain set conditions, yet it is legitimate 
 to take advantage of such helps to concentration as this. 
 
 Special principles apply to economy in rate of improve- 
 ment. We have been considering the conditions which are 
 favorable to the accomplishment of a large amount of work. 
 When we aim primarily, not at the accomplishment of a large 
 amount, but at the improvement in ability, special principles 
 are found to apply. The difference may be illustrated by 
 typewriting. If the aim is to do as much typewriting as 
 possible in a day, the arrangement of work should be differ- 
 ent from the arrangement which is most suitable when the 
 aim is to make a certain amount of work produce the great- 
 est improvement in speed or in accuracy. In order to test 
 the effect of the arrangement, we may measure the amount 
 
 1 James, William. Talks to Teachers, pp. 220 ff. 
 
302 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 of improvement which takes place from ten hours' practice 
 when those ten hours are grouped into a single period, or 
 when they are distributed so that one hour is spent in prac- 
 tice each day. If our aim is to accomplish the most in a day 
 or a week, we will adopt a different distribution of our time 
 than if our aim is to improve as rapidly as possible with a 
 given expenditure of time; for it is found that, when the 
 time is distributed into fairly short periods, improvement is 
 more rapid than when it is concentrated into longer periods. 
 In applying the principles of mental work to the school 
 child, where the aim is to attain the most economical 
 progress possible, and not to accomplish a large amount of 
 work, it is necessary to take particular account of these 
 special principles of arrangement. 
 
 Short periods for young children and mechanical learning ; 
 longer periods for older persons and rational learning. A 
 number of experimental studies have been made in order to 
 determine what is the most economical distribution of time 
 in practice. These have not been extensive enough to deter- 
 mine what the best rule is in all cases. Considerable varia- 
 tion has been found according to the age of the learner, or the 
 kind of work which is to be performed. For drill in number 
 work with young children, a period as short as two minutes 
 appears, from one study, to be most favorable; while for 
 learning to make substitutions of one symbol for another as in 
 learning to use a code, adults seem to find half hour periods 
 at least as favorable as a shorter time. It is probable that the 
 more mechanical and the more difficult a form of learning is, 
 the shorter is the period which gives the most rapid improve- 
 ment for a given amount of time expended. It would be 
 wasteful to give an extremely short period to the study of a 
 subject which involves the development of a train of con- 
 nected ideas, such as geography, history or literature; but it 
 is probable that in the drill subjects the shorter periods are 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 303 
 
 the most favorable. More experiments than we have should 
 be made under school conditions in order to give us detailed 
 information on this point. 
 
 Slow progress from long practice periods may be due to 
 various causes. The reason that periods which are too long 
 give less rapid improvement than those which are shorter 
 is probably to be found mainly in the fact of fatigue. As the 
 learner becomes wearied with his work, he may be able to 
 prevent very much decrease in the speed or in the accuracy 
 of his performance; but the amount of fatigue may be suffi- 
 cient to prevent the formation of new associations, and 
 therefore enough to prevent any large amount of improve- 
 ment in his work. It is possible also that when one continues 
 work under such circumstances, the unconscious impulse to 
 avoid or to escape from the increasing fatigue leads one to 
 adopt other ways of performing his task than those which 
 are most effective, and in this way to form wrong habits. 
 The particular ways which have been found to be most 
 efficient may have resulted in a special fatigue for those 
 especial acts. It is also possible that during the interval be- 
 tween practice periods one's nervous system continues the 
 work of organization. We know that a tune often runs in the 
 head in spite of our desire to banish it. It is possible also that 
 the nervous changes which accompany other mental or 
 physical acts are carried on in part during the intervals be- 
 tween practice. In application of these principles it is appar- 
 ent that it is better to carry on several of the more me- 
 chanical forms of learning at once and to distribute the time 
 into fairly short periods of time, rather than to concentrate 
 altogether on one kind of work. 
 
 3. The mental attitude and efficiency 
 " It is intense effort which educates." We have seen that 
 the organization of work into favorable periods and the 
 
304 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 planning of work influences the mental attitude by making 
 it easier to ignore distractions. There are also certain posi- 
 tive attitudes of mind which are necessary in order that the 
 highest efficiency may be attained. Bryan and Harter in 
 their study of the telegraphic language conclude that it is 
 " only intense effort which educates." Practice which is car- 
 ried on in a lazy manner, or with an indifferent attitude of 
 mind, does not produce improvement. Improvement is al- 
 ways at the cost of strenuous effort to rise from a lower to a 
 higher plane of accomplishment. 
 
 Effort must be rightly applied or it produces confusion. It 
 is true that an intense desire to improve, especially if there 
 is something at stake, is the condition of the most rapid 
 progress. Not all effort, however, produces a favorable effect 
 on learning. Intense effort may sometimes result not in 
 better directed efforts, but rather in confusion, in making 
 mistakes and therefore in retrogression. In order that effort 
 may be beneficial it must be rightly applied, and this means 
 that it should be applied at the proper time and in the 
 proper degree. If one attempts to push on too fast at a stage 
 in which his control over his movements or ideas is rather 
 weak, he will become confused. This may be illustrated from 
 typewriting. If the beginner attempts to write too rapidly 
 he will make mistakes and form the associations of the let- 
 ters with the wrong keys. Effort must be applied steadily 
 aud must be applied in a discriminating way so that one shall 
 continually make progress to the higher-order habits with- 
 out proceeding so fast that the partially developed lower- 
 order habits are broken up. 
 
