m m m Him BSM ■ 'Wif,'. iH ^M - ■ - v - M MM ■ ■ I LV I I r! : iH rata III* ill! || HI I J \\\\ \ 111! tonielJ Wmvtttitjr pitting BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1S91 a,**f*£*. 26 CHAPTER IV Analysis of the Individual Life Process I. — Non-conscious Activity 28 A. — Natural. Instinctive. Reflex. Automatic. B. — Acquired. II. — Partial Consciousness 29 Sub-consciousness. Absent-mindedness. Abnormal Consciousness Infant Consciousness. III. — Entire Consciousness 30 Definition. IV. — The Growth of Consciousness 31 V. — Analysis of a Conscious Act — Content and Ap- prehension - 32 VI. — The Threefold Aspect of Consciousness — In- tellect, Sensibility and Will 32 Contents ix PAGE VII. — Forms of Consciousness 33 Passive Consciousness. Active Consciousness — Attention. VIII. — Kinds of Attention 37 A. — Non-voluntary, Spontaneous. B.— Voluntary— With Effort. C. — Involuntary — Against the Will. CHAPTER V Reconstruction of Individual Experience. How Changes in Consciousness are Brought About I. — A Unity of Personal Experience to be Realized 40 II. — A New Presentation to be Attended to 41 III. — Adjusting Activity of Attention - 41 IV. — Apperceiving, Interpreting, Valuing, Relating, Activity of Mind 43 V. — Analytic-synthetic Activity of Attention 45 A.— Analysis, Dissociation, Discrimination. B. — Synthesis, Association. C. — Conditions of Association. 1. Integration — Simultaneous, Successive. 2. Redintegration — Simultaneous, Successive. VI. — Habit — Characteristics, Formation, Results 49 VII. — Stages of Intellectual Development 50 VIII. — The Dynamic Conception of Mental Process 52 Reconstruction — Attention — Habit. IX. — Educational Application 54 CHAPTER VI The Psycho-physical Organism I. — The Nervous System 59 The Special Senses. t Contents PAGE II. — Sensation ........ ^q Analysis of Sensation Act. Definition of Sensation. III. — Forms op Response to Sensations 68 A. — Sense-perception. Analysis of Perception Act. Definition of Perception. Interpretation of Sensations. Illusions. Attention to Perceptions. B. — Muscular Activity in Response to Sense Stimuli. 1. Physiological Reflex. 2. Sensation Reflex. 3. Semi-sensation Reflex. 4. Habitual Reflex. 5. Consciously Controlled Sensory-motor Activity. IV. — Sensitiveness and Sensibility 75 V. — Sense Training - - 77 VI. — Educational Application 80 CHAPTER VII Memory I. — Definition - - - 83 II. — Analysis of Memory Act 85 Reception, Retention, Reproduction, Recognition, Localization. III. — Function of Memory - - 87 IV. — Characteristics of a Good Memory - 89 V. — Memory Training -..-...90 A. — Reception — Attention — Association. B . — Retention — Repetition — Health. C. — Recollection — Effort — Redintegration. VI. — Educational Application ----- 98 Contents xi CHAPTER VIII Imagination page I. — Definition 101 II. — Analysis op an Act of Imagination 104 III. — Relation of Imagination to Mental Development 104 IV. — Characteristics of aWell-developed Imagination 105 V. — Training of Imagination 105 VI. — Educational Application 106 CHAPTER IX Thought I. — Formal Analysis of the Thought Process - 109 A. — Conception — Comparison — Abstraction — Generalization. B . — Judgment. C. — Reasoning. (a) Induction. (6) Deduction. D. — Definition of Thought II. — Dynamic Conception of the Thought Process 122 III. — The Growth of Knowledge ... 126 IV. — Method of a Recitation 128 V. — Educational Application - 129 CHAPTER X Sensibility I. — Interest the Basis of Feeling - 130 II. — Natural and Acquired Interests - 131 III. — Pleasure and Pain 132 IV. — Different Types of Feeling 133 Sensuous and Ideal. V. — Forms of Emotions 133 x" Contents PAGE VI. — Relations op Emotions to Other Mental Pro- cesses 134 VII. — The Growth of the Feelings 135 VIII.— Results op Paying Attention to Feelings 137 IX. — Conditions op Sensuous Pleasure and Pain 138 X. — Educational Application - 139 CHAPTER XI Volition I. — Analysis op Will Act — Conflicting Desires — De- liberation, Choice, Realization - 141 II. — Impulse the Basis op Volition 142 III. — Classification of Impulses - 143 IV.— Control 145 Physical. Prudential. Moral. V. — Habit and Character - 149 VI. — Educational Application - 151 CHAPTER XII Child Study I. — Nature and Purpose - 154 II.— Scope - 155 III.— Method - - - 156 A. — Individual. B. — Normal. C— Statistical. D. — Experimental. IV. — Results - - - 161 V. — Heredity and Pre-scholastic Environment - 161 VI. — The Child's Physical and Sensory Organism 165 VII. — Perception .... 170 VIII.— Memory - - 172 IX. — Imagination - - - 173 X. — Discursive Thinking - 174 XI. — Emotional Characteristics - 175 XII.— The Will - . 177 XIII. — Miscellaneous Topics - - 179 INTRODUCTORY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER I Conditions Which Render School Education Possible and Desirable I.— THE CHILD: A child, born in a civilized community and continuing to develop under ordinary social conditions, will possess, on reaching maturity (say at twenty years of age), some char- acteristics similar to those which he possessed at birth, and others dissimilar. State probable points of resemblance .* Give examples of changes which, in all probability, will have taken place. The following phases are suggested for consideration: Appearance, weight, size, form, strength, muscular activ- ities and adjustments, appetites, desires, impulses, interests, habits, sense discriminations, memory, imagination, thought, knowledge and appreciation of the beautiful, the good, the true, and of the rights and duties of self and others. * It is not the intention that the reader attempt to give full or final answers to all problems proposed. Many of the questions, throughout the book, are asked simply for the purpose of suggesting lines of investigation which will lead to subsequent discovery and of calling up past experience which will assist in subsequent interpretation, 2 Introductory Educational Psychology A.— Constant Change and Reconstruction of Mind and Body. — Endeavor for the space of one minute to keep your mind unchanged. For example, concentrate your at- tention upon the book in your hand and try to have the con- tent of Consciousness at the end of a minute exactly the same as at the beginning. Describe what took place. Perform other experiments to prove that while we are awake the mind constantly changes. (The study of such changes is called Psychology). Give examples of comparatively slight and of rapid changes of the body. Give examples of mental states where changes seem to occur very rapidly and of others where there seems to be but little mental change. Describe differences in your feelings during periods of slight and of vigorous activity. Why are food, air and water necessary to the body? It is estimated that the constituents of the body are completely changed every seven years. Describe the processes by which such change is effected. State some causes of mental change and show briefly how mental changes are brought about. In the example of changes referred to on page 1, is it probable that at any stage during the twenty years, either mind or body remained unchanged for any appreciable period of time? Why would Education be impossible, if the child did not possess this capacity for change ? Give examples to show that some types of mind naturally change more rapidly than others. B. — Extended Infancy. — Compare the capacities, tend- encies, powers, possibilities of a little child with those of the lower animals, e.g., a fish. Conditions Which Render School Education Possible 3 Which of the two matures the earlier? Which is the more helpless at birth? What effect should this dependent experience of the child have upon the development of his feeling of sympathy for others ? Compare the interests and desires of a child with those of other animals. To what extent is a fish capable of education ? Compare the knowledge and powers of the most sagac- ious animal you have known with those of man. What advantages are possessed by the child as a result of his power to acquire extensive knowledge and form numerous new co-ordinations on the basis of a few fundamental activities ? What superior advantages accrue to the child as a result of the long period of learning activity before reaching maturity ? C. — Environment. — Consider the influence of the child's surroundings upon his educational advance. Point out ways in which his education is dependent upon, animals, plants, inorganic substances, natural scenery, etc. For about how many years is the child dependent upon society for food and clothing? If a boy were to live to the age of fifteen years, under conditions such that he never came in contact with any other human being, what would he be likely to learn of his own accord ? Would he learn to walk erect? In what ways would he gain a knowledge of plants, of animals, of self-preservation, etc. ? Would he have ideas of right and wrong ? How would his education differ if placed during this period : (a) In a barbarian tribe? (b) In a semi-civilized tribe? 4 Introductory Educational Psychology (c) In a civilized community, without school or teacher? (d) In a civilized community, with school and teacher ? How would his methods of gaining knowledge differ in each of these respective situations? Why is it difficult to educate a child who is deaf and blind ? A child pays attention to only a few of the objects sur- rounding him. Upon what basis does he make his selection ? D. — Imitation. — Give examples from your observation to show that the child is an imitative being, having a natural tendency to copy those about him. Give examples to show that he is a social being, desirous of mingling with his fellows. To what extent do these imitative and social tendencies affect his education? E. — Self-expression. — Is the usual condition of a little child, when awake, active or passive? Consider how much he learns during the first year. Is it necessary to urge him to learn? Would it be impossible to keep him from learning? Why does he move about so much? One exercise, e.g., drawing a straight line, is assigned the child by the teacher. Another, e.g., drawing some object in which he is inter- ested, is undertaken as a result of his natural self-activity. Which of these exercises is the more pleasing to the child? Would it be possible to interest him in activities naturally uninteresting to him ? Would it be wise to do so ? Compare the relative values of imitation and self-expres- sion as factors in education. In what sense is the statement true that "all education must be self-education ?" In what sense is it false ? Compare the desires of an infant three days old with those of a child ten years of age. Is there any reason for, or advantage in, this change of interest ? Conditions Which Render School Education Possible 5 II— SOCIETY, SCHOOL AND TEACHER: What would be the probable result if a highly-civilized community were to have no schools nor teachers of any kind for one hundred years? Point out ways in which an educated person can be more helpful to society than an uneducated one. Why is it in the best interests of both the individual and the state that everyone should receive a good education ? Can the child receive such education without the aid of society ? Why is the education of nature, of the tribe, or of the home, insufficient? Why is the school necessary? Why is the teacher necessary? Why is it important that there be adequate schools and teachers ? Why is it the duty of society to provide these ? Consider the following: It is probable that always in life, waking or sleeping, there is constant change of body and mind. This change is the result of a reconstructive process by which the former con- dition breaks down and a new condition is built up. At times (e.g., during sleep) this reconstructive process is scarcely perceptible; at other times (e.g., during the solution of a difficult problem or during violent physical exercise) there is rapid change of mental or physical make-up, accompanied by a feeling of effort on our part and a consciousness that we are overcoming obstacles and achieving the end we have in view. Further, the possibilities of change are very great. The period of extended infancy, that is, of special adaptability to rapid change, is much longer in the case of a child than in the lower animals, and the capacity for acquiring knowledge 6 Introductory Educational Psychology and forming habits is almost infinite. The child is essen- tially a self-active being. He possesses natural aptitudes, interests, impulses and desires which seek for satisfaction, and which, under natural conditions, impel him to constant activity. In this activity he finds his greatest happiness in overcoming obstacles which interfere with his highest develop- ment. He is not a passive recipient of knowledge and a blind imitator of the activities of others, but a discriminating and self-expressive personality, constantly on the alert, living in a selective and reconstructive attitude, with desires of his own, which he constantly strives to realize. It is of vital importance to the child that he should receive the very best education possible, and that at every step of his development his energies should be directed upon the proper material, in the best way. His development is greatly influenced by his surroundings. At birth he is the most helpless of animals. For years he is dependent upon society for the necessities of life, and his advance from barbarism will depend very largely upon the educational material furnished him by society, the oppor- tunities afforded him of gaining a mastery of this material, and the social guidance which will stimulate him to the high- est form of self-activity. The human being is thus more dependent upon other members of its species than any other animal; and, without a high degree of sympathy, co-operation and self-sacrifice on the part of society, the child could neither live nor gain an education. The Individual and Society. — The advantages of edu- cation are not confined to the individual who receives the edu- cation. It is also in the interests of society that the child be educated. Society possesses a vast heritage of literature, art, science. Conditions Which Render School Education Possible 7 It is important that much of this material be translated into the consciousness of the child and by him increased, improved and handed forward to the next generation. To attain this end it is necessary that the slow method of nature, by which the learner laboriously discovers everything for himself, be displaced by a more rapid and rational method, by means of which, in a few years, the child will gain control of the results of centuries of development. It is desirable, also, that the child be socialized so as to become a helpful member of society. In other words, the purpose of education is to gain such control of the development of individual experience that at every step of the process through life the changes effected will be the best possible for the individual himself and for society at large. The school and teacher are the most satisfactory means for enabling the child to gain such education. Under these conditions society establishes the school in order that the child may receive the highest type of education in the best way. The school is thus a social institution, an artificial instru- ment created by society for facilitating educational pro- cesses, and the teacher is the mediator between society and the child to endeavor to see that the most desirable changes are effected in the child's development. CHAPTER II. Educational Problems and Their Solution I.