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FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
^J^^^ 
 
FUNDAMENTALS 
 
 OF 
 
 CHILD STUDY 
 
 A DISCUSSION OF 
 
 INSTINCTS AND OTHER FACTORS 
 
 IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 
 
 WITH 
 
 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWIN A. KIRKPATRICK, B.S., M.Ph. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "INDUCTIVE PSYCHOLOGY" 
 
 NEW EDITION, REVISED 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. 
 1908 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
J 
 
 m 
 
 COPYWGHT, 1903, 1907, 
 
 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1903. 
 New edition, revised, June, October, 1907 ; April, 1908. 
 
 fcuucATfOM dept; 
 
 J. 8. Gushing & Co. — Berwick k, Smith Oo. 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
To my lamented Friend 
 
 LOUIS H. GALBREATH 
 
 whose generous and genial personality has gladdened 
 and ennobled many lives, and whose broad views^ 
 stimulating presence, and suggestive conversations 
 have often inspired and directed my thought and 
 work as an individual and an educator 
 
 2rf)is ©flflk i» ^ffectionatelg IBetiwateti 
 
 543583 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This book is an attempt to present, in an organized 
 form, an outline of the new science of child study for 
 investigators, students, teachers, and parents. It is 
 the fruit of fourteen years' experience in studying and 
 teaching child study, and of seven years' experience 
 as a father. Most of the work has been presented 
 successfully, in nearly its present form, to normal 
 students. 
 
 The great task of the author has been to decide what 
 to leave out of the book. Many paragraphs might 
 easily have been expanded into chapters. It was the 
 original intention to summarize all the principal child- 
 study investigations that have been made. Lack of 
 space and the fact that much of the literature of 
 child study is in the nature of preliminary studies 
 likely to be superseded by later investigations, caused 
 this plan to be abandoned; hence only a few specific 
 facts and figures are quoted, while prominence is given 
 to the foundations of child study in other sciences,^ 
 and to the more general, permanent, and practical 
 truths thus far revealed by students of children. 
 
 The treatment of each topic is, in a way, complete 
 in itself, though related to every other and intended 
 to be worked out more completely by reading, obser- 
 
VUl PREFACE 
 
 vation, experiment, and discussion, so far as time will 
 permit. To aid readers and students in assimilating 
 and supplementing the text, exercises and references 
 are given at the close of each chapter. In class work 
 the recitation periods may well be taken up largely in 
 discussions of these exercises and in reports of reading, 
 though if preferred they may be ignored and the text 
 alone studied and recited. It is hoped that the plan 
 of the book will adapt itself to the use of intelligent 
 parents and to classes in normal schools and univer- 
 sities, with varying preparation and amount of time 
 to devote to the subject. Many parents will prefer 
 to begin with chapter five and to omit chapter four- 
 teen and perhaps some of the chapters that follow. 
 No attempt is made to give a complete bibliography, 
 as there are already several good ones. A list of child 
 study books for the benefit of those not familiar with 
 the literature of the subject is given in the first of the 
 book. Suggestions for reading will be found at the 
 close of each chapter, and at the back of the book are 
 given the full name of journals often referred to and an 
 alphabetical list of all books named in the text. Since 
 the references that will be most valuable in connection 
 with each chapter depend upon what literature is acces- 
 sible, the time that can be spent in reading, the maturity 
 of the reader, and the phases of the subject which it is 
 desired to emphasize, each teacher will, in part, wish to 
 make his own reference list. A blank page is therefore 
 X ^n left for this purpose. 
 
 Acknowledgments are due to many earnest students 
 of children, especially to G. Stanley Hall, the father of 
 all child study in America; to J. Mark Baldwin, who 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 has given us a theory of organic development; to 
 Lloyd Morgan, who has described instincts and habits 
 with such acuteness and clearness ; and to Earl Barnes, 
 who has so intelligently studied the effects of social 
 influences upon children ; also to Mr. J. F. Reigart and 
 to my wife for assisting with the proofs, and to my 
 friend Rev. W. F. Greenman for suggestions. 
 
 E. A. K. 
 
 FiTCHBURG Normal School, 
 July, 1903. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 
 
 The very kind reception given the first edition of this 
 book by instructors in normal schools and universities, 
 and by parents and teachers in this and other countries, 
 has been very gratifying to the author, who had scarcely 
 dared hope that he could make the book so acceptable 
 to so many different classes of persons. 
 
 This new edition has given the opportunity to correct 
 a number of errors in the references at the close of each 
 chapter, to add the names of a few new books to the 
 list at the beginning, and also to improve a few sen- 
 tences and paragraphs. 
 
 It has not been thought best to make any radical 
 revision at the present time. This will probably be 
 done a few years later. In the meantime, the author 
 will be glad to receive suggestions from those who have 
 used the book regarding corrections, omissions, or addi- 
 tions that it is thought would increase its usefulness. 
 
 E. A. K. 
 FiTCHBURG Normal School, 
 May, 1907. 
 

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CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Child Study Literature xix yiec 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 NATURE, SCOPE, AND PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Difference between Children and Adults .... I 
 
 Origin of Child Study 2 
 
 Period covered by Child Study 3 
 
 Significance of Infancy 3 
 
 Why Higher Animals have a Longer Infancy than the Lower . 4 
 
 Human Infancy and Plasticity 6 
 
 Inner and Outer Factors in Development .... 7 
 
 The Problem to be solved 10 
 
 Generality of Inner Forces of Development , . . .11 
 
 Exercises for Students . .12 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 12 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
 General Phenomena of Growth 15 
 
 General Truths regarding Growth of Children . • .16 
 
 Factors determining Growth 17 
 
 Growth of Parts 19 
 
 Health and Growth 20 
 
 Growth and Development 22 
 
 Natural Order of Development in Relation to Exercise . . 24 
 
 Exercises for Students 28 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 29 
 
 xi 
 
XU CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES AND GENERAL ORDER OF 
 DEVELOPMENT 
 
 TAGM 
 
 Kinds of Native Movements 32 
 
 Instincts and Structure 34 
 
 Instincts and Consciousness 35 
 
 Conditions affecting the Usefulness of Instincts ... 40 
 
 Fixed and Indefinite Instincts 42 
 
 Continuous, Transient, and Periodic Instincts ... 44 
 
 Principles governing the Development of Instincts ... 44 
 
 Causes of Differences in Individuals of the Same Species . 46 
 
 Exercises for Students 48 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 
 
 Basis of Classification 51 
 
 I. Individualistic or Self-preservative Instincts ... 52 
 
 II. Parental Instincts 53 
 
 III. Group or Social Instincts 54 
 
 IV. Adaptive Instincts 56 
 
 Imitation 58 
 
 Play 58 
 
 Curiosity 59 
 
 V. Regulative Instincts 60 
 
 VI. Resultant and Miscellaneous Instincts and Feelings . 6? 
 
 Exercises for Students 63 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 63 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 
 
 Early Movements 65 
 
 Increase in Complexity of Movement 67 
 
 Early Mental States 69 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Development of Voluntary Control 72 
 
 Learning to Walk 79 
 
 Modes of Learning 81 
 
 Relation of Instincts to Mental Activities .... 86 
 
 Exercises for Students 88 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 88 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCTS 
 
 Strength of the Instinct 91 
 
 Prominence in the Young 92 
 
 Development of the Individualistic Instincts into Motives . 94 
 Individualism the Basis of Higher Development . . .96 
 
 The Feeding Instinct 99 
 
 Fear 99 
 
 The Fighting Instinct 104 
 
 Exercises for Students 106 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 107 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENTAL AND THE SOCIAL 
 INSTINCTS 
 
 I. The Parental Instinct 109 
 
 Lateness of Development 109 
 
 Relation of the Parental Instinct to Other Impulses 
 
 and Feelings 1 1 1 
 
 Right Development of the Parental Instinct . '113 
 
 II. Development of the Social Instinct 118 
 
 1. Gregariousness 119 
 
 2. Sympathy ........ 120 
 
 3. Love of Approbation 121 
 
 4. Altruism . - 123 
 
 Exercises for Students 125 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 126 
 
Xhf CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 
 
 PACK 
 
 Characteristics of Imitation in Children 129 
 
 Classification of Imitative Acts of Children . . . .131 
 
 Development of Imitation 133 
 
 1. Reflex Imitation 133 
 
 2. Spontaneous Imitation 134 
 
 3. Dramatic Imitation 136 
 
 4. Voluntary Imitation 139 
 
 5. Idealistic Imitation 141 
 
 Exercises for Students , . 144 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 145 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 
 
 Theory of Play 147 
 
 Work, Play, and Amusement 148 
 
 Changes with Age as regards Freedom in Play . . • 151 
 
 Changes with Age as regards Powers used in Play . . • 153 
 Changes with Age as regards Instincts involved in Play . .156 
 Play as a Factor in Education . . . . o . .158 
 
 Exercises for Students 162 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 163 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 
 
 Function of Curiosity 166 
 
 Curiosity, Attention, and Interest 168 
 
 Changes in Curiosity with Age 171 
 
 Curiosity and Education 174 
 
 Exercises for Students 178 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 17S 
 
CONTENTS XV 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 
 
 I. Moral Instincts 
 
 Preparatory Stage of Moral Development . 
 Moral Training during the Preparatory Stage 
 Transition Stage of Moral Development . 
 Moral Training in the Transition Stage . 
 
