92. "^ ^= %^^^ ^.<^. o -f V.^^ /. '^i-c ^^^ y ^'':^c/:,-:.:^^'^^y::-:.<< '. ># ,^ °^ .^o. t^^ -^ -; s^ ^0' .V ^>^ .<>. THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING A SUBJECTIVE VIEW OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS BY E. A. KIRKPATRICK, B.S., M.Ph. Author of Fundamentals of Child Study Genetic Psychology, etc. BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 191 1, BY E. A. KIRKPATRICK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (V / ^CI.A2988'iG J6 TO THE MEMORY OF THE ONE WHOSE LOVE NEVER FAILED AND WHOSE BELIEF IN ME WAS AT EVERY STAGE OF LIFE A STIMULUS TO ASPIRE AND ACHIEVE THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE In a recent work, " Genetic Psychology," the author has discussed the general principles governing the devel- opment of behavior and mind in animals and in the hu- man race, giving special prominence to the objective facts. In this volume it is proposed to discuss the devel- opment of individual human minds only, and chiefly from the subjective point of view. This volume is contrasted with the author's earlier book, " Fundamentals of Child Study," by its attempt to trace the development of a child's mind as a whole through various stages instead of discussing separately the various instincts and other phases of child-life. In other words the author attempts, figuratively speaking, to drive a twenty-four-horse team abreast, instead of first leading one, then another, over the course. The need that this shall be done is so great that the author at- tempts it, although he realizes that complete success can scarcely be expected at the present stage of the science. The educator like the mariner needs a chart by which he may guide the child into the most favoring channels and past the most serious dangers that are found in each stage of development from childhood to maturity. The author cannot claim that the correctness of this in- complete chart of human development has been scientifi- cally demonstrated. He can only say, that after a score of years spent in studying children, and much opportu- nity for observing various methods of teaching, he be- lieves that the descriptions and suggestions herein given lead toward the truth. The ideas expressed are not given as final truth for the guidance of psychologists vi PREFACE and educators, but as a formulation of facts and prin- ciples to be corrected and completed by further scien- tific investigations and tested by practical educational experience. The attempt has been made to make the treatment as scientific as the present state of knowledge will ad- mit, and yet to make it sufficiently clear and concrete to be readable. Part One is designed to give the genetic point of view, and present the general principles of development. Part Two, treating of stages of development, will be of inter- est to both parents and teachers, while Part Three es- pecially concerns teachers. It is hoped that the work is sufficiently concrete and specific to be of interest and value to parents and teachers who have not received much training in psychology. It will be of most value, however, to those who have given considerable study to the subject, and have had a good deal of experience with children. For the benefit of those desiring to make a more extensive and thorough study of the topics from various points of view, a number of references are ap- pended at the close of the book. The author has in a way acted as an organizer and interpreter of the work of the many observers and ex- perimenters cited in the references, to all of whom ob- ligations are due. To one of these, the doer or inspirer of nearly all that has been done in America in study- ing children. Dr. G. Stanley Hall, special acknowledg- ments are gratefully made both for his writings and for personal inspiration. Special thanks are also due the author's wife from the author and his readers for eli- minating abstract statements, complicated sentences and mechanical errors. E. A. K. FiTCHBURG Normal School, March, 1911. CONTENTS PART I. General Principles of Subjective Development CHAPTER I. The Personality The Conscious Self. Independence of the Mental Life. Self-Government. Unity of Personality. Exercises. . . 3 CHAPTER II. Interest Nature and Functions. Relation of Interest to Instincts. Work and Play Interests. Varieties of Work Interests. Associated and Transferred Interests. Artificial and Natu- ral Interests. Utilization and Correlation of Interests. Development of Interests. Exercises 11 PART II. Stages of Development CHAPTER III. General Description Need for Distinguishing the Stages of Development. Difficulties of Distinguishing the Stages. Basis of Classifi- cation. The Stages Distinguished and Characterized. Cau- tions to be Observed. Exercises 55 CHAPTER IV. The Pre-Social Period Characteristics. Changes that Take Place during this Period. Treatment during the Period. Exercises ... 64 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER V. Imitating and Socializing Stage ^' Conditions and General Characteristics. Imitation and Social Consciousness. Common Consciousness and Social Sensitiveness. Illustrations of Social Sensitiveness. Lan- guage Acquisition and Ideas. Development of Language and Ideas Illustrated. Perception and Images. Illustra- tions of Perception and Imagery. Memory. Illustrations of Habits and Memories. Imagination and Thinking. Illus- trations of Imaginative and Conceptual Activity. Exercises 72 CHAPTER VI. Period of Individualization Characteristics. Self-Assertion. Illustrations of Con- trariness. Self and the Opinions of Others. Wishes and Ideals. Illustrations of Influence of Ideals. Self -Direction. Learning to Distinguish the Truth. Illustrations of Imagi- nation. Illustrations of Deceptions. Memory. Illustra- tions of Time Ideas and of Memories. Imagination and Standard Images. Story Interest and Ability. Concepts and Reasoning. Illustrations of Questions, Concepts and Reasoning. Exercises Ill CHAPTER VII. Period of Competitive Socialization AND Regulation Characteristics and Changes. Social Direction and Reg- ulation. The Chief Social Influences. Competition. Chum- ming and Leadership. Teasing and Humor. Perception. Imagination. Memory. Concepts and Thinking. Feeling and Will. Obedience and Conformity to Law. Exercises. 166 r ^CHAPTER VIII. The Pubertal or Early Adolescent Period Characteristics and Changes. Illustrations. Sensory and Motor Development. Feelings. Illustrations of Feelings. CONTENTS ix Self-Consciousness. Imagination and Day-dreaming. Il- lustrations of Day-dreaming, Development of Thought. Memory. Moral and Volitional Development. Exercises. 216 CHAPTER IX. Later Adolescence General Characteristics. Exercises 251 PAET III. Eelation of Stages of Develop- ment TO Education CHAPTER X. Function of Education Development. Knowledge and Skill. Positive and Neg- ative Aims in Education. The Undir-ected Learning of Children. Modes of Undirected Learning. Common and Individual Characteristics. Exercises 257 CHAPTER XI. Aims, Materials and Methods at Different Periods A New Basis for Educational Courses. Primary Grades. Intermediate Grades. Higher Grades. High School. Col- lege and University. Exercises 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY 309 INDEX 335 PAET I GENEEAL PRINCIPLES OF SUBJECTIVE DEVELOPMENT THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING GHAPTEE I THE PERSONALITY The Germ of Mental Life. The ultimate standard of value among human beings is personality ; hence its development is of supreme importance. The germ of mental life in the human infant exhibits one of the most striking instances of evolution to be found in nature. Greater changes take place in the mind of an infant in a few years than in ages of plant or animal evolu- tion. This germ of mental life is so constituted that it tends to develop according to inner laws, as does a grain of wheat, yet it is greatly modified in its devel- opment by its environment, physical and psychical. The problem of the student of the genesis of per- sonality is to describe the inner laws governing the de- velopment of a human being and determine how his development is influenced by the outer forces. In doing this it will be necessary first to consider briefly the nature of a conscious personality and then to discuss a mental state that is most closely identified with that development, i. e., interest. After this the stages of development may be described and their significance to the educator pointed out. The Conscious Self. Each human mind is in a way a unity complete in itself. Many phases of the sur- roundings are mirrored in it and each portion of the 4 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING universe exists for it only as it comes within the circle of the individual consciousness. The consciousness of one person is separate and distinct from that of any other person. His mind is a mental world by itself — a dis- tinct mental organism. Each mind has a life of its own, yet its vigor and health depend upon maintaining proper relations with the body, with the physical environment and with other minds, and upon a proper relation of its activities to each other. A mind in a weakened or dis- ordered body is handicapped and the person who shuts himself off from sensory experiences, isolates himseK from contact with other minds or allows one idea or pas- sion to rule, becomes mentally abnormal and unhealthy. The mental life is rooted in a physiological organism and really emerges as the result of the latter's activities in responding to the physical environment. In its germ the conscious self is merely an awareness of conscious states produced by physiological processes and sensory motor reactions. The infant has no control of its move- ments and may repeatedly scratch itself without know- ing how to avoid the action. Its movements are partly of an indefinite, chance character and partly of more definite reflex and instinctive character. The infant is in somewhat of the condition of a man who should find himseK in a shop where machines of all sorts were in motion. He would at first have no control over them. By noticing what happened after each motion and by pulling various cranks and levers he would learn to know what to expect at any moment and could ulti- mately control the various machines. In a similar way does the babe gradually gain control of his bodily move- ments. In the meantime the conscious states that are experienced are organized into a conscious self. THE PERSONALITY 5 Independence of Mental Life. Althougli the mental life comes into existence through the activities of the physiological mechanisms and the action of the environ- I ment upon the organs of special sense, it attains a large measure of independence. After the higher cerebral centers are developed, so long as they remain in healthy activity, the mental life of thought may be carried on for long periods of time with little or no modification produced by lower centers or by outside stimulations of the special senses. One may remain at home and live mentally in a distant place or age, or on the other hand he may actually travel in distant climes and yet carry with him his home mental life. One of the most marked a differences in individuals is the extent to which they J become independent of their immediate environment! and of moods physiologically initiated. This independ- s ence of consciousness of the immediate physiological and environmental influence is due in part to the fact that it may select for modifying itself, any portion of the environment. By change of attention one can bring into the fore- ground any one of the many sensations resulting from physiological processes and sense stimulations ; he may change objects or move sense organs so as to get differ- ent sensations and he may choose his future mental ex- periences by going where he will get new sensations, emotions and ideas, or he may engage in other activities. One can thus determine within pretty wide limits what his mental life shall be. Furthermore he not only can select objects for notice, but can modify the effects of what is noticed according to the nature of his mental life. The botanist, the gardener and the artist may select the same flower for notice, but each gets a different men- 6 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING tal experience from it, the botanist, its classification, the gardener, its use, and the artist, its beauty. In a similar way each object may appear different to the same per- son if he examines it with a changed purpose. A knife gives different impressions when observed for use as an article of commerce, a screwdriver, a pencil sharpener or a paperweight. I At birth, mental freedom is wholly lacking. Man does not inherit freedom, nor can it be given him ; he must achieve it for himself. The degree in which it is attained is, in general, a pretty good measure of the de- gree of mental development and organization that has been reached by the individual. Self -Government. Whatever amount and variety of knowledge and skill a human being may possess he is lacking in the essential characteristic of a human per- sonality if he is not self-directing and self-governing. An individual who performs certain actions, when di- rected to do so, absolutely according to directions, may perform valuable service for society, but he is not in so doing, showing the essential elements of a human individual any more than is a type-writer or adding machine when fulfilling its mechanical func- tions. To be useful in certain lines a human being needs to become like a machine in some of his actions, yet the essential nature of human personality is not shown in such actions, but in the choosing of what he shall do and in directing his actions in accordance with his choices. On the other hand, a person whose actions are di- rected wholly by the impulses of the moment is like a social group in a state of anarchy where there is little consistency in conduct. A self-governing person must THE PERSONALITY 7 act in accordance with law just as mucli as the one who conforms absolutely to the directions given him. The only difference is that the law is an ideal within the individual himself instead of originating in some one else. All educational influences brought to bear upon human individuals are misdirected if they do not tend , to produce a personality that governs itself in accord- 1 ance with certain constant, conscious purposes or prin- ciples of conduct. An individual is well developed only when he has had experience both in modifying things in accordance with his desires and in modifying himself in accordance with conditions or rules that he cannot change. A per- sonality that seeks to impose its desires and wishes upon every thing and every body, if unchecked, be- comes an undesirable member of society and an erratic, unhappy individual. For his own good and for the ad- vantage of society he must realize that nature and so- ciety are stronger than he is, and instead of fretting or dashing himself against law he must learn to direct his actions according to rules and must change himself so that he will desire to conform to law. This development of personality may be produced to some extent by con- sistently enforced obedience but is better produced, where practicable, by having the individual engage in work and meet various social situations. These always require regulation of conduct and conformity to natural and social laws. Unity of Personality. Not only should a well devel- oped personality be self -directing, but it should at all times be an organized, consistent unity or be progress- ing toward such unity. This does not mean that one may not change his characteristics at different stages 8 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING of development but merely that at each stage there shall be unity and harmony rather than varied and conflicting tendencies. Although ideals should be in advance of habits, yet if they are too remote to influence conduct in the direction of forming habits in accord with them, the in- dividual is weaker, and therefore not so vicious or virtuous a person as he would be if his ideals and habits were in accord. In a similar way the formation of habits of one type under authoritative control, while at the same time holding opposing ideals of conduct, is weakening. If there is no great or long continued con- scious repugnance to the directed action the tendency is, however, for one to become used to the action and finally to regard it with favor and pleasure. On the other hand, if the feelings are strong they are likely to modify the conduct either gradually as there is opportu- nity or in a sudden rebellion. It is very undesirable that the conflict between impulse and habit should be long continued with one, and then the other, in ascendancy. Still worse in their ultimate effects may be the results of conflicts within the individual's own consciousness. Where one's own ideals are opposed by his desires there is war within the governing authority of consciousness. If the conflict can be settled by thinking about the matter and definitely deciding to give up one of the op^ posing tendencies and acting accordingly, the unity of the conscious self is restored. If this is done every time and the decision carried out without again opening the controversy, unity and strength of personality tend to be developed and established. If on the other hand the conflict is not definitely settled one way or the other, but continually renewed, THE PERSONALITY 9 or if it is settled by sheer force of will that merely com- pels action in one direction without changing the desire to do the opposite, the results are likely to be unfortu- i, nate. An impulse that is neither replaced by another' j nor given some sort of an outlet, may poison or para- lyze as does a closed wound or a felon. Freud, Sidis, Prince and others have treated many cases of disordered personality caused by such suppression of impulses. There is good reason to believe that what are some- times called " strangulated ideas" and impulses are the sources of a large proportion of cases of hysteria, dis- ordered personality, diseased will and insanity that are not mainly physical in their origin. It is therefore of supreme importance to the health and strength of the mental self that its various states shall be harmonized and unified. This means that one must have some sort of a philo- sophy of life and a moral code as well as standards of truth, taste, value, etc. that are harmonized with each other and with one's conduct. When any one of these change it is necessary that the others shall change to har- monize with it, if a healthful unity of personality is to be maintained. An individual may therefore be dominated by quite different impulses and ideas at different times, and yet his nature at each stage be a harmonious unity. There is, however, some loss of efficiency if one stage does not prepare for the next, and much loss if it is of a character that hinders the fullest development of the personality at each stage. EXERCISES 1. Name if you can anything that has a value independ- ent of any relation to a person. 10 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 2. Is there such a thing as beauty without a person to see it? 3. Is a hermit life favorable to mental health ? Why ? 4. In the present world could a mind exist without a body with senses and muscles ? 5. How nearly complete is your control of your own body ? How may it be increased ? 6. Write a list of a hundred words as quickly as you can. After doing so look them over and see how many have no relation to anything you see, hear or feel at the moment. 