— EDUCATIONAL AIMS: Point out differences between an educated and an un- educated man. Define education. Reconsidering child development from the standpoint of the highest purpose of education, state generally under headings enumerated in the first question of the previous chapter, the qualities which, in your opinion, should be possessed by the ideal man when he arrives at maturity. Would all agree with your estimate? Should the aim of education be different for different individuals and for differ- ent countries? Should a boy who is to spend his life on the farm receive the same education as one who is to be a lawyer ? Name different educational aims which have been selected as most desirable. Why is it important that the highest type of educational aim be selected? Discuss the merits and defects of the following as educa- tional aims: (a) An examination certificate. (6) A prize. (c) Literary reputation. (d) Social reputation. (e) Wage-earning power. (/) Capacity for sensuous gratification. (g) A special power trained to maximum efficiency, regardless of harmonious development, e.g., great [8] Educational Problems and Their Solution 9 physical strength, military skill, or a retentive verbal memory. (h) Knowledge. (i) Power to — 1. Interpret a new situation. 2. Appreciate nature in all its forms. 3. Live a complete life. 4. Help others. (j) The harmonious development of the individual. (k) The development of a good citizen. Consider the following: The work of the educator is to utilize the materials at his disposal in such a way that the mental and spiritual changes in the developing child will all tend to the production of the highest type of socialized individual. The Formation of Character is the Highest Aim of Education. — The child is not a receptacle to be filled with unassimilated knowledge, nor an individual who requires only to be taught a few tricks of manner incorrectly called culture, nor does he possess innate wisdom which can be developed out of his inner consciousness. He possesses capacities and powers which, through his own exertion and the assistance of society^ may enable him to become a noble and vigorous personality, a blessing to himself and to others. Selecting what is best for him in the products of civilization possessed by society, he is to make it his own and improve upon it. He thus will gain control of himself and of the forces about him, and this mastery will be for purposes of service. While preparing for the future, he is from the beginning to be brought gradually into an explicit realization of his own powers and responsibilities as a member of society, form- ing correct ideas and living the life best adapted to his own development. 10 Introductory Educational Psychology Thus, when we speak of character as the aim of education, we mean a certain attitude which is true culture, which com- bines both knowledge and discipline, and which contributes to the special needs of the individual and of society. These special needs can be discovered only by a study of actual conditions. The child who has spent the first six years of his life in a home of ignorance, squalor, disease and crime, requires a different treatment from the child who comes from ideal home conditions. One of the practical aims of education in the former case is to overcome certain habits which the latter child has had no opportunity to form. The future life of the child should also receive some consid- eration. The education which would best fit a child for citizenship in China, might not be in all respects the most satisfactory preparation for Canadian life. II— EDUCATIONAL MEANS: Let us next inquire what are the best means which society can adopt, by which to attain the highest aim of education, dealing with the materials used and the methods of procedure. A. — Materials. — Take as an example a boy ten years of age and consider how his educational advance would be af- fected by each of the following conditions: The child is the victim of hereditary disease. The teacher has only a superficial knowledge of the sub- jects which he attempts to teach and is lacking in the ele- ments of true culture. The school building is unsightly and unhygienic. The educational standing and ideals of the community are at a low ebb, and little interest is taken in school matters. The parents are too poor to provide suitable food and clothing for their children. The subject matter of the books used is insipid and com- Educational Problems and Their Solution 1 1 monplace. There are no books of high literary merit, and no valuable pictures or museums within reach. The school is devoid of illustrative material, and the sur- rounding country is flat and uninteresting. Briefly outline, in a general way, the types of materials that, in your opinion, would make for the highest educational advance, dealing with each of the following: (a) The child, his health, disposition, habits, etc. (6) The teacher, his natural aptitude, equipment, aims and powers. (c) The school supervisor, parents and trustees, their intellectual, moral, social and financial condition, their educational ideals, sympathies, etc. (d) The facilities for coming in contact with the best products of literature, art and science. (e) The environment when outside of school — the hygienic condition of the home, natural scenery of the neighborhood, etc. Which of these are beyond the direct control of the teacher ? In what ways can the teacher influence the home con- ditions of pupils ? B — Methods. 1. Selection and Arrangement of Subject Matter. — Consider the educational effects of each of the following: (a) Children are taught the best methods of picking pockets. (b) They are taught to memorize the names of thou- sands of small, remote and unimportant islands. (c) The attention is confined exclusively to reading, writing and arithmetic. (d) Thirty different subjects are attempted at one time. 12 Introductory Educational Psychology (e) A child ten years of age is taught drawing and music, but is not taught to read and write. (/) Multiplication is taught before addition. Would it be possible to teach a child all that has been dis- covered? Would it be an advantage if it were possible? Give examples of certain subjects that would be appropriate for a child of fifteen years that would not be suitable for a child of six. Why is it that a logical sequence should be observed in teaching any subject, e.g., Arithmetic ? Briefly indicate points which should receive attention in the selection and arrangement of courses of study. 2. Methods oj Teaching. — Criticize each of the following methods of teaching: (a) The teacher tells everything and discourages pupils when they attempt to find out anything for them- selves. (b) The teacher acts upon the theory that the pupils should discover everything for themselves. (c) The teacher devotes all his attention to bright pupils. (d) The teacher devotes all his attention to dull pupils. (e) The teacher treats all children exactly alike. (/) The teacher spends as much time on easy as on difficult problems. State briefly, principles that should be borne in mind in conducting a recitation. C. — Conditions of Study. State educational effects of each of the following: (a) At a time when colds are prevalent and coughing has interfered with the work of the school, the Educational Problems and Their Solution 13 teacher makes a rule that all coughing is to stop, and says he will punish the next pupil who coughs. (b) He seats near-sighted pupils at the back of the room. (c) He raises window blinds in front of the room and leaves them down at the back of the room. (d) He insists upon pupils turning out in a heavy shower of rain at the usual time for dismissal, when there is good reason to believe that the rain will cease in a few minutes. (e) He does not know how to manipulate the heating apparatus and allows the temperature of the room to rise to 90 degrees F. (/) The school is furnished with valuable apparatus, but he neglects to use it. (g) He habitually uses incorrect language. (h) He loses control of his temper in the class-room. Is there a certain kind of material or subject matter, which for a certain child, at a certain definite time, is prefer- able to any other? Is there a certain method of presentation which is prefer- able to any other? Are there certain conditions of study which are preferable to all others? In what ways would it have been an advantage to you in your education if you had always had the best subjects pre- sented to you at the proper time by the best methods, and under the most perfect conditions ? To what extent is the teacher responsible for the selection of the best aims, methods and conditions ? Consider the following: If the education of the child is to be the best possible, there must be a definite aim in view and definite means of attaining the end desired. 14 Introductory Educational Psychology The materials and methods available are almost infinite in variety, and the problem of how to secure the best methods and materials is a highly complicated one. Over certain phases of educational procedure the teacher has but little control, in regard to others almost everything depends upon the teacher, and upon his fitness for his duties will rest, very largely, the success or failure of the system. Ill— THE PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER: In the cases quoted on pp. 11, 12 and 13, in which the teacher is responsible, show to what extent the possession of common-sense, natural aptitude and high scholastic attain- ments by the teacher would aid in preventing the errors re- corded. Are these natural qualities a sufficient equipment for the teacher without further preparation ? Let us next inquire what kinds of investigation will best prepare the educator who possesses these qualities (natural aptitude, etc.), to solve educational problems more wisely and quickly than he otherwise could. Make a list of such subjects as, in your opinion, would be of assistance in such preparation. Taking the examples already given (pp. 11, 12, 13), state briefly in what cases and in what ways a working knowledge of the nature and development of the mind would be of ser- vice to the teacher. CHAPTER III Psychology — Methods of Study— Contribution to Education I.— EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: We have found that, during human life, and more par- ticularly during the period preceding maturity, there is con- stant change and reconstruction of mind and body. We have also found that the fundamental problem of educational science is how to secure the most desirable changes at every step in the process, and that the function of the school and teacher is to see that such changes are brought about in the best way, during the school period of life. The science which deals with the human mind — its nature and processes, is called Psychology. The Psychology which is of most value to the educator is that which deals with the changes which accompany the interaction of mind with mind. That phase of Psychology which investigates mental changes with the purpose of discovering facts which will aid the educator in his work, may be termed Educational Psy- chology. II.— CAUSES OF MENTAL CHANGE: Describe ways in which changes have been effected in your mind by: (a) Other minds. (6) Objects external to your body. (c) Your body. (d) Your mind. [15] 16 Introductory Educational Psychology Describe changes which you have observed in the minds of other persons and the causes which, in your opinion, pro- duced these changes. III.— METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY: In what ways can mind be studied? In what ways have you already studied mind? (a) Introspection. — Close your eyes. Try to recall the home of your childhood — the house and its contents. Note the order in which the various representations appear and try to account for this sequence. The process by which we look- into the mind and study its operations is called "introspection." Introspection is usually understood to include Retrospection. Point out ad- vantages and disadvantages of this method. (b) Physiological Psychology. — Take three glasses of water, hot, lukewarm and cold. Place one finger in the hot water and a finger of the other hand in the cold water; after about ten seconds remove both fingers to the lukewarm water. Describe the mental change that takes place when both fingers are placed in the lukewarm water. Do you receive similar sensations from the two fingers? Perform other experiments to prove that the human body is not a reliable test of tem- peratures. Such study of mental operations, by means of experiment, upon the organs of sense is called Physiological Psychology. (c) Child Study. — Consider the case of your own devel- opment from infancy to maturity. Divide the period into three stages — Infancy, Childhood and Youth, and point out prominent characteristics of each stage — as to natural inter- ests and activities. Observe children of different ages and give examples to show that, speaking generally: 1st. The period of infancy — say the first six years of life Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 1 7 — is devoted to gaining control of the fundamental bodily organs and to play, in which the activity is' its own reward, in that it furnished immediate free expression to the powers gained and without any thought of future recompense. 2nd. In childhood — from six to twelve or fourteen years — there is more deliberation and consideration. The idea of a result being reached as the product of a series of events is developed and the child's activities thus begin to assume orderly sequence. His plays have a beginning, a middle and an end. He is interested in stories of considerabble length, and likes to observe a succession of changes in growth or construction, and to do the work with a definite, but not very remote end in view. The unity of interest during this period is found in serial order, in a relation of means and ends, in a history or scheme. The child finds his greatest satisfaction in the development of skill in the attainment of some life purpose, and he is pleased to find that he has gained a power to cause the activity to come out differently from the way in which it otherwise would. 