 II. Religious Instincts 
 
 Preparatory Stage of Religious Development 
 Religious Training in Childhood 
 The Period of Religious Awakening . 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 i8i 
 i8i 
 182 
 191 
 
 193 
 197 
 197 
 198 
 200 
 201 
 202 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — VARIOUS RESULTANT 
 INSTINCTS AND FEELINGS 
 
 The Collecting Instinct 205 
 
 The Constructive Instinct 207 
 
 The Esthetic Instinct 209 
 
 The Migratory Instinct 213 
 
 The Rhythmic Instinct 214 
 
 Relation of Instinctive Actions to Feelings . . , .215 
 Relation of Fundamental Stimuli to Feelings . . . .217 
 
 Exercises for Students 218 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 219 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — THE EXPRESSIVE 
 INSTINCT 
 
 Origin, Nature, and Forms . . . . . .221 
 
 I. Auditory Language ....... 222 
 
 Factors concerned in its Acquisition . . . 222 
 
XVI CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Stages of Learning Oral Language .... 226 
 
 Instinctive Stage 226 
 
 Playful and Imitative Stage .... 227 
 
 Word-learning Stage 228 
 
 Sentence-making Stage 233 
 
 II. Visual Language 237 
 
 III. Drawing 240 
 
 Exercises for Students 243 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 244 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 
 
 General Principles 247 
 
 Development of Discrimination 25 1 
 
 Development in Rate of Mental Activity 253 
 
 Increase in Mental Grasp . . " 254 
 
 Development of Perception » . 256 
 
 Development of the Power to Image 259 
 
 Growth of Constructive Imagination 263 
 
 Development of Creative Imagination 265 
 
 Development of Memory 268 
 
 Development of Concepts 271 
 
 Development of Reasoning 274 
 
 Exercises for Students 282 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 286 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 HEREDITY 
 
 Meaning 289 
 
 General Truths or Laws of Heredity 290 
 
 General Theory of Heredity 293 
 
 Social Heredity 297 
 
 Exercises for Students 299 
 
 Suggestions for Reading . 300 
 
CONTENTS Xvil 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Significance of the Term 302 
 
 Biological Value of Individuality 303 
 
 Commonality and Individuality ...... 305 
 
 Factors Producing Commonality and Individuality . . . 307 
 
 Time of Greatest Individuality 308 
 
 General and Particular Truths regarding Children . . . 309 
 
 Necessity of Recognizing Individuality in Children . . 312 
 
 How Commonality and Individuality may be developed . •314 
 
 Types of Individuality o . 315— 
 
 Exercises for Students 317 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 318 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ABNORMALITIES 
 
 Fatigue 321 
 
 Nature and Causes ; . . .321 
 
 Laws of Fatigue 324 
 
 Tests and Signs of Fatigue 331 
 
 Some Abnormal Brain States 332 
 
 Nervousness 334.^ 
 
 Chorea 335 
 
 Stuttering and Stammering 337 
 
 Adenoid Growths 338 
 
 Defects in Hearing 339 
 
 Defects of Sight 341 
 
 Exercises for Students 343 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 343 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 
 
 Purpose of Child Study by Teachers 346 
 
 Studying and Managing a School as a Whole .... 347 
 
xvm CONTENTS 
 
 PACK 
 
 Study and Treatment of Individual Children .... 354 
 
 Outlines for Observation 356 
 
 Questions prepared for Normal Students . . . .357 
 
 Reports, Tests, and Records 360 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 367 
 
 Alphabetical List of Books 371 
 
 Journals 376 
 
 Index 379 
 
CHILD STUDY LITERATURE 
 
 Books treating of the First Three Years of Childhood 
 
 Preyer : The Mind of the Child, 2 vols. ; Infant Mind, condensed 
 
 from the above. Appleton. 
 Shinn : Biography of a Baby. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Moore : Mental Development of a Child. Macmillan. 
 Tracy : The Psychology of Childhood. D. C. Heath. 
 
 The first three books are each studies of individual children, 
 while the last is a summary of various studies. 
 Perez : First Three Years of Childhood. 
 
 This is an older and less critical work. 
 Major : First Steps in Mental Growth. Macmillan. 
 Fitz : Problems in Babyhood. Holt & Co. 
 
 Books containing Sympathetic Observations and Practical 
 Suggestions regarding Young Children 
 
 Harrison : A Study of Child Nature. Chicago Kindergarten College. 
 Wiggin : Children^'s Rights. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Malleson : Early Training of Children. D. C. Heath. 
 Proudfoot : Mother's Ideals. The Author, Chicago, Auditorium. 
 Winterburn: From a Child's Standpoint, pp. 278, and Nursery 
 
 Ethics, pp. 241. The Baker & Taylor Co., New York. 
 DuBois: Beckoning of Little Hands, pp. 166, and The Point of 
 
 Contact, pp. 88. John D. Wattles, Philadelphia. 
 Wiltse : Place of the Story in Early Education. Ginn & Co. 
 Chenery, Susan : As the Twig is Bent. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Oilman, C. P. (Stetson) : Concerning Children. Small, Maynard & 
 
 Co., Boston. 
 Birney : Childhood. Stokes & Co. 
 
 Books relating chiefly to the Study of Children in 
 School 
 
 Rowe : The Physical Nature of the Child. Macmillan. 
 Groszmann : A Working System of Child Study for Schools. C. W. 
 Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
XX CHILD STUDY LITERATURE 
 
 Warner : The Study of Children. Macmillan. 
 
 Wray : Glimpses of Child Nature. Public School Pub. Co. 
 
 Autobiographical and Literary Accounts of Children 
 
 Kelly : Little Citizens. McClure, Phillips & Co. 
 
 Aldrich : Story of a Bad Boy. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Howells : A Boy's Town. Harpers. 
 
 White : Court of Boyville. Doubleday & McClure Co. 
 
 Warner : Being a Boy. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Burnett : The One I Knew Best of All. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Martin : Emmy Lou. McClure, Phillips & Co. 
 
 Loti : Romance of a Child. Rand, McNally & Co. 
 
 Phillips : Just About a Boy. Herbert S. Stone & Co., N. Y. 
 
 Laughlin : Johnnie. The Bowen Merrill Co., Kansas City. 
 
 Keller : Story of My Life. Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 Smith, W. H. : The Evolution of Dodd. Rand, McNally & Co. 
 
 Canton: W. V., Her Book and Various Verses, pp. 150. Stone < 
 
 Kimball, N.Y. 
 Meynell, Alice : The Children, pp. 134. John Lane, N. Y., 1897. 
 
 Books treating of Various Phases of Child Study 
 
 Baldwin : Mental Development in the Child and the Race : Vol. I, 
 Methods and Processes ; Vol. II, Social and Ethical Interpreta- 
 tions; Vol. Ill, Organic Evolution and Development. Mac- 
 millan. 
 
 Very valuable discussions of fundamental principles of organic 
 and social development, but somewhat obscure and technical in 
 places. 
 
 Oppenheim : The Development of the Child, pp. 296, and Mental 
 Growth and Control, pp. 296. Macmillan. 
 
 Both books are interesting and valuable, the first dealing 
 more with the physical nature is directly in the line of the 
 author's specialty, medicine. 
 
 Judd : Genetic Psychology. Appleton. 
 
 A very clear and valuable study of the modification produced 
 in mind by experience and habit. 
 
CHILD STUDY LITERATURE XXI 
 
 Compa3n:6 : Intellectual and Moral Development of the Child : Part 
 I, Early Infancy ; Part II, Later Infancy. Appleton. 
 A readable, psychological study of children. 
 Dnimmond : The Child, His Nature and Nurture. J. M. Dent & Co., 
 London. 
 An excellent little book. 
 Sully: Studies of Childhood. 
 
 Especially valuable for its numerous illustrations of children's 
 doings and sayings. 
 Barnes : Studies in Education (Studies in Ed.), Vols. I and II, each 
 consisting of a series of ten pamphlets describing the studies 
 made by himself and assistants in England and America of the 
 social ideas and ideals of children. The Author, Philadelphia. 
 Chamberlain : The Child. W. Scott, London. 
 
 A valuable summary of much of the literature of child study. 
 Stableton : Diary of a Western Schoolmaster. Ainsworth & Co., 
 
 Chicago. y^ 
 
 A very interesting account of the individual development of 
 twenty adolescent boys who were somewhat exceptional in 
 their characteristics. 
 Adler: Moral Instruction of Children. Appleton. 
 
 A valuable discussion of the general problem of moral instruc- 
 tion, with practical suggestions as to the teaching of various 
 virtues. 
 Hogan, Louise E. : A Study of a Child. Harpers. 
 
 Not intended to be scientific or systematic ; simply a record 
 of the first eight years of a boy, with comments. 
 Taylor : The Child. Appleton. 
 
 Contains elementary truths of psychology, child study, and 
 pedagogy. 
 Hall: Adolescence. Appleton. 
 
 King : The Psychology of Child Development. University of Chi- 
 cago Press. 
 Tanner: The Child. Rand, McNally & Co. 
 
FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 NATURE, SCOPE, AND PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS 
 
 Physically and mentally, children differ from adults 
 in other ways besides the obvious ones of size and 
 knowledge. Physically this is evident from the fact 
 that we can form some idea of the age of a person rep- 
 resented in a picture or statue when there is nothing 
 to show the scale upon which it was made. There j^ iC< 
 must therefore be peculiarities of form and proportion 
 
 
 A 
 
 of parts at different ages upon which we base our judg- 
 ments. Most persons, however, who have not had their 
 attention called to the matter, are unable to state in just ^^e^--***^ 
 what ways children and adults differ. Some even hesi- 
 tate regarding the most obvious differences in relative 
 size of head, body, and limbs, though the ratios are 
 approximately as follows : — 
 
 Height of head of adult to that of an infant . . . 2:1 
 
 Length of body of adult to that of an infant . . 3:1* 
 
 Length of arm of adult to that of an infant . . . 4:1 
 
 Length of leg of adult to that of an infant . . . 5:1 
 
 These differences in proportion of parts are probably 
 greater than exist between some adult animals and 
 
 B I 
 
i-TJNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 " '* " ' adult human beings. They are only the more obvious 
 of the many differences between children and adults, 
 in proportion of parts, size of vital organs, and physio- 
 logical processes such as those of circulation, respiration, 
 and digestion. 
 