7. Illustrate individual differences in ideas aroused by the same objects. 8. Give an example of a person showing little self -direc- tion and of one showing great independence. 9. Which is most likely to realize the necessity of conform- ing to law, a farmer or a speculator ? Why ? 10. What is the effect of changing one's mind often or of cherishing secret wishes opposed to one's ideals ? Why ? CHAPTER II INTEREST Nature and Functions. With no state of conscious- ness is tlie development of the mental life so closely as- sociated as with interest. The character and degree of one's interest at any time reveal what he is and indicate what he has been and is likely to become. Interest is to mental life what digestion is to the physical. It deter- mines what of the surroundings shall become a part of the mental seK and how all shall be organized and re- lated in consciousness. Interest not only makes one sensitive, either for the moment or permanently, to cer- tain kinds of stimuli and causes corresponding ideas to survive in consciousness, but it gives a bent to the mind, directs the organization of ideas and thus deter- mines what the future mental states shall be. One who is interested in birds will hear and see them more read- ily than other persons, will approach them and note their relation to the surroundings, will seek confirma- tion of his observations from other persons and from books and will, to a considerable extent, organize his ideas of nature, books and people with reference to their power to gratify his interest in birds. Interest is usually regarded as a feeling or affective state of consciousness that is associated with corre- sponding activities of attention and associated move- ments. Interest may also exist in the form of an unconscious tendency to respond to certain kinds of stimulation. Many natural and acquired tendencies to 12 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING be interested in certain things are therefore represented in consciousness only during the stimulation that gives occasion to the activity. The bird lover may therefore be said to be interested in birds although at the moment his mind may be wholly occupied with other things. This permanent potential interest is easily changed into a positive active interest by the sight or sound of a bird, as is not the case with one who is not thus interested. The term interest is used to imply not only a feeling or readiness to feel in certain ways, but also the determi- nation of the direction and degree of activity and effort. In this sense its meaning is almost identical with one meaning of attention. ■ There is a physiological and neural basis for all inter- est. The kind of food an animal or person is interested in depends upon his physiological structure and his previous habits. One can have no visual interest, prop- erly speaking, if he lacks the necessary sense organ. Even in one who has normal sight there may be little interest aroused by visual sensations if the surround- ings and his previous experiences in the form of habits do not tend to arouse it. Interest is to the mental life what coordination of movements is to physical efficiency. Movements are of no value unless they are related and coordinated so as to be used now for one end, now for another. In a similar way the mental life is effective only as ideas are coordinated by the various interests. Birds may be thought of as types of animal life, as objects of beauty or as useful in destroying insects, according as the sci- entific, aesthetic or economic interest predominates. The mental life is thus organized and unified in rela- tion to each class of objects according to the nature of INTEREST 13 the interest that dominates. Our observation and thought about a pencil is determined by our needs. In- terest in it may be determined by its use for writing or drawing, as an article of manufacture and com- merce, as something to measure or poke with, etc. In each case a different adjustment of ideas and acts is required. Without interest to unify our mental life, conscious- ness would be a jumble of miscellaneous states, while with it all are related and unified by whatever interest, momentary or permanent, serves as a determining prin- ciple of selection and organization. A sudden sound such as the ringing of a bell may disturb the present unity of our mental state and we are then interested until an explanation of the sound is found in some- thing in our surroundings, either actually perceived or represented. In a similar way every feeling, image and idea that appears in the mind is likely to give rise to ideas that relate it to other sensations, images, ideas and movements. Whenever there is interest, activity continues until the want is satisfied and equilibrium restored or until the interest dies out without culminat- ing in a unified mental state. In all thinking, the men- tal states are modified and ideas formed that bring into harmony what seemed unexplained, incomplete or conflicting. It is contrary to the nature of consciousness to hold in mind a number of diverse states without striving to relate and unify them. Interest is therefore an indi-l cator and preserver of healthful mental life. When we lose interest in everything our mental life drops to a very low ebb. On the other hand, the continued domi- nance of interest associated with one idea only is also 14 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING suggestive of mental disturbance. Many insane patients cannot be diverted in any way from one idea that dominates all their thought. Still more serious are the cases where there is no persistence of interest. The patient's ideas are diverse and disconnected to such an extent that his attention cannot be held for a single moment. So necessary are persistent, active and varied interests to a healthy mental life that one who loses his interest in everything should be placed under the care of a physician. Teachers sometimes say that a child is not interested in anything, but if the child is healthy this is only a partial truth. After further observation he will be found to be interested in something on the playground or at home, if not in any of the school work. This pre- serves his mental health, yet, if during school hours he is not interested in anything, his mental life is being impoverished in the same way as would be the physical if the processes of digesting and assimilating food were to cease for long periods of time. Forcing knowledge upon one without arousing interest, like giving food when there is no appetite, is likely to produce mental indigestion. Varied and intense interests on the other hand necessarily promote the development of a vigorous mental life. It is through interesting activity that all of our com- plex sensory motor, representative and thought proces- ses are related and unified. In constructing a table, making a dress or writing a composition, none of the movements or ideas have any significance except in re- lation to the attainment of the end, the securing of which satisfies the interest. The same is true of all of our activities. The meaning of a long series of acts, even of INTEREST 15 one's whole life, can be understood only in relation to the interest that dominated the activity. Mind and character are therefore moulded by interest. Harmony and unity are attained only when each interest is re- lated to a suitable form of activity and when all inter- ests and activities are related to a few dominant inter- ests, such as those of science, art, philosophy. The most inclusive form of interest that unifies all others is often that of religion. Just in proportion as one has many interests properly related and unified by some higher and dominating interest, is his mental life and character developed and efficient, while the lack of uni- fying interests means an inconsistent, inefficient char- acter. The subject of interest is therefore of the great- ) est importance to all educators. Relation of Interest to Instincts. It is easily un- derstood that the interests of animals are closely re- lated to their instincts. In the case of man, with his numerous and easily modified instincts, the relation is less evident but doubtless is equally close. It is clearly evident however that a hungry child or man is ready to respond to anything connected with food. This is especially true when there is a consider- able interval of time before food is obtained. A starv- ing man's thoughts when awake and his dreams when asleep are as a rule almost wholly concerned with food. It is only when this fundamental instinct is satisfied that he is ready to be interested in other things. Some- times, however, the higher intellectual interests will for a considerable time prevent one from thinking of food. Fear and anger are also very strong stimuli to interest. It has often been supposed that interest is propor- tioned to the amount of feeling being experienced or 16 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING anticipated. This is not, however, necessarily the case. The tendency to think and to dream of food and eating, when hungry, is of a strength wholly disproportionate to the pleasure the taste of the food will give. In fact the starving man is likely to devour food so rapidly that he scarcely tastes it. It is also true of fear, sex and other instincts that the feelings experienced do not, of themselves, account for the persistency and intensity of the interest aroused in connection with those in- stincts. We are so constructed that to do certain things seems desirable, and memory of former pleasure in those things increases the desirability, but representation of the plea- sure or pleasures does not usually add greatly to the impulse to act. The child is powerfully impelled to do what he has seen some one else do, the boy to win in a game, the man to secure a wife, a house, or an office, be- cause they are desirable and interesting in themselves, and because they mean the securing of other things that are desirable and interesting, aU of which suggest plea- sure to be experienced, but do not necessarily involve the representation of pleasure as such. He who dwells upon the pleasure to be felt rather than the end to be gained, is liable to lose interest in everything ex- cept himself, and may be led to say, " What is the use of it all ? " On the other hand he who represents as at- tractive many ends and activities and perceives their relations to each other, never lacks for interests. Primarily, objects and acts are attractive or repugnant because our nature is what it is, or in other words, be- cause our instincts are what they are. Odors, tastes, sounds and sights that are very repugnant to us may be very attractive to animals whose instincts differ from INTEREST 17 those of man, and the same is true of activities of va- rious kinds. The longer the interval between the arousal of an instinctive tendency and its satisfaction, the more chance there is for interest to be awakened. A child is less in- terested in eating than in preparations to give him food. In man this is the case to a much greater extent than in animals, for he satisfies many of his instincts by indirect means, such as the use of tools. To a consider- able extent, mental activity involving interest takes the place in man of objective movements. This is es- pecially true of civilized man, who obtains food, shelter, safety, by such indirect means as engaging in some industry or profession. Although when fully aroused, the interests associated with the biologically useful instincts are among the most powerful in man as they are in animals, yet in more highly civilized man they are for the most part subordinate to the more intellectual and social interests. For the intellectual life of man it is as important that his ideas shall be in harmony with those of other people as it is for his physical life that he shall react in ap- propriate ways to his physical environment. There is some physical necessity and a very marked psychical necessity for man to react properly to people and to their customs, emotional states and intellectual beliefs. The social interests are therefore very prominent in man and are associated with all other kinds of interest. Interest in food, clothing and shelter, although based on biological needs, is to a considerable extent domi- nantly social. We desire not so much what will sus- tain life, as that kind of food, furniture, clothes, houses, etc., that will favorably impress other people 18 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING and give us the feeling of being in social harmony with them. I Esthetic interests of various kinds, as aroused by ^ form, color and sound, are universal and of considerable strength even in the savage, who even decorates his war club to make it more beautiful. This interest is, how- ever, distinctly one that can reach its fullest develop- ; ment only when it is socially shared with others. The collective, constructive and expressive instincts as well as those of imitation, play and curiosity are among the most important sources of interest in man and are all, to a considerable extent, concerned with people rather than with things. By means of artificial language, more definite mental states are developed and it is possible to correlate and harmonize more closely one's mental states with those of other persons. This makes possible the development of the higher social and intellectual interests that so continuously dominate in the minds of cultured men. Even in the case of an infant whose intellectual development has not proceeded very far, the higher interests are dominant the greater portion of the waking time if his bodily wants are kept reasonably satisfied. If interests depended only upon the biologically useful instincts there could be but little development of intel- lectual interest. Almost from the first, however, a child [ shows instinctive tendencies that give rise to the higher ' intellectual interests which are the chief means of his mental development. Just in proportion as these higher interests dominate, does the human soul develop the characteristics that distinguish it from the mind of ani- mals. Work and Play Interests. The two chief native INTEREST 19 forms of interest that are given force by instinctive ten- dencies are those of work [and play. In general, the biologically useful instincts are primarily sources of work interests, since the objects, food, escape, etc. are the ends that must be secured ; yet in the young which are protected from the environment, they are also sources of much "playful activity. The young animal plays at fighting and at capturing prey before it engages in those activities as serious work, and the child playfully imi- tates the work of adults. The adaptive, social, aesthetic and other higher instincts are however the primarily important sources of play interests in man. Playful in- terests may lead to work interests, as when there is a definite attempt to obtain or produce something beauti- ful or intellectually satisfying. Work and play interests, although often contrasted, have much in common. They are both natural in the sense that they arise within consciousness as it reacts to its environment, instead of being arbitrarily imposed by some other consciousness. Play is often supposed to be the dominant interest of childhood and work of matu- rity. As a matter of fact the interests of the young child are not clearly differentiated into those of work and play while the activities of the mature man may combine the two forms of interest. In childhood and youth they are often very sharply contrasted. Play always implies freedom to do or not to do a cer- tain thing, and also freedom in doing, as regards how it shall be done and how long the activity shall continue. The end, though serving to unify the activities, is in it- self of little importance. Work on the other hand in- volves some limitations of freedom because there is some kind of necessity for doing the thing, a certain time for 20 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING doing it and certain ways in which it must be done. The end itself is important while the activity of gaining it is relatively of less significance. The child who is play- ing at cooking may begin or stop at any time, use what- ever materials he pleases, perform the imaginary act of cooking in any way that suits him, and throw away the pro- duct when it is finished. In the case of the woman who is actually cooking, there is some kind of necessity that it should be done and at a certain time, and she can use only the proper materials in the right proportions, hence her activities are directed by the end to be gained, and the conditions and the nature of the material with which she is working, while the product is of value in itself. When a child is using blocks in building a house, especially when he is trying to build a certain style of house, his activity involves some of the characteristics of both work and play. He is free to do it or not, with- out unpleasant consequences, and he may stop at any time he chooses. The mere movement of the blocks may also be a pleasing form of activity. Thus far his actions have the characteristics of play. In so far as he has an end to be reached in the form of a certain structure or definite style of house which can be made only by select- ing and placing the blocks in accordance with that idea, his activity has the characteristic of work, in that it is directed by the end. If the house is to be preserved for some time, the end to be gained is also of some per- manent importance, as it usually is in work. This and many other activities of the child, therefore, involve the essential elements of both work and play. In a similar way an adult cook or carpenter may einjoy the activity leading to a successful result and INTEREST 21 freely choose to engage in it and carry it on in the proper way, when there is no necessity in the form of unpleasant consequences requiring the act to be per- formed. In like manner every occupation of adult life, either manual or mental, may combine the essential ele- ments of work and play. In order that this may be the case, the activity itself must be so related to the na- tural and acquired tendencies that it is at least not dis- agreeable, and one must be confident and skillful in carrying it on in the way that wiU bring the desired result. Games and sports present other examples of the com- bination of the characteristics of work and play. In games there is the freedom to begin and stop when one wishes and choice as to what games shall be played, but there are usually some rules in accordance with which the activity must be directed. The pleasure of the game does not consist so much in the separate actions them- selves as in their relation to the attainment of some end, usually in competition with some other person or persons. The end attained, however, unlike the end in work activity, has no permanent value in itself. Sports of various kinds involve the same elements of freedom as do games. Some of the separate activities may be in themselves disagreeable, but when combined with others in reaching some end, such as winning the race or hitting the mark, they may be very enjoyable. If the end has some permanent value and there is some necessity of securing it, the game or sport may be transformed almost completely into work. Activities known as amusements belong to the more passive form of play interest, the activity usually being aroused and directed by some one else. There is free- 22 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING dom to choose any form of movements and no necessity to gain any specific