 The effort to gain concentration often produces divided 
 attention. One form of the application of effort which is 
 frequently met with is the attempt to concentrate the atten- 
 tion. It has been implied frequently in previous chapters 
 that the attention must be concentrated in order that the 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 305 
 
 work shall be efficient. This does not mean, however, that 
 one can best attain concentration of attention by directly 
 setting out to do so. Watt, in his Economy and Training of 
 the Memory, puts the matter graphically and truly when he 
 says : " Most students have a period in their life when they go 
 in for concentration and come out with a headache." The 
 difficulty with concentration, when it is sought for in this 
 manner, is that one actually does not attain concentration 
 but rather a divided attention and a strained attitude of 
 mind which is unfavorable to efficiency. What the student 
 does under these circumstances is to continue to think to 
 himself, "Now I must keep my attention concentrated." 
 He in this way is keeping half of his attention upon his at- 
 tention itself, while he tries to give the other half to his 
 work. What he should do is to forget all about his attention 
 and give his mind wholly to the work in hand. The manner 
 of doing this is to become so absorbed in the task that one 
 forgets all about the attention or any of the other mental 
 processes which are involved in the work. The student en- 
 gaged in mental work needs to think about his attention 
 only when he finds it to be wandering from the subject, 
 and then only long enough to bring it back. He must learn 
 instantly to detect the wanderings of his attention, but apart 
 from such watchfulness can leave his attention to take care 
 of itself. 
 
 Confidence stimulates effort. It is necessary to under- 
 stand further certain of the conditions which underlie the 
 application of effort in the performance of any task, or in 
 learning. We cannot apply effort merely by saying to our- 
 selves, "Now I will exert my greatest effort." The applica- 
 tion of effort depends on other conditions of mind than mere 
 resolve, and one of these is a certain degree of confidence in 
 one's ability to succeed in the task which is undertaken. 
 Confidence in one 's ability results in the stimulation of 
 
306 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 one's mental and physical power and in the release of en- 
 ergy for the task. The consciousness of failure and the ex- 
 pectation of failure, on the other hand, result in a drying 
 up of the sources of one's energy entirely independently of 
 one's desire or intention. 
 
 Consciousness of success is the most effective basis of 
 confidence. Confidence is based upon previous success. 
 However one may endeavor to work up artificially a feeling 
 of confidence, one is always influenced to some degree by pre- 
 vious failure or success in this particular sort of work, or in 
 work in general. As a consequence of this fact it is necessary 
 that the work of the child be so managed that he shall 
 possess the required degree of confidence in his ability. This 
 means that we should gauge the task which is set for the 
 child so that it is within his ability to perform it. One who 
 has driven horses knows that in order to get from them the 
 greatest effort of which they are capable, it is necessary to 
 avoid trying to force them to pull at a load which is beyond 
 their capacity. When they have once felt that the load is 
 beyond their power, they cannot be induced to put forward 
 their best efforts. This paralyzing effect of failure is evident 
 in the case of children who have to repeat a grade. It is a 
 matter of common observation that such children never work 
 so hard as those who are taking the grade for the first time. 
 Children who have failed in part of their work have been 
 found to do better work if they were promoted than if they 
 were made keenly conscious of their failure by being forced 
 to repeat a grade. We may sum up this matter by saying 
 that it is necessary to maintain the worker's good-will in 
 order to get the full expenditure of effort. 
 
 It is a mistake to make an overdraft on good-will. This 
 principle should be applied in the arrangement of a program. 
 The notoriously futile character of New Year's resolutions is 
 due to the fact that one makes altogether too large a draft 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 307 
 
 upon his good-will. One sets out to revolutionize his life at 
 a stroke, and as a matter of course soon finds that such an at- 
 tempt is entirely beyond human power, and therefore gives 
 up the whole matter. In determining upon any new course 
 of action, or in deter mi ning upon any form of effort, it is 
 better to be somewhat conservative and to underestimate 
 one's ability than to go to the opposite extreme. 
 
 The atmosphere of success is a potent source of confi- 
 dence. Confidence is based, not merely upon one's previ- 
 ous success, but also to a large extent upon the atmosphere 
 in which one works. One gains confidence to some extent 
 through contagion or suggestion from others. It is a matter 
 of common observation that one plays a better game with 
 good players than with poor players. In the first case the 
 atmosphere causes the player to expect to do the right rather 
 than the wrong thing, and he falls in with this expectation. 
 
 The attempt to avoid failure must not be allowed to pro- 
 duce softness. What has been said about the necessity of 
 success must of course not be interpreted in such a way as 
 to develop a softness of mind which is utterly in opposition 
 to any robust effort whatever. If the child has such a fear 
 of failure that he never attempts anything in which there is 
 any risk, a state of mind is produced which results in a low 
 estimation of his powers and a continual fear of failing. A 
 too obvious attempt to make the child's tasks so easy as to 
 preclude failure simply makes him conscious of the danger 
 of failing. It is necessary that he should develop the ability 
 to face and overcome possible or actual failure. He must be 
 able to attempt tasks which are sufficiently taxing to call out 
 the highest efforts. In such cases he must occasionally meet 
 failure, and must then develop the ability to surmount fail- 
 ure and try again. Failure is bound to occur sometimes, en- 
 tirely independently of one's responsibility, and one must be 
 able to meet failure of this sort, or of any other sort. More- 
 
308 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 over, a child is not interested in a task which is too easy, 
 which does not call for strenuous endeavor and in which 
 there is absolutely no risk. 
 