 Mentally, every one recognizes marked differences 
 between the mind of a child and of an adult, though 
 when questioned as to the exact character of these 
 differences, most persons are even more hazy and in- 
 definite in their answers than they are regarding bodily 
 differences. Those who have given the subject most 
 attention, however, are sure that the ment al differences 
 are greater than the physical, though they are less easily 
 stated in exact terms. 
 
 ORIGIN OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 These truths have received much more attention 
 recently than in former times, and the result has been 
 increased interest in child life in the home, in the 
 school, and in literature, art, and science. This increas- 
 ing interest with the consequent discovery of additional 
 differences between children and adults has led to the 
 attempt to determine definitely and accurately the pecu- 
 liarities of childhood at various stages, and thus we 
 have the beginning of a new science — the science of 
 -M^w^^- P3.idology or Child Study. If children were merely 
 adults in miniature, there would be no occasion for 
 such a science; but as we have seen, they differ radi- 
 fcally from adults, hence a science of child study has 
 j arisen, quite distinct from the general sciences of physi- 
 [ology and psychology. Such a study is necessary to 
 tEe completion of the circle of the sciences, and it is also 
 
PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 3 
 
 indispensable as a basis for the science of education 
 and the art of teaching. 
 
 PERIOD COVERED BY CHILD STUDY 
 
 It is not easy to say when a boy or girl becomes a i^M^ 
 man or woman. Even in law there is variability; for 
 a man is recognized as earlier mature or competent for 
 certain purposes than he is for others, e.g. he can enter .X-vcx.y 
 the army at eighteen and vote at twenty-one, but can- 
 not hold the office of President till he is thirty-five. 
 Again, the law recognizes the passing of the normal 
 adult stage by providing for the retirement of officers 
 after a certain age. Old age, as well as the period 
 before maturity is reached, may therefore furnish a 
 separate field for study. 
 
 Child study is properly concerned with all the changes cJjM 
 that usually take place in human beings before they ^^L,^ 
 reach maturity. Most of these changes occur before ^^^^ 
 the age of twenty, but some may not appear until ten 
 or fifteen years later. 
 
 Roughly speaking, infancy and childhood last about J-*^ 
 , a dozen years, adolescence or the transition period ^U^t 
 
 /about a dozen years, vigorous maturity about three ctcuO^ 
 dozen, and old age or decadence, one dozen. Some /kuu^ 
 f n/' powers mature and fail earlier and others later than at 
 / .these periods. There are also great individual differ- 
 Y ences as to the age at which maturity is achieved, and 
 .^ at which decadence begins. 
 
 SIGNIFICANCE OF INFANCY 
 
 A fish has practically no infancy ; its form is nearly 
 that of the adult ; it can do almost everything the adult 
 
4 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 fish can do, and it is possible to teach it little or nothing. 
 A robin is helpless at birth, yet practically mature at 
 two months. A chicken does not need to learn to walk 
 and take food, is independent in a few weeks, and com- 
 pletely mature before a year, though retaining con- 
 siderable capacity for learning. The child is helpless 
 for months, dependent for years, immature at least a 
 score of years, and capable of learning for three score. 
 In general, the animals that are most helpless in infancy 
 have the longest period of immaturity, and keep long- 
 est their plasticity or power of learning, are more 
 complex, more capable of variety of sensation and 
 movement, and more intelligent. In other words, the 
 longer the infancy of any species of animals, the greater 
 its ultimate power and intelligence. 
 
 WHY HIGHER ANIMALS HAVE A LONGER INFANCY THAN 
 THE LOWER 
 
 Looking upon an animal organism as a machine, 
 
 the lower animals are more perfect at birth than the 
 
 higher. They are like a complex '* nickle-in-the-slot " 
 
 machine, which responds in an appropriate way not only 
 
 to one, but to several coins (stimuli). The fish has an 
 
 almost unchanging environment and needs to do only a 
 
 ' few things in order to secure food and avoid enemies ; 
 
 hence its mechanism from the first prepares it for most 
 
 ^ iK oi the exigencies of life, and it need not and cannot 
 
 / J<iearn much. It is sent out of nature's factory all ready 
 
 ^ (/ to do the limited business of life necessary for its own 
 
 / preservation. Higher animals come into a much more 
 
 /complex environment, each phase of which requires a 
 
 ■ y different response; hence infinite complexity of struc- 
 
PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 5 
 
 ture is necessary for them to transact their life business 
 successfully. 
 
 Moreover, the environment varies according to the 
 place in which the young animal is born, the season of 
 the year, and its own movements ; hence it is nearly as 
 impossible to prepare a higher animal by its original 
 structure for a successful life as it would be to prepare 
 a machine that would, from a single adjustment, per- 
 form with accuracy and despatch all the functions of a 
 clerk (including the answering of customers' questions). 
 A machine may be constructed that will do part of 
 fT the work of a clerk, but not all, for new situations arise 
 ^' which cannot be provided for by any fixed mechanism. 
 ^ This is especially true when he changes from one de- 
 partment to another, or one kind of business to another, 
 / or adopts new and improved methods. In a similar 
 {y . ^ way the higher animals, in order to do their life work 
 . ^ and live, must have the power of adjusting themselves 
 ^ to the environment into which they are born, and of 
 'V^ V^dapting themselves to changes in that environment. 
 j^f{jr\^o do the first, they must be incomplete at birth and 
 |) /^O capable of being modified by experience till they fit their 
 jj/^ environment ; and to do the second they must retain 
 ^/ ^something of their plasticity or capacity for being modi- 
 \y^ ^fied, so that if the environment changes they can again 
 J*^ j^/^make the necessary adjustment to the new situations. 
 ^^ Infancy is therefore the period during which the 
 
 more complex organisms are perfected by further in.- 
 ternal developmen t and by activities which prepare 
 them to react appropriately to the various phases of 
 their environment. In other words, it is the period for 
 developing the native powers of the individual and for 
 
6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 learning how to live in the environment in which he 
 finds himself. 
 
 HUMAN INFANCY AND PLASTICITY 
 
 Man is the most complex of animals and also the 
 
 >Y most capable of preserving himself in diverse cli- 
 
 '^X/' mates and conditions of life ; hence it is not surpris- 
 
 ^^ ing to learn that he is born with the greatest capacity 
 
 . - for being modified to suit his environment. He is less 
 
 ' ^ mature, has fewer fixed modes of reaction to stimuli 
 
 y^ 'than other animals, and the period of his imma- 
 
 h/ turity lasts from five to a hundred times as long as 
 
 ^ in others of the higher animals. Clearly, therefore, 
 
 infancy is of vast significance in a human being, and 
 
 a man's cha racteristics, at various ages are more largel y 
 
 ^^ y ij tlue to mod ifications^r oduce d__by_Jhis ownand_l ess to 
 
 ^ y racejexperiences than is the case wi th any o theiLanimaL 
 
 ^ Man has more insfihcts than any other animal, but his 
 
 ^ tiinstincts are all subject to greater modification by ex- 
 
 if perience. Plasticit y is not only g reater in m an, but 
 
 "vT g reatest in early life . The more fundamental physical 
 
 characteristics of a man are fixed at twenty-five, and the 
 
 mental at thirty-five; yet plasticity in minor details is 
 
 retained till the period of decadence. 
 
 Not only is the p eriod of infan cy longer in man than 
 in animals, but it is longer i n civilize d t han^in savage 
 people, and is constantly becoming longer. As life be- 
 comes more complex, more special training is needed 
 before a young man is prepared to make a living for 
 himself. The a^e of entering upon business and pro- 
 fessional life is therefore fro m five to ten years l ater ^ 
 than_ itj^s_fifty_years ago. 
 
/ 
 
 Z/ 
 
 PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ' :/ Not only is the period of infancy or preparation for 
 yjT living longer, but there is more need for the preserva- 
 < tion of plasticity in every individual as long as possible ; 
 
 for the environment is constantly changing with the 
 invention of new machinery and methods, and advance- 
 ment in knowledge and social relations. Men who 
 have not sufficient plasticity to adapt themselves to 
 these changes quickly fail in the struggle for existence. 
 The function of^ education in a progressive nation is 
 therefore not merely to^dh svelop hab it s suited to present 
 conditions of life, but also to_^jvelopL_adaptability_Jhat 
 will enable the individual to fit himself to new c onditions, 
 as they appear. 
 
 . In the evolution of the race a long period of infancy 
 as been of great significance. The helplessness of chil- 
 dren kept parents together, and thus family life, which is 
 the basis of all social life, had its beginning. Moreover, 
 the task of caring for and training children gives an 
 education that could be achieved in no other way, and 
 contact with such enigmatic and variable creatures re- 
 news the youth of adults and helps them to preserve 
 their plasticity. Not only does man's superiority to 
 animals depend largely upon his longer infancy, or, in 
 other words, upon his greater plasticity, but the position 
 of each nation as a civilized power and of each indi- 
 vidual in society is also largely determined by ability to 
 respond to new situations in new ways. 
 
 '/^ d: 
 
 ^ 
 
 INNER AND OUTER FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENT 
 
 J j We never know the nature of a material object until 
 
 if jv/Q bring it in contact with other substances and with 
 
 1 new forces. In a similar way, we do not know the 
 
 /. 
 
/ 
 
 8 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 nature of a child until we have observed his actions 
 under various conditions. Not only do we not know 
 what the child is until we have observed his actions 
 under various circumstances, but he actually acquires 
 new characteristics in the presence of each new person 
 and in the performance of each new action. 
 
 What a child is, therefore, at any given time, is 
 developed from what he was at the beginning, and 
 (whaf) he has acquired by his reactions. What he may 
 be is potentially present at first, and can become actual 
 only after certain phases of his nature have been de- 
 veloped by experience. A grain of com has the poten- 
 ^ tial power of producing other grains of corn, but it 
 cannot actually do so until it has been subjected to heat 
 and moisture, and has developed leaves, stalk, tassel, 
 and silk. In a similar way the child has various powers 
 that cannot become actual until environment has devel- 
 oped certain others. No conceivable environment can 
 make corn develop characteristics of the oak, or make 
 it produce grain before it produces leaves. So the child 
 must become a human being, develop in a certain way ; 
 each instinct, just as truly as the beard, has a definite 
 time for development. 
 