end. The work element is, however, brought in to some extent if the amusement is regarded also as a means of culture, or as a necessary recreation preliminary to success in some other line of work. If one takes some active part in the amusement, as he may do in literary, artistic and scientific lines, the activity may combine the elements of play, amusement and work. In one's vocation it is possible to combine play and work to a considerable extent. Although one must do something, he may choose his occupation and having acquired skill in pursuing it and become habituated to certain hours and places of working, he will feel no limitation of his freedom in doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, and he may enjoy the activity of doing it as much or more than the perma- nent results that he secures. Work and play interests are not only often combined in a harmonious way, but they naturally alternate and each by contrast increases the interest in the other. While working, the thought of play to follow adds intensity to the interest because it presents a motive and suggests a contrast. The free play is enjoyed after the directed effort of work and one is refreshed for vigorous work again. This rhythmic relation of the two types of activ- ity is easily established at an early age and may well be preserved all through life. Only in the proper combina- tion and alternation of play and work interests can de- veloping consciousness find its continuous equilibrium and its completest satisfaction. The child never works so vigorously as when a chance to play is the reward and never enjoys play so much as when it comes m a relief and reward after work. INTEREST 23 The same is true of men. Most of them work that they may indulge their play impulses in some form or other, in games, sports, music, the theatre, art, litera- ture, social activity and personal penchants of whatever kind. The individual and the race that have no such desires for play and amusement are usually shiftless through lack of motive. There is no reason why they should work steadily or provide for the future so long as they meet the actual necessities of life as they come. Civilization differs from savagery largely in the fact that civilized man has many forms of play and amuse- ment that serve as motives for work. The importance of play and amusement is increasing with civilization because the hours of necessary labor are becoming shorter and specialization in industries gives exercise to only a few powers. Hence playful exercises are needed both as a means of recreation and as a means of more complete development. Work interest is associated with ends that are re- garded as necessary to the physical or mental life. Hence, however useful work interests may be in making an individual an efficient member of society, they are not the primary influence in developing the personal self. It is in play interest that the selective function of consciousness is at its maximum. In general, work interests are forced upon one by circumstances, while play interests represent free choices of the self. Work interests help to mould the personality in accordance with the surroundings in which one is placed, while play interests develop it from within according to its own nature. Work interests lead us to make a living while play interests enable us to live more fully the life demanded by our own nature. Work interests are there- 24 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING fore primarily valuable in preparing for one's vocation, and play interests, in acquiring culture and general power. Varieties of Work Interest. In all work interest there is some kind of necessity for attaining the end toward which the effort is directed. In animals this in- terest is usually comparatively transient, since they use only the more direct means of obtaining the necessary ends of food, safety, etc. In man it is very much pro- longed, because through the use of tools and machinery and the exchange of goods very indirect means of se- curing ends are used. In natural work interest the end to be reached and the means by which it is to be secured are clearly re- lated in consciousness. The means used are not arbi- trarily chosen, but seem to be determined by the nature of things. In more primitive conditions of life the means are determined by the laws of nature, and in order to attain any given end, such as food of a certain kind, one must conform to the laws of nature in going to places where such food is found, taking the necessary means of capturing it or of raising it by planting and cultivating the ground. In more highly civilized society the laws of nature are more fully known and utilized, yet the ordinary worker who is running a machine has his actions deter- mined, not by his knowledge of the laws of nature, but by his knowledge of how the machine works. He obtains the means of purchasing the food that has been secured by others by manipulating the machine in accordance with the way it has been made to work. He may also find that he can secure better rewards for his labor by acting in such ways as wiU secure the favor of those INTEREST 25 with and for whom he is working. Much of what the modern workman does, therefore, in laboring to secure the necessities of life is not clearly recognized as a means which in the nature of things must be used to secure the ends for which he is working. If he studies the machine with which he is working so as to make it do the most effective work possible, and if his rewards are felt to be proportionate to the effi- ciency of his work, he has a genuine work interest simi- lar to that of the more primitive hunter, agriculturist or hand worker. If, on the other hand, he makes no study of the machine on which he is working, but merely does as he is told and tries to keep the favor of the boss, and by that means, or through his union, to get as large wages as possible, he has very little genuine work interest, because he is not directed by a feeling of natural relation between the end desired and the means used. The boy who is selling papers has a genuine work in- terest in the calculations necessary in his business. When, however, he works problems in school whose relation to any end that he wishes to gain is not perceived by him, he has not the same sort of genuine work interest in the calculations. If he believes that working such problems will help him to secure ends that he will wish to attain later in life, he may have a genuine work interest in the problem, although it is likely to be less intense than when he has some more immediate end to be secured. He may wish to solve a problem because solving it maybe a means of gaining a reward or avoiding a pun- ishment. In that case the interest is not primarily in the mathematical operations, but in securing the reward or avoiding the punishment. If, however, he has to study out the method of solving the problem in order 26 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING to secure a desired result, his activities are directed in the same way as they would be if the solution of the problem were the motive. If, however, he is told what to do and how to do it and avoids punishment or secures reward by following directions, he may have no clear per- ception of the relation of the operations gone through to the answer obtained. If he is not told what to do, but can get suggestions of how to proceed from com- panions or from the teacher's voice or expression of face, or from the answer in the book, he may still be able to get the answer without perceiving the mathe- matical relations involved, and he has of course no real mathematical interest. If he is offered a prize for certain attainments in mathematical ability, which can be secured only by a thorough understanding of the operations involved, he has an interest that is genuine so far as the mathematical calculations are concerned, but the reward is probably artificial in the sense that it is specially given rather than one that can usually be secured by the exercise of such ability. One who simply follows directions as does a slave, without any appreciation of the relation of what he is doing to the results that will follow, is not actuated by any of the essential characteristics of a genuine work interest. His activities are not self-determined by a consciousness of the relation of those activities to de- sired ends, but are outwardly determined by the direc- tions of another in order to obtain ends that are also under the control of some one else. It is undoubtedly true that this is the condition of a great many children in school. They are doing what they are told to do without any clear perception of the relation of what they INTEREST 27 are doing to any end, either immediate or remote, ex- except that of getting along comfortably in school. A child who is very anxious to please his teacher will do anything she wants him to do with numbers, but he is not therefore necessarily interested in mathemat- ical work in the sense of trying to find the means of getting results that are useful. He is often studying what will please the teacher rather than the necessary truths of mathematics. Where the marking system is used he may care for the marks as an evidence of the approval of the teacher and as a means of securing the approval of parents and perhaps the envy of other children and as a condi- tion for promotion to another grade, or even to another school. If he has no other reason than the mark for succeeding, he will use the means that are easiest to him for securing that mark. These means involve to a large extent a knowledge of the peculiarities of the teacher. There may be no interest in the operations themselves except as a means to the end of securing marks when all other means fail. A student working for marks is therefore often like a contractor who studies politicians and political methods in order to get profitable contracts, instead of studying his business in order to do his work most efficiently. We see, therefore, that there are many varieties of work interest of varying degrees of genuineness and completeness. It is evident that work interest is of the greatest value when the end to be gained is one con- forming to the higher phases of man's nature, is one made necessary by the laws of the natural and human environment in which one is placed or is to live in the future, and when the relations between the end and the 28 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING means are also fundamental and are discovered or at least clearly perceived by the individual who is work- ing. Such genuine work interest not only prepares one for the greatest efficiency in the higher forms of in- dustry and professional practice in the future, but also promotes the most effective and harmonious develop- ment of the personality at the time. Associated and Transferred Interests. In the purely instinctive actions of animals there are more or less immediate and specifically defined movements by which the instinctive tendencies are manifested. In man these movements are less definitely defined and he has an infinite number of indirect means of satisfying many of the instincts. There are thousands of different kinds of activity that may become interesting to man because they are means of obtaining food, shelter, protection and enjoyment. The only thing necessary to arouse a work interest in any form of activity is to perceive that such activity is a means to the satisfaction of an instinctive need. A work interest in any form of activity, established by persistent practice, may result in the activity itself becoming pleasurable and interesting. If one's thought becomes occupied more with the activity itself than with the permanent value of the result to be obtained, the feelings associated with it and the stimulus to such activity become more playful in character. To many men business finally becomes a sort of a game in which the activity of doing and succeeding is enjoyed more than the results in the form of wealth and what it may bring. In a similar way the play interest may emerge in every occupation and in all forms of intellect- ual effort. INTEREST 29 Whenever an interest has been developed in any oc- cupation, activity, or knowledge, interest in any other occupation or set of facts may be roused by showing its relation to those in which there is already interest. In this way one who is interested in machines may be led to an interest in mathematics, when he finds that he cannot reach the highest success without a more complete knowledge of mathematical operations. In a similar way one who is interested in politics may be- come interested in the sciences or biology and phy- siology as when legislation is demanded regarding agriculture and health. Again, any activity, whatever the motive for engaging in it in the first place and whether it is naturally agreeable or not, may become so if there are uniformly pleasant associations connected with carrying it on and if the pleasure of success or other reward always results from it. The pleasure associated with the activity, per- haps in an incidental or arbitrary way, is thus trans- ferred to the activity itself. Practice also gives a free- dom in action that prepares the way for a more specific play interest in what is being done. It is therefore pos- sible to develop an interest in almost any form of ac- tivity if it is carried on under pleasant associations and is so planned that it is neither too easy nor too difficult. There is very little natural basis for interest in such a subject as Latin although some natural curiosity may be excited in the beginning of the study. It is an undoubted fact, however, that a very intense and per- manent interest in Latin has been developed in many individuals, often without any appeal to natural curi- osity. Under effective teaching a pupil succeeds in learning the lesson assigned him and is each day able to 30 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING use the results of his previous lessons in the new exer- cises that he undertakes. The otherwise uninteresting process is enlivened by competition with his mates, by the approval of the teacher and the pleasure of success. These are in part transferred to the act of learning and as he acquires skill in the application of the knowledge gained, somethiug of a play interest in studying and translating is developed. A permanent interest of this sort can, however, rarely be developed without many years of study. The old time student of Latin who continued to read it all his life because of the pleasure it gave him has now become comparatively rare. In the case of the modern high school and 'college student, Latin is not pursued long enough and exclusively enough to develop such a per- manent interest. In few subjects can one more effect- ively get the consciousness of successful effort than in Latin when the lessons are properly arranged, but there are many other subjects more closely related to things in which there is already an interest and that seem more directly related to practical success in many occupations. Comparatively few present day students therefore de- velop a permanent interest in Latin. Mathematics have all the advantages of Latin in an increased degree, as regards the arrangement of the work so that what has been previously learned can be used and success attained. They have also the advan- tage of being associated with many interesting activities even before the child enters school. The early work in numbers has not usually been arranged as well as it might be, so that what is learned each day can be used the next day in some new exercise, yet a play interest in mathematical calculations is very frequently de- INTEREST 31 veloped. An unnecessary amount of formal drill has been given in learning number combinations, instead of incidental drill while doing new things. For example, after learning to combine small numbers, drill may be obtained by adding and multiplying tens, hundreds and thousands mentally : drill in the multiplication and ad- dition tables, by written multiplication with two or more digits ; and in division, multiplication and subtraction tables by written division examples, etc. The formal drill has been made interesting by various devices trans- forming it into a game involving competition, which is often effective, but which does not so often develop a genuine mathematical interest as arranging the work in such a way that what is known can continually be used in new operations that are just difficult enough to give the keen pleasure of successful effort. We have perhaps now not as much as formerly youths and men who have the genuine play interest in mathematical calculations, which leads them to solve problems for the pleasure of it as others solve puzzles. Artificial and Natural Interests. The term artificial interest implies that it has come into existence by some special act of a person rather than in the natural course of events. There is also the implication that it lacks the essential or permanent characteristics of the real thing. The interest aroused through the ordinary association with things and people and which under ordinary circum- stances is self -perpetuating, may be regarded as genuine, natural interest. It is difficult, however, to distinguish between the interests arising from ordinary associa- tions with people and those intentionally produced for a purpose. Since interests are so readily transferred and may then become self-perpetuating, it is exceedingly 32 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING difficult to draw the line between artificial and genuine interests. In general, however, only pure work interests, pure play interests or combinations of the two that arise and continue under ordinary conditions are genuine in- terests, while all others are wholly or partially artifi- cial. It has been held that interests in the school must in the nature of the case be at first largely artificial. The child is supposed to be preparing for adult life, but he is not surrounded by the conditions of adult life and has not within himseK the natural impulses of adults. It is assumed therefore that interest in adult activities must be artificially stimulated. It may be questioned in the first place whether the child cannot in a large measure better be prepared for adult life by living most com- pletely the life of a child and developing in a natural way the interests of childhood, later youth and manhood, as the conditions and instinctive tendencies change. Passing this question, however, we may consider, on the supposition that the child must engage in some activities suited to adult life, whether he must necessa- rily be stimulated to do so by arousing artificial inter- ests exclusively. We note in the first place that child- ren show a very strong tendency to notice what adults do and to imitate every form of activity in which they engage. This interest which is at first of an entirely playful character may readily be cultivated in many of the school subjects. At a later stage children are interested not only in playfully imitating acts by actual movements or in im- aginative play, but they become more interested in a serious way as they think of what they are to do when they become men. This natural work interest, though INTEREST 33 the end is rather remote, may have considerable influ- ence especially as children approach puberty. Again, children spontaneously undertake many forms of construction and may be led to see that in order to attain their end successfully they must learn or practice a number of things that are ordinarily given in the special studies in school. Children