3rd. In youth the mind takes on a more reflective or scientific attitude. Interest widens and deepens. The focus of interest shifts from family to society, from present to future, from events to their causes. Activity becomes more earnest and continued, and the ends selected more remote. Such investigation of mental development as the fore- going is called Child Study. Other methods of Psychological study are the investiga- tions of: (d) The adult mind. (e) Abnormal minds. (/) The minds of lower animals. (g) The forms of expression of peoples at different periods, architecture, language, music, etc. (h) Psychological text-books. 18 Introductory Educational Psychology IV— OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT: Experiment and Text-book. — Why is it better in Natural Science to begin with experi- ment and observation, rather than with a text-book? What advantages accrue from the subsequent use of a text-book ? Illustrate by your treatment of the subject of Chemistry. Why is it advisable to adopt a similar method in Psy- chological study? Ths Scientific Method.— State the distinguishing characteristics of scientific experi- ment as compared with casual observation. Discuss the statement: A scientific experiment is a question put to Nature. Describe in detail some Natural Science experi- ment which you have performed, e.g., the analysis of water by electrolysis. In a Natural Science experiment, do we observe the process of Nature just as it is, or do we set up artificial conditions and control them with a view to obtain- ing an answer to some question which we have in mind ? What points should be observed when conducting scien- tific experiments ? Why is it necessary in performing scien- tific experiments: (a) To keep the mind unprejudiced ? (b) To rid the experiment of all unnecessary acces- sories? (c) To perform the experiment carefully? (d) To repeat experiments? (e) To observe and describe only that which takes place and which is of value in our investigations? (/) To see that our conclusions are logical? Give definite examples of the foregoing. Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 1 9 Difficulties of Psychological Observation and Experi- ment and Methods of Overcoming Them. — A. — A Study of Others. — To what extent can you judge of a person's sensations, feelings, thoughts, desires by observ- ing him carefully? Why is it difficult to make correct judg- ments in such a case ? . Is there more or less likelihood of error in the case of the observation of a little child than of an adult? Call to mind cases when, as a child, you were mis- understood by those who observed you. Give suggestions which will aid in making correct interpretations of the ap- pearance and actions of adults and of children. B. — Study of Self. — Have you ever heard a person say he was not angry when he was angry ? Is it possible for one to deceive oneself in such a case ? How can you test whether you are angry or not? Have you sometimes, when asleep, wondered whether you were dreaming or awake? Under such a condition, why do you waken, if you test by pressing some hard object vigorously with the hand? Give similar examples of misinterpretations of experience and suggest methods of correction. C. — Unity of Experience. — Point out ways in which the changes in your present experience are due to (a) past experience, (b) your desires regarding the future. Show that in the study of any definite period of the life process, attention must be paid to (a) the situation out of which the experience emerged and (6) the situation to which the experience is naturally tending. D. — Control of Mental Change through External Stimu- lus. — Point out ways in which the changes in your present experience are due to the influence of your present sur- roundings. To what extent can you control future changes 20 Introductory Educational Psychology by establishing conditions which will stimulate the nerves in certain ways? Perform a number of experiments by which you will re- ceive certain sensations at a definite time. Suggest ways in which such experiments may fail and show how failure may be avoided. E. — Internal Control of Mental Change. — Point out ways in which changes in your present experience are due to self-activity. To what extent can you 1 thus control your experience ? Perform a number of experiments in which, at a certain time in the future, you will remember or imagine or think in a certain definite way, e.g., establish such conditions that in five minutes from now you will be mentally reviewing the fourth proposition in Euclid's first book of Geometry. What difficulties are met with in the attempt to control changes in the life process by means of effort on our part? Why can we sometimes do more effective thinking when our eyes are closed than when they are open? Outline methods of overcoming difficulties which arise when we endeavor to control the mental current by our own effort. F. — Artificiality of Introspection. — We found that in our study of mind we investigate processes and not perma- nent, unchanging entities. To what extent is the statement true that we never study what is at present in consciousness but rather a memory of past experience? How does the content of consciousness, when we are examining it, differ from the natural condition? Can we ever study the content of our consciousness without being conscious of the fact that we are studying it? In what ways can the objection "that Introspection is artificial," be reduced to a minimum? Why is it an advan- tage to supplement introspection by immediate objective observation of other individuals? Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 2 1 In the investigation of Mental Change, we may begin with the study of children and note the genesis of habits through successive stages from earliest infancy to adult life, or we may begin with a study of our own minds, making a cross-section (so to speak) of the content of consciousness at a particular moment, another cross-section a few moments later, and so on, and by comparison, note changes which have taken place and the causes of these changes. We shall begin with the latter method, as lying closer to hand, and leave Child Study to subsequent investigation. V.— EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES BASED UPON PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT: Experiments : 1. (a) Have someone hold an object, e.g., a picture, before your eyes for one second and then withdraw it. En- deavor during this brief presentation to gain as full a knowl- edge as possible concerning the object. (b) Have the experiment repeated as in "a," with the exception that the picture is kept in view for one minute instead of one second. State educational principles which are suggested by these experiments and which could be verified by further experi- mentation. To what extent do you find the following principles sub- stantiated by the foregoing experiments? One cannot look attentively at an object for a time with- out gaining some knowledge of the object. Other things being equal, the more continued the observa- tion the greater is the knowledge gained. The growth of knowledge is from vague to definite. Former knowledge is used in acquiring new knowledge. 22 Introductory Educational Psychology 2. Compare a drawing made by a child of four years with another made by a youth of sixteen years, and deduce educational principles from your comparison. To what extent does this comparison verify the educational principles stated in the former experiment? 3. (a) Have someone ring a bell or make some other noise near your ear. Press the desk with your fingers as quickly as you can after hearing the sound. (b) Have someone ring a bell as before. Press your foot on the floor as quickly as you can after hearing the sound. (c) Have someone flash a colored disk before your eyes. Press with your fingers on the desk as quickly as you can after seeing the object. (d) Have someone present an object as before and press with the foot on the floor as quickly as you can after seeing the object. Repeat the foregoing experiments, keeping a record of the time occupied in each experiment and endeavor by practice to shorten the time in each case. Could you ever learn to respond so quickly that no time whatever would elapse between the time when the stimulus impinged upon the end organ of the sensory nerve (the retina of the eye or the tympanum of the ear) and the time when it was responded to by muscular movement ? Such intervening period is called reaction time. In experiment 3 (a) this period is said to be your ear-hand reaction time. In (6) your ear- foot reaction time, etc. (e) Repeat experiments (a), (6), (c) and (d), directing the attention mainly upon : 1st. — The reception of the stimulus, e.g., in (a) attend more carefully to the hearing of the sound than to the pressing on the table. 2nd. — The muscular response. 3rd. — The easier activity, e.g., if you find more difficulty Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 23 in pressing the desk quickly than in hearing the sound quickly, pay special attention to the sound. 4th. — The more difficult activity. In psychological laboratories, reaction time is measured with scientific accuracy by some such method as the following: The operator and the subject whose reaction time is to be measured are in adjacent rooms, which are connected by telephone and telegraph. The subject holds the telephone to his ear and places his finger on the telegraph button. The operator sends a sound stimulus over the telephone. The subject presses the telegraph button as quickly as he can after hearing the sound. The operator records the time (which is accurately indicated on a clock) which has elapsed between the sending of the telephone message and the recep- tion of the telegraphic response. He performs a number of similar experiments and averages the results. The average is his ear-hand reaction time. For a detailed description of such experimentation, see "Reaction Time, a study of attention, Psychological Review, 1896, Vol. 3, p. 245." {}) Have a number of persons stand in a ring and join hands. Have an assistant hold a watch where the experimenter (who is number one of the group) can see the watch and keep a record of the time. Explain that the purpose is to find how rapidly a signal can be passed around the circle. Number one (the operator) presses with his right hand the left hand of the person to his right, who in turn immediately passes the signal on by pressing with his right hand the left hand of number three, and so on. The operator keeps a record of the number of seconds which elapse between the time when he gives the signal to his right-hand neighbor, and the time when he receives it back from his left-hand neighbor after it has passed around the circle. 24 Introductory Educational Psychology The following is a statement of the results of a series of such experiments, conducted by students in the Ottawa Nor- mal School: First day: There were seventy-one students together with the experimenter: First experiment — time, 26 seconds. Second " " 24 " Third " " 21 " Fourth " " 18 " Fifth " " 24 " Sixth " " 19 " Seventh " " 18.5 " Between the fourth and fifth experiments the students rested for a few minutes, and directed attention to another subject. Second day: There were seventy-two students together with the experimenter. The average time for six experiments was eighteen seconds, i.e., one-fourth of a second for each student. (g) Let everyone concentrate attention upon the left hand, i.e., upon the reception of the stimulus. Perform a number of similar experiments and note the results. (h) Let everyone concentrate attention upon the right hand, i.e., upon passing the stimulus on to his next neigh- bor. Repeat experiments. Average results. (i) Let everyone concentrate attention upon the activity which he considers to be the more easy. Perform a number of experiments and average the results. (;') Let everyone concentrate attention upon the activity which he considers to be the more difficult. Perform a number of experiments and average the results. The following are the results of a series of similar experi- ments made by directing attention upon easy and difficult activities respectively: Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 2 5 (1) Attention upon less difficult- Number of students, 63. Number of experiments, 4. Average time, 18.25 seconds. (2) Attention upon more difficult: Number of students, 63. Number of experiments, 4. Average time, 13.5 seconds. State educational principles which are suggested by the results of experiments (a) to (J) inclusive. To what extent do you find the following statements verified by the experiments which you have performed? Intense external stimulus attracts the attention. We cannot give maximum attention at the beginning of a lesson. With practice, a point of maximum efficiency is reached, beyond which it is difficult to increase speed. Novelty increases interest. Change of activity increases the power of attention. If we attend to the more difficult activity, reaction time is lessened. A brief period of rest recuperates attentive power. When the habit is formed the activity can be performed without effort. Repetition is necessary for the formation of habits. Concentration increases power of acquisition. In the case of an established habit it is possible to perform the activity so mechanically that reaction time is lengthened. Emphasis of the end in view increases attentive power. Desire to perform work rapidly causes concentration of attention and this increases speed. Fatigue increases reaction time. A reminder that one is not doing one's best work is some- times a stimulus to attention. 26 Introductory Educational Psychology An interesting external stimulus diverts the attention from the subject to which one should attend and lengthens reaction time. Conscious effort increases working power. Excited effort may either increase or decrease working power. Co-operation is necessary in the performance of social activities. Give examples of activities which you have performed until they have become automatic, which if attended to closely are not performed as well as when you pay no attention to them. A large number of experiments have proved conclusively that the educational principle that "attention should be cen- tered upon the greatest obstacle," is applicable not only to reaction time, but to the overcoming of every kind of difficulty. VI.