 Since, however, man is the most plastic of all beings, 
 the order of his development is subject to great modi- 
 fication. This is especially true of his mind. UnUke 
 other machines, the brain is always in process of con- 
 struction, always being modified and never completed. 
 A machine may be used for threshing oats for several 
 years, then it can be used with equal success for thresh- 
 ing wheat; but a brain used in the botanical classification 
 of plants must be changed by practice before it is cor- 
 
PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 9 
 
 respondingly useful in the grammatical classification of 
 words. Every time the mind does a thing it becomes a 
 different mind ; hence the factors of nature and nurture 
 are almost inextricably mingled in psychical develop- 
 ment, and this makes the natural order of development 
 exceedingly difficult to determine. 
 
 The question is often asked whether certain character - 
 i stics are native or acquired. The answer might be in 
 nearly every case, "They are both." Native powers 
 may lie dormant unless awakened and stimulated to 
 activity by environment. On the other hand, nothing 
 wholly foreign to one's nature can be acquired and 
 made a permanent part of one's self. The relation of 
 outer and inner factors in dev elopment is well illustrated 
 by experiments on the optic nerve. The acquisition of 
 a medullary sheath is supposed to mark the beginning 
 of functional activity in nerve fibres. Dqes_the_acquisi- 
 tion of the sheath rnake functio nal a ctivity possibje, or 
 does the ^egmnmg^of^ function cause__the sheath to 
 develop ? Some kittens of the same litter were kept 
 blinded so the optic nerves were not acted upon by 
 light, while the eyes of the others were opened and thus 
 early subjected to the influence of light. At varying 
 intervals the kittens were killed and their optic nerves 
 examined. It was found that those which were kept 
 blinded acquired their medullary sheaths without the 
 stimulus of light, but much less quickly than the others. 
 In this case the inner tendency was finally effective, 
 even when the outer stimulus was cut off. In many 
 other cases, however, where the inner tendency is less 
 strong, outer influences are probably necessary in order 
 that the inner possibility may become an actuaHty. All 
 
lO FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 acquisitions, therefore, have for their jroots inner ten- 
 dencies, and all inner tendencies remain undeveloped 
 or develop slowly without the action of favorable outer 
 influences. 
 
 ^ ^ THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED 
 
 j^ ^ yX ' To study the outer and inner factors in human devel- 
 ^^ ^ opment, and to determine how the inner factors are 
 i> modified by the outer, is th^ work of child study. It 
 
 must discover the natural order of physical and mental 
 / development and the modifying effect of various con- 
 
 ditions and activities at different stages. It must find 
 what characteristics are, or tend to be, the most promi- 
 nent at each age by determining the time of emergence 
 and greatest prominence of each of the numerous 
 instincts. ~^ 
 
 In order to eliminate the influence of environment, 
 
 the test of generality must be applied and care must be 
 
 ^y^aken that the instincts given form and intensity by 
 
 ^^ special conditions are not confused with more funda- 
 
 /\ mental or normal instinctive tendencies. For example, 
 
 if all the children of about four years, in a village by 
 
 the seashore, play at making and sailing boats, the in- 
 
 W^ ference may be drawn that there is a natural tendency 
 
 y to engage in those occupations at that age. Further 
 
 observations show that in other localities the play occu- 
 
 V • pations of the children are in all cases characteristic of 
 
 the neighborhood. Everywhere children of four years 
 
 imitate, but what they imitate varies with their sur- 
 
 •^' roundings ; hence the correct generalization is that the 
 
 ♦ \r tendency to imitate is strong at four years, because of 
 
 inner laws of development, but that the particular form 
 
 of imitation is determined by surroundings. 
 
 ■y" 
 
PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY II 
 
 In Other lines of child study the problem is similar. 
 In every case we ask what inner tendencies are prominent 
 at each age, and how these tendencies are developed and 
 modified by outer influences. Child study is, therefore, . 
 '^ concerned with all the characteristics that are present 
 at birth in so far as they differ from those of adults, 
 and with the general laws of development, according to ^ ' 
 which changes in size, structure, and instinct take place 
 between early infancy and complete maturity. 
 
 GENERALITY OF INNER FORCES OF DEVELOPMENT 
 
 • The inner forces which determine the form, structure, 
 and actions of each individual and the changes he shall 
 undergo in reaching the adult stage are of three degrees 
 of generality : ( i ) those determining what is character- 
 istic of all animals of the species ; (2) those determining 
 what is common only in a certain family or group of 
 families, and (3) those producing the distinctive pecu- 
 liarities of the individual. The first are the result of the 
 whole history of the species and its ancestors in certain 
 environment or environments ; the second, of a portion 
 only of the species and in a more limited environment ; 
 while the third are the result of the union of slightly 
 unlike parents and of influences acting upon the indi- 
 vidual organism during the embryonic period. Bis- 
 marck had the common characteristics of all human 
 beings, he had also the characteristics prominent in 
 Germans, and the individual peculiarities that made him 
 Bismarck, rather than any other German. 
 
 The science of child study is chiefly concerned with 
 the characteristic tendencies manifested by all children ; 
 yet it throws light on the more special characteristics of 
 
12 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 heredity in nations and families and emphasizes the im- 
 portance of individual characteristics. The educator 
 needs to know what is usually true of children at each 
 age in order that he may find the activity best suited to / 
 that age. The teache r, however, needs to be familiar-^ 
 not only with the chjiracteristics common to most chil- 
 dren of the age she has in charge, but also with their 
 national and indivi dual peculiarities. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 %/^ I . State physical differences between children and adults that you 
 
 have noted or are able to discover. 
 3- /<*>, 2. State mental differences between children at different ages. 
 
 3. Mention various standards of maturity for men and women 
 recognized by society as fitting for certain purposes. 
 
 4. Tell what you have observed regarding the young of animals 
 as to helplessness and length of infancy. 
 
 ^ 5. Mention instances where men have succeeded because of 
 
 plasticity where others failed. Is plasticity needed more or less in 
 
 children than in animals? Why? 
 ^ 6. Give illustrations of children showing different characteristics 
 
 in new surroundings and to different persons. 
 
 7. Can you tell what characteristics are common at a certain age 
 
 by studying children of one locality and nationality only? Why? 
 
 Illustrate. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On physical differences between children and adults, see Oppenheim, 
 chaps, ii and iii. 
 
 On the new science of child study, see Hall, Forum^ Vol. XVI, pp. 
 429-441 ; Chrisman, Forum, Vol. XVI, pp. 728-736; Ed. Rev., 
 Vol. XV, pp. 269-284; O'Shea,/^. Fed, Vol. XI, pp. 9-23, and 
 Scripture, Ed. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 236-239. 
 
 On old age, see Scott, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, pp. 67-122. 
 
 On the stages of development, see Chamberlain, chap, iv, and San- 
 ford, Am. Jr. Psych. Vol. XIII, pp. 426-449. 
 
PROBLEMS OF CHILD STUDY 1 3 
 
 On infancy of animals, Mills, Animal Intelligence^ Part III, and 
 
 Spaulding, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LXI, pp. 126-141 (reprinted) ; 
 
 Thorndike, Psych. Rev., Vol. VI, pp. 282-291. 
 On meaning of infancy, see Fiske, Excursions of an Evolutio?tisi, 
 
 chap, xii ; Destiny of Man, chaps, iv and vi ; Butler, Ed. Rev., 
 
 Vol. XIII, pp. 58-75, or Meaning of Education, pp. 3-34; 
 
 Christopher, Trans. III. Ch. S. Soc, Vol. II, No. 2, pp. 109-114; 
 
 Chamberlain, chap, i; Pycroft, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LXI I, pp. 
 
 108-116. 
 On instincts and education, see Balliet, Am. Physical Ed. Rev., Vol. 
 
 VIII, pp. 1-7. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
 GENERAL PHENOMENA OF GROWTH 
 
 If we were introduced into a factory where little 
 machines were taking into and making part of them- 
 selves, wood, iron, and other manufacturing materials, 
 and thus gradually becoming large machines, each of 
 its own kind {e.g. locomotives, sewing machines), and 
 that without stopping a cog, crank, or wheel during 
 the enlargement, we should be astonished beyond meas- ^^ m.**-*-^ 
 ure. Yet this is what organic machines (plants and . ^->^*^ 
 animals) are doing in nature's factory all around us. 
 Milk, grass, and grain are transformed into horses, 
 cows, chickens, and children, with the proper character- 
 istics of each ; and all the time bones, muscles, and blood 
 vessels are enlarging without a pause in the working . 
 of the organism. Only familiarity prevents us from 
 continual wonder at this miracle, repeated in a thousand 
 different forms each year. 
 
 Every organism begins as a single cell , and by taking 
 in and transforming nourishment, it grows into an indi- 
 vidual of its species. All increase in size is the result/ 
 of two processes : (i) increase in number of cells by 
 division, and (2) enlargement of the cells thus formed., 
 Growth during the embryonic period is due mainly to 
 the first cause, and after birth to the second. The body 
 
 15 
 
y 
 
 l6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 of a child is comgosed of ^bout as many cells as that 
 oJ_ an ad^ult ; hence his growth is principally by the 
 enlargernent of cells. 
 
 The importance of inner tendencies is well illustrated 
 in physical growth and development. The law of motion, 
 that a body once set in motion continues to move forever 
 and at the same rate unless acted upon by some other 
 force, does not apply to growth. An organism does 
 not grow forever when once started, nor is the rate of 
 growth uniform, but it grows at a varying rate till the 
 size of its species is attained, then it stops. It is not 
 
 /(even possible to change, except within narrow limits, 
 / JLr [the rate, amount, or direction of growth, by changes in 
 i/1[ J^Upod and surroundings. Evidently each species is so 
 ^ '// organized that it grows about so much during a certain 
 J^ time, and lives about so long. That size is determined 
 
 f largely by the number of elements in the germ cell is 
 
 indicated by recent experiments upon the embryos of 
 lower animals. It has been found, for example, that if 
 the embryo of a frog is divided into two or four parts, 
 each part will develop into a whole frog, but of a cor- 
 respondingly fractional size and length of life. 
 