are also naturally curious and as they become familiar with the things and people of their own environment they readily become interested in things and people to be found in other places and ages. Hence there is a natural basis for in- terest in geography, history and the sciences. There are also natural interests in color, rhythm, sentiment and humor, that serve as a basis for interest in art, nature and literature. In order to gratify these various interests, artistic, constructive and literary, the child finds it necessary to be interested to a greater or less extent in the more formal subjects of reading, writ- ing and arithmetic. If the elements of knowledge and skill required for adult life are presented to children at the time and in a manner and order best suited to arouse their natural play and work interest, comparatively little will need to be done in the way of artificially arousing interest in the school subjects, beyond having the work done under pleasant associations. When the attempt is made to arouse artificial inter- est it should be done under the following limitations. The interest should be as little artificial as possible and should be transformed into a genuine interest that will be self-perpetuating under the usual conditions of life. The approval of teachers, parents and others, of effort in any line is less artificial than the giving of a mark 34 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING or of a degree. Approval of others always remains as a natural stimulus to effort in any line, while marks are given only under special conditions and are a stimulus not so much because they indicate approval, as because they are a means to promotion or are a special kind of evidence of successful competition. Both personal ap- proval and marks give associative rather than intrinsic interest in the subjects themselves and the activities in- volved, but personal approval, because of its naturalness and long continuance, is more likely to result in the transference of interest to the activities and ends in- volved. In so far as subjects are being pursued for practical purposes such as are involved in the more mechanical processes carried on under the direction of another, ar- tificial interests will serve as well as genuine natural in- terests, providing they can be made sufficiently strong to result in as accurate and permanent knowledge or skill. The methods of arousing artificial interests may more easily be formulated and carried into execution than those for appealing to natural interests and de- veloping them into genuine permanent interests. By depending upon artificial interests it is possible to have a regular program of work, while in appealing to natural interest the impulses prominent in the individual at the time must continually be considered and the work adapted to his impulses instead of his being required to conform to the schedule in his work. So far as practical education is concerned the ordinary teacher can more surely cause the child to acquire the necessary know- ledge and skill partly or wholly through arousing arti- ficial interests than by depending chiefly upon natural interests. The highly skilled teacher on the other hand INTEREST 35 may secure better results in a shorter time by depend- ing almost wholly upon genuine interest naturally aroused. In so far as the purpose of education is to develop the personality of the individual, artificial interests are far less effective than the more natural and genuine ones. A certain type of character suited to the nation and class to which one belongs may be developed in a majority of people by means of artificial interest, and outward control may be continued until corresponding modes of acting and thinking become well established as habits. Some individuals are thus made fairly good members of society who would perhaps otherwise be disturbing elements, but on the other hand the individ- uality of many persons is thus suppressed so that they fall far short of realizing their highest possibilities. The most effectual development of individuality is pos- sible only when it takes place under the influence of interests arising from one's own natural impulses and in accordance with interests and ideals which he has adopted as his own. A distinction should be made between interest in an end and in the use of certain means for securing the end. Arbitrary assignment of tasks with freedom as to how they shall be done is often less objectionable than continual direction as to when and how a task begun under the impulse of some necessity or desire shall be performed. In the former case one is somewhat in the situation of the ordinary worker of whom certain results are required and whose intelligence and industry must be used in securing them, while the one who desires and depends upon some one else to direct him so his desires will be realized, is not developing the best characteris- 36 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING tics of a good worker. When there is no interest in the end and continual direction as to what to do and when, as is often the case in school, mechanical habits may be developed but not intelligence. Utilization and Correlation of Interests. One of the chief problems for educators who depend chiefly upon artificial interests is to find means of developing and prolonging such interests. In solving this problem they are necessarily concerned with rewards and punishments as school incentives and with the arrangement of sub- jects and topics in such a way that the associated and artificial interests may be transformed into more genu- ine and permanent interests. Those on the other hand who believe more in utiliz- ing natural interests are concerned with the problem of the relative strength of the various instinctive tenden- cies and the arrangement of work and play activities so as to utilize to the best advantage the interests that are already naturally strong. They seek to utilize the cur- rents of a child's own nature and the winds of social influence, while the believers in artificial interests are manufacturing devices for driving the educational ves- sel in the desired direction. In selecting educative material the one who depends chiefly upon artificial interests selects that which he believes will be most valuable to the adult and tries to present it in a form and an order that will make it possible for the child to acquire an interest in it and develop the necessary knowledge and skill. The believer in natural interests on the other hand considers not so much what wiU be of value to the adult as what will be of interest to the child at the present time and will lead him to engage in vigorous activity in INTEREST 37 ways that will promote full and harmonious develop- ment, and thus indirectly prepare him for success in adult activities. With educators of both views the problem of corre- lation is an important one. With one it is a problem of the correlation of subjects while with the other it is the correlation of interests and activities. Both recognize quite fully that isolated knowledge and skill cannot produce a strong and effective individual. The more completely all that one knows and can do is related and unified the more highly developed and efficient the per- sonality. Those who attempt to correlate subjects find the task one of great and increasing difficulty. More and more subjects are being introduced into the curriculum, and if each is organized in a systematic way as is usually thought necessary and as is really helpful in developing an acquired interest in the subject, it is necessary to a considerable extent to isolate the subject matter and arrange it without reference to other subjects. After keeping each subject separate from the others for a con- siderable time, it is difficult to bring them into proper relation because of the lack of a common unifying prin- ciple. To those who believe in the necessity of depending upon natural interest the problem is scarcely at all one of arranging facts and truths to be learned, but one of finding means of relating play and work activities and their dominating interests to each other. This is accomplished by getting pupils interested in doing things that will require a variety of activities properly related to each other in order to satisfy the interest. In order that various interests and activities may be 38 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING correlated, it is only necessary that more and broader interests shall be aroused so that the child shall feel that what he is now doing is a means to doing some- thing else and that to something else, and so on until each thing that he does is related to his highest ambi- tions and ideals. Such correlation is a genuine correla- tion within the consciousness of the individual and favors a complete unification of his personality. The natural relation of work and play interests sim- ilar to that which the teacher should depend upon is il- lustrated by the following incidents. A boy a little over four, after having a hammer and saw, heard of some- thing that would bore holes and worked to get money to buy a brace and bit. Later, hearing that a chisel could be used to make the holes square he worked at hemming wash cloths for money to get one. With the chisel he started to dig a cellar for a house. Learning that a pick would be needed to get stones out he talked of earning money to buy one. Later he proposed to make a little factory for making things. Afterwards with some help he made a representation of a saw-mill with notched paste-board for a saw and strips of paper for a belt. Later he was much interested in using a wooden pick and made a box of laths to keep his tools in. This interest in tools continued. At nine he wished a play house and worked in the garden and at various chores to get money to buy material to put with some given him to construct the house. He then spent a good many hours in building the house, learning much inci- dentally of materials and how to use them. A year or two later he worked to earn money for materials and then spent a good deal of time constructing apparatus in the attic for games and gymnastics. Desiring to be- INTEREST 39 come a good ball player he spent considerable time in practicing pitching, catching and batting when not en- gaged in a game. A little girl practiced certain stitches in order that she might make a satisfactory dress for a doll and again practiced painting and drawing in order to make a Christmas present for her mother. The doctrine of interest properly understood does not mean that a child shall never do anything except what he wishes to do, in the sense of leaving it to chance as to what wishes shall be excited in his mind. The teacher should bring to the child, in actual or repre- sentative form, any sort of environment that she sees fit and in this way excite the desire to reach ends and stimulate him to devise means for reaching them. On the negative side she should shield the child from any kind of environment that will surely be injurious to him at the time, while on the positive side she should present a great variety of environment, especially that which she thinks will be of the most use to him. Accord- ing to the doctrine of interest, the environment that is best suited to develop the child's nature will excite the feeling of need leading to active, interesting effort. Activity thus excited is likely to produce a more nor- mal development of the individual than any that can be produced under the authoritative direction of another person, without regard to the interest felt by the in- dividual. Not only should the educator present good and varied educative material as an environment to which the child is to react, but she should present it, as far as possible, at a time when the child is most sen- sitive to that kind of environment and most ready to en- gage in the form of activity required. Here again the value of the material to be presented 40 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING at a given age cannot be determined without reference to the effect that it produces upon the individual. If it excites his interest and leads to active effort it is probably suited to his stage of development, though the teacher might otherwise think it better suited to an older or a younger person. Growing confidence in this doctrine of interest has led to an increase in the use of the elective system in colleges and high schools and has permitted a good deal of choice of reading on the part of younger children. In practice the doctrine has not worked perfectly, partly because education is not in general carried on according to that doctrine. Artificial interests are made promi- nent by the methods of teaching, examinations, marking, promotion and graduation so that the choice of subjects and the amount of work done in them are determined not so much by feelings of intellectual needs to be satis- fied as by the artificial needs of satisfying the teacher from day to day and securing promotions and diplo- mas. In special education preparatory to a particular oc- cupation, it may very properly be maintained that the subjects of study and the methods of pursuing them can better be prescribed by the teacher than chosen by the pupil. The pupil having decided what he wishes to do, may avoid much useless effort and waste of time by work- ing toward the end under the direction of those who are familiar with the most effective ways of reaching that end. In general education on the other hand, where the end is the development of the individual, there is good ground for taking the opposite view and saying that his develop- ment is more effectively secured by study of that which appeals to him the most, than it is by following any INTEREST 41 fixed course of study prescribed by some one else. It is in the field of general education that there is least occasion for exciting artificial interest and least possi- bility of measuring progress, hence in that field there is least excuse for the giving of marks and degrees, es- pecially when they are used not merely to induce the pupil to do certain things, but to do them in certain ways. Development of Interest- As already indicated, play activity in any line generally precedes work in- terest when there is no immediate necessity for doing. Words, figures and other educative material of the school room may become objects of play just as are dolls, blocks, cards, etc., before the child goes to school. The play activity takes on more and more the charac- teristics of work as the child attempts more and more to produce certain combinations or results of more per- manent value. On the other hand, when natural or arti- ficial necessity induces one to engage in any form of activity until ease and facility are attained, the work activity may gradually become playful in character. The best results in both cases are obtained, not by trying to mix work and play, but by making the play so interesting that it develops the work characteristic and by making the work so effective that freedom and success result. The motive should in each case be either a lively play interest in doing or a strong work interest in the results to be obtained. One motive or the other should dominate except in very young children until the char- acter of the activity has so far changed that the other motive naturally takes its place. The attempt to mix the two motives is likely to result in " soft pedagogy " on the part of the teacher and dilettanteism on the part 42 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING of the learner. The play interest may be utilized in getting a child to do what will be useful to him but use- fulness cannot be the child's motive for playing. When the child is playing, play interest must dominate and work interest be incidental, and when working, work interest must dominate and play interest be incidental. Work interest may lead to skill which exercised in a playful way will give pleasure but if one is working he must be directed by the work interest toward using the best means to the end, instead of by the idea of doing what is most pleasing. The desire to play may be one of the strongest motives for undertaking and finish- ing a piece of work, but the desire for certain results of permanent value cannot easily be used profitably as a stimulus to play of any kind. Although a child may, himself, often be actuated by a combined work and play interest, the attempt of some one else to get a child to act from both work and play interest is likely to fail. Unless the one type of interest dominates and the other is incidental there is danger that one interest will neu- tralize the other or else that they will alternate and diminish in intensity without giving satisfaction leading to the attainment of an end or producing any desirable development of personality. The child imitates the actions of those surrounding him in a purely playful way, being satisfied with the performance of the activity without reference to any ends that may be gained by it. The countless imita- tions of sounds and gestures by children are of this type. In the case of imitation of the activities of older people, such as writing, sewing, cooking, keeping house, and in later stages, in the activities of making collec- tions and constructing objects as other people do, the INTEREST 43 fact of acting in harmony with other people or being equal to or superior to them contributes to the pleasure of the activity. In still later stages of development, imitating other people in the sense of following the fashion, loses most of its playful character, the end gained becoming the most prominent thing. In the child's first imitative acts of talking, counting and constructing, he is interested chiefly in the per- formance of the act as a play, but soon he desires to obtain the end that may be gained by means of talking, writing, counting and constructing. He then observes closely how those acts are performed by others and re- peats them, not because of the pleasure of the activity, but in order that he may secure the end to which they are the means. The tendency to imitate is then domi- nated by the work interest of results to be secured, and the child is learning the great lesson of life that in or- der to secure ends the means appropriate to the secur- ing of those ends must be used. This is the essential characteristic of all work activity. If he attains great facility in the use of means for the attainment of ends he may enjoy the process of gaining ends as much or more than the ends themselves. There is therefore often a later stage of development similar to the early undif- ferentiated stage, in which activities are performed un- der the stimulus of both work and play interest. Again, the activity of imitation may itself become an end as in the case of one who makes a business of mimicry. The same is true of many other forms of activ- ity, such as those of athletes and acrobats. What was at one time a form of playful activity has become not merely a means to an end, but is to a considerable ex- tent an end in itself, the aim being to secure the highest 44 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING degree of skill possible. The same is true of intellectual and emotional activities, such as are manifested in curi- osity and in the search after truth and in the aesthetic in- stinct and the desire to enjoy and produce the beautiful. All the early activities, especially those of the playful kind, are to a large extent varied and disconnected, the same simple sound or motion being repeated over and over. In work activity of even the simplest forms there is at least a short