 When failure is injurious and when wholesome. How then 
 shall we reconcile these apparently opposing principles? We 
 may say that while the child must learn to meet failures, the 
 failures must not be so frequent or so disastrous as to cause 
 him to lose confidence in himself. He must be gradually led 
 to endeavor to accomplish more and more difficult things, 
 and the task must be suited to his powers so that, with the 
 best expenditure of effort of which he is capable, he can in 
 most cases succeed. He must learn to face possible failure 
 and to overcome occasional failure while at the same time 
 maintaining a confidence in his own ability to meet ad- 
 equately the tasks which are before him. The failure must, so 
 to speak, be kept outside the citadel of his real self. It must 
 not produce a sense of incapacity which becomes so promi- 
 nent as to prevent the expenditure of effort. But failure in a 
 task which is within the child's power is often necessary in 
 order to arouse him from a complacent and indolent frame of 
 mind and to stimulate him to exert himself. 
 
 4. Nervousness 
 We have been considering some of the special conditions 
 which govern one's efficient adaptation to the task in hand. 
 There are conditions outside the learner such as the proper 
 organization of work into periods, and inner conditions, such 
 as the proper application of effort, which are of importance. 
 There is also an attitude of mind which hinders our adapta- 
 tion, and which is to be treated not as related to special 
 aspects of the organization of the work, but rather as a 
 general mental condition which is to be treated by general 
 measures. This general condition is an inner state of the 
 mind which is not produced by special outward circum- 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 309 
 
 stances but which is characteristic of all one's mental op- 
 erations. This condition is nervousness. 
 
 Illustration from a case of temporary nervousness. This 
 does not refer to a temporary nervous condition which may 
 arise under special responsibility, but rather to a more per- 
 manent condition which affects the whole mental life. The 
 characteristics of nervousness in general, however, may be 
 illustrated by the temporary condition with which all are 
 familiar. Suppose that one is to make a public speech, or 
 engage in a public contest which is out of the usual for him, 
 and which causes nervousness. The characteristics of such a 
 state of mind well illustrate nervousness in general. Abnor- 
 mally intense feelings are aroused by the occasion. There is 
 an anxiety as to the possibility of performing the task in a 
 proper way. There is an exaggerated fear of failure and of 
 the unpleasant consequences which would result from fail- 
 ure. This fear and anxiety leads one to think of all sorts of 
 mishaps which may produce failure, of all sorts of ways in 
 which something may be done wrong. The mind is abnor- 
 mally active in producing trains of thoughts of impending 
 disaster. One is incapable of controlling these thoughts so as 
 to keep the mind on the task which is to be performed. This 
 means that the nervous condition itself produces the result 
 which is feared. There is also a hesitating, wavering, state of 
 mind which makes it difficult to come to any decision. There 
 is the scatter-brain type of conduct which one commonly 
 associates with a nervous person. As a result of all this, a per- 
 son loses very greatly in efficiency because he cannot direct 
 his thought or his actions consistently toward any one aim. 
 
 Neurasthenia is nervousness which is caused primarily by 
 physical debility. This gives a rough picture of the condition 
 of a nervous person in general. Before going into a more de- 
 tailed account it is necessary to distinguish two different 
 kinds of nervousness. The symptoms are in many respects 
 
310 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 very much the same, but the causes and the mode of treat- 
 ment differ in the two varieties. The first type of nervous- 
 ness is physical in its origin, is caused perhaps by an im- 
 proper kind or amount of food, by lack of proper rest, by 
 overwork, or by unfavorable conditions of various sorts. 
 These conditions result in the depletion of energy in the 
 nervous system. The condition is then primarily a physical 
 one. This depleted condition of the nervous system results 
 in the mental symptoms which are characteristic of nervous- 
 ness. This type of nervousness is called " neurasthenia," 
 and the remedy for it is a change in the conditions which 
 have brought it about. Ordinarily rest is required and such 
 a regimen of life, including proper food, rest, and exercise, 
 that the patient will be built up physically. When this is 
 done the mental symptoms will disappear. 
 
 Psychasthenia is nervousness due to bad mental habits. 
 Modern specialists in nervous diseases have distinguished 
 another cause of nervousness and have given to it the name 
 *' psychasthenia." Psychasthenia, as distinguished from 
 neurasthenia, is mental in its origin. It is fundamentally the 
 acquirement of bad mental habits. These may be acquired 
 without any assignable physical cause. There probably is, 
 however, a predisposition to them in the inherited character- 
 istics of the nervous system. They are often produced in 
 whole or in part by the association with other persons from 
 whom the child imitates bad mental habits as they appear 
 in the conduct of other persons. The remedy in such a case 
 is education. While in the former type it is usually necessary 
 to rest, in the latter case it is rather necessary to occupy the 
 patient in light, but regular work, which engages his atten- 
 tion and prevents his dwelling upon those ideas which pro- 
 duce anxiety and too much thought about himself. 
 