— SCHOOL-ROOM APPLICATIONS: A school-room application of the foregoing educational principle would be that in teaching a child to spell the word "belief" (after he has had training in phonic synthesis) stress should be placed upon the combination, ie., and no attention devoted to remembering the first three letters and the last letter of the word, for the pupil who knows the pronuncia- tion of the word will spell it properly as regards these four letters, without assistance from anyone. Show how the principle that attention should be directed upon that phase which presents the greatest difficulty, and easy habitual activities should be allowed to take care of themselves, may be applied in giving calisthenic exercises in school. Give school-room applications of educational principles, on p. 21. Psychology — Methods of Study — Contribution to Education 27 State a number of psychological facts which you have discovered as a result of psychological investigation. Write educational principles based upon each of these facts and show how these principles may be applied in the school-room. In determining which of two studies (e.g., Algebra or Botany) a certain child should study at a certain time (it being possible to take only one of them), what facts should be known regarding (a) the relation which these studies respectively bear to mental development; (b) the stage of mental development reached by the particular child who is to begin the study? How would Psychological study aid in discovering these facts? Give examples of ways in which Psychological study would aid the teacher in discovering what branch of study was best fitted to a particular child at a particular time. In what way would Psychological study aid in determining at what time a child should begin a certain study, e.g., Geometry ? In what way would Psychological study aid the teacher in determining the best method of teaching a particular subject (e.g., multiplication of fractions) to a particular child? References : Adams — Herbartian Psychology applied to Education. Angell — Psychology. Bagley — -The Educative Process. Dewey — The School and Society. James — Talks to Teachers on Psychology. Judd — Genetic Psychology for Teachers. Kirkpatrick — Fundamentals of Child Study. Lloyd Morgan — Psychology for Teachers. Thorndike — Principals of Teaching. Titchener — A text-book on Psychology. CHAPTER IV Analysis of the Individual Life Process We have found that education has to do with the control of changes in the individual life process. Let us next pro- ceed to an analysis of the process and to an investigation of ways in which these changes are brought about. I.— NON-CONSCIOUS ACTIVITIES: Give examples of mental or bodily changes which have taken place in your own life history and of which, at the time, you had no immediate knowledge. A. — Natural Non-conscious Activities. — 1. Instinctive. — Describe the action of a person when he suddenly and unexpectedly hears a loud noise behind his back. Is his action due to reason? Is it due to heredity? Can he train himself not to be so startled? Give examples of other instinctive activities. 2. Reflex. — If the sole of the foot of a person who is asleep is tickled, the foot is drawn up without any conscious knowl- edge or effort on the part of the sleeper. Give similar exam- ples of muscular activities which are performed in direct response to stimulation of the end organ of the nerve without any conscious direction on the part of the individual. Such acts are called "reflex." 3. Automatic. — The circulation of the blood is said to be due in part to stimulation of the muscles as a result of the chemical composition of the blood. Give examples of other changes which go on within your body and concerning which [28] Analysis of the Individual Life Process 29 you have no conscious knowledge. Such activities are said to be "automatic." B. — Acquired Non-conscious Activities. — (a) Reflex. — Can you walk without paying any attention to the walking? Could you always do so? Could you do so if the soles of your feet were paralyzed ? Give examples of other acquired reflexes, as the result of repetition. Why may they be called habits? (6) Automatic. — When you are asked to add 16 and 9, do you think of 16 objects and 9 objects ? Were you always able to state the sum without hesitation as you now do ? Why may the activity be said to have become automatic ? Give examples of other acquired automatic activities. Why may they be called habits? II.— PARTIAL OR ABNORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS: A. — Sub-conscious Activity. — A physician, who is super- intendent of a hospital, has one bell as his call signal. The assistants have signals of two, three and four bells, respect- ively. The superintendent sleeps soundly, and is entirely oblivious to the calls of two, three or four bells, but if the one bell signal rings at any time of the night, he immediately wakes up. Can you form a habit of shutting out or exhibiting certain sounds when asleep, and of attending to others ? Can you waken earlier than your usual time by making up your mind to do so? When you thus decide to waken at a certain time, do you sleep as well as you do when you attach no importance to the time of waking? Do you sometimes find in the morning that a problem which was unsolved when you retired the previous night now presents an easy solution ? Give other examples of so-called sub-conscious activity. 30 Introductory Educational Psychology B. — Absent-mindedness. — A distinguished mathema- tician was observed walking along the street in a pouring rain, at the same time using his umbrella as a walking-stick. Give other examples of extreme concentration and accom- panying absent-mindedness. C. — Abnormal Consciousness. — The recorded experi- ences of those who have been deaf, blind, and dumb from their birth, and who have subsequently learned to converse, shows that they have no true conception of sound or color, and that before learning language the content of conscious- ness was at all times vague and fragmentary. D. — Infant Consciousness. — The study of children reveals the fact that at birth the content of consciousness (if the child may be said to be conscious at all) is confused and indistinct. As time goes on the undifferentiated, vague, "sensuous continuum" begins to assume definite conscious form. It is some time before the senses perform their func- tions sufficiently well to render sensations explicit in con- sciousness, and throughout all the years of infancy, childhood and youth we may say that education is nothing more nor less than a growth toward fuller consciousness. III.— ENTIRE CONSCIOUSNESS: What do you mean by the term Conscious when, in per- forming the reaction time experiment, described on p. 23, you say you were conscious? Repeat the experiment and make an analysis of the mental changes which you experi- enced. Did you know during this experience that you were yourself — and not someone else, and that no one else was having the same experience, that you were the same person that you were the previous day, that the signal stimulus came from outside your body, that you were putting forth an Analysis of the Individual Life Process 31 effort to convey the signal to the next person as quickly as possible, and that you really did pass the signal on ? Speaking generally, full or complete consciousness may be said to be the possession of any individual when he can syn- thetize the elements of this present experience, connect the present with the past and respond properly to stimulus re- ceived, when he knows who he is, what he is doing, what he has done in the past, what stimulus he is now receiving, what reactions should be made, and when he is capable of making such adequate response as the needs of the situation demand. The term "Consciousness" cannot be defined. Its mean- ing can be explained somewhat by such characteristics as those to which we have just referred. We can, however, study various forms of consciousness and the conditions under which they arise, and (as we have seen) this is the phase of the sub- ject which is of special interest to the educator. IV.— THE GROWTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS: Observe an infant for the first few years of his life, or study the recorded observations of others and state what you have learned regarding the growth of consciousness . Similarly study the life of someone whose consciousness has been abnormal, e.g., Helen Keller, and notice its develop- ment. Call to mind, also, the ways in which people who have lost consciousness slowly resume the conscious condition. When you are reading and walking, without paying atten- tion to the walking, and come in contact with an obstacle, (e.g., a chair), what change takes place in your consciousness? Why do you notice the beating of your heart when it beats more rapidly than usual? Give other examples where an habitual, automatic or reflex activity becomes a conscious activity when anything occurs to interfere with the ordinary process and to require reconstruction. Does consciousness 32 Introductory Educational Psychology ever arise except under conditions where it is necessary for us to deal with some new difficulty? Give examples. Con- sider the following: "We find consciousness appearing at those points where there is incapacity on the part of the purely physiological mechanism to cope with the demands of the surroundings. V— ANALYSIS OF A CONSCIOUS ACT: Observe the content of your consciousness and state as fully as you can the factors or elements found there and the sources to which they are referred. Perform experiments to show that the content of con- sciousness may be affected by (a) stimulus from outside the body, (6) bodily stimulus, (c) our past experience, (d) the ideals we have formed, (e) our own effort. Compare the content of consciousness during the reaction time, experiment p. 23, and during the time when you are solving a difficult mathematical problem and note similarities. Do you find that all the before-mentioned elements — external stimulus, bodily stimulus, etc., are present in both cases? Point out elements upon which special stress is placed in each case. Show that in every act of consciousness there is always an apprehended content and an apprehension of this content. VI.— THE THREEFOLD ASPECT OF CONSCIOUS- NESS: Intellect, Sensibility and Will. — One person is said to be very intellectual, another very emotional, and another very strong-willed. Point out characteristics which you would expect to find prominent in each. Which of the three would you expect to possess (a) the most knowledge, (b) the most sensitiveness to pleasure and pain, (c) the highest self -activity ? Give an example where the gaining of knowledge is the Analysis of the Individual Life Process 33 most prominent feature of the activity, another where the feeling of pleasure seems to take possession of us, and a third, where we seem to be completely absorbed in the making of an important choice. Which of the three aspects, knowing, feeling and self- activity is most prominent in each of the following experiences : (a) Gazing upon a beautiful picture? (b) Learning the names of the rivers of a country ? (c) Learning to ride a bicycle ? Could you find a person who was entirely ignorant, or one who had no appreciation of pleasure or pain, or one who never willed to do anything? Concentrate your attention upon some object in the room, e.g., a picture, and note the phenomena of your consciousness. What new knowledge have you gained as the result of study- ing the object? Were the feelings which accompanied the experience, pleasurable or painful ? Were you conscious that you yourself were performing this act, enjoying this pleasure, gaining this knowledge? Could you have an experience in which you were suffering so intensely that you were neither gaining knowledge of any kind nor performing any act? Similarly could you gain knowledge without sensibility or will, or be self -active without knowledge or sensibility ? Show by examples that in every conscious experience all of these aspects, knowing, feeling, and self-activity, are presented in greater or lesser degree. Why may the last mentioned (i.e., the personality — the self in action) be considered the basal and most important of the three? VIL— FORMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS — PASSIVE — ACTIVE: Attention. — What do you mean when you say you are paying attention to something? Give examples. Investigate different ways jn which you can ] you can pay attention: 34 Introductory Educational Psychology Experiment 1. — Seat yourself in a comfortable, easy posi- tion. Allow your mind to assume the condition which im- mediately precedes falling asleep. Do not try to think of anything or to direct the mental flow. Let the condition be one of complete mental relaxation. Describe what takes place in consciousness. Would you say you were paying attention in this experiment ? Have you, in reading a book, sometimes caught yourself reading along without knowing what you were reading, and then have you gone back several pages to a certain point from which you have begun to read again? In such a case, were you attending to the matter read ? Could you have had such an experience if you had been reading aloud? Could you have neglected the meaning in this way if your mind had not been fixed on something else of interest to you? Do you sometimes find yourself in a condition in which you are really not attending to anything and yet are conscious that you ought to be attending to something? Were you conscious in experiment 1? Give other examples of acts of which you were conscious, which you would not (strictly speaking) call acts of attention. Are such acts fatiguing or restful to the mind? How do they differ from acts of attention? How do they differ from the condition of sleep? How do they differ from the condition of non-consciousness? Why may such a condition be called Passive Consciousness? Experiment 2. — Begin reading a very uninteresting book and at the same time have someone in the room play a musi- cal selection which you admire very much. Describe what takes place. Do you pay attention? To what do you pay attention? Why do you pay attention to the music? How does this experience differ from that in experiment 1? Show that in experiment 2 there is more mental tension or stress than in experiment 1. Analysis of the Individual Life Process 35 The teacher says that a boy is inattentive because he is so attracted by the music of the circus band in the passing procession that he is entirely oblivious to the history which he is supposed to be studying. To what is the boy inattentive ? Could the boy keep from paying attention to the music ? How could the boy's attention be kept upon the history? Experiment 3. — Concentrate your mental energies upon some subject which, in itself, is not specially interesting to you and keep the mind fixed upon it for some time and note the phenomena of consciousness. For example, consider the' truth of the following statement: "The expression x 2 + 41x + 41 is always equal to a prime number except when x is equal to 4.'' Test it by induc- tively substituting for x the quantities 1, 2, 3, 5, etc., in. suc- cession. Do you always get a prime number ? Is it probable that the statement is correct? Examine the expression more closely. What value for x would make it possible for you to break the expression into two factors ? If we substitute 41 for x, do we get a prime number ? In proving the foregoing statement incorrect, were you performing an act of attention? How does this act of atten- tion differ from that of listening to the musical selection in experiment 2 ? Show that in experiment 3 there is still greater tension and conscious contrql of the process with a view to attaining a definite end. If there were something else at hand, naturally more pleasurable to you than the mathematical proof, would it be possible for you to concentrate your attention on the latter ? How could you do so? Experiment 4. — If, while proving the statement incorrect in experiment 3, someone had started beating a drum vigor- ously in the room, could you have continued to attend to the mathematical problem? 