series of acts leading to the se- curing of the end. In play activity the series may be very short indeed, consisting perhaps of nothing more than moving the hand and getting as a result a tactile or auditory sensation. As work and play interest de- velop, activities are arranged in a series to a greater and greater extent. Movements are no longer pleasur- able in themselves except when made in a rhythmical way, or when two or more forms alternate and lead to some kind of climax. Since in work activity the differ- ent acts must occur in a certain order and be per- formed in a definite way in order that the end may be secured, both work and play interests therefore depend not upon any one portion of the series, but upon the re- lation of part to part and to the result as a whole. The natural tendencies of the child acting under the stimulus of either work or play interest will not neces- sarily produce the kind of arrangement of activities most conducive to success and satisfaction. The child has to learn how to arrange the series of activities in order to get the end or get the most satisfaction out of the play. In other words he needs suggestions or direc- tions to help him in learning to play as well as in learn- ing to work. These suggestions may be supplied most easily by furnishing examples for imitation, but as child- INTEREST 45 ren grow older, may be given to a greater extent by- means of words. Games, with definite rules, have been invented because they organize natural activities into a series that is more interesting than any undirected or unorganized form of activity. With increase in age, interest prompts less to sen- sory motor activity and more to representative and conceptual activity. With the development of imagina- tion and thought, it is also possible to unify a much greater variety of activities and to connect the activities not only of one moment with those of the next moment, but also those of the day and the year with those of other days and years. The child's interests are transi- tory and variable, but as he becomes older, these varied interests are more and more connected with each other in both his work and play, under the dominance of some more general and inclusive interest which is satisfied by this more complex grouping of activities. So far as no educative influence is consciously brought to bear upon the child, the development of his interest will be determined by the development of his native tendencies and by the material and social en- vironment in which he lives. The educator who at- tempts to direct the development of interest must take into account those two factors and by bringing to the child, in an indirect way, any intellectual environment that he chooses, strengthen desirable interests already existing and develop new lines of interest. Definite tasks may also be assigned and motives for doing them aroused so that he will perform them intelligently and effectively, but there is little reason for requiring the blind following of directions. In order that the know- ledge gained by the child shall be organized in an effec- 46 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING tive way it is necessary that any given kind of interest shall be dominant for a sufficient period of time to organize more or less permanently a considerable body of knowledge and experience. In order that development shall not be narrow and that a large number of ideas and activities shall be ac- quired and organized it is necessary that a variety of interests shall be concerned in organizing them, but that there may be harmony in the development it is necessary that there shall be broad inclusive interests harmonizing the more special lines of activity. The theory of culture epochs affirms that the ma- terial best suited to arouse interest at each age may be determined by studying the development of the race and finding what activities were prominent in the suc- cessive stages of development, and what kind of litera- ture was produced in each stage, and then using these forms of activity and literature in the same order in educating the child. This theory supposes that there is a close correspondence between the mental develop- ment of the race and the mental development of an individual and that the stages of development of the race are better known than are those of the child. We have shown in a previous volume, " Genetic Psy- chology," that there is little correspondence in the physical development of the individual after birth and that of the race and that there is still less reason for believing that there is any close correspondence in the mental development of the individual and the race. We have also shown that environment becomes a more and more important factor as development becomes more intellectual and that there is very little correspondence between the physical, social and psychical environment INTEREST 47 of the child of to-day and the adult in past ages. Almost the only chance for correspondence is in the order in which the instinctive tendencies develop. We know that the inner factors in individual and race development cannot .show a very close correspondence when even such an important instinct as that of sex does not appear in the individual to any considerable degree until he approaches maturity, although it must have been prominent in even the earliest stages of the development of the race. Another and better basis for determining the kind of culture material to be used at different stages of development is suggested by modern studies of children in which observations and experiments are made to determine what interests are likely to be dominant at each stage of development, and then materials may be presented that will give opportunity for satisfying those interests. Although the theory of culture epochs cannot be ac- cepted, yet it has proven of considerable value, both to child-study and to education. There is some similarity necessarily existing in all development from a simple to a more complex state and in some instances the stages of development in the race are more easily seen than they are in the child. Having been seen in the race they suggest observations to be made upon children. Thus the concreteness of the ideas of primitive people is closely paralleled in the case of the child. Again, on the educational side the theory has been of great value because it has suggested kinds of activities and ideas to present to the child that are different from those ac- tually surrounding him and different from any that may be found at the present time. 48 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING The mere fact that they are different makes them valuable as a means of arousing new and varied inter- est. Besides this they are valuable because they direct the child's attention to fundamental human activities and to significant aspects of nature's forces to which his attention is not called by his present material and social surroundings. A study of the life of early man and an imitation of his activities in a simpler environment have therefore a value, not only because of their new and varied char- acter, but also because they call forth reactions that are fundamental in their character. As a means of general education such culture materials are of great value. They should not, however, be the exclusive materials used. It is necessary for the general development of the child and also in fitting him for a special sphere in life that he shall be familiar with the present environ- ment and the modern modes of reacting to it. The study of the life of early man and the imitation of his activities perform the same service for the young child that the study of history does for an older child. Its value is chiefly cultural and only incidentally prac- tical. The study of the present environment and ac- tivities of men may sometimes be made equally cultural and far more practical. One who has engaged in a variety of occupations and made himself familiar with others, may have gained cultural appreciation of the work and achievements of men of his own time that is equal in kind and amount to the culture obtained from the study of the language, history and literature of the people of other times. The test of the value of any study is not however to be found either in racial history, or in general truths INTEREST 49 about children of a certain age, but in the past history and the present interest of the individual child. The scientific agriculturist now realizes that no matter how much nutritive material of the kind required by corn or potatoes, or whatever he wishes to raise, there may be in the soil, the plants will not thrive unless the nutritive material is soluble and in a condition to be assimilated by the plant. In a similar way the scientific educator is beginning to realize that however rich in the elements of culture a subject or course of study may be, the individual will thrive mentally in taking it, only in proportion as he is interested. Culture material that is rich and nutritious to an adult may be like sand and gravel to the child. The problem for the edu- cator, like that for the nurse, is not to find what is rich in food value but to supply a variety of material in a form that the child will take and assimilate. The best test of the educative value of what is presented is the degree of interest excited, as indicated by vigorous, con- tinued activity. Although the educator needs to provide material suited to arouse various interests he should not try merely to excite empirical interest by new material, but should seek to arouse the more permanent relational interest that is based on what is already known. This does not mean that attention shall be turned toward the familiar with the view of making it an object of study. There is nothing more difficult and uninteresting to a child than to tiy to study and describe familiar ob- jects and processes. To arouse interest something that calls for the use of what is familiar must be presented. Teachers have often made the mistake of trying to have children consciously formulate the familiar instead of 50 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING giving them opportunity to explain or do something new by means of something that is already known. The fa- miliar may not have been clearly defined in conscious- ness until there was occasion for its conscious use. Interest in any line may therefore be developed by giv- ing occasion to use knowledge and skill as fast as it is acquired and thus to add to the store of knowledge and to the possibilities of interest. EXERCISES 1. How far is your liking for your place of residence de- termined by your interests ? Could you radically change its agreeableness or disagreeableness by a change in your inter- ests? 2. Give an example of temporary and one of permanent interest. Illustrate how interest ceases for the time when the ideas concerned are satisfactorily related. 3. Give examples of children who were not interested in school work, but were found to be much interested in some- thing else. 4. Illustrate how interest directs, unifies and gives meaning to acts by describing how some interest controlled some of your acts during a long period. 5. Illustrate the relation of interest to one or more in- stincts. Show how interest in man is dependent upon in- stinctive interests of both a higher and lower kind. 6. A girl who was putting clothes in a wringer varied the amount put in at a time so that the boy turning it was some- times stopped and sometimes moved with a jerk. Was her action dominated by work or play interest ? Give another il- lustration of the dominance of one of these interests. 7. Name some occupation that to you involves both work and play interest. Should a teacher have a play interest in her work ? 8. Give examples of interest in a subject aroused (a) by INTEREST 51 liking for the teacher, (b) by the wish for good marks, (c) by- discovering the relation of the subject to something already- interesting. 9. Do those who study literature in school usually continue to be interested in it after school days ? Is the interest in drawing in school usually natural or artificial ? How do you judge of its naturalness ? What study or interest has had most influence on your life ? How did it arise ? 10. What would be the effect of doing away with all de- grees and marks ? Did the Greeks, when at their best, give marks and degrees ? If occupational and natural cultural in- terests only were appealed to would students in colleges and high schools study ? Would grammar school pupils ? 11. Give the results of your experience with games in con- nection with school subjects, also of your experience in direct- ing games and plays. 12. Discuss the relative value of the study and practice by children of primitive and present day industries. PAET II STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER III GENERAL DESCRIPTION Need for Distinguishing Stages. In human beings processes of development are clearly present for a quarter of a century. The differences between the child of a day and a man of twenty-five years are very great. If the processes of development were absolutely uni- form, the condition and needs of an individual at any age between the two named could be computed mathe- matically and there would be less occasion for discussing stages of development. Superficial observation, however, shows that there are times at which development is more rapid than at others. More careful scientific studies prove that this is true to a much greater extent than had been suspected. It may now be safely asserted that variability in the rate of development is common and uniformity rare. Just as nearly aU streams move now rapidly and now slowly, so do the developmental proces- ses as the individual is raised to higher stages of organ- ization. Although changes are continuous, retardation and acceleration are to be noted in all lines. These changes in rate of development, although influenced by external conditions, are determined to a considerable extent by inner tendencies. No comprehensive knowledge of the genesis of mind and character can be obtained without studying these variations, and it is highly desirable that the stages should be distinguished. It is important that they should be known, because there is good reason for 56 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING believing that whenever development is proceeding rapidly, changes in the direction of that development may be most easily produced by means of external in- fluences. There is also reason for believing that if at the time a certain kind of development usually takes place conditions are unfavorable or opposed to such develop- ment, either permanent arrest of development in that line is likely to result or the suppressed tendency may appear at a later stage and produce characteristics that are out of harmony with those that are then present. The sciences of biology, physiology and psychology all support the view that each stage of development is preparatory to those that are to follow and that any dis- turbance of development at any period is likely to affect the final result. This is most strikingly shown in bi- ology, as for example in the case of insects where injury or unfavorable conditions during the larval stage result in an imperfect form of insect. To be a perfect but- terfly it is necessary to first be a perfect caterpillar, and to be an ideal man the child characteristics must first be well developed. From the standpoint of the educator it is especially important, therefore, that the stages of development should be known. It is not sufficient that he shall know what the child is, and what the man ought to be, but he should know the general tendency of develop- ment in children of a given age, in order that he may intelligently make the conditions favorable and direct each child's activities in accordance with all the de- sirable tendencies that are prominent at the time. Difficulties of Distinguishing the Stages. Any one who has attempted to trace carefully the growth and development of a single plant, knows that the diffi- GENERAL DESCRIPTION 57 culties of distinguishing and describing the changes as they take place are considerable. He cannot see the plant grow, but if he looks at proper intervals, he can readily perceive that it has changed. Although the kind and rate of change vary, it is difficult to describe and definitely specify the various stages. These difficulties are greatly increased when human beings are studied. This is partly because of the fact that the changes continue through such a long period of time. Where a fraction of a year might suffice for determining the chief stages of development in a bean, a score of years would be re- quired in the case of a human being. The difficulties are also greater in the case of man than in that of plants because he is a much more com- plex being. The development of mind is also much more subject to outer influences than is the development of plants. Although the rate of development of plants is greatly influenced by surroundings, their form is everywhere nearly the same for each individual of a species, while in the case of human minds, the general type is largely determined by human influences. It is therefore always difficult to tell whether the retardations and accelerations of development in any individual are due to outer influences or to inner tendencies and equally difficult to tell to what extent the peculiar tyipes of indi- vidual character are the result of outer influences. It is necessary to distinguish to some extent between inner laws of development and the influence of outer conditions in order to mark out stages of development that will prove true for more than one kind of environ- ment. This cannot easily be done, and doubtless the de- scriptions in the following chapters best fit the children of America. 