 Treatment should be preceded by a diagnosis by a com- 
 petent physician. If a child exhibits signs of nervousness it 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 311 
 
 is first necessary that a diagnosis be made in order that it 
 may be determined whether the nervousness is of mental or 
 physical origin, because the treatment which should be given 
 will depend entirely upon this diagnosis. The teacher is not 
 in a position to make such a diagnosis nor to prescribe treat- 
 ment in detail. Such diagnosis and prescription must be 
 made by a competent physician. It is, however, desirable 
 that the teacher should know what the symptoms and the 
 forms of treatment for such nervous conditions are, in order 
 that he may detect the extreme cases and call the attention 
 of the parents or of the school authorities to them, and in 
 order that he may intelligently carry out such forms of 
 treatment as may be possible in the school. 
 
 Important symptoms — (i) undue emotional excitement. 
 We may illustrate further a few of the symptoms which have 
 already been mentioned in order to make it possible to rec- 
 ognize the more extreme cases of nervousness. The first of 
 these is undue emotional excitability. A nervous person tends 
 to go to an extreme in any of the emotions. He may be unduly 
 fearful, may give way to fits of extreme anger, or may be 
 unduly excited to joy by some trivial event of his experience. 
 Whenever the child seems to exhibit an emotion which is 
 out of proportion to the occasion for it, it is appropriate to 
 inquire whether he may not be suffering from nervousness. 
 
 (2) Fluent thought of possible evil. Along with this undue 
 emotional excitability, goes an unusually fluent train of 
 association of certain kinds of ideas. These ideas are con- 
 cerned particularly with some possible injury to one's self or 
 to those to whom one is closely related. A nervous person 
 is particularly adept in anticipating all possible calamitous 
 consequences of everyday happenings. 
 
 (3) Self -centered attitude. It will be noticed that the fears 
 and anxieties and ideas of the person afflicted with nervous- 
 ness center about himself, and as a result of these facts the 
 
312 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 nervous person is notoriously self -centered. This may or may 
 not appear in the form of selfishness. It may appear as self- 
 condemnation and self-abnegation. 
 
 (4) Indecision. The too fluent trains of associations which 
 characterize the nervous person, leading him to think of all 
 sorts of unpleasant consequences of any proposed course of 
 action, make it very difficult for him to make up his mind to 
 any course of action. Therefore one of the most common 
 symptoms of nervousness is indecision. The training in de- 
 cision of persons who are disposed to nervousness has been 
 found useful. One method is to require him to play checkers 
 and to decide on each move within some definite, short in- 
 terval of time. 
 
 Foster's maxims for acquiring decision. J. Foster, in his 
 Essay on Decision of Character, gives a number of practical 
 rules which indicate how stability and firmness of decision 
 may be cultivated. The most important of his rules are: 
 
 (1) Gain an adequate knowledge of the enterprises which are 
 to be undertaken. This gives confidence in the justness of 
 one's decisions and makes it unlikely that facts will be en- 
 countered that will make it necessary to reverse them. 
 
 (2) Form the habit of thinking through all questions which 
 come up for decision by following out a connected train of 
 thought to a conclusion. Do not be swayed by the considera- 
 tion which happens by chance to be uppermost at the mo- 
 ment. (3) After forming a decision promptly commit your- 
 self to it by definite action, which, if possible, makes a 
 reversal of the decision difficult. Knit together resolution 
 and action so closely that no gap between them appears. 
 The whole essay is stimulating and instructive. 
 
 (5) A sense of weariness and incapacity for work. The 
 anxiety and emotional excitability of the nervous person un- 
 duly arouses his nervous system and results in a permanently 
 excited or stimulated condition. This frequently results in 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 313 
 
 insomnia or disturbed sleep which further weakens the nerv- 
 ous system. The nervous system in such cases is not merely 
 aroused to respond to the demand upon it, but is excited 
 when there is no demand, or out of proportion to the de- 
 mand, and thereby wastes energy. As a result, the person so 
 afflicted has a continual feeling of fatigue and of inefficiency, 
 and this feeling is heightened by his inability to keep his 
 mind upon his work. The whole condition renders the 
 afflicted person incapable of the normal amount of work. 
 This incapacity may be due entirely to conditions which are 
 mental in their origin and may not be due to any permanent 
 physical incapacity whatever. 
 
 5. Treatment of nervous children 
 Those who govern the child must be self-controlled. The 
 remedy for these conditions will depend, as has been said, 
 upon the type of nervousness. We may dwell here upon the 
 type of training which is chiefly suited to the person whose 
 nervousness is mental in origin. In the first place, it is nec- 
 essary, in order that the child may be trained to healthy 
 mental habits, that those who surround him shall them- 
 selves have the healthy mental attitude. As nervousness may 
 be caused in a child by imitating nervous people, so nervous- 
 ness may be overcome in him by having persons to imitate 
 who themselves are calm and collected in their thinking and 
 their actions. The child must be treated entirely as a person 
 who is sick in mind and not as a person who is obstinate or 
 willful or bad in any moral sense. This makes it doubly nec- 
 essary that the person who has the child in care shall him- 
 self be able to control completely his own feelings and re- 
 actions toward what the child may do. The child must never 
 be punished for actions which are the expressions of nervous- 
 ness, since this does no good whatever, but merely accen- 
 tuates the difficulty. 
 