 GENERAL TRUTHS REGARDING GROWTH OF CHILDREN 
 
 ^ The most rapid growth is before birth, for the infant 
 at birth is five million times as large as the original 
 
 .germ cell. After birth the most rapid growth is during 
 <the first year, when it is nearly threefold. From this 
 
 <,time on increase in size is less rapid, and in general the 
 rate slightly decreases till about the eleventh year, when 
 there is an acceleration in growth, first in height, then 
 in weight. The acceleration in growth begins earlier 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 1 7 
 
 in girls, but lasts longer in boys. In both, the stage of 
 rapid growth at puberty is preceded and followed by a 
 period of slow growth, and again in both, rapid growth 
 in heigj it precedes rapid growth in weight. Since girls 
 begin growing Rapidly while boys are in the stage of 
 slow growth, girls are for a year or two taller and 
 heavier than boys. The age at which this occurs in 
 girls is about twelve years, but varies a year or two in 
 different countries. Growth is usually complete before 
 twenty, at least as regards height. 
 
 Measurements of individual children show that in 
 general a period of rapid growth in height or in length 
 of limb is a period of slow growth in diameter, and, 
 conversely, rapid growth in diameter occurs at the time 
 of retarded growth in length. 
 
 FACTORS DETERMINING GROWTH 
 
 The truths regarding growth stated in the preceding 
 topic apply not merely to the people of one race, or to 
 those with the same habits of exercise and eating, but 
 to all peoples from which statistics have been obtained ; 
 hence these_yariations_in_^rowth must be the result of, 
 or are djiejto^jnner tendencies common to all of the 
 human species. Heredity is another less universal 
 inner tendency determining growth, as is shown by the 
 fact that people of certain nations mature __ear Her or 
 attain a greater size than those of others. There are 
 also tendencies to certain accelerations of growth that 
 are peculiar to individuals; for not all children, even of 
 the same family, grow at the same rate at the same age. 
 Neither do they all attain the same size when outer 
 influences are the same. The amount and rate of 
 
 V 
 
/ 
 
 l8 FUNDAMENTAI.S OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 growth of every child is thus largely determined by 
 inner tendencies. 
 
 Outer influences, however, such as climate, exercise, 
 and nutrition may modify rate and amount of growth. 
 
 Climate, especially temperature, may be a factor in 
 growth, in as much as seasonal variations are marked ; in- 
 crease in the he ight of children is greatest in the spring 
 and early summer, while increase in weight is greatest 
 in the fall or early winter. This may be interpreted as 
 the result of an inner tendency to rhythmic seasonal 
 growth, or to the effects of variation in temperature. 
 P eople in warm countries rnature more quickly, but do 
 not reach a greater size than those in cold countries, 
 hence we may infer that heat does not increase the 
 ultimate size of human beings. People of the Arctics 
 and the Tropics are as a rule not large, hence a tem- 
 perate climate is probably more favorable to the great- 
 est growth. 
 
 Exercise may modify amount and rate of growth to 
 some extent, but its greatest effect is probably in the 
 substitution of muscular for fatty tissue in certain parts, 
 without much change in ultimate size. The fact re- 
 cently noted that children engaged in manual training 
 during the summer showed less than the usual varia- 
 tion in growth, with change of season, suggests that 
 seasonal variations in growth may be due to change in 
 occupation as much as to change in temperature. 
 
 The fact that children of the well-to-do, and presum- 
 ably better fed classes, are larger than those of the 
 less favored class, seems to indicate that nutrition is 
 another important factor in growth. In England this 
 might be partially explained by heredity, but not in 
 
iMJ^Mjt f 
 
 PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 1 9 
 
 this country. The fact, however, that the rate of 
 growth of children in both this country and in England y^,^^^ 
 is less in the well-to-do classes during school life ^"^^^ -^ ' 
 the ages of six to eighteen than it is in the poorer^ 
 classes, shows that the effects of good or poor nutri- 
 tion must be limited to the period preceding the school 
 age. It is altogether probable that poor nutrition has 
 the greatest effect during the embryonic period and the 
 first year or two of hfe when growth is rapid ; hence, 
 though both infants and adults of the poorer classes 
 are smaller than of the more favored classes, yet the 
 amount of growth from six to eighteen is greater in the 
 former than in the latter. 
 
 A temporary condition Hke sickness nearly always 
 retards growth ; but if recovery is complete, there is 
 usually a period of rapid growth in which the time 
 lost is made up ; hence, though the time of growth may 
 thus be modified, the total growth is probably affected 
 only by prolonged illness or other unfavorable conditions. 
 
 GROWTH OF PARTS 
 
 The facts previously mentioned as to the difference in 
 the relative size of parts in children and adults are only 
 some of the most striking instances of the general truth, 
 lack part increases in size according to an inner law of 
 'Us own. Other facts equally striking are as follows : 
 the ^ brain increases in weight about fo ur times , the 
 hjart thirteen times, and the lungs twenty times . The 
 weight of the brain of boys at birth is 12.29 P^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
 that of the body, while at twenty-five years it is only 
 2.16 per cent of the weight of the body. The changes 
 of other organs are : heart, from .j6 per cent to .46 per 
 
20 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 cent; right lung, .94 per cent to .77 per cent; liver, 4.6 
 per cent to 2.8 per cent; and kidneys, .75 per cent to 
 .46 per cent. The shape of the organs also changes 
 with age. For example, the Eustachian tube is not only 
 relatively short in the child, but it is absolutely broader 
 than in the adult; while the child's stomach is much 
 more tubular in form and more nearly vertical in posi- 
 tion than the adult's. 
 
 The law governing the growth of each part must, 
 however, be consistent with the general law governing 
 the growth of the body as a whole, otherwise the pro- 
 portion of parts would vary to such an extent that 
 organic processes would be disturbed, and life and 
 health could not be maintained. Presumably it is 
 advantageous for the proportion of parts to vary at 
 \ different ages when there are different functions to be 
 performed and when the physiological processes of 
 respiration, circulation, and digestion are undergoing 
 change. 
 
 HEALTH AND GROWTH 
 
 - Normal growth is in general a sign of good health, 
 while very rapid or very slow growth is usually a sign 
 ^f poor health. The period of rapid growth at the 
 beginning o f puberty is generally a critical period both 
 physically and mentally. 
 
 There is difference of opinion, towever, as to the 
 relation of growth to health at this time. '- It is held by 
 some that health is likely to be interfered with by this 
 rapid growth. This may be true in individual cases ; but 
 the investigations of Hertel and others show that there 
 is less illness among boys and girls during the period of 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 21 
 
 rapid growth than in the years of slow growth imme- 
 diately preceding and following. To this it is replied 
 that though there is not actual disease, there is usually 
 some debility that with a little overstrain may result in 
 illness ; hence requirements, especially in school, should 
 be lessened at this time in order that all the energy may 
 be expended in growth. The facts, however, do not 
 support this view, for most youths are more energetic 
 and restless at this than at any other time (though some 
 individuals are sluggish and listless), and experiments 
 prove that at this time there is a great increase of mus- 
 cular power and size of vital organs, especially the 
 lungs. The argument that ill health often dates from 
 this period is answered by the fact that recovery also 
 often takes place at this time through what is called " out- 
 growing the disease." 
 
 There is no ground, therefore, for the view that in 
 general either physical or mental work should be dis- 
 carded during this period, though such is undoubtedly 
 advisable in individual cases. Moderately rapid growthj> 
 is always an accompaniment of health and vigor. The 
 only difference is that at this time growth is normally 
 more rapid than at other times. Abnormally rapid 
 growth is likely to be accompanied at this as at other 
 ages by poor health and imperfect development. 
 
 Why, then, is the period of rapid growth at puberty a 
 critical period .'* Largely because health depends upon 
 the equilibrium of all parts, and when growth is rapid 
 there is more chance for unsymmetrical development 
 and consequent disturbance of equilibrium. A rapidly 
 moving bicycle does not readily lose balance ; but if it 
 does, the results are disastrous, and the same is true of a 
 
22 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 rapidly growing organism. The development of new 
 functions at this age also complicates the situation. 
 Although at this time a youth can often do more work 
 and endure more hardships than at any other time, yet 
 if an obstruction is not overcome, the results are more 
 serious than at any other time. The rapid growth of this 
 period calls not for less work but rather for more, yet 
 care must be exercised that there be no overstrain. 
 At this time is needed not stimulation or repression but 
 direction, in order that development may correspond to 
 growth and be of a desirable kind. 
 
 GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
 These two terms are often used interchangeably, proba- 
 bly because the processes usually take place together. 
 Their meaning is, however, different, and there is often 
 a lack of correlation between the processes. 
 
 Growth , properly speaking, refers only to increase in 
 size" of ^rts, and the consequent change in size and 
 shape of the^ody as a whole. It is the result of increase 
 in the numbeK or size (or both) of the cells composing 
 the body. Dev^opme nt more properly denotes changes 
 in character and connection of cells. If an infant were 
 to grow to adult size without any corresponding change 
 in cells, he would be utterly incapable of sustaining his 
 weight, with his cartilaginous bones and flabby mus- 
 cles not yet connected with controlling nerve centres. 
 It is a fact well known to physicians that deficient or 
 improper nutritive conditions often affect development 
 more than they do growth. A child may be quite large 
 for his age, but poorly developed because of lack of min- 
 eral matter in the bone cells, just as a plant in a dark 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 23 
 
 cellar may attain great size but be utterly lacking in the 
 essential qualities of a healthy plant. 
 