58 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING Another difficulty that makes the task almost impos- sible of complete solution is the fact that the accelera- tions and retardations in different lines do not coincide. It is difficult to clearly demonstrate this in mental de- velopment, because accurate measurements of mental powers are as yet impossible, yet it is very evident to the interested observer of children. In physical development, growth, as proved by many careful measurements, is far from uniform. The period of most rapid growth in height is a period of slow growth in thickness of body and limb ; the period of rapid growth of limbs is not the same as that for the body, nor do the heart, lungs, and brain grow at the same rate at the same time. To describe the stages of development in one line such as physical growth, language or memory, difficult as it is, presents a far less complex problem than the attempt to indicate the most striking stages of develop- ment of the child as a whole. The ages at which devel- opment in these various lines begins and culminates are so different that a division that shows clearly the development in one line obscures that in another. It is necessary therefore to decide which kind of development is most important and most closely correlated with others. Basis of Classification. In seeking a basis for dis- tinguishing the stages of mental development in human beings, it will be best to choose the characteristics that most clearly and fundamentally distinguish man men- tally from the lower animals. These are to be found in his social tendencies and his susceptibility to social in- fluences. A dog or other animal brought up without association with others of its kind, can scarcely be dis- tinguished from other animals of its species except by GENERAL DESCRIPTION 59 an expert in animal behavior. A human being on the contrary, brought to the age of maturity without human associations, would at once attract the attention of even the most casual observer. A man becomes a human being mentally, chiefly through association with other human beings, rather than by reaction to things only. Without human association a child would be more ani- mal than human in his characteristics. The most fruitful basis, therefore, for distinguishing the different stages of human development for psycholog- ical and educational purposes is the presence and pro- minence of the more important social impulses and the social influences acting at different periods. It will be found also that changes in social sensitiveness are to a considerable extent correlated with changes in other lines of mental development and with changes in outer influences. The change at six for example is due largely to the new influences of school life and other compan- ionship outside of the home, while that in the teens is due largely to internal processes of development. The Stages Distinguished and Characterized. The first stage, which ends near the close of the first year, may be described as the pre-social stage, during which the child is influenced by things and persons, as are animals, in an almost wholly objective way, and only slightly or not at all by the thoughts and feelings of the persons around him. ' The second stage, which closes at about three years of age, may be designated as the imitative and socializing stage. During this period the child becomes more and more susceptible to mental influences and his mental states are determined to a considerable extent by the mental states of those around him. 60 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING The third stage, which culminates at about six years of age, may be designated as the individualizing stage, during which the conscious personality that has been developed during the previous period becomes more distinctly individual and asserts itself, instead of merely assimilating the characteristics of others. The fourth stage, ending at about twelve years of age, may be described as the period of competitive socializa- tion. It is a period when a child is introduced to a wider social environment and in which the impulses to excel in competition are prominent and are brought out in association with others of the same age. The fifth stage, culminating at about eighteen years of age, may be called the pubertal or transitional period. During this time the youth and maiden become more susceptible to many social influences that formerly affected them not at all, and many new and important interests develop that are characteristic of the sex and age. The sixth period, ending at twenty-four years of age, may be designated as the stage of later adolescence, during which the individual is ushered into the larger world of thought and action and becomes prepared to take his part in the various activities of the race as a fully developed man or woman. Cautions to be Observed. It must not be supposed that what characterizes one of these periods is entirely absent in the others, but merely that it is more likely to be a prominent and more or less dominating factor during the stage of development to which its name is given. Neither must it be supposed that the change from one stage to another occurs at exactly the time in- dicated. The duration of the different stages is subject GENERAL DESCRIPTION 61 to great variations in different races, in different social conditions and still more in different individuals. Wlien we know that some children begin their period of rapid growth at puberty, several years earlier than other child- ren, it would be strange if we did not find greater differences in the age at which the various mental char- acteristics become prominent. It is believed that the order of development is less subject to variation, yet owing to the fact that some phases of development may be suppressed, some passed through very quickly and others prolonged, there may in individual cases seem to be variations in the order of development. It is probably true, also, that phases of development that have been passed, may again, under certain condi- tions, become prominent at a time when other charac- teristics usually dominate. Only very marked varia- tions from the degree and order of development at any age should, therefore, be regarded as abnormal. While there is a constant gradual development in all lines there are accelerations and retardations in rate and many shiftings of outer and inner factors of de- velopment, so that those that dominate for awhile and give a general trend to the whole process of develop- ment, are at a later stage subordinated to other factors. Although the kind and rate of development in dif- ferent lines and at different stages do not correspond, yet they are related to each other in such a way that modifications in one line or at one age may produce marked effects in other lines and at other ages. This makes it difficult not only to determine what the normal stages of development are, but to discover the causes of peculiarities, or seeming abnormalities that are found at any time in individual children. 62 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING There are also various ways in which lack of stimulus or activity in one line may be compensated for. For example, a child who has no companions may get similar stimuli from dolls, flowers or animals, or from reading, and he who cannot engage in certain forms of physical exercise may do so in imagination and get some of the same mental and moral effects. Again, contrasting characteristics are really always closely related, hence boldness may be easily changed to timidity, suggestibility to contrariness, laziness to industry, etc. In this way the general direction of development of two children who are really in the same stage, may appear to be entirely different. The science of genetic psychology will probably n^ver become so exact that it will be possible to tell just exactly what a child with given native tendencies and surroundings will be at any given age, or just how he will be affected by any influence that may be brought to bear upon him. Yet at the present time it is possible to describe the inner and outer factors concerned and indicate what characteristics are likely to be prominent at any given age, with sufficient definiteness to help one in wisely dealing with children individually and in groups. Those who are looking for rules to be mechani- cally applied according to the age of children, will be disappointed with child-study both now and in the future, but those who are already studying children in- dividually in the light of common sense and their own experience with them, may be greatly aided by the broader truths that are being formulated by scientists. The science of meteorology is well advanced, but no one can predict what the weather will be in a given place, on a certain date months ahead. Nothing is more GENERAL DESCRIPTION 63 sure than the seasons, nothing more variable than the days. The science of child development, however well advanced it may become, can never take the place of individual study. However certain we may become as to the inner principles of development and the gen- eral effects of outer influences and as to the stages of development that children pass through, we can never predict far in advance what an individual child will be and how he will be affected by a certain influence, yet we may prepare for certain conduct at certain ages, just as we prepare for the different seasons. EXERCISES 1. Illustrate from the growth of some plant that there are stages in its development and that one kind of development prepares for another. 2. Compare two children strongly contrasted in ability and special characteristics, and give your reasons for think- ing the differences due chiefly to natural tendencies or to surroundings and training. 3. Prove that social surroundings and influences are more important than physical in developing the mind and char- acter of human beings. 4. Compare the author's classification of the stages of development with any other that has been proposed, to see how they differ and agree. 5. It will be a good exercise to look over a number of lan- guage papers or listen to the reading of definitions given by children of different ages, and try to judge the age of the children. CHAPTER IV THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD Characteristics. This is a period of very rapid phy- sical and mental development, but social influences play little part in this development compared with their importance in later periods. The child, like aU the higher animals, starts with many reflex and instinctive tendencies. He has also many that do not appear for some time, and he has a wider range of curiosity and more tendency to imitation than any of the animals. He responds to the stimulation of objects and of what persons do, in much the same way as animals, but he is only slightly more affected by mental stimuli than they are. Changes in the expression of a person's face may be very interesting and even amusing to him, entirely re- gardless of the mental state of the person observed. As to the tones of voice, the case is somewhat different, the child seeming to be instinctively sensitive to them, as are the more intelligent animals, such as the dog. Both seem to be influenced by the mental states asso- ciated with the various tones of the voice, yet this is not true to so great an extent with animals as it is with children. Infants of only a few months may ap- pear to be saddened or enlivened by the appropriate tones of voice and they often respond by similar tones. Later, they clearly respond to the visual stimulus of a smile by a similar facial expression. This, however, is probably the result of experience rather than of an THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 65 instinctive tendency, the smile being associated with pleasing tones of voice, petting, and other enjoyable experiences that previously had caused him to smile. Such expressions of mental states call forth in the child some of the same facial movements and help to arouse corresponding mental states in his mind. He thus later becomes capable of being affected more directly by the mental states of others. The conscious life of those around him is not, how- ever, the dominant influence in the child's development during the first year. The chief influences are sensory stimulations given by his bodily states, by movements, by things, and by persons. His mental life develops primarily and chiefly by receiving and reacting to such stimulations. To his physical environment the child is keenly alive, but to his psychical environment only slightly so. It is the only period of his life in which the minds of others do not have a greater influence on him than material things. Changes That Take Place During This Period. The child nearly trebles his size during this period, a rate of growth far more rapid than in any subsequent period. This is typical of the rate of his development in all lines. From a condition in which he has little or no mental life, he changes into a creature that probably surpasses the highest animals in some kinds of intelligence. From a condition in which he makes a few simple reflex and instinctive movements that are useful, and a great many random movements that do not get him any where or change anything around him, he gains a power of con- trol of hands and voice which makes him superior to any other animal, in certain forms of motor activity. He is now also able to move himself around and manipulate 66 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING objects much as he wishes. He knows individually a large number of objects and a number of persons, and is able to react in an appropriate way to each. From being one of the most helpless and stupid of beings he has become one of the most psychically active and in- telligent of animals, with some human characteristics becoming prominent. Changes except in size are not very marked during the first weeks, but soon it is evident that the child is getting control of the head and eyes so he can look at things and not merely be stimulated by those that come before him. At about the end of the first quarter year he can sit up and is perhaps beginning to direct his hands in grasping things. He gains rapidly in this and other ways and soon is successfully locating sight, sound and tactile stimuli. He acquires some mode or modes of locomotion during the third quarter, such as crawling, creeping, hitching, rolling, etc., and near the close of the year he often begins to walk upright, either alone or by holding to something. The most significant change is that his movements, from being simple and largely incobrdinated and use- less, have become complex and to a considerable extent coordinated and effective. This means that the change is chiefly one of organization of the simpler parts con- cerned in the early reflex and instinctive movements, so that they act in related and harmonious ways in secur- ing ends. Development of one part prepares for the develop- ment of another and the combined use of the two. Con- trol of the head and eye sensations and movements are correlated with hand sensations and movements, other- wise it would be impossible to grasp an object that is THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 67 seen. The muscles of the trunk must respond to equi- librium sensations when the child is sitting up and reach- ing for objects or he will fall over. In moving toward and grasping objects the muscles of head, eyes, trunk and limbs must all act in a coordinated way or the child will fail in the attempt. For every movement involved in such an act there were at first reflex or instinctive tendencies, but now they have been organized into a harmoniously coordinating system, hence the child is no longer a helpless wriggler as he was during the first few weeks. This great change toward muscular coordination is correlated with similar changes in mental coordination. The child's sensory and other mental states are no longer isolated, but are associated and organized so that con- sciousness is not a meaningless chaos, but a related whole to which every sensation means something. As the movements take place in a definite combination and sequence the sensations occur in certain combina- tions and in a definite order. This in time brings order out of the mental chaos and there is anticipation of sensations to be experienced. The child now not only finds sensations of sound, color, etc. familiar, but knows that they mean certain objects or experiences and he is able to control his own movements in such a way as to get suggested experiences that are desirable and avoid those that are unpleasant. In the case of instinctive movements of emotional expression such as crying, there is at first a rather com- plex combination of sensations and movements, which give rise to an unspecialized feeling of discomfort. After a few months the nature of the sounds and movements indicates to a skilled observer whether the cry is due to 68 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING hunger, pain, anger, fright, etc. Such specialization of movements probably helps to produce the corresponding differentiation into more specific mental states which becomes very prominent before the close of the first year. Many mental states such as curiosity and surprise de- velop also before the close of this period. At or before the close of the year the child has imitated many signs of emotional expression and is beginning to imitate new movements and sounds, hence is rapidly gaining the more human characteristics. Treatment during the Period. In this period of rapid growth and great physiological changes the most important consideration is health. This is greatly em- phasized by statistics which show that about eleven per cent of children die during this period, whereas but two and one-half per cent die in the second period and less than one per cent in the third year, while in the sixth year the death rate is little more than one-third of one per cent and in the twelfth, but one-sixth of one per cent. Physical welfare should therefore be the chief care during the first year. It is during this period that the disastrous results of the belief that children are just like adults, only smaller and weaker, have been most marked. The child who is treated as regards food, sleep and medicine as if he were like an adult must be excep- tionally strong if he survives. It has been demonstrated that proper food, with some instructions to mothers, may decrease the death rate among infants in our cities one-half. The questions of proper clothing, air and exercise without too much fatiguing attention and stim- ulation, rank second only in importance to food in pre- serving the health of infants, and are perhaps even more important in relation to future mental development. THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 69 The child's physiological processes may be regulated by favorable surroundings, systematic feeding, rest and sleep, while the variety, number and order of objective stimulations may in part be determined for him. In many cases the infant has too many strong and rapidly changing stimuli forced upon him, especially by the actions of persons. These fatigue him, make him nervous and over excitable and give him little time to discover the real qualities of objects. The child should have some stimulation through being cuddled and played with by persons every day, but only a limited amount. He should also have opportunity to exercise his senses on objects of all colors and shapes, and of various auditory and tactile possibilities. As soon as he can move his hands he should not be amused wholly by what others do, but rather by what he can do, to objects and with them. Others may do things that lead the child to discover new possibilities in objects but they should not long at a time manipu- late objects for his amusement. By so doing they inter- fere with his own educative play activity and hinder his finding out the real qualities of objects and his own powers in relation to them. As has elsewhere been in- dicated, the power of varied manipulation of objects for different purposes, is what gives the child an advantage over any animal in the formation of free ideas. His mental development is therefore best favored by allow- ing him, during this period, plenty of opportunity for such manipulation. Suggestions as to ends to be gained are not needed in this stage as they are at a later period. The principle of novelty should be made much of at this time. None of the child's playthings should be with him all of the time, but those not in use should 70 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING be placed out of his sight for awhile, as soon as he loses interest in them, then restored to him again when they will arouse his interest anew. Health is favored and the basis of a sound mental life is provided by establishing a good set of habits, not only as regards regularity in eating and sleeping, play- ing and resting, but as regards the way in which he shall respond to whatever is being done for or with him. It is well known that an intelligent cat or dog can be trained to behave himself and make his wants known so that he wiU not be a disagreeable nuisance as untrained or badly trained animals so often are. In a similar way and by similar methods a child may be so trained that he will be a joy to himself and others, or he may become the fretful, irritable, irritating tyrant of the household. The mother, like the trainer of animals, should do things in the same way every time, that there may be the same sensory motor signs as a condition or signal for each type of reaction, when the child is being fed, dressed, or put to sleep, and thus he wiU readily form habits of having things done to him and of doing the right thing at the right time without any fuss. More complex habits that are really elementary acts of politeness, such as waiting quietly for food or to be taken up, may also be formed if care is used. If the expression " in a minute " is employed and is at first followed very quickly by food or attention, a beginning is made and the time of waiting may gradually be prolonged. If, however, the interval is too long at first, crying may ensue and the expression become a signal that starts the child to crying for food or attention instead of waiting quietly for it. The child may also be taught to give up things quietly and to allow himself to be taken where one THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 71 wishes, or he may learn to make a scene in all such cases. He is not consciously either good or bad during this pe- riod any more than are animals, but he is forming habits that will have important effects upon the conscious self that develops during the next period and that will be likely to have some influence upon his ultimate character. The child may thus be greatly influenced by the people around him during this period, in so far as what they do leads him to form certain habits, although he is at this time influenced scarcely at all by their mental states as such. EXERCISES 1. Report examples of infants responding to tones of voice. How young a child have you known to be influenced by any other sign of a mental state in another ? 