314 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 The child's attention must be directed away from his 
 ailment. Besides having proper models for imitation, it is 
 necessary that the child have the correct mental attitude 
 suggested to him. He must not be led to think of himself as 
 nervous, or hear the word nervousness mentioned. Since nerv- 
 ousness is in a large measure induced by self-examination 
 and too keen a sense of one 's self, it is desirable that the 
 child should come to develop an attitude of mind which is 
 objective instead of self -centered, and this necessitates that 
 he shall not have his attention called to his condition or be 
 led to think that it is in any way abnormal. 
 
 Overstrain must be avoided. The demands which are 
 made upon the nervous child should be suited with particular 
 care and discrimination to his abilities. It is necessary that 
 all overstrain or overwork shall be avoided. This means that 
 he shall not be unduly stimulated, — for example, by com- 
 petition, — but that his energy should be called forth by his 
 interest in the work which he is performing rather than by 
 any external excitement. It does not mean, however, that 
 the child shall be excused from work. Regular occupation 
 is one of the necessary conditions for the recovery of mental 
 health. 
 
 The child must not be overindulged. Although the child 
 must not be overstimulated, and too strenuous demands 
 must not be made upon him, he must at the same time not 
 be indulged. Overindulgence is perhaps worse than over- 
 stimulation, or at least as bad, since it leads to the self -cen- 
 tered and self-indulgent attitude which is the soil for all the 
 imaginary ills which affect the neurasthenic or psychas- 
 thenic person. The external conditions for physical health 
 must of course be maintained with special care in the case 
 of the nervous child. 
 
 An abundance of outdoor activity is essential. The value 
 of outdoor exercise as a general measure of hygiene through 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 315 
 
 its stimulating effect upon circulation, appetite and assimila- 
 tion of food, and the elimination of waste products from the 
 body — and as a consequence of this bodily effect its promo- 
 tion of mental energy and health — is unquestioned. The 
 value of the outdoor regime is double in the case of children, 
 because it is during the period of childhood that the physical 
 and mental character is largely being moulded. Right bodily 
 and mental habits formed during childhood are valuable in- 
 surance against breakdown in later life. In the case of nerv- 
 ous children plenty of outdoor life is imperative, since they 
 have multiplied need of every possible help in maintaining 
 stability and self-control. 
 
 The older child must be taught to order his life rationally. 
 As the child grows older he must be taught to take himself 
 in hand resolutely and govern and direct his conduct and his 
 life in a rational manner. He must learn to keep his mind en- 
 gaged in healthy thoughts and to combat his fears and anxi- 
 eties by turning away from them, and by using reason and 
 common sense. He must learn to keep himself occupied in 
 vigorous work, and at the same time to adopt a rational 
 program so that the work shall be alternated with recreation 
 and exercise and a proper amount of sleep. He must learn, 
 in general, to look upon himself as something objective which 
 needs rational treatment and to resolutely give liimself the 
 sort of treatment which he needs. 
 
 Summary. We have endeavored to show in this chapter 
 how one may most effectively govern or direct his mental 
 processes and his program of life so as to accomplish his work 
 with the greatest economy and the highest degree of mental 
 health, and how the same principles may be applied to the 
 development of efficient habits of the child. Some of the con- 
 ditions of efficiency have to do with special circumstances, 
 and some have to do in a more general way with one's mental 
 health and one's general attitude. The whole matter may be 
 
316 HOW CHILDREN LEARN 
 
 summed up by saying that the aim of the conduct of one's 
 mind is the most efficient adaptation possible to the condi- 
 tions of one's life. This adaptation can be attained in some 
 circumstances through special organization of one's time or 
 one's energy. In other cases it is a more general matter, and 
 involves the attainment of a healthy mental attitude. The 
 intelligent application of these principles depends not merely 
 upon an appreciation of their truth in general, but also upon 
 an individual study of each case, and an application of the 
 principles in detail in such a way as to meet the needs of each 
 case. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. Tell briefly what you understand by fatigue, weariness, and mental 
 and physical fatigue. 
 
 2. Give illustratioris~from your experience to show that the course of 
 mental fatigue is not entirely simple. 
 
 3. Name two kinds of mental work, one of which appears to be more and 
 the other less seriously affected by fatigue. 
 
 4. Would you talk to the child about being tired? If so under what cir- 
 cumstances? 
 
 5. Mention any general rules for planning work, rest, recreation, and food 
 that you think are valid. 
 
 6. Qualify the statement that healthy-mindedness requires preoccupa- 
 tion with the present. 
 
 7. Describe any external conditions that you have found either a help or 
 a hindrance to concentration. 
 
 8. Why do somewhat different principles apply to rapidity of improve- 
 ment as compared with amount of accomplishment? 
 
 9. Distinguish in your own experience between beneficial and harmful 
 effort. 
 
 10. Is a winning or a losing team more apt to succeed, irrespective of their 
 real strength? Why? 
 
 11. Describe individual differences in self-confidence which need to be 
 taken into account. 
 
 12. What sort of treatment of a nervous child is safe whatever the origin of 
 his nervousness may be? 
 
 13. Where should a nervous child's attention be directed? 
 
 14. Does outward calm always indicate real self-control? 
 
MENTAL ECONOMY AND HYGIENE 317 
 
 SELECTED REFERENCES 
 
 Barker, L. F. Principles of Mental Hygiene Applied to the Management of 
 
 Children Predisposed to Nervousness. (National Committee for Mental 
 
 Hygiene, 50 Union Square, New York.) 
 Dubois, P. The Psychic Treatment for Nervous Disorders. Translated by 
 