 Arrest or acceleration of growth and development 
 together is probably less serious than of either alone. 
 When they take place together, subsequent growth and 
 development are not necessarily interfered with. Cells 
 probably tend to change in character when increasing 
 in size, and to change in size when being modified in 
 character. Changes of one kind only are usually extreme 
 and disturbing, hence it may be stated as a general rule : 
 rapid growth should be acco'tnpanied or quickly followed 
 by a corresponding change in developmerit in order that 
 arrest of developmeiit may not occur. 
 
 After the inner growth tendencies have worked them- 
 selves out, and full normal size is attained, there is still 
 some possibiHty of change in size of parts, especially of 
 muscles. Sickness and lack of exercise decrease their 
 size, while, in health, exercise increases it. Ordinary 
 exercise during middle life maintains the size of mus- 
 cles, while in old age the muscles are decreased rather 
 than increased in bulk by special exercise. The old man 
 of eighty who increased the size of his calves by bicycle 
 riding, was an exception to the general rule. The term V^'viaa^ 
 " development " is sometimes apphed to special increase 
 in size of parts, produced by exercise, but the word even 
 then usually implies also change in quality of the part. 
 [A muscle, for example, when exercised, increases in 
 ^lardness more than in size. 
 
 What is true of muscles is true of nerve centres to a Iruh/^^ 
 considerable extent. They are capable of less growth 
 through exercise than muscles ; but they have greater 
 capacity for development, or, in other words, for changes 
 
24 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 in cells and in connections between cells. Growth cf 
 ^^ the brain is nearly as complete at six as is growth of 
 .. muscle at three times that age, whereas development 
 '* ' of nerve cells is not complete at twice eighteen. Growth 
 of the brain is due almost wholly to growth of the fibres 
 connecting cells with each other, and this is an impor- 
 tant phase of development, since the cells are thus 
 brought into harmonious relation. The increased men- 
 tal power that comes with age and training is the result, 
 not so much of changes in individual cells, as of changes 
 in those connections between cells which make possible 
 the use of many parts of the brain in the accomplish- 
 ment of a single purpose. 
 
 NATURAL ORDER OF DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO 
 EXERCISE 
 
 Whatever may be true of the effect of exercise upon 
 growth as a whole, it cannot be questioned that 
 development is promoted by moderate exercise of the 
 whole body. This is true during both the growing and 
 the mature stage of life. As to particular parts of the 
 body we know that changes in growth and development 
 may be produced by prolonged exercise of certain parts. 
 jThis is well shown in the various types of athletes with 
 (extraordinary leg, arm, back, or chest power. 
 
 Again, occupations requiring the use of one arm or 
 one leg only may produce over-development on one side. 
 Such excess of development of one limb over the other 
 is, however, limited. Experiments show that when the 
 right arm is used, nervous impulses are sent to other 
 muscles than those used, and also to the corresponding 
 muscles of the left arm. Other muscles than those used 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2$ 
 
 of the right arm, and also the muscles of the left arm, 
 therefore gain in size and strength from systematic *^ 
 exercise of certain muscles of the right arm only. For 
 this reason some degree of symmetry is preserved when 
 the exercise is largely ojie-sided. The development of 
 internal organs is also affected by exercise of other 
 organs ; hence the dangers _of_ over-s peci alization are 
 diminished by this partial diffusion of the effects of 
 exercise. Yet it is not difficult to destroy bodily sym- 
 metry by over-exercise of parts, while equilibrium of 
 functions of different parts is still more easily disturbed, 
 so that ill health and death are not infrequent results of 
 extreme specialization in exercise, e.o-. a man who devel-) 
 oped his muscles so that he could lift three thousandj 
 pounds died from nervous exhaustion. 
 
 The effects of exercise on growth and development 
 are practically the same for nerve cells as for muscle 
 cells, except that the changes in size are not so great in 
 nerve cells. Nerve cells not exercised because of loss 
 of a limb or of a sense at an early age, as in the case of 
 Laiira_Bridgman, are not quite as large as other cells 
 and much less developed, i.e. have fewer processes ex- 
 tending out from them. 
 
 Muscular abilitj- depends not so much upon the 
 degree of development of muscles as upon the harmo- 
 nious working of all the muscles concerned in a move- 
 ment. It is therefore more a matter of nervous^ 
 ^connections than of muscular strength. This is per- i -\ 
 haps best illustrated in throwing and in wrestling, where it^T 
 victory goes not to the strongest but to the one whose 
 muscles work together to the best advantage. A skilful 
 thrower uses first the muscles of the legs, then succes- 
 
26 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 1 
 
 jr yHsively those of the body, shoulder, arm, forearm, wrist, 
 dT /Jr^ and fingers, and the ball, shot, or hammer leaves the 
 
 /hand with a force equal to the sum of the forces exerted 
 by these muscles. An unskilled thrower, on the other 
 hand, uses principally the muscles of shoulder and upper 
 arm, and these not in harmony ; hence, though he have 
 the arm of a blacksmith, he may be beaten by a strip- 
 ling base-ball pitcher. 
 
 It is evident that special exercise of parts may be in- 
 jurious because it over-develops the parts exercised, and 
 hinders rather than helps in the harmonious working of 
 part with part. Extreme specialization is therefore to 
 <jDe avoided at all times. 
 
 During the growing period when plasticity is great- 
 
 /^ . est, extreme and permanent specialization is much more 
 ^^ . readily produced than in adult life when plasticity is 
 ^y less and parts are already normally developed. It 
 y^ may even be questioned whether, in growing children, 
 
 all specialization is not over-specialization. Boys who 
 j»^ specialize in one form of athletics at an early age in the 
 
 secondary schools are likely to fail in college and uni- 
 versity contests. 
 
 On the general principle that development should 
 accompany or follow growth, it is probably best for chil- 
 dren to have more exercise of one part at one time and 
 of others at another ; hence the tendency often noticed 
 \/^ . in children to specialize in one direction for a while, 
 I AJ^ . then in another, is probably a good thing. Such speciali- 
 
 /*^ ^ zation is directed by play and occupation interests, but 
 \y is probably really determined largely by growth and 
 development changes. Such specialization is usually 
 temporary and in accord with the natural order of 
 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2/ 
 
 growth and development, hence it is not injurious or 
 disturbing. 
 
 If we knew the natural order in which the nerve and 
 muscle centres grow and develop, we could perhaps 
 devise physical and mental exercises that would be most 
 favorable to perfect development at each stage of life. 
 In the absence of such knowledge any attempt at special 
 training during the growing period may interfere with 
 the natural order of development, and disturb instead of 
 promote harmony of function. 
 
 In all schools certain physical and mental activities 
 are performed over and over every day ; hence with 
 reference to all the child's powers there is a great deal 
 of specialization, though the training is intended to be 
 general rather than special. It is altogether probable, ( 
 therefore, that in giving children the training they will 
 need in later life, at a time when they are in an earlier 
 stage of development, we are to a considerable extent 
 interfering with their natural order of development. 
 
 The studies of Bryan, Hancock, and others have 
 demonstrated what is evident to every close observer, 
 that, in general, children use the larger muscle groupsJ> 
 earlier than those concerned in finely adjusted move- 
 ments. It follows, therefore, that the large number of 
 finely adjusted movements required in making small 
 letters accurately at an early age must result in a 
 specialization of the smaller nerve and muscle centres 
 long before their natural time of development. Poor' 
 writing and drawing, which nearly always appears in 
 about the sixth grade, may be one of the effects of lack 
 of harmony in development, produced by the premature 
 or excessive training of the finer muscle centres. 
 
28 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 .'^ In the more purely mental sphere there is general 
 
 p,»^, disagreement among students of children that children 
 
 ^ }\ (form crude, indefinite ideas involving only a few of the 
 
 j^ > (most obvious acts of analysis and synthesis. These 
 
 yt ideas become more exact and definite with increased 
 
 *^ experience, just as movements become more accurate 
 
 4, ' and definite with practice. 
 
 \ There can be no doubt, therefore, that the detailed 
 
 analyses and exact definitions so often required of young 
 children are opposed to the natural order of brain de- 
 velopment, and therefore destructive of interest and dis- 
 turbing to the natural processes of mental growth. 
 
 As the science of child study progresses, such inter- 
 ference with the natural processes of physical and 
 mental development should become less and less. In 
 the meantime, children should have plenty of oppor- 
 tunity to get an all-round physical and mental develop- 
 ment from their plays and games, as a corrective of 
 whatever injurious specialization is being produced in 
 school. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. If all children had their period of rapid growth at the same 
 age, could the period of rapid growth be shorter generally in indi- 
 viduals than in the table ? Since some children begin to grow rap- 
 idly earlier than others, may it be possible that individuals usually 
 grow more rapidly and for a shorter time than appears from tables of 
 average growth and yet the tables be correct ? Compare the growth 
 of yourself or others with tables and see if such is the case. 
 
 2. Have pupils mention individuals of large or small size, and 
 give probable cause. 
 
 3. From observations and tables, report as many marked changes 
 in size or shape of parts with age, also as many changes in physio- 
 logical processes as possible. 
 
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 29 
 
 4. Give illustrations of growth of parts due to special exercise, or y/' 
 lack of growth due to want of exercise. Why do insurance com- 
 panies ask the height and weight of those they insure? 
 
 5. Observe how very young children throw, and how they make 
 the movements of scribbling when they first attempt to draw, as 
 bearing on the question of what muscle centres develop first. 
 
 Mention specifically school exercises that require too much fine >^^ 
 muscular adjustment. Why is it more injurious to children than to 
 adults to work in factories ? At what age is it best to begin giving 
 special training only? 
 
 6. The body of an adult is 58.5 per cent water, that of an infant 
 74.7 per cent, and of a foetus 94.5 per cent, while the amount of 
 mineral matter in the bones of an infant is 2.24 per cent, and in an 
 adult 7.29 per cent. What do these facts signify as regards growth 
 and development? Give others. 
 