36 Introductory Educational Psychology Difference of Intensity in the Conscious Field.— When paying attention, do you always pay attention to some- thing? Show by illustrations that when you are paying attention, certain parts of the content of consciousness seem to be brought into the foreground, and others to be partially or entirely obscured. If the conscious field be represented by three concentric circles, show that attention seems to be focussed on the centre, directed mildly upon the intermediate circular band, and almost entirely withdrawn from the outer fringe. Try to think of a case where the mind has no choice as to the object of attention, that is, where there is but one thing that can be attended to. Show by illustrations that there are always a number of different ideas or trains of ideas, any one of which might be the object of attention, i.e., that attention is always a selective act — a concentrating and limiting process. Stress of Attention. — In the reaction time experiment, p. 23, how did the condition of the body (muscles, breathing, etc.), when you were waiting for and passing on the stimulus, differ from the condition when you were resting? When paying attention, are you always conscious of the fact that you are attending? What feeling always accom- panies attention? For how long a period can you study a certain subject (e.g., Arithmetic) without taking a rest? Why does it fatigue you to pay attention ? Give examples to show that when we pay attention there is always a certain effort, an expenditure of energy. Is attention to a subject that is very interesting (that seems to take possession of us) followed by fatigue? What is the derivation of the word Attention? Why is it correct to say that attention is active consciousness ? Write a definition of Attention. Consider the following: Analysis of the Individual Life Process 37 "Attention is that activity of the self which connects all elements presented to it into one whole, with reference to their ideal significance, that is, with reference to the relation which they bear to some intellectual end." — Dewey. "An act of attention is a powerful volition suffused with peculiar feelings of effort or strain and accompanied by a changed condition of the field of discriminative consciousness as respects intensity, content, and clearness." — Ladd. "Attention is the taking possession of by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought; focalization and concen- tration of consciousness are of its essence." — James. VIII.— KINDS OF ATTENTION: A. — Non-voluntary.— If the temperature in your room were suddenly to fall thirty degrees, could you continue study- ing Psychology? Why not? Give a number of other ex- amples of conditions which, if they should arise, would render it difficult or impossible for you to study, though you wish to do so. Make a list of subjects to which you find it very easy to direct your attention. Are such objects always pleasing to you? If you burn your finger, do you attend to the pain spontaneously? Are such objects always external? Give examples of thoughts which you have found difficult to banish. Why do such objects attract the attention? If you find your attention attracted to the playing of a beautiful selection of music when you desire to study, are you conscious of the fact that you are paying attention to the music spontaneously ? Why may such attention be called Non-voluntary? Would the musical selection cause everyone to pay attention as you do? Why not? Why may such attention be called Reflex? 38 Introductory Educational Psychology Give other examples of non-voluntary attention. Show that non-voluntary attention is based upon Interest. B. — Voluntary Attention. — Do you always pay attention to that which for the time being is most interesting to you? Give examples of cases in which you do not pay attention to the most interesting thing, but to that which from the stand- point of present satisfaction is distasteful. Show that in such cases you always have an ulterior end in view. Can you always make up your mind to endeavor to attend to a certain definite thing to the exclusion of other things which for the present are more attractive? Are you conscious of an effort on your part to pay attention? The previous form of attention, which was due to the attractiveness of the object, was called non-voluntary. What name might be given to the kind of attention which involves conscious effort of your will power? Give other examples of voluntary attention. C. — Involuntary Attention. — If, when you are studying, a door slams loudly, or there is a deafening peal of thunder, why do you cease studying? Could you keep from paying attention to the noise? Attention which seems to be given against the will is said to be involuntary. Give other examples. Which is more difficult, non-voluntary or voluntary atten- tion? What kind of attention is most prominent in early life? Why should non-voluntary attention be developed into voluntary ? Name some activity which at one time in your experience demanded voluntary attention, but which now requires only non- voluntary attention ? If a subject, e.g., a musical selection, be sufficiently inter- esting to attract your attention without conscious effort, can Analysis of the Individual Life Process 39 you, by concentrating your attention on the subject, increase the attentive activity and the pleasure derived? Consider the statement: "Voluntary attention is more difficult than non-voluntary, and this is the essential difference between these two forms of attention." CHAPTER V Reconstruction of Experience Consider ways in which changes in consciousness are brought about. I— A UNITY OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO BE REALIZED: If an infant is plunged under water so as to be entirely submerged, what physical effort does it put forth ? Why does it struggle ? Does it consciously realize that if breathing be suspended for a long period, death must ensue? Does il have any definite idea of overcoming the difficulty by strug- gling? Are its muscular activities definitely co-ordinated? Compare the behavior of the little child under such condi- tions with that of the expert swimmer when his boat is upset. Describe what you consider is likely to be the conscious ex- perience of each. Point out Physiological and Psychical resemblances in their behavior. Would it be possible to find anyone who does not have some purpose in view which he wishes to attain? Consider the following: In early childhood, conscious experience (if there be such a thing) is of the vaguest sort, there are no clearly denned aims or controlled instruments for their realization, but there are instinctive and impulsive tendencies reaching out for that form of stimulus best adapted to the needs of the individual. At every period of conscious life there is a forward movement of the entire personality, alert for such experience as will make for its well-being. There is also the consciousness [40] Reconstruction of Experience 41 that the present experience is merging into a new experience, and there is an accompanying feeling of tension between the old and the new. II— A NEW PRESENTATION TO BE ATTENDED TO: What are the sources of the various elements which are presented in consciousness from time to time as objects of attention ? For example, how do the following arise in conscious- ness: a. The sensation of the ringing of a bell? b. The pain occasioned by toothache? c. The memory of a stanza of poetry? d. The image of a centaur? e. The train of thought in a mathematical investigation? /. The psychical accompaniments of the resistance of a powerful temptation? Show that presentations in consciousness may be attrib- uted to (a) External stimulus, (b) Bodily stimulus, (c) Internal ideas, images, etc., furnished by past experience and present activity. Could there be consciousness if there were no presentation or content to be apprehended? Would there ever be atten- tion if there were no new adjustments or reconstructions to be made? Compare the content of two successive pulse beats of consciousness and note similarities and differences. Are these changes due to some principle of reconstruction and selection? Would they have been made if the first con- dition had been permanently satisfactory? Ill— ADJUSTING ACTIVITY OF ATTENTION: Point out ways in which you get ready to perform any activity. For example, describe bodily or mental adjust- ments which you make preparatory to (a) going to sleep, (b) listening to music, (c) writing on an examination in Arithmetic. 42 Introductory Educational Psychology Compare the adjusting activity of an infant turning to the light with that of a scientist looking through a telescope. Describe the ways in which the mind acts in preparing for each of the following: (a) To run a foot race. (6) To find the area of a rectangle 6 ft. long and 3 ft. wide, (c) To prove that the angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal. How will attention be affected if in (a) the runner must win the race or lose his reputation? Show that in all cases of highest activity of attention the end in view must seem to take possession of the mind to the exclusion of other things. Can this be the case if the person attending does not clearly understand what the aim is, e.g., if in (a) he does not know how far he has to run, if in (6) he is not sure whether he begins with a vague limited quantity to be measured, or with a unit of measurement; or, if in (c), he is not sure what an isosceles triangle is ? Show that in such a case it is necessary to clearly understand what end is to be attained. If a runner in a race knew exactly when the pistol for the starting signal was to be fired, what advantages would he have over one who expected it to be fired a few minutes later? In what ways would he prepare himself to start run- ning the race? In what ways could one prepare himself for the acts in (6) and (c)? Show how, if you adopt Euclid's method of proof, a review of Euclid's 4th proposition pre- pares for the activity in (c). Show that in preparing to attend to anything, (a) the mind should be activly directed to the attainment of the end in watchful anticipation and (b) any- thing which will aid in the attainment of the end should be brought into the foreground of consciousness. This process of getting ready to attend to something is Reconstruction oj Experience 43 sometimes called the adjusting activity of attention. Show by examples that adjusting activity is conditioned upon our appreciation of the importance of the aim in view, our power of attending as the result of habit, and our previous store of knowledge regarding the subject in hand. Show that there is a mental tension between the present experience and the future experience, an anticipation of what is about to happen. IV.— THE APPERCEIVING, INTERPRETING, VALU- ING, RELATING AND ASSIMILATING AC- TIVITY OF MIND: A. — Interpretation. — What is meant by the term Inter- pret? Give examples. If you have never seen an orange and are now shown one for the first time, why do you con- clude that the other side of the orange which you have not seen is spherical and of an orange color? Can you sometimes tell that a person whom you meet for the first time is related to someone else that you know ? Are the two persons exactly alike? How then can you tell that they are related? B. — Misinterpretations. — Account for the following: A child brought to school a piece of Golden Rod, that had been standing since the summer before. The teacher held it up before the class and asked what it was. One of the pupils said: "It is some wool on a branch." A little child of three years had seen the moon several times and had been told its name. She had never noticed the stars. The first time she noticed them she said: "Look at the baby moons." C. — Different Interpretations. — Account for the fol- lowing : A number of persons observed an electric carriage which was being exhibited. 44 Introductory Educational Psychology A little child was afraid of it. A boy of twelve remarked that it would be "great fun to ride in it." A lazy man said: "No more walking after this." A dealer in horses said: "I shall soon be a ruined man." A scientist said: "What an ingenious contrivance, how is it constructed? Give other examples of ways in which our past experiences affect our interpretation of presentations. Can we gain any new knowledge without using old knowledge? Do we ever have a new experience without interpreting it in the light of past experience ? Give examples to show that after we once begin to know we always use past knowledge in gaining a knowledge of objects presented for the first time. In learning to ride a bicycle, what previous knowledge is of value? Why is the power to judge distances of objects valuable? State what previous knowledge or experience would be of value in performing each of the activities mentioned on p. 42. Show that what is required in gaining new knowledge is to interpret and relate the new presentation in the light of past knowledge. Why is it usually wise in introducing a new subject to review previous related knowledge? Two persons gaze upon a beautiful statue. The train of ideas suggested by the statue is noble in the case of one and base in the case of another. Why may it be said that the statue is really bringing each person to Judgment? Give examples to show that our interpretation of every new presentation depends upon our previous knowledge, occupation, character, etc. The name apperception is sometimes given to the activity of mind by which, in acquiring knowledge, we use former knowledge ? Reconstruction of Experience 45 Give other examples of apperception. Examine the following: "Apperception is bringing to bear what has been retained of past experience in such a way as to interpret and give meaning to new experience." "Apperception is the highest and most comprehensive form of active consciousness. By it is meant that activity of synthesis by which mental data of any kind (sensations, percepts, concepts) are constructed and the perception of things which are related becomes the perception of the relation of things." V.