 S. E. Jeliffe. (Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1909.) 
 Foster, J. Essay on Decision of Character. (Bonn's Standard Library.) 
 Gulick, L. H. The Efficient Life. (Doubleday, Page Co., 1907.) 
 Heck, W. H. "A Study of Mental Fatigue in Relation to the Daily School 
 
 Program"; in Psychol. Clinic, vol. 7, pp. 29-34, and 258-60. (1913-14.) 
 James, Wm. Talks to Teachers. (Holt, 1902.) 
 
 Kirby, T. J. Practice in the Case of School Children. (Teachers College Con- 
 tributions to Education, no. 58. 1913.) 
 Kraepelin, E. "Die Arbeitskurv " ; in Philosophische Studien, vol. 19. 
 
 (1902.) 
 Mosso, A. Fatigue. Translated by Margaret and W. B. Drummond. 
 
 (G. P. Putnam's, 1904.) 
 Offner, Max. Mental Fatigue. Translated by G. M. Whipple. (Warwick 
 
 & York, 1911.) 
 Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology, vol. 3. (Teachers College, 
 
 Columbia University, 1913.) 
 Winch, W. H. "Mental Adaptation during the School Day as Measured 
 
 by Arithmetical Reasoning"; in Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 
 
 14, pp. 17-28 and 71-84. (1913.) 
 
INDEX 
 
 The asterisk indicates that the term is formally defined on the page 
 indicated. 
 
 Acquired responses, 37 ff. 
 
 Adolescence, 72*. 
 
 Affection, 98. 
 
 Age, changes with, 66 ff., 90/., 95 ff., 
 
 148/., 175/., 203, 205 /., 229/., 
 
 240/.; factors in, 244/ 
 Aggressive type, 108. 
 Analysis, 212, 217. 
 Angell, F.', 264, 274. 
 Angell, J. R., 286. 
 Anger, 100/ 
 Angier, R. P., ix, 17. 
 Anti-social type, 110. 
 Apperception, 274. 
 Appleton, L. E., 76. 
 Applied science, 222. 
 Approbation, love of, 95. 
 Association, 185 /., 188*, 194, 200, 
 
 206/; arbitrary and logical, 190 
 
 /.; in learning, 217. 
 Attention, 140 /., 168, 255, 274, 296, 
 
 304. 
 Attitudes, 274/, 303/ 
 Authority, 90. 
 Ayer, F. C, 183. 
 
 Baby talk, 118. 
 
 Bagley, W. C, 263, 269. 
 
 Bain, A., 260. 
 
 Bair, J. H., 129, 139, 156. 
 
 Baldwin, J. M., 94. 
 
 Barker, L. F., 317. 
 
 Beauty, appreciation of, 177. 
 
 Binet, A., 179, 2.58. 
 
 Binet-Simon Scale, 176/., 251/. 
 
 Bonser, F. G., 230, 238, 258. 
 
 Book, W. F., 145, 156, 171, 183. 
 
 Bryan, E. B., 258. 
 
 Bryan, W. L., 143, 144, 145, 148, 
 
 156, 169, 183, 303. 
 Burr, Aaron, 43. 
 
 Charters, W. W., 122, 126. 
 Chess playing, 216. 
 Choice of studies, 283. 
 Cleveland, A. A., 238. 
 Colvin, S. S., 211. 
 Combination of sensations, 163. 
 Common elements, 270/ 
 Competition, 71 / 
 Concentrated practice, 195, 301 / 
 Confidence, 305. 
 Conn, H. W., 55. 
 Construction, 69/. 
 Convention in language, 115. 
 Cooperative type, 109. 
 Coordination, motor, 131. 
 Coover, 264, 274. 
 Correlation, 47/. 
 Cowling, D. J., 184. 
 Critical judgment, 232. 
 Critics, 108. 
 
 Culture-epoch theory, 247/ 
 Curtis, Henry S., 76. 
 
 Darwin, Chas., 229, 275, 286. 
 
 Darwin family, 44. 
 
 Davenport, C. B., 43, 55. 
 
 Dearborn, W. F., 44, 55. 
 
 Decision, 312. 
 
 Deduction, 220. 
 
 Defective children, 50. 
 
 Delinquent children, 50. 
 
 Dewey, J., 77, 94, 111, 219, 238, 
 
 258. 
 Diffusion, 130. 
 
320 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Directions, verbal, 135/. 
 
 Discovery, 222. 
 