 7. May awkwardness and growing pains be explained by in- 
 equality in growth of parts, as of bones and tendons, and by want 
 of proper relation between growth and development ? 
 
 Can you see how growth changes might produce changes in such \^ 
 habits as writing? 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On growth, read Donaldson, Growth of the Brain; Porter, Am. 
 Phys. Ed. Rev., Vol. II, pp. 155-173, or Trans. Acad. Set., St. 
 Louis, 1893, Vol. VI, pp. 161-181 ; Gilbert, Vale Studies, Vol. 
 II, pp. 40-100 ; Mrs. W. S. Hall, Ck. S. Mo., Vol. II, pp. 332-342 ; 
 Christopher, Reports oti Child-Study Investigations, reprints 
 from the reports of the Chicago Board of Education for 1898- 
 1899, 1899-1900, 1900-1901 ; Hastings, Manual, chaps, iii and 
 iv, or N. E. A., 1899, pp. 1076-1084, and Burke, Growth of 
 Children in Height and Weight, pp. 73, reprinted from Am. Jr. 
 Psych., Vol. IX, pp. 253-326, and, if desired, other references 
 given by Burke. 
 
 On growth in relation to health, see Key, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. 
 XXXVIII, p. 107 ; Christopher, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. Ill, pp. 324- 
 335; Jr. Ch. and Ad., July, 1902, pp. 190-199; O'Shea, /r. 
 Ped.y Vol. XI, pp. 299-316. 
 
30 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 On diffusion of impulses and the effects of exercise, see Davis, Yale 
 Studies, Vol. VI, pp. 6-50, or Science (N. S.), Vol. X, p. 20 ; 
 Johnson, Yale Studies, Vol. VI, pp. 51-103; Scripture, Yale 
 Studies, Vol. II, pp. 114-119. 
 
 On the natural order of development in relation to exercise, see 
 Burk, /V^. Sein., Vol. VI, pp. 5-64; N. E. A., 1899, pp. 1067- 
 1076; Patrick, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LIV, pp. 382-391, and 
 Gulick, Pop, Sci. Mo., Vol. LI 1 1, pp. 793-805 ; Bryan, Avt. Jr. 
 Pysch., Vol. V, pp. 125-204, and Hancock, Ped. Sem., Vol. Ill, 
 
 pp. 9-29 ; Sargent, Am. Physical Ed. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 57-69 ; 
 
 Gulick, Am. Physical Ed. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 70-74. 
 
 On arrest of development, see Dawson, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XI, 
 pp. 188-197 ; Harris, Education, Vol. XX, pp. 453-466. 
 

 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES AND GENERAL ORDER 
 OF DEVELOPMENT 
 
 KINDS OF NATIVE MOVEMENTS 
 
 Man can make machines that move about and d«» 
 various kinds of work, but they all need a person to 
 start and direct them. Nature, however, makes animal 
 machines that move around and do various things with- 
 out any one to superintend their movements. To do 
 this safely, they must be self -running, self -repairing, 
 and capable of moving so as to secure food and avoid 
 danger. 
 
 The movements necessary to change food into force 
 and keep the internal machinery in running order are 
 carried on almost wholly within the body, and are there- 
 fore called automatic. All the movements of the mus- 
 cles of the lungs, heart, blood-vessels, and intestines 
 concerned in the processes of respiration, circulation, 
 and digestion are of this continuous, rhythmic, and self- 
 perpetuating character. They depend mainly upon the 
 relation of different parts of the organism to each other, 
 and very slightly upon the relation of the organism to 
 its environment. 
 
 The movements involved in securing food and 
 escaping danger, on the other hand, are partially or 
 
 33 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 33 
 
 wholly originated by contact of the body with something 
 in the surroundings. In other words, they are called 
 forth by an external stimulus. Some are simple or 
 reflex, and others complex or instinctive. 
 
 The simple or r^^;i: movements are, as a rule, the 
 response of a single part of the organism to a simple 
 stimulus to that part. Examples are, the winking of the 
 eye when the lid is touched, or jerking the hand away 
 when it is pricked. Such movements occur whenever 
 the appropriate stimulus is given, whatever the internal 
 condition of the animal. The mechanism controlling 
 them is v^ry. ajQcur_ate, for just as the nickel-in-the-slot 
 machine will not respond to a penny, so the hand will 
 not be jerked away when touched, but only when 
 injuriously stimulated, as by a prick or burn. All parts 
 of the body are thus protected by reflex movements. 
 
 The complex or instinctive movements are a response 
 of the whole, or a considerable part of the organism to 
 some external stimulus, such as taking, chewing, and 
 swallowing food, and the movements of avoiding dan- 
 ger by hiding, running, or fighting. These movements, 
 though initiated by an appropriate stimulus, are to some 
 extent dependent upon internal conditions or stimuli, i^^ 
 An infant will suck whenever his lips are touched, if ^.^, 
 there is also the internal condition or stimulus of hunger, 
 but not if the stomach is full or out of order ; and a hen 
 will sit on a nest if she is in a broody condition, but 
 not otherwise. Instinctive movements differ from reflex 
 movements also in the fact that they are for the good of 
 the whole body instead of for some one part. Winking 
 the eye and jerking away the hand protect only the eye 
 and hand, while taking food benefits not the mouth but 
 
 ..{-. 
 
 a^fi 
 
/ 
 
 34 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the whole body, and running saves not merely the legs 
 but the whole animal from danger. 
 
 Instinctive movements, such as sucking, are probably 
 in reality nothing but a combinaUon of reflexes. When 
 the tongue and hps of an infant are rendered sensitive 
 by hunger, contact with any object causes them to close 
 around it reflexively. This movement affects the breath- 
 ing reflex and causes sucking movements. The stimulus 
 of milk on the tongue and the throat calls forth the reflex 
 movements of swallowing. Loeb has thus analyzed a 
 number of instincts into a series of reflexes, and it is 
 probable that all instincts are merely a combination of 
 reflexes in which the reaction of one part excites others, 
 with the result that the animal acts as a whole and for 
 the good of the whole. 
 
 INSTINCTS AND STRUCTURE 
 
 The relation of instinct to intelligence or reason has 
 long attracted wondering attention, but until recently 
 little notice was taken of the relation of physical struc- 
 ture to instinct. When the matter is once suggested, 
 however, no extended observation is needed to show 
 that the instincts of any animal correspond to its struc- 
 ture. Cats do not try to fly or dive when chased by 
 dogs, nor ducks to climb trees or fight with their claws. 
 Turtles do not attempt to run from danger, or rabbits 
 to curl up in their skins for protection. The peculiar 
 structure of teeth and stomach in cows goes with a 
 strong instinct to eat grass, and in the lion with an 
 equally strong instinct to eat meat. 
 
 Even in the life of the same animal new instincts 
 develop as new structures are formed or perfected. 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES • 35 
 
 Birds do not show the flying instinct until their wings 
 develop, nor the nesting instinct until they are ready to 
 produce young. Before their teeth and claws are devel- 
 oped, young lions run from large animals instead of 
 attacking them. 
 
 There is good reason, therefore, for believing that 
 every instinct of each species of animals has its basis 
 in some peculiarity of structure. A slight difference in [ 
 beak, claw, or wing of birds often makes a vast differ- 
 ence in the form in which the instinct to catch food, ^" 
 sleep, build nests, or escape danger, shall be manifested. 
 A bird with the bill of a humming-bird and the instinct 
 of a flycatcher, or one with the instinct of a woodpecker 
 and the beak of a grosbeak, would be at a serious disad- 
 vantage in securing food. 
 
 Sometimes the difference in the actions of two species 
 of animals is not easily accounted for by observation of 
 external differences in structure, but in those cases a 
 fuller knowledge of the internal anatomy of the animal, 
 and especially of the nervous system, would probably 
 reveal the basis of the difference. Every instinctive act 
 must therefore have a mechanism appropriate to its 
 performance, and in young animals this mechanism 
 v^must be developed before the instinct appears* 
 
 INSTINCTS AND CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 We all know that the automatic movements are car- 
 ried on without consciousness. The apparatus for these 
 movements works best when not interfered with by con- 
 sciousness. A little attention to the matter will also 
 show us that the reflex movements of the eye and the 
 withdrawal of the hand are the results of a definite 
 
36 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 mechanism which works without being started by con- 
 sciousness. In fact, it is almost impossible for conscious- 
 ness to prevent such movements. It is true that the fact 
 of a stimulus being received and responded to by the 
 hand or eyelid, is usually reported to consciousness, but 
 that is after rather than before the movement begins. 
 D' That instinctive movements are also dependent upon 
 mechanism rather than consciousness is not always so 
 readily admitted. Yet the person who jumps at a loud 
 sound or the sudden appearance of a frightful object, 
 often says he cannot help it, and a moment after the 
 fright may laugh at his own foolishness. When a cat 
 races after a ball or a mouse, he does not think he wants 
 it before trying to catch it, but the sight of the moving 
 object sets the chasing apparatus in motion at once. In 
 the same way the sight of a hawk excites the mech- 
 anism for making danger signals in the hen, and this 
 sound causes the crouching and keeping-quiet apparatus 
 to work in the young chicks. Persons and animals do 
 not have to learn to do these things any more than they 
 have to learn to breathe, and when performed suddenly 
 they are just as independent of consciousness. 
 