— ANALYTIC SYNTHETIC ACTIVITY OF ATTEN- TION: Examine some object, e.g., a rose, and note the ways in which the elements of sense-perception are differentiated, some being discarded, others selected and combined. Do you experience any difficulty in distinguishing the perfume from the color, or the rose from other objects within your field of vision? Similarly, do you without effort com- bine the qualities of color, perfume, etc., as all belonging to the rose? Give illustrations to show that with little children there is a tendency to pull things apart and put them together, and (with increasing age and insight) to reconstruct elements into new forms according to some principle. Show that in all consciousness there is constantly a some- what similar analysis, selection and synthesis of elements. It is important to remember that analysis and synthesis are simply two phases of the same operation. For purposes of clearness, however, we shall consider them separately at first. 46 Introductory Educational Psychology A. — Analysis, Dissociation, Discrimination. — Close your eyes, open them, and describe the change in your mental state due to seeing objects within your field of vision. When you first open your eyes, do you see objects one after another: First a tree, then a house, etc., and after a time the entire landscape within your cone of vision, that is (roughly speak- ing) within an angle of sixty degrees near and far, high and low; or do you, in the first instant, see the entire group as a vague, indistinct whole, and afterwards the parts? When you enter a picture gallery, are you at a loss, for a moment, to know what picture to examine? Why is this? Give examples to show that we begin with a vague, indis- tinct, indefinite, complex whole. After the first vague conception, what change takes place in consciousness? Could you continue to look at the land- scape and give equal prominence to every part? Could you continue to look at the wall and give the same amount of attention to each square foot of its surface or to each picture ? What do you find yourself doing as you continue looking? Examine some particular object, e.g., a chair, and endeavor to continue thinking of it as it at first appeared. What takes place ? Show by examples that the mind has a tendency to dif- ferentiate the vague whole and analyze into parts making the parts and the parts of the parts mere clearly defined. How does the increase of concentration affect the rapidity and vividness of such analysis? If a trained artist enters a gallery containing a valuable painting, e.g., the Mona Liza, and a number of ordinary paintings, what change will quickly take place in his con- sciousness ? Will it seem to him that he is looking only at the one painting, i.e., will he, for a moment, forget that the other ob- jects are within his cone of vision ? Reconstruction of Experience 47 B. — Synthesis, Association. — We have found that the content of consciousness is constantly changing. Give examples in which one mental picture is suggested by a preceding mental state, where "one idea calls another up." Write down whatever first occurs to you after reading each of the following: "Noble six hundred," "black," "turkey," "school," "large." Compare these ideas with those that suggested them and note the relation, e.g., if "Noble six hundred" suggested "The Charge of the Light Brigade," or "Tennyson"; assign a reason for the suggestion. Close your eyes and "let your thoughts throng on you as they will," in succession. Do not endeavor to control the series, but allow one idea to call another up without any special effort on your part. Perform other similar experiments and note the relation between the successive ideas. Does any idea ever arise spontaneously in your mind, the idea having no connection whatever with preceding lines of thought? Give a number of examples to show that such is seldom (if ever) the case. Why then is not our mental life during consciousness' one unbroken series of associated ideas, each suggested by the preceding? In other words, what is it that interferes with the complete predominance of associa- tion? Give examples to show that by an effort of the will you can change the mental current. C. — Conditions of Association. i. The Uniting Activity of Mind, Integration. (a) Simultaneous Integration. — When you look at an ob- ject, e.g., an apple, what elements enter into the mental pic- ture? Can you think of the color and nothing else? Make a list of all the elementary factors — Intellectual, Emotional, 48 Introductory Educational Psychology Volitional — which enter into the contest of consciousness during one brief act of attention. Give examples to show that the mind has a tendency to unite all elements in consciousness at the same time into one complex whole. (b) Successive Integration. — Are the mental states in a train of thought separate and distinct, or does each mental complex seem to dissolve into the succeeding and unite with it? Give examples to show that the mind has a tendency to unite successive elements; that is, that in the flow of conscious- ness each state naturally connects itself with the succeeding state. 2. The Reuniting Activity of Mind, Redintegration. (a) Reunion of Simultaneous Elements. — Call to mind some well-remembered object in your childhood home, e.g., a rocking chair. What other objects do you think of in con- nection with it ? Could you recall the chair without at the same time remembering the room it was in, or something else connected or associated with it at the time of the original presentation? Do you recall in addition to spatial elements, sucb as the room, other elements which entered into the orig- inal experience, e.g., a feeling of pleasure? Why do these ideas now come into consciousness simultaneously? If they had not been united in the original experience would they come up together in the remembered experience? Did you, in the original experience, endeavor to unite these elements in consciousness ? A person rowing on a river at night observes a shower of meteors; a few nights afterward he rows over the same course and thinks of the shower of meteors. Was there any relation of similarity, or of cause and effect between the rowing and the meteoric shower? Give other examples to show that Reconstruction of Experience 49 the mind tends without conscious effort to integrate and redintegrate into one complex whole all elements which enter into one experience, no matter whether these elements have an essential relation or not. (b) Reunion of Successive Elements. — Note the number of seconds it takes you to say the alphabet forward. Compare with the time it takes to say it backward. Why do you re- member it more readily forward? Give other examples to show that the order in which you have been in the habit of saying and doing things is likely to be the remembered order: Think of the letter "s" and of some letter associated with it. Why are you more likely to think of the letter "t" than of the letter "b" as an association with the letter "s"? In learning the alphabet, did you unite s and t simultaneously, and afterward t and u? Is the present brief pulse-beat of attention sufficiently extended in time to involve two succes- sive elements? If so, show that successive association is in a sense simultaneous association. Give examples to illustrate the "Principle of the Associa- tion of Ideas," which affirms that "when two or more ideas have occurred at the same time in consciousness, and one of these ideas is again presented in consciousness, it tends to recall the other with it. " Show that in all cases of association there is at the same time dissociation. VI. — HABIT — CHARACTERISTICS, FORMATION, RESULTS: What do you mean by the term "Habit"? Mention activities, which you now perform unconsciously, which at one time you were unable to perform without con- scious effort. Describe the way in which you acquired one of these habits, e.g., skating. 50 Introductory Educational Psychology Give examples of inherited reflex, and automatic activities. Compare the following activities, pointing out the extent to which Consciousness is connected with each: (a) Circulation of the blood, (b) Drawing up the foot when the sole of the foot has been tickled, (c) Skating, when we are learning to skate. (d) Skating, after the habit has been fully acquired. Discuss the statement: "Consciousness occupies the middle ground between hereditary reflex activities upon the one hand, and acquired habitual activities on the other." Discuss the statement: "When we are paying attention, we are forming habits." Results of Habit. — Point out advantages which follow as a result of the formation of habits. A bicycle journey is taken by two men; one is beginning to learn to ride; the other is an experienced rider. Which rider can make the journey the more quickly ? Which will expend the more energy in making the trip ? Which will have the more freedom to observe the scenery ? Give other examples to show that the formation of a habit always enables us to perform the activity more rapidly and easily than at first and leaves us free for the performance of other unlearned activities. What would be the result if we were unable to form any habits ? What would be the result if habits were very easily formed and were very difficult to overcome? Give examples of intellectual and moral habits. VII— STAGES OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: 1. Give examples of different ways in which you can gain knowledge. Reconstruction 0} Experience 51 1. Sense-perception: Experiment. — Close your eyes. Have someone place an object, for example, a chair, in such a position that when you open your eyes you will see this object for the first time. Note the change which takes place in your mind. What new knowledge have you gained regarding the chair since you began looking at it? Why could you not have gained this knowledge with your eyes closed? Through what sense did you gain the basis for this knowledge? The process by which, on the basis of sensations, we gain a knowledge of objects from which we are now receiving sensations, is called Sense-perception. Give other examples of Sense-perception. 2. Memory — {Reproductive Imagination). Experiment. — Close your eyes. Try to recall the appear- ance of the chair you looked at in the former experiment. In other words, with your eyes closed, repeat in consciousness, as nearly as possible, the experience you had when you were looking at the chair. What is such an act of mind called? Give other examples of Memory act*. 3. Imagination. Experiment. — Close your eyes. Think of a chair a hun- dred times as large as the one you saw in experiment 1. Sup- pose it to have life. Place a horse's head on it, remove it to the summit of a high building, etc. What is such an act of mind called? Give other examples of Imagination. 4. Thought: Experiment. — Close your eyes. Examine the truth of the following statement: "A chair is an unnecessary article of furniture in a school-room." 52 Introductory Educational Psychology What is such an act of mind called ? Give other examples of Thought. Point out differences between Sense-perception, Memory, Imagination, and Thought. Which of these is most prominent in infant life? Show that as we proceed from Sense-perception upward, we rely less and less upon the senses. In other words, that the development of knowledge is from the sensuous to the ideal. VIII.— THE DYNAMIC CONCEPTION OF MENTAL PROCESS: Reconstruction, Attention, Habit. — Static Conception. — Some writers have held what may be termed a Static or Faculty view of mental activity. Accord- ing to this view, mind and matter are distinct and unrelated. We may have an act of Intellect without any Emotional or Volitional accompaniment. The phenomena of consciousness may be examined as finished products without regard to their origin or destiny. Perception, Memory, Imagination, etc., are isolated and independent faculties, each requiring its own special treatment. Dynamic Conception. — The tendency of modern Psychol- ogy is towards what may be termed a Dynamic or genetic functional conception of mental process, distinguished mainly by three distinct characteristics. (a) The Unity 0} all Experience. — In our experience, we always find mind and matter closely related in the psycho- physical organism. In every pulse-beat of Consciousness we have involved implicitly or explicitly all mental phases, faculties and processes, and the proper training of one assists in the development of all the others. Further, there is an element of identity which persists through the entire life. Reconstruction of Experience 53 (b) Constant Change of Experience. — We are conscious of a constantly changing mental experience. The mind never remains exactly the same for two successive moments. The instant we attempt to hold and examine a mental state, it is replaced by another. We can compare, only by an act of memory, and what we can do most satisfactorily in Psycho- logical study is to note mental changes and the ways in which they are brought about. (c) A Continual Reconstructive Process. — In the body there is a constant break-down of tissue, called Katabolism, and an upbuilding called Metabolism, by which the body constantly undergoes reconstruction. This reconstructive process is not haphazard, but func- tional. Without it there could be neither life nor activity. A somewhat similar condition prevails in the Psychical life. It is important to observe not only that there is change, but that this change is purposive. No one cross-section of consciousness can be studied as isolated. We must always ask ourselves the question, " Out of what previous condition has this developed and whither does it tend ? The individual has aptitudes, interests, purposes and ideals, and moves for- ward to their attainment. There are obstacles to such attain- ment demanding mental reconstruction. In the higher activi- ties of attention we are explicitly conscious of a definite pur- pose to be achieved, an obstacle presented, a bringing to bear of past knowledge or experience in order to interpret and reconstruct, and finally of moving forward to a new experi- ence different from the former condition. In the earliest stages of infancy we find a similar reconstructive process of low degree, but implicit as regards conscious initiative. The Dynamic conception has a tendency to simplify the differentiations of previous times, some of which we have already considered, and to make Attention and Habit funda- mental. According to this view we find ourselves always in 54 Introductory Educational Psychology a definite given situation with certain aims, habits and en- vironment. We select and attend to that which requires reconstruction. We bring to bear our former experience, image, or habit, upon the interpretation of this new presenta- tion, thus a reconstruction is effected and a new habit is formed. The word habit in this connection means a capacity for doing something in an easier way as the result of having formed a similar co-ordination at a previous time. Habit is thus an attitude of mind, a way of looking at things and un- derstanding them. In the process of reconstruction we use former habits in the formation of