 Discrimination between sensations, 
 
 159/., 175, 180. 
 Distribution of ability, 46. 
 Distribution of effort, 195, 301. 
 Docility, 241. 
 Dramatic play, 68/. 
 Drawing, 70. 
 Drill, 65*. 
 Drudgery, 62*. 
 Dubois, P.. 317. 
 
 Ebbinghaus, H., 196, 211. 
 Edison, T. A., 227. 
 Education, effect of, 50 /., 176. 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 43. 
 Effort, 64, 303. 
 Emotions, 4, 17, 80/., 311. 
 Emulation, 103. 
 Ergograph, 290. 
 Evil, thought of, 311. 
 Execution, in learning, 136/ 
 Exercise, physical, 295, 314. 
 Experience and reasoning, 231; and 
 
 mental development, 50 ff., 245 ff., 
 
 256. 
 
 Failure, in learning, 307. 
 
 Fallacy, 224/ 
 
 Fatigue, 197, 287/., 303. 
 
 Feeling, expression of, 114. 
 
 Feeling, in learning, 143/, 303/. 
 
 Fiske, J., 77. 
 
 Fletcher, J. M., 126. 
 
 Food, 295. 
 
 Foreign language, 122. 
 
 Forgetting, curve of, 196/ 
 
 Form, in learning, 136/ 
 
 Form recognition, 166. 
 
 Form, in learning, 136, 260. 
 
 Foster, J., 312, 317. 
 
 Freedom, 88. 
 
 Galton, F., 41, 55. 
 Galton family, 44. 
 
 General responses, 9. 
 General training, 260 / 
 Generalization, 261. 
 Gilbert, W. A., 176. 
 Gilbreth, F. B., 138. 
 Goddard, H. H., 43, 55. 
 Gonnelly, J. F., 151. 
 Grammar, 120/. 
 Gray, W. S., 184. 
 Griesbach, H., 288. 
 Groos, K, 77. 
 Gulick, L. H., 77, 317. 
 
 Habit, 18, 127/, 185. 
 
 Hall, G. S., 184, 259. 
 
 Handwriting, 130, 153. 
 
 Harter, N., 143, 144, 145, 148, 156, 
 
 169, 183, 303. 
 Healy, W., 50. 
 Heck, W. H., 260, 268, 286, 288/., 
 
 817. 
 Herrick, C. J., ix, 36. 
 Hierarchies in recognition, 169. 
 Hoyt, F. S., 121, 126. 
 Huey, E. B., 184. 
 
 Ideals, in transfer, 269, 277/ 
 
 Ideation, 21, 23. 
 
 Imagination, 97. 
 
 Imitation, 78/., 114/, 135/, 152. 
 
 Indecision, 312. 
 
 Indignation, 102. 
 
 Individual differences, 41, 105 /., 
 
 148/., 153/., 180/, 204, 205/, 
 
 229/, 251. 
 Induction, 220. 
 Infancy, length of, 252. 
 Information, in thinking, 228, 231 . 
 Inheritance, 41/ 
 Inhibition, 3, 7*, 130. 
 Instinct, 16*/, 56/, 95/, 114, 256. 
 Interference in practice, 271. 
 Interest, 63*/, 254. 
 
 James, W., 229, 300, 317. 
 Jealousy, 99. 
 
INDEX 
 
 321 
 
 Judd, C. H., 36, 126, 184, 259, 261, 
 262, 264, 269, 280, 286. 
 
 King, I., 94, 111. 
 
 Kirby, T. J., 317. 
 
 Kirkpatrick, E. A., 77, 94, 111, 126. 
 
 Kraepelin, E., 288, 317. 
 
 Ladd, G. T., 36. 
 Language, 52. 
 Leaders, 107. 
 Lee, Joseph, 77. 
 Lindley, E. H., 212, 216, 239. 
 Locke, John, 37, 55. 
 Logic, formal, 224/ 
 Lowell, A. Lawrence, 46, 55. 
 Loyalty, 74. 
 
 McDougall, Wm., 36. 94. 
 
 Manual training, 8. 
 
 Mark, T., 111. 
 
 Maze, 128. 
 
 Meek type, 108. 
 
 Memorizing, rules for, 193 ff. 
 
 Memory, 185*/.; efficiency in, 190 
 
 ff.; logical and rote, 191*. 
 Mental control, 277, 287/. 
 Mental economy, 287 ff. 
 Mental hygiene, 287/. 
 Method, ideas of, 279/. 
 Meumann, E., 211. 
 Mill, J. S., 52, 253, 259. 
 Miller, Edith, 126. 
 Mirror drawing, 146. 
 Models in thinking, 229. 
 Montessori, M., 87, 94, 259. 
 Moral development, 84, 243. 
 Mosso, A., 317. 
 
 Movement, in perception, 166, 172. 
 Miiller-Lyer illusion, 157. 
 Music, 160. 
 
 Nascent stages, 246*. 
 Native responses, 1, 37/., 176. 
 Neptune, discovery of, 221. 
 Nervous children, treatment, 313/ 
 
 Nervous system, 11 /.; and mental 
 life, 11, 34, 245, 268; axon, 24/; 
 brain, 13, 30; central system, 125; 
 cerebrum, 30; dendrite, 25; larger 
 divisions, 11 /.; localization of 
 functions in, 32/.; nerve circuits, 
 13/.; nervous arcs, 13*, 19, 28/., 
 35; neuron, 14* 24/., 26*; periph- 
 eral system, 12; reflex arcs, 14; 
 reflex circuit, 16*; sense organ, 
 13*; spinal cord, 13, 28; sympa- 
 thetic system, 12; synapse, 27*? 
 