2. Describe some of the earlier attempts at voluntary mo- tion by infants, noting the sense and motor organs involved. 3. Compare as to methods used, instances of training an infant and a cat or dog to do certain things. 4. Why should an infant not be used as a plaything by older people to any considerable extent ? Should adults do much to amuse infants ? Why ? 5. How would you teach an infant to go to sleep at certain times ? CHAPTER V IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE Conditions and General Characteristics. Having made himself familiar with all kinds of sensations and many of the objects of his environment, the child is now ready to get new experiences from the more vari- able things in his environment, especially from persons. Previous to this they have been interesting to him as means of getting his physiological needs satisfied and as variable and not understood playthings. Objects are inert and he soon learns something of their characteris- tics and what he can do with them, while persons are active, variable and unmanageable, and therefore they continually and increasingly interest him. People, while playing with the child and also when working in his presence, often produce most interesting and startling changes in the relations of things. Such amusement, however, lacks the feeling of muscular ac- tivity and power that is felt when the child himself manipulates objects. It is not strange, therefore, that, when he finds that he can make the same interesting changes that others make in the relation of objects and at the same time get agreeable feelings of active power, as he himself makes the movements, he should spend so much time in doing what he perceives others do, in- stead of merely jerking things aroimd or watching what others do. Some of his imitations, as for instance coughing and crying, are reflex or instinctive in the special sense that IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 73 there is an apparatus already organized to respond when such sounds are heard, just as there is a crouching ap- paratus in a chicken that responds to the danger call of the hen. This is true also of emotional expressions, all of which the child imitates more or less before the end of the preceding period. It is in this period that more complex and instinctive imitations are made and with greater accuracy. Tones of voice, laughing and crying, frowning and many other expressions of the face are imitated. This tendency was strikingly shown in one little girl of about a year and a haK. Her mother was undergoing treatment that gave her considerable pain and a person standing behind her watching the little girl's face as she stood facing her mother, could see the reflection of the mother's expres- sion in the child's face almost as clearly as in a mirror. In this kind of imitation of instinctive sounds and movements, the child is only a little more ready than animals, while in the tendency to imitate new move- ments he differs greatly from them. They have little or no tendency of that kind while he has it to a marked extent. In the case of new sounds and movements there is a less definite organization to serve as a basis for the early spontaneous, and the later more voluntary imitations. The perceptive organs are so related, however, to the motor organs, that there is more tendency, when at- tention is centered upon the perception of a sound or movement, to act so as to reproduce that sound or ges- ture than to make any other movements. For example, attention to a sound is more likely to call the vocal or- gans into action, while attention to a gesture is more likely to produce movement of the hand than of any 74 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING other part of the body. The exact way in which vocal organs or hand must move in order to reproduce what has been perceived must, however, be learned. This sensory motor relation, together with the instinctive and acquired tendency to observe persons and their actions and respond in some way to them, constitutes the kind of imitative instinct which is so much more prominent in man than in animals. It is chiefly this instinct, asso- ciated with those of play and curiosity, that in these two years transforms the child into a creature with the consciousness of a human being. The child that during this period is deprived of family association, though well cared for in an institu- tion, is very imperfectly developed because of the lack of personal contact with individuals in the intimate re- lations of the home. In the ordinary home the child, during these two years, learns a language, becomes a member of the little family society and establishes various social relations with its members and with some persons outside. The importance of what is learned in the ordinary home is suggested by the following notes taken from Miss Munro's account of a child taken from an institu- tion at three years of age. She could talk very little but could understand a number of words. The attend- ant had no time to talk with her, but only to tell her what to do. She had no idea of family relations, " mamma" meaning any of the nurses. Little had hap- pened to her except to be fed, washed and dressed, and she had no idea of the individual ownership of anything, not even of clothes. The most she knew was how to care for babies, learned by seeing and imitating the nurses. She had no idea of a doll, dog, cat, or pictures and did IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 75 not know she could not walk on water. She knew no- thing of colors and could not learn to discriminate and match them for a long time. She used the sense of touch a great deal. She distinguished very imperfecta between imaginings and real experiences, probably because of in- sufficient perceptive experiences. She was a bright child but knew so little that the family concluded that children in a home must learn more in the first three years than in any other period of the same length. This is therefore preeminently the period in which the mould- ing influences of the home have most complete sway. Imitation and Social Consciousness. Imitation is the most dominant tendency during this period, directing as it does to a considerable extent the child's curiosity and play. A large part of what he does is suggested by the actions of others. With his interest in persons, he naturally becomes interested, not simply in novel acts and new relations of things, but in the feeling that may be experienced in doing things. If he lifts a weight after seeing some one else lift one with expressions of effort, he learns the feeling that accompanies the act of lifting and forms an idea of the sensations of others when he sees them perform acts that he has imitated. In the case of familiar acts, he may get almost as much pleasure from seeing others do them as from his own performance, but an act that he has never per- formed gives him a sense of lacking something, until he too can do it and know how it feels. The tendency to imitate is so" strong that a child may repeat several times what some one else is doing, though the result is to him painful ; e. g., eat sauce that is hot and to him disagreeable. . I After observing and imitating many acts, the child, 76 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING when he sees a person doing anything, thinks not so much of the objective movements made, as the sensa- tions of movement and the feelings and ideas that go with them. The signs of emotional expression are earliest imitated and the corresponding feelings experi- enced in some degree, so that emotional states in others are perceived at an early period. The child begins to share the condition of older people who find it almost impossible to observe the movements of a person's face, e. g., a smile or other sign of emotion, in a purely ob- jective manner as they would the movements of a ma- chine. When a child, in observing persons, perceives their mental states rather than their movements and their effects, he becomes more subject to social and mental influences than to material stimulations. He imitates mentally to a considerable extent, where he at first imi- tated objectively only. He is now psychically as well as instinctively a social being and subject in a high degree to many of the social and psychical stimuli of his sur- roundings. Imitation is a great aid in learning move- ments and gaining knowledge, but it is of still greater importance in introducing the child to his psychical environment and thus moulding his mental life. / Common Consciousness and Social Sensitiveness. In this stage there is not at first a self-consciousness distinguishing between self and others, but rather a common consciousness with others, that has been pro- duced by doing what * others do. Laughing, sometimes even eating, is impersonal, being almost as pleasurable when done by others as when done by the child himself. This condition usually remains prominent for a year and sometimes for, several years and helps to make this one IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 77 of the most charming periods of the child's life if he is dealt with wisely and lovingly. He enjoys everything that is enjoyed by those around him and wishes them to share all his pleasures, while his griefs are soon soothed by loving caresses. In this stage, signs of pleasure and approval in others are the strongest stimulus to continuing an act, regard- less of what other results there may be. It is for this reason that the tendency to show off in such a way as to attract attention and produce a laugh or other sign of approval, often becomes very strong. The parent who punishes a child for engaging in mischief that attracts attention and laughter usually finds that the painful re- sults do not stop the act so long as people show by their expression that they enjoy it. This condition, often described as forwardness, has its opposite in shyness. In the first stage of development this is little more than the fear that is always likely to be excited by new things and strange persons, but in the second, it is the result of doubt as to whether feel- ings of approval or disapproval will be excited in strangers by approaching them or doing things in their presence. In this stage the child who is sensitive to social stimuli, but who has had unfortunate experiences of disapproval, may lead a restrained and unhappy life, except when alone or with those who he feels will ap- prove of him. In some children the two conditions of shyness and showing off are combined in complex ways. The strong impulse to get in touch with persons by doing some- thing to attract their notice, and the fear that their re- sponse will be one of disapproval, may struggle with each other and one jnay dominate at one time, then the 78 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING other, in a way most puzzling to his friends and perhaps to the child himself. If the results of attracting atten- tion are generally favorable, the child may get over his shyness in that particular line, at least, but if unfavor- able he may either avoid people or show off a great deal if he can attract attention, even though it be unfavor- able. This tendency is often more prominent, however, in a later stage of development. There is another type of child in whom social sensi- tiveness is deficient or slow in developing, who remains during these years apparently indifferent to the approval of others except as it is followed by the giving of plea- sure or the infliction of pain. Such children appear to be controlled only by punishment or reward as are animals, but it may be that this seeming lack of humanness is due to unsympathetic treatment or lack of emotional expression in those around the child, or to a retarda- tion of mental development that may be overcome by abundance of social experience. It is probable that this retardation is likely to occur in children who for one reason or another have imitated persons but little and received few indications of the mental state of others and have, therefore, failed to develop to any considerable extent a common consciousness. They often appear to be stolid because they do not respond to the social sug- gestions of emotional expression. This condition is much more marked in institutional children than in those living in a family. Illustrations of Social Sensitiveness. Boy of fifteen months. When he sees some one of the family smiling at him will trot around and bend to one side and do other things to attract notice. He is, however, shy with strangers. IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 79 Girl of fifteen montlis. Nearly always smiles, even if crying, when any one smiles at her. Girl of twenty -two months says " cry " in a pathetic tone when looking at a picture of some one crying. She did this once when only the attitude indicated grief. Girl of twenty-two months, when pretending to read, looks up to see if any one is noticing or laughing. Girl of two years. Wants to do everything that others do and is willing to wait for her turn in games, gymnastics or whatever is being done. At two years she heard some one say in an expressive tone, " I was scared when I saw how much oatmeal there was." She dropped her spoon and seemed afraid of the oatmeal she was about to eat until reassured re- garding it. On another occasion she seemed to appreciate that her mother had been hurt when she saw her come against a door rather hard, although no sign of pain was visible. She said "Do, do (door), cy, cy " (cry), in a sympathetic tone. Girl of two years recognizes disapproval and seems to try to dissipate it by saying " Mamma " in a wheed- ling tone. Girl of two years. When sister cries, walks around her, tries to hug her saying, " Hug her," " Better." She also wants to rub her mother's head if it aches. She pinched her father and was pinched by him. She then pinched him again and insisted on being pinched in turn, apparently to get the full meaning of the act. Girl thirty-two months. Showed sympathy for a per- son who had a cut finger. Girl thirty-three months. Obedience seems now not 80 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING SO much a habit as conscious submission of seH to an- other. Girl, twenty-seven months. Always wants to share and have others share, e. g., wants to get on father's lap when brother does and wishes him to remain. Girl, thirty-one months, said to doll, " You like me, dollie ? " then turning to her mother said, " Dollie likes me." Boy twenty-eight months. Having been tapped lightly on the cheek by his father as a punishment, he sat on his father's lap and cuddled up to him saying at inter- vals, " I don't want papa to slap me." The matter was explained and he did not again commit the offence. Evi- dently there was a disturbance, but not a rupture of common consciousness. Boy three years. His mother was uneasy, not know- ing where his sister was, but said nothing about it and tried not to show it. Soon he said he wished he could see his sister and finally, " I am not happy. Mamma," evidently having caught the feeling from his mother. Development of Social and Self Ideas. Although children early in this stage show a great deal of individ- uality and frequently resist both objective and social influences brought to bear upon them to make them re- frain from mischief (which is, play or other activities pleasing to them and not pleasing to adults) yet the in- dividuality is not at first a conscious one. The child shares mental states with others, with now more empha- sis upon the self phases and again more upon the mental states of others who are sharing his experiences, but there is usually for a considerable time no clear line of demarcation between self and other persons or even be- tween self and other things. All things that move of IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 81 themselves, such as animals, and all things resembling animals or persons, such as dolls and toys, are often to the child sharers in active conscious life. Trees and flowers that move in the wind and even inanimate stones may also be regarded as conscious by some children, not only at this time but much later. A little girl of three and a half years said, when putting down a caterpillar, " He wants to go and see his folks, don't he?" A boy of three and a quarter years said to a cat, " Roll over," with apparently the same confidence in being understood as when speaking to persons. A little girl of less than three said, " Poor wood," when she saw it placed on the fire. A girl of nearly three complained of a basket, " It won't mind me." Whatever emphasizes the difference between the consciousness of self and that of others, such as (a) sickness, with its peculiar and often intense feelings as- sociated with special treatment, (b) marked difference in occupation and treatment of self as compared with that given to others, and (c) opposition between his own desires and pleasures and those of the people around him, hastens the process of differentiating the common consciousness of self and consciousness of others. Knowledge of the bodily self is gained just as is knowledge of other objects and it greatly influences the ideas of the mental self. The hands are among the first parts to be noticed, often being watched and one felt of or even picked up by the other. The feet come next, then perhaps nose and eyes. Most of these are usually familiar before the close of the first year. In the 82 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING second period a more conscious knowledge of their pe- culiar relation to one's feelings is gained. One little girl wanted her fingers taken off, apparently not realizing that they might not be removed and put on again as were her mittens or shoes. A girl of three bit her fingers, one till