new ones. The term Image has been used by some as meaning a habit, thus used in the construction of a new habit. Using the term "Habit" in this wider sense, we find that the teacher's main business is to train the child in the forma- tion of correct habits of Sense-perception, Memory, Imagina- tion, Thought, Appreciation and Choice; and that the ac- quisition of that knowledge which is of the most worth is a necessary aim and result of such training. We have adopted this terminology (Sense-perception, etc.) as historic, and already somewhat familiar to the reader in everyday experience. We shall find, however, that such terms are purely arbitrary and that the interpretation some- times put upon them is subject to the foregoing modifications. We shall proceed to an analytic discussion of these re- spective departments and to a deduction of resulting educa- tional principles. IX— EDUCATIONAL APPLICATION: State a number of Educational Principles which follow as a result of our investigations in previous chapters. Give definite school-room applications of each of the fol- lowing: Reconstruction of Experience 55 (a) The child is a self-active being, constructed on a principle of change, reconstruction and develop- ment. (6) This development may be directed upon different lines from those which it would naturally follow, and by disuse certain tendencies seem to become atrophied; but, nevertheless, the intrinsic recon- structive tendency of every state of consciousness to pass beyond itself into a different state is bound to assert itself, no matter under what conditions the individual is placed. (c) The child possesses interests, capacities, tendencies, impulses, which, if appealed to, furnish activities of development with least resistance. (d) The secret of active interest is adaptation. (e) The Unity of Interest in later infancy may be said to be play, in childhood the attainment of skill in controlling a sequence of events, and during youth the investigation of underlying principles and wider relations. (/) The mind has a tendency to repeat a former activ- ity in the order in which the co-ordinations were previously made. Repetition increases this tend- ency, and thus habits are formed. (g) Education consists in the formation of habits, and the highest type of education trains to habits of selecting those things which are of most worth and attending to them in the best way. (h) The reconstructive process is affected by the nature of the individual, his environment and the kind of effort he puts forth. (i) Reconstruction is accompanied by expenditure of energy, and if continued for a sufficient time, produces fatigue. 56 Introductory Educational Psychology (j) The young child is not capable of prolonged or vigorous effort in one direction. (k) Change of stimulus gives rest. (I) Attention to the overcoming of the right kind of difficulty is always accompanied by a feeling of satisfaction. (m) Growth of attentive power is accompanied by a development of desire, knowledge and insight. («) One of the functions of attention is to develop new and permanent interests. (o) Bodily weakness or peculiarity of temperament may render vigorous attention impossible. (p) It is impossible to attend without something to attend to. (q) It is difficult to attend when the material presented is too familiar or unfamiliar. (r) It is difficult to attend when the conditions under which the learner is placed are unfavorable to physical or mental well-being. (5) The way to teach the child to be attentive is to supply the best materials and conditions for the reconstructive activity. (t) It is not sufficient for the mind to be brought in contact with the material; it must act on the material presented. (m) By bringing the child in contact with those sub- jects which have to him the highest value, the attention will be not only secured, but retained. (v) The intensity and continuance of an act of atten- tion will be conditioned by the quantity, quality and intensity of the stimulus and the reserve power, desire and effort of the learner. (w) Judicious questioning is an aid to attention. (x) Good habits of attention can be developed by a Reconstruction 0} Experience 57 desire to form such habits, by a rational exercise of the attentive activity, and by permitting no ex- ceptions while the habit is being formed. (y) The consciousness that one is not the slave of old habits, but can put forth effort in the successful formation of new habits, is of great value to the learner. (z) In training the habit of attention, the following should receive special emphasis: 1. The selection of only those things which are worth attending to as a result of a considera- tion of educational and practical values. 2. The power of adjustment to a new problem by calling into the foreground of Consciousness a store of ideas akin to the subject in hand, and by concentrating energy upon the main subject and shutting out all irrelevant sensa- tions and ideas. 3. The selection of only those representative ideas which will aid in reconstruction. 4. The establishing of permanent relations by keeping the mind moving along related points. 5. The habit of continuous effort, established by holding the mind rigidly to a definite line of investigation for a definite period of time. 6. The grasping of large wholes in one act of attention. 7. The acquisition of valuable knowledge. 8. The practical application of the knowledge gained. CHAPTER VI The Psycho-physical Organism What effect does the reception of bad news exert upon the appetite ? What effect does fear exert upon the power to do physical work? What effect does an aching tooth exert upon the power to do mental work? Give similar examples of the effect of the Physical on the Psychical and vice versa. Explain the educational importance of having "a sound mind in a sound body." The question of the relation of mind and matter has occu- pied the attention of Philosophers for centuries. It is a prob- lem of Metaphysics rather than of Educational Psychology, and we shall not attempt to investigate it. We shall take for granted the reality of both mind and body and shall con- fine our attention to them as united in the Psycho-physical Organism of our life experience. As we have already seen, our experience is always that of a self-active, undivided per- sonality moving forward in the attainment of its life purposes. In our analysis of conscious process we shall find it convenient at times in this and succeeding chapters to consider elements as separate which are never found thus isolated in conscious- ness, e.g., on p. 63, we speak of e x as representing a Sensa- tion. It is important to bear in mind that such abstraction and differentiation is made solely for purposes of investigation, and that a sensation never appears by itself thus differentiated, but is only one aspect of a complex process involving all other mental activities. [58] The Psycho-physical Organism 59 I.— THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: A person rings a bell where you can hear it and at the same time holds up a red card where you can see it. Describe the changes in your consciousness which result from these acts. Describe the bodily organism by means of which you heard the sound of the bell, and that by means of which you saw the red color. Point out differences between the ear and the eye and show that each is adapted to the special work which it performs. Describe the Nervous System. Procure specimens of eye, ear, brain and spinal cord, and dissect them. By such dissection and with the assistance of text- books obtain a working knowledge of the genesis, structure and function of the nervous system. The Special Senses. Name five senses. Muscular Sense. — Lift a weight and cause the muscles of the arm when lifting to twist or roll upon one another. Note the peculiar sensation. Similarly roll the eyeball and note the feeling. Such sensations are called Kinsesthetic and are said to belong to the muscular sense. When the optic nerve is mechanically stimulated {e.g., when a heavy blow is received on the head), what sort of sensation results ? When the same nerve is electrically stim- ulated, what is the result? Can stimuli of any kind, applied to the optic nerve, result in any other sensations than those of light and color? Can a stimulus acting upon any other nerve produce sensations such as come to you from a differ- ent sense? Why may "touch" be considered to be "the foundation sense"? Point out differences between a sensation of hunger and a sensation of sight. 60 Introductory Educational Psychology Senses such as sight, hearing, etc., the nerve endings of which are exposed to external stimulus, are called special senses. Senses such as hunger, which aid in administering to the needs of the body, are called general senses. Point out distinctions between these two classes of sensa- tions. Sensations from the special senses are always occa- sioned by stimuli, and the stimulus normally acts on the end organ in some form of motion. "Vibrations of a lower rate than about 24 per second affect us only through the sense of touch. Above this rate, and up to 40,000 per second, we have sensations of sound. The pitch of the tone is measured by the number of vibrations per second, 40 giving the lowest bass notes, and 40,000 the shrillest sound which can be heard.' Doubling the number of vibra- tions of any tone produces another tone an octave higher. The pitch of the human voice is ordinarily between 87 and 768 vibrations per second, or within a range of a little more than three octaves, while the human ear can take in eleven octaves (40 to 40,000 vibrations). The intensity or loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of vibration of the sound- ing body, a violin string bowed gently gives a faint sound, and bowed strongly, gives a note of the same pitch, but louder. " Colors are produced by ether waves, which succeed one another at the rate of 392 millions of millions times per second, increasing through orange, yellow, green, blue to violet, whose rate is nearly 800 millions of millions per second. To lower or higher rates of vibration than these the eye is not sensitive, though the lower produce electrical and thermal changes, and the higher have chemical effects. The color scale of vision thus corresponds to the scale of pitch in sound. In sight, as in sound, the intensity of the sensation depends on the amplitude of the wave, large waves giving rise to a bright light and small waves to dim light." The Psycho-physical Organism 61 Consider the following: In the body there are white thread-like substances called sensory nerves, whose function is to carry messages to the brain, and other similar substances, called motor nerves, which carry messages from the brain to the muscles. Different sensory nerves respond to different kinds of external stimuli (light waves, sound waves, etc.), and each nerve is furnished with an end organ (at the surface of the body) constructed in such a way as to receive the particular form of stimulus to be transmitted by that nerve. It has been found, also, that certain fairly well-defined localities of nerve action in the brain are the organs of definite sensations and movements. For example, Broca's convolu- tion in the frontal region of the left hemisphere is the speech centre. An injury to that portion of the brain causes motor aphasia, that is, the loss of the power of speech without loss of voice or paralysis of tongue or lips. In general, on the sensory side the occipital lobes are the centres for sight, the temporal lobe is the seat of hearing and probably of smell, while taste and touch are, as yet, not very satisfactorily located. On the motor side the convolutions in front of the fissure of Rolando are the centres for bodily movement. From the genetic functional standpoint, we find that we have a development of the nervous system in increasing com- plexity from lower to higher forms of animal life, and that at every stage the nervous system has definite and important work to perform. The lowest forms possess a very simple nerve structure, with no definite organized centre of control. The nervous system, consisting of brain and spinal cord, appears in its most elementary form in the lowest vertebrates, and in more complex form in each higher class of vertebrate until it reaches its highest specialization in man. The growth of the brain is most rapid during the first years of life. The maximum weight of brain is reached by males 62 Introductory Educational Psychology at about fifteen, and females at about ten years of age. The brain continues to change throughout the entire life process, and there is reason to believe that all psychical change is ac- companied by corresponding nerve change. II— SENSATION: Analysis. — What names are given to the three aspects of every consciousness viewed as knowledge, feeling and self- activity ? What name is given to the lowest form of Intellec- tual activity? Consider what is involved in Sense-perception. Have someone hold up before your eyes an object which you have not previously seen (e.g., an apple). Certain changes take place in the mind as the result of seeing the apple. De- scribe these changes as fully as you can. What new knowledge have you gained? Will your mind ever again be the same as it would have been had you not seen the apple? Through what avenue did the feeling which was the basis of this knowl- edge come ? Analyze the way in which the first change in the mind was brought about as a result of the apple being pre- sented. What was first affected by the apple ? What was affected after the ether? What was affected after the eye? What was affected after the optic nerve? What was affected after the brain? Why would you not have seen the apple if any one of the following changes had taken place, though all the other con- ditions were fulfilled? (a) If the apple were removed. (b) If the room were very dark. (c) If you were very near-sighted. (d) If your optic nerves were severed. (e) If you were unconscious. The Psycho-physical Organism 63 In what way did the apple affect the ether between your eye and the apple? Describe the way in which the light wave motion trans- mitted to the ether from the apple affected your eye, etc., producing at length a change in consciousness. Was the mo- tion of ether from the apple to the eye the same at any two successive periods, e.g., at any two points of a wave? Let a w &2 an represent the successive stages of the motion passing from the apple to the eye, a 1 being the ether wave immediately from the apple and a n the wave imme- diately before entering the eye. (This motion from the apple may be called stimulus. Let b v b 2 bn repre- sent the changing stimulus at various stages in passing from the front of the eye to the retina. Let Cj, c 2 , en represent the stages along the optic nerve. Let d 1; d 2 d n represent the stages through the brain. Let e t , e 2 , etc., represent resulting changes which take place in conscious- ness, e t being the first mental change. Through what other sense organs could you receive stimulus from the apple such as to cause mental change? Examine changes in conscious- ness produced by means of the other senses, e.g., with eyes closed, feel the apple carefully with the hand and note result- ing mental changes. Examine other objects with a view to comparing avenues of approach from the external world to consciousness through different senses, and tabulate results under the following heads: Sense, Object, External Medium, Sense Organ, Nerve, Brain, Consciousness. Complete the following table as fully as you can and compare the corre- sponding stages in different cases : Sense Object Medium Sense Organ Nerve Brain Consciousness Sight Apple Ether Eye Optic ai, a2-an bi..bn ci..cn di.