 Nervousness, 308/. 
 
 Neurasthenia, 309. 
 
 Obedience, 88. 
 Observation, 178. 
 Offner, M., 317. 
 Oral expression, 123. 
 O'Shea, M. V., 111. 
 Overstrain, 314. 
 
 Parker, S. C, 156, 239. 
 
 Part method of memorizing, 202/ 
 
 Passive, or guided performance, 138. 
 
 Pearson, Karl, 38. 
 
 Perception, 18/, 128, 185; develop- 
 ment, 157/; processes, 159. 
 
 Permanence of memory, 205. 
 
 Pillsbury, W. B., 286. 
 
 Planning work, 294/ 
 
 Plasticity, child's, 151. 
 
 Plateaus, 148, 170/. 
 
 Play, 56/, 61*. 
 
 Porter, W. T., 259. 
 
 Practice curve, 144 / 
 
 Prejudice, 227. 
 
 Pressure in learning, 201. 
 
 Precosity, 245, 253. 
 
 Primitive man, mental development 
 of, 40, 248. 
 
 Problem solving, 212/, 215*. 
 
 Pronunciation, 117/ 
 
 Psychasthenia, 310. 
 
 Punishment, 100. 
 
 Puzzle interest. 71. 
 
322 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Radossawljewitsch, P. R., 197. 
 
 Reading, 177, 182. 
 
 Reasoning, 218/. 
 
 Recall, 189, 199. 
 
 Recapitulation, 247. , 
 
 Recreation, 295. « 
 
 Reflection, 6, 139/. 
 
 Repetition, 142/., 194, 209. 
 
 Report, 178. 
 
 Research, 222. 
 
 Responses, 3ff.; levels, 14/. 
 
 Rest, 295. 
 
 Rhythm, 132. 
 
 Rosencranz, J. K. F., 249. 
 
 Ross, E. A., 87. 
 
 Rousseau, J. J., 38, 240, 259. 
 
 Ruger, H. A., 216, 239. 
 
 Rugg, H. O., 286. 
 
 School grades, 44, 47. 
 
 School subjects, 1. 
 
 Scientific attitude, 276. 
 
 Seashore, C, 180. 
 
 Seeley, Levi, 249. 
 
 Self-assertion, 78 ff . 
 
 Self -centered attitude, 311. 
 
 Self-feeling, positive and negative, 
 
 105/. 
 Sensation, 158. 
 Sensori-motor learning, 127 /., 133 
 
 ff-, 272. 
 Sentence, 116. 
 Sherrington, Chas. S., 36. 
 Sidis, Boris, 253, 259. 
 Simon, T. H., 258. 
 Simpson, B. R., 55. 
 Skill, acquisition of, 127 ff. 
 Smith, Adam, 229. 
 Social responses, 4*, 59, 68, 78 /., 
 
 90 ff., 95 ff., 276. 
 Social types, 105 /., 242, 256. 
 Specific responses, 9, 261 ff. 
 Speech, 4, 112/. 
 Spencer, H., Ill, 248. 
 Stages of development, 7. 
 Stammering, 119. 
 
 Stimulus, 3*. 
 
 Stuttering, 119/. 
 
 Success, in learning, 306. 
 
 Suggestion, 83, 179. 
 
 Suppleness, child's, 152. 
 
 Swift, E. J., 137, 141, 156, 171, 184. 
 
 Syllogism, 224. 
 
 Symbols, recognition of, 167. 
 
 Sympathy, 97/ 
 
 Tait's labyrinth, 212. 
 Tarde, G., 111. 
 Telegraphy, 144. 
 Thinking, 212/., 215*. 
 Thompson, Mary H., 51, 55. 
 Thorndike, E. L., 47, 55, 111, 145, 
 
 156, 239, 259, 261, 263, 266, 267, 
 
 269, 286, 288, 317. 
 Threshold of memory, 195. 
 Trabue, M. R., 233/., 239. 
 Transfer of training, 260 /. 
 Travers, Jerome D., 298. 
 Trial and success method, 22, 133/., 
 
 216. 
 Tuttle, Elizabeth, 43. 
 Twins, 42. 
 Typewriting, 145. 
 
 Uncooperative type, 109. 
 
 Vocabulary, 125. 
 
 Washburn, M. F., 156. 
 
 Watt, H. J., 211, 305. 
 
 Weariness, 290, 293/., 312. 
 
 Wedgwood family, 44. 
 
 Whipple, G. M., 184, 211. 
 
 Whole method of memorizing, 202/. 
 
 Wilson, H. B., 77. 
 
 Wilson, G. M., 77. 
 
 Winch, W. H., 184, 288, 317. 
 
 Woods, F. A., 42, 55. 
 
 Woodworth, R. S., 36, 263, 266. 
 
 Words, 114. 
 
 Work, 62*. 
 
 Writing (composition), 124. 
 
 Zeal, 49. 
 
 H 151 74 
 

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