it bled, "to see if it was really me." Children, before the close of this period, often strike or scold their hands for doing something forbidden, though this may be in imitation of older people. Dress plays a prominent part in the ideas of the bodily self. Boys often think for some time that they were girls till they left off dresses and put on trousers, when they became boys. The child's mental self and the selves of father, mother and friends are for a long time parts of a common consciousness, and only after considerable ex- perience in which his own and the common conscious- ness are contrasted or opposed, does there emerge the clear idea of his own self as a separable and distinct whole instead of part of a common consciousness. In- deed, even in adult life, the feeling of a common con- sciousness sometimes becomes so great in cooperative effort or sympathetic appreciation that the individual self almost or quite disappears for the time. When the child has reached his third birthday, and often long before, he not only feels a self different from other persons, but is often able to think of his own mental self as a whole as distinct from other selves, now sharing with them and now in opposition to them. Pre- vious to this, obedience has been merely reacting to the social stimuli that so readily affect him, but now it be- comes more conscious and he may oppose a good deal of resistance not merely to doing certain objective acts but IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 83 to the submission of his " me " to the domination of an- other personality. Language of course plays a considerable part in the development of the idea of self, just as it does in the development of all ideas. The child is first helped in dis- tinguishing persons, including himself, by their names, just as names help to distinguish objects. In the use of the pronouns, " my," " I " and " you," when the owner or speaker is distinguished for the time being, whatever his permanent name may be, the child learns to give closer attention to the exact relation of that person to the situation. The child's " I don't want to " and the parents* "But I want you to" bring in contrast not only the two selves but their attitude toward the same thing. There is good ground, therefore, for the claim that the idea of the seK as a distinct conscious being has de- veloped when the words " I " and " you " are used cor- rectly and that as a rule it has not developed much earlier, although the use of possessives, such as " mine," " papa's," may have helped to the formation of a fairly definite idea of a conscious self, distinct from other con- scious selves. Usually, however, these words imply only an objective self with the incidentally associated feel- ings. The clearer idea of self may come into consciousness either gradually or suddenly. Some persons claim to re- member distinctly its sudden emergence. It is not, how- ever, even after it has been clearly formed, an idea that is continually present, or of the same degree of promi- nence. On the contrary, as an idea it appears only occar sionally at this time and later, though the feeling with which it is associated is always, except in unusual states 84 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING of absorption, a part of the conscious life. To adults the idea of selfhood sometimes occurs with peculiar vividness and it may be that those who say that the idea first came to them at a certain well remembered time, may be really describing, not the first emergence of the idea, but one of its earliest, most vivid and pro- longed appearances. The ordinary consciousness of self is not much more prominent than the consciousness of the immediate ob- jective surroundings and of other persons who are or might be also conscious of them. We are most of the time aware of where we are and of how our acts are likely to be regarded by others. Consciousness of self, and con- sciousness of usual surroundings and of others to be affected are, the greater portion of the time, the back- ground of definite conscious states instead of being themselves prominent phases of consciousness. It is only occasionally even in adults, that the self is brought into prominence and separately emphasized either in feeling or thought, and then consciousness of self is nearly always contrasted with a consciousness of others. Consciousness of self, in its usual permanent form of a background for other things, is probably of biological value in coordinating reactions to correspond to bodily conditions and to the immediate situation. If the phy- siological processes are disturbed or weakened, the usual modes of reaction may be varied because of the change in feeling. A sick or wounded animal does not attempt to escape danger in the same way as a vigorous one. The feeling of equilibrium and of special relation to surrounding things is equally prominent and necessary to successful reactions. Animals, therefore, probably have vague feelings of a unitary self that aid them in IMITATING AND SOCIALIZINCx STAGE 85 making appropriate reactions, but they are not so in- tense and are probably not definitely distinguished as they may be in human beings. The value of such feelings and discriminations is not, in human beings, however, chiefly biological, but psy- chological. It is well to be aware of physiological dis- turbances in order that they may be corrected, but the chief function of self -consciousness is to help us to bring our mental states into harmony with each other and with those of other persons, by eliminating what is objec- tionable and emphasizing what is desirable. The power to distinguish the individual peculiarities of self and others, is of great advantage in dealing with persons. Something of this power have children in the first stage of development. This in such cases is, however, almost wholly an objective matter, consisting in knowing what to expect from persons, including one's self, because of previous experience with them. In this second stage of development the child under- stands the actions of persons and knows how to re- spond to them, not merely as he does to things, but because he recognizes their conscious states. He now knows that the things people do are largely to be ex- plained by motives rather than by the influence of outer forces, as is the case with objects and machines. This consciousness is indicated by the question so frequent a little later, " What are you doing that for ? '* Only through common experience and a development of a consciousness of motives can the child effectively respond to his human environment. In a primitive state of society they may even be necessary to preserve life. Such consciousness is the basis of successful cooperative effort by groups and in all stages of civilization and in 86 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING individual development is one of the chief sources of mental pleasure. To know persons as psychical beings is as important as to know them as physical beings, and such knowledge can only be gained in connection with the gaining of self-knowledge. On the other hand, knowledge of self can only be gained through the knowledge of other selves that differ from as well as re- semble us. Emotionally a strong self-life is a necessary basis of social affections. One must have felt strongly in com- mon with others and by one's self in order to appreciate the feelings of others. Self-feelings are also a basis of moral feelings. To love others as one's self would mean not to love them at all if one entirely lacked self-love. At every stage there is inevitably close reciprocal rela- tion between self-appreciation and the appreciation of others, although one may be emphasized at the expense of the other. To be self-conscious means that there is mental or- ganization and unification or, in physiological terms, that the higher cerebral centers are organized and con- nected in such a way that they can function independ- ently as one, and direct to some extent the activities of the lower centers. A considerable development of mem- ory and free ideas must have taken place, otherwise there could be no conception of a permanent self, un- dergoing experiences similar or different from those previously undergone. More experience in observing this comparatively permanent seK is necessary than has usually been attained in this stage, before it can be re- flectively known as a continuous yet changing self, but reflections regarding self are common in the next period. It is during this period of common consciousness IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 87 that the germs of character and especially of the emo- tional life are developed. The child reacts as others do, and shares to a greater or less extent all the feelings expressed in tone and gestures by those around him, especially when he and they are engaged in the same activities. He acquires from others many antipathies and likings that he feels, but cannot explain in later life. This is perhaps most noticeable in the case of fears. If the persons around him show fear of worms, insects, snakes, darkness, lightning, etc., he shares their feelings and may in later life be unable to overcome his timidity and repugnance although he knows there is absolutely no basis in reason or fact for such feelings. No doubt many characteristics often supposed to be instinctive or inherited are the result of emotional attitudes produced by the actions of others during this period of great sus- ceptibility to social influences. The effects of such im- pressions remain and permanently affect character although memory can rarely recall any specific event that occurred during this period. Professor Judd gives a striking instance of a man who had an unaccountable fear of horses, but inquiry revealed the fact that he had when a small child been bitten and frightened by a horse. The emotional eif ects remained although he had no conscious memory of the event. There is probably no more important period in the life of an individual as regards his emotional nature (which is the basis of character) than this period when the child is learning to share the mental life of others. The spirit of the people around the child, the atmo- sphere of the home, never enter so fully into the child's own nature and become a part of it as during this time. Health is very important at this time, not simply for 88 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING its own sake, but because of the effects of physiological disturbances upon the feelings, disposition and charac- ter. Every disturbance of physical well-being helps to give an unfavorable trend to the conscious life that is forming, hastening self-consciousness, interfering with the development of a common consciousness and foster- ing contrariness and other undesirable individual char- acteristics that are often common in the next period. Some persons never seem to be able to develop a satisfactory social consciousness so that they can get into proper relationship with other persons. They may be antagonistic or helpful, but cannot seem to be at one with others. Such persons also often lack the feeling of unity with a higher being which their religious im- pulses lead them to desire. It is probable that this de- ficiency is due in part at least to the fact that when the mental and social self was being formed in the second stage of development, they failed for some reason to de- velop the feeling of a common consciousness with others. The individual self-consciousness developed alone and in opposition to other people, instead of emerging and being differentiated from a common consciousness. The two most important things to provide during this period are (1) pleasant, sympathetic relations be- tween the child and those around him, and (2) the uniform conditions and treatment which are favorable to the formation of desirable habits of conduct. Obedi- ence should, during this period, be more a matter of habit than of conscious volition. Language Acquisition and Ideas. It is during this period that language, the medium by which more specific and individual common conscious states are produced, is learned with great rapidity. The emotional phases of IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 89 common consciousness may be developed through the medium of natural signs, and are then readily shared, but well defined intellectual states can be produced and shared only as a more definite artificial language is acquired. There is, therefore, a very close relation be- tween learning to talk and development of the intelli- gence. In observing what persons do and in sharing their mental states the child notices a great deal of moving of lips and uttering of sounds, and imitates those move- ments and sounds. At first, even if the words are fairly well produced, he shares the mental states of others only as regards the feeling of vocal activity. Sounds, however, are so frequently made with expressive signs and in close relation with objects, movements, qualities and persons, that the child mentally reproduces a part or all of the associated experience whenever he hears such sounds. When such an experience is repeated and he utters the corresponding word it is then no longer a mere vocal performance, but signifies a particular ob- ject, act, quality or mental state. A child who first heard the word " tired " after walking some distance, and was at the same time taken up and carried, may have associated the word either with the feeling of weariness or with the act of being taken up or both, but she often afterward said, " Tired, carry," when she wished to be carried. A new means of sharing the consciousness of others is thus opened to the child. Speaking words is no longer a mere vocal play or even a means of getting hunger or other wants supplied, but of getting and sharing mental experiences. The social child is, there- fore, the one who learns language most quickly. Al- 90 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING though the child is all the time acquiring new and more definite ideas of things by his own observation and experience, yet his attention is being directed and his ideas formed to a large extent by the consciousness of others, through the medium of words that become associated with and help to define particular phases of his own conscious experiences. The child seeks names for objects and acts that he has noticed and thus increases his own vocabulary, while on the other hand words of others are continually directing his attention to things that he would otherwise give little attention to and thus his ideas are increased in number and their meaning and relation become better defined. The child's sentences are for a long time very in- complete, indicating only the situation as a whole or some interesting phase of it, and his ideas are doubtless in the same condition. The whole situation may be indicated by a word specifying some phase of it, as when " bed " and " chair '* mean the act of sitting or lying down as much or more than the objects. The more complete sentences that are used later both indicate and help produce more dis- criminative mental states. The complex mental state of perceiving a thing as a whole and also as composed of related parts is not as yet possible. This is clearly in- dicated not only by incomplete sentences, but also by the partial, detached character of the child's earliest draw- ings, in which there appear to be only very indefinite ideas of size, shape, number and position of parts of the object and their relation to the whole. Every object or situation is complex, producing many sensations, and it is unified and simplified by the re- IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 91 action that is made to it. A wooden block felt, seen and heard, is to a child a single unit and not a number of separate sensations of sight, touch and sound, because in playing with it, it is treated as one. The essential thing is to learn to react in ways that bring satisfactory results. This may be done to some extent without the help of language, so long as the reaction is merely one of physical movement in relation to the actual object. The utterance of a word, however, is a form of reaction that unifies as effectively as any other form of reaction and it is one that will serve when the object is not present, and that will serve for mental qualities and states as well as for objective situations. Words are therefore of great help in selecting elements of experi- ences and in forming the corresponding ideas. Images of sensations and reactions can serve in the absence of the actual situation, but without language there would be no means of arousing such images, either in our minds or the minds of others, except by at least a partial reproduction of the actual objective conditions, and then there would be no means of signifying what phase of the whole experience was intended to be em- phasized. Since words may be made a part of any situation and then used later to recall the image of the whole experi- ence or any part of it, language is one of the chief in- struments for developing images and freeing them, and for forming abstract ideas. Whatever whole or part is associated with a word is thereby isolated, unified and simplified so that, though it may vary in the sensations it gives, still the child may distinguish it from other things and regard it as the same. Every object gives different sensations according to its position, lighting, 92 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING temperature, moisture, etc. A cup produces thousands of varying sensations, but if it is always reacted to by the word " cup " the variations are little noticed and it is readily distinguished from another variously appear- ing object that is called by the child and others, " ball." Without language, the child, like animals, would know only a limited number of objects and would know them only in the sense of being able to react to them successfully in a few ways. With language, he can learn of things within his environment, and of things resembling them elsewhere. He is also continually guided amid the complexity of similarity and difference by the word reactions of those around him. Words thus determine almost completely how the world shall be organized in the microcosm of his mind. In learning a language and effecting such mental organization, the child becomes entirely different from animals and from what he was in the first stage. People of different languages have their ideas organized differently so that equivalent expressions are often hard to find, and child- ren illustrate the same thing in their use of words. Development of Language and Ideas Illustrated. The following exact reproduction of what was said by a little girl at intervals of six months shows how her ideas and her sentences developed and shows how her thoughts and remarks, from being suggested by external things, gradually became more connected and dominated by interests. Two years and four months. "Little story (tell me a little story). Dat all? New cuff? Crack want (I want a cracker). Make boy (when she saw her father using a pencil). Crack good. IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 93 Upstairs sleep. Hot, very hot. Milk. Grandpa. Very- hot, sugar on it (the oatmeal is very hot, put sugar or cream on it). Down (as she put cooky down). Cough (when some one sneezed). Want that (a date). Oh my ! stone. More, want more. Good, want good (nuts). Salt my on (I want salt on my nuts). Three, four, five (as the clock strikes). Picktooth. Grape, want. Baby, baby, little baby." Two years and ten months. "I make a noise. Tha