-dn ei, ea, e3, e4 Hearing Bell Air Ear Auditory fi . . . .f hi..hn ii..in ji.ja.... Temper- ature Hot iron vi , vj . . . . Smell Musk ti . U . . . Taste Sugar yi, ya Touch Desk 01 , 02 ... . 64 Introductory Educational Psychology The mental affections or states designated by e 1; ] v o v t v y v and v 1( are called Sensations, and they are the only sensations in the sequences of changes represented in the foregoing table, e.g., in all the changes from a t to e 4 , there occurs but one sensation, and that is the psychical change represented by e t . Take other examples and note carefully the stage at which the sensation occurs. Compare these sensations and point out similarities and differences with a view to forming a definition of "Sensation.' What can you say about the Sensations e x , j 1( o 1( t v y v and v 1; that you cannot say concerning any of the preceding changes, for example, d n? Are these sensations Material (Physical) or Mental (Psychical) ? What can you say about e 1F j^ o lf t lf y t and v„ that you cannot say about e 2 , j 2 , tj, y 2 , and v 2 ? Are these sensations Immediate, that is, was the ante- cedent in each case a Physical stimulus, or are they mediately received, i.e., was there a mental process intervening between d n and e 1; and between in and j t ? Compare these sensations with the state of the mind when remembering an object, e.g., an apple. Is a sensation repre- sentative, i.e., based upon a former presentation, or is it pre- sentative, that is, formed of original elements? In order to receive a sensation from an external object, what conditions must be fulfilled — Physical, Physiological, Mental? If you have a sensation of toothache or hunger, how would the conditions differ from those you have examined ? In experiencing a sensation, is the stimulus from within outward, or from without inward ? If we were deprived of all our sense organs, what means would we have of gaining a knowledge of the external world ? Why is it important that we should have a knowledge of the external world? The Psycho-physical Organism 65 Definition. — Write a definition of "Sensation." Examine the following: "A Sensation is any mental state which arises from a bod- ily stimulus and upon the basis of which we get a knowledge of the world around us." "Sensations are psychological phenomena which result within the mind immediately from impressions upon the senses." "A Sensation is the elementary consciousness which arises from the reaction of the soul upon a nervous impulse conducted to the brain from the affecting of some nerve-ending by a physical stimulus." "A Sensation is not the simple affection of the soul by some bodily change, although the affection is a necessary pre-requisite to Sensation. The Sensation is the state de- veloped by the soul itself upon the occasion of this affection." "The function of Sensations is to furnish us with element- ary symbols of various things in the world about us which stimulate our sensory-motor activities, e.g., odors, colors, sounds, etc." Sense stimuli of which we are not conscious. — Give ex- amples of sense stimuli which were acting upon the end organs of your nervous system a moment ago, but which were not noticed by you. Why did you not notice them? Inhibited Stimuli. — In infancy the pressure and friction of the clothing upon the skin causes irritation and annoyance. Why is this not the case in adult life? Give examples of other stimuli which you shut out as the result of habit. Per- form an experiment to show that you can shut out or inhibit certain stimuli as the result of voluntary effort. Point out the advantages of being able to inhibit sensa- tions. Describe ways in which such a habit may be formed, E 66 Introductory Educational Psychology Give examples of stimuli which are unnoticed because (a) they are not intense, (b) they are not important, (c) we have formed a habit of inhibiting them, (d) we make an effort to inhibit them. Sub-conscious Attention to Stimuli. — A miller is so accustomed to the sound of the grinding of his mill that he hears his visitor when speaking in an ordinary tone of voice, while the visitor, impressed with the noise, talks loudly in order to make the miller hear him. If a stone happens to grind improperly, who will notice the change in the sound of the grinding first? In what sense is the miller paying more attention to the sound than the visitor is? Is the miller conscious that he is thus paying attention? Can you study as well in a room where a clock is ticking, as you can if the clock is stopped — even though you are not conscious of the ticking ? Give other examples which seem to show that attention may be given to sensations which do not seem to be within the threshold of consciousness. Conscious Attention and Response to Stimuli. — A person enters a dark room with which he is not very familiar and, after some searching, finds the gas jet and lights the gas. Describe in a general way the probable changes in his con- sciousness from the time when he enters the room to the time when he lights the gas. State certain sense stimuli to which he is likely to attend, and others which he will inhibit. Give reasons for the selection. If he comes in contact with a chair in the dark and hurts himself, why does he pay atten- tion to the injured part? Would it be better if we had no pain sensations ? What is the function of pain ? If he moves his hand along the wall in search of the gas jet, does he have in his hand and arm an anticipatory feeling, similar to that which he experiences when he actually touches the gas jet? Is there any difference between the sensation you receive from The Psycho-physical Organism 67 a gas jet which you touch when you are looking for it, and one which touches you when you are not looking for it ? Are you always receiving sensations when awake? Are you al- ways expecting to receive other sensations? Examine your definition of Sensation in the light of the foregoing examples and of the suggestions on page 53. Consider the following: Some such analysis of Sensation as we have adopted on pages 62-64, will assist us in gaining an insight regarding the sequence of changes which must take place in the compar- atively instantaneous and unconscious act of the reception of sense stimuli. An attempt to frame an adequate formal definition of Sensation, however, is met with the following difficulties: 1st. There are countless external stimuli which come in contact with the end organs of the nerve, which are never noticed by us. It is agreed that a sensation must always be psychical, but (as has been pointed out) there are many occa- sions in which we do not know what is the effect (if any) which the stimulus has upon conscious experience. 2nd. A sensation never exists by itself. It is only a part or element of the content of consciousness at any given time. It differs from other elements in that it is occasioned by the immediate action of stimulus upon the end organ of a nerve, and furnishes a basis for knowledge of external objects. It may, therefore, be said to be a presentative element of con- sciousness. 3rd. What we have in consciousness is not a series of isolated things, but a constantly changing process, and Sensa- tion is therefore not a part of a static conscious content, but rather an aspect or phase of a reconstructive conscious pro- cess. 4th. Sensations are seldom, if ever, received in a haphazard way. While it is true that the stimulus must come in contact 68 Introductory Educational Psychology with the end organ of the nerve it is equally true that the in- dividual must receive and act upon the stimulus, otherwise there is no sensation. Certain sense stimuli are selected from others as worthy of attention. These stimuli may demand attention, as in the case of pain sensations, or they may be eagerly sought for, as in the case of the search for the gas jet in the foregoing example. The forms of response which the self-active individual makes to different received sensations, varies from the passing glance of sense-perception to vigorous and continued muscular and mental activity. III.— FORMS OF RESPONSE TO SENSATIONS: A. — Sense-perception. — Analysis. — Consider the way in which the mind acts upon sensations in gaining a knowledge of the external object which furnishes the sense stimulus which occasions the sen- sation. Have some object which you have not previously seen, (e.g., an orange), held up before your eyes near enough to be distinctly seen, but not close enough to admit of the exercise of any other sense upon it. Describe the color, form, size, distance, smell, taste and touch. What kind of sound would it make if it were to fall on the floor ? Is it spherical ? Have you seen the other side of it ? How do you know it is spheri- cal when you have not seen the other side? Would it be possible for a skilful artist to paint a flat surface so as to cause you to think you were looking at a real orange? With what other sense can you test whether the object you are looking at is spherical or flat? Could an artist paint the surface so as to deceive you in regard to the color, e.g., could he make a blue surface look yellow to you? Why do you think this orange is sweet, hard, etc. ? Make a list of the properties which you ascribe to the The Psycho-physical Organism 69 orange, based on sensations which you are now receiving directly through the sense of sight, and another list of proper- ties based on sensations which you think you would have experienced if you had used your other senses in examining the orange. You find that the sensation of color came to you directly through the sense of sight; point out the way in which this sensation caused you to think that the orange was hard, smooth, spherical, etc. Would you have so interpreted this color sensation if you had never had any previous experience in looking at objects ? Name other objects within your field of vision from which you are receiving color sensations at the same time that you are receiving color sensations from the orange. Can you look at an orange without seeing the color of surrounding objects? How and when did you sep- arate the one from the other? Do you have the idea of the orange as separate, that is, can you differentiate it from the other ideas and consider it by itself, analyzing it, etc.? Which did you think of first, the color or the smoothness ? How does the idea of the orange differ from the idea of virtue, or the idea of a centaur? Are you conscious that the object observed is not imagined or remembered, but is now located definitely in space? Describe as fully as you can the action of the mind in the brief interval which elapsed between the time of the first reception of all the crude, undifferentiated color sensations coming from the entire field of vision on first opening your eyes, and the time when you perceived the orange as a definite known object in space. We find that when we first open our eyes, a number of sensations beat upon consciousness, some from sight and some from other senses. Of the sight sensations, some were from the orange and 70 Introductory Educational Psychology some from other objects. The color sensations from the orange were quickly discriminated from all other sensations and, in the light of past experience, were made the basis for the interpretation of other sensations which we might have received had we used other senses in examining the orange. Finally, these were all united as qualities of one object, called an orange, located definitely in space and now seen and known by us. Make a similar analysis of the way in which you gain a knowledge of other objects upon the basis of sensations, for example, when blindfolded, note the way in which by feeling an object, you can discover that it is an orange. Such action is called Perception (sometimes Sense-perception) and the result in consciousness is usually called a Perception or a Per- cept. It will be noted that perception is not limited to the sense of sight; we can perceive an object through any of the senses. Definition. — Write a definition of Perception. Examine the following: "Perception is the act of inter- preting sensations in such a way as to give us a knowledge of external objects." "The consciousness of particular material things present to the sense is called Perception." " Perception is the apperceptive or synthetic activity of mind whereby the data of sensation take on the forms of repre- sentation in space and time." "Perceptions are mental contents due to the joint activity of sensation and apperception." "The perceived thing is not simply the physically present vibrations of atoms and molecules which we call light or sound or what not. It is these vibrations as they are inter- preted by the psycho-physical organism which exposes to them a nervous system already affected by past experiences that The Psycho-physical Organism 71 enable it to get only certain specific kinds of results from the present syntheses." "Perception is the gateway through which the mass of sensory excitations (save those grown purely habitual) must pass before they can be permitted to set up responses of the volitional kind." Fig. 1 Interpretation of Sensations. — Describe what you see in Fig. 1. Is your perception of this object (that is, your knowledge of this line as a definite object in space from which you are receiving sensations of a black color) different from the sensations upon which the perception was based? In what ways have your past experience and education contrib- uted to the formation of the percept? How long does the line seem to be ? How far is it from your eye ? Why is there less apperception in- volved in this case than there was in gain- ing the perception of the orange ? Examine Fig. 2. Describe what you see. Does the figure appear cubical? Are the lines all in one plane ? Why does the line B F ap- pear to be in a different plane from the line A B ? If the figure be cubical, how many degrees are there in the angle ABC? If at first sight Fig. 2 seemed to be the picture of the outline of a cube, how do you account for the fact that you consider- ed the angles A B F and ABC each to be equal to 90 E H/ A D F G /B C / Fig. 2 72 Introductory Educational Psychology ^-^ e y A D F