 The mechanical character of reflex and instinctive re- 
 actions is well illustrated by the fact that a decapitated 
 snake will coil around a red-hot iron as readily as around 
 a stick. In this, as in other cases, there is evidently a 
 definite mechanism which is set in operation by a 
 certain stimulus or any stimulus sufficiently Uke it. The 
 dependence of instinctive movements upon structure 
 rather than consciousness is also shown with remarkable 
 clearness by Jennings's experiments upon paramecia, 
 one of the simpler forms of animal Ufe. Their great 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 37 
 
 activity in moving around, taking particles of food, | 
 gathering in companies, approaching COg and avoiding j '^''''^ i^ 
 acids, gives the impression that their movements arei 5;'^jt 
 directed by consciousness, and that they exercise choice., __, 
 Careful experiment and observation, however, show that t^j^,,.. ^ 
 it is all a matter of mechanism. Their cilia are in ^ «. ,, . 
 almost continual motion, and thus their bodies are driven "'^ ^ 
 forward. If they approach acid, the cilia reverse, and 
 thus they back off from that injurious substance. If, 
 however, the acid is made to approach them from behind, 
 the effect is the same upon the cilia, and instead of 
 moving away from the fatal substance they enter it. 
 CO2 has the opposite effect upon the cilia, consequently 
 when moving forward they enter and remain in drops of 
 that. Choice of food is also lacking, for they take in 
 every small particle they touch, whether it has food 
 value or not. Careful observation thus shows that all 
 their actions are purely mechanical. 
 
 Loeb has in a similar way analyzed the instincts of 
 a number of animals into mechanical reflexes. For 
 example, the apparatus for stinging is in the last seg- 
 ment of the abdomen of a bee, since when separated 
 from the rest of the body the usual movement of sting- 
 ing is made when the under side is touched. 
 
 Fixed instincts, like habits in man, work almost 
 mechanically. Not only does consciousness not direct 
 the activity, but so long as everything goes smoothly, 
 there is little or no consciousness. Where acts are to be 
 repeated over and over, and the same kind of movement 
 "made in response to the same stimulus, consciousness is 
 unnecessary. It is only when several modes of response 
 are possible that consciousness is of any use. Con- 
 
 J. 
 
 JU-*-**-*-^ 
 
 .eC Q^^fUuw.-t.c.^^t-t.tt^'' -^ -'''K-''-c/ 
 
 /■O A. f^^t^t (C'>-i»'Ci^li'C 
 
38 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ^--t i***' sciousness can then distinguish the different possibilities 
 
 y jA^^nd choose the one that past experience has shown will 
 y give the most desirable results. When a new animal is 
 
 •^ seen by another, the possibilities of friendly advance, of 
 
 hasty retreat, or of vigorous pursuit are suggested, and 
 consciousness decides in the Ught of past experience 
 with similar animals which form of reaction shall be 
 made. If, however, the animal that appears is a 
 hereditary enemy, the action of fleeing is mechanically 
 performed with very little consciousness, unless flight is 
 in some way impeded, when other possibilities, such as 
 fighting, hiding, or feigning death, are suggested. 
 
 An animal that had only one possibility of response 
 tr in a given situation could make no use of consciousness. 
 
 ^, ^ V*Only those animals that are sufficiently complex to have 
 
 /^ more than one mode of response to a given stimulus 
 can profit by conscious intelligence. It is reasonable, 
 therefore, to suppose that instead of consciousness mak- 
 ing new movements possible, the acquisition of new 
 possibilities of movement makes conscious intelligence 
 y possible and useful, especially in animals and children. 
 y/^ /With much truth, therefore, we may say that man makes 
 ^ y many movements, not because of his great intelligence, 
 " b'^but that he has great intelligence because of his many 
 J" [possibilities of movement. The marvellous skill of the 
 ^ ^ bee in constructing his comb according to the best 
 •V engineering principles is due, not to his intelligence, 
 ^ but to his mechanical structure, which renders it less 
 easy or perhaps impossible for him to build otherwise. 
 
 Instincts, in as far as they are purely instinctive, are 
 always blind. Only when two instinctive tendencies are 
 aroused by a stimulus is the eye of conscipus intelli- 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 39 
 
 gence opened to choose by the aid of the light of a past 
 experience the most favorable reaction. 
 
 In the case of animals like fishes and insects with 
 only a few fixed instincts, the Hght of experience re- 
 veals to the dim eye of consciousness no other mode of 
 response, and the baited hook is again taken or the 
 sizzling light again approached. 
 
 In higher animals, like chickens and children, a single 
 flash of past experience, such as the unpleasant feeling 
 of a furry caterpillar to the bill, or of a hot stove to the 
 hand, reveals to the clearer eye of consciousness another 
 more desirable mode of reaction when the same tactile 
 or visual sensation associated with it is again experi- 
 enced. The fewer the experiences necessary to pro-^ 
 "^duce the change in the reaction necessary to secure 
 the most favorable results, and the longer the time 
 before the light enkindled by past experience is extin- 
 guished, the greater is the intelligence in animal or 
 child. 
 
 Not extraordinary skill in doing the same thing in 
 the same way all through life, by one generation after 
 another, as in the case of animals with fixed instincts, . 
 but ability to act in a variety of ways and to learn by ; -^^'^' 
 jjexperience, is evidence of intelligence. Man has more '' /^"^ 
 instincts than any other animal; but the variety of ^'^cO^fxL 
 action~thus made possible, and the modifications pro- 
 duced by experience, make it seem as if he had none. 
 We must remember, however, that his purely instinctive 
 actions are just as blind as those of the bee, and that 
 consciousness is useful only after there has been ex- 
 perience, and when there is a possibility of more than 
 one reaction. 
 
40 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE USEFULNESS OF INSTINCTS 
 
 Evidently every species of animal that does not in 
 general act for its own good would, in the struggle for 
 existence, soon become extinct, hence instincts are in 
 general useful. What is for the good of a young ani- 
 mal depends upon (i) structure of the animal, (2) its 
 surroundings, (3) its temporary bodily condition, (4) its 
 age, and (5) the instincts of its parents. 
 
 (i) If dogs had the instinct to dive when threatened 
 with danger, and fish to jump out on dry land, neither 
 would long survive as a species. If the puny rabbit 
 had the fighting instinct of the bulldog instead of the 
 running instinct of the deer, his career would have been 
 cut short long before this. This merely emphasizes the 
 truth already stated, that instinct must conform to struc- 
 ture in every species of animal. 
 
 (2) What form of action is favorable depends upon 
 the environment. Birds in the south need to go north 
 when it gets warmer ; but if they are in the north, they 
 need to go south when it gets colder. If the climate is 
 too wet for an animal, he needs an instinct that impels 
 him to seek dry places ; but if it is too dry, he should 
 have an instinctive tendency to seek water. Some 
 animals have two fixed types of instincts with action 
 suited to the two kinds of environment with which they 
 are likely to come in contact. All muskrat houses 
 built in pools are on the same general plan, while a dif- 
 ferent, but equally constant, form is used when the nests 
 are built in streams. 
 
 Instincts of animals that are useful to them in their 
 natural environment may become destructive to them 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 4 1 
 
 when the environment is changed suddenly by geologi- 
 cal agencies or by the entrance of man. Thus lights 
 destroy countless insects and birds, and man makes use 
 of the curiosity of animals concerning strange motion- 
 less objects, in luring them to destruction, and of the 
 feeding instinct, to attract them by baits to his hooks 
 and traps. Animals that most quickly adapt themselves! '^^ iP'^'^^ 
 to these changes in environment are the ones that sur-J ^^^^ ^' 
 vive in spite of man's cunning attacks. Every instinct d^ dtpct 
 must have developed in an environment where it was ^.(eiC.V 
 useful ; but if the present environment is different, the 
 instinct may be useless or injurious, and thus handicap 
 or destroy instead of help preserve. 
 
 (3) The condition of the animal at the moment also 
 determines the usefulness of his actions. An animal 
 that would turn away from food when his stomach was 
 empty, and eat it when his stomach was already filled, 
 would not long survive. A deer that had a strong im- 
 pulse to fight when shedding his horns instead of when 
 they were well grown and firm, would be at a disad- 
 vantage in preserving himself and his species. 
 
 (4) It is evident that an animal when young and 
 helpless and with parents to care for it, needs a dif- 
 ferent course of action from that required when well 
 grown and dependent upon its own exertions for food 
 and safety ; while if it has young to care for, its instinc- 
 tive action must be such that the species will be per- 
 petuated. It follows, therefore, that to be useful, 
 instincts must be adapted to different ages, as well 
 as to differences in structure, bodily condition, and 
 environment. 
 
 (5) It has been found that in general an animal at 
 
V 
 
 42 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 its birth has just enough instincts to preserve its life 
 with the aid of the complementary instincts of its par- 
 ents. For example, parent robins have an instinctive 
 tendency to carry food and put it into the mouths of 
 their young, hence young robins need only to open the 
 mouth when the parent robin approaches. The young 
 chicken, however, has the instinct to approach and peck 
 at food, for the mother hen has only the instinct to find 
 and show food to her young. The human infant needs 
 and has at birth few instincts, because the human 
 parent has the instinctive tendency to care for it strongly 
 developed. 
 
 FIXED AND INDEFINITE INSTINCTS 
 
 Evidently instincts are useful just so far as they suc- 
 cessfully adjust the action of an animal to the condition 
 imposed by its environment, so as to preserve the indi- 
 vidual and produce descendants. The actions that are 
 always or nearly always useful to an animal of a certain 
 structure in all environments, as, for example, those of 
 gathering honey and building combs by bees, and web 
 spinning and fly catching by spiders, are usually fixed 
 and unchangeable ; while actions whose usefulness de- 
 pends upon special circumstances are usually general 
 and indefinite in character. The young chicken has the 
 general instinct to follow any moving object, and this 
 instinct is usually specialized by experience into a ten- 
 dency to follow the mother hen, but may at the proper 
 time be just as readily specialized, as Spaulding has 
 shown, into a tendency to follow a person or a dog. 
 The general instinct of fear is usually manifested in the 
 form of fear of any strange object that is in any way 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 43 
 
 exciting, and experience specializes this into fear of 
 particular animals, as cats of dogs and chickens of 
 hawks. 
 
 Through the experience of the ages and natural selec- 
 tion, nature has prepared her children to act in such a 
 way that in a majority of cases they and their descend- 
 ants will be preserved, though in exceptional cases the 
 action may prove fatal. Where the chances are nearly 
 equal as to what forms of reaction to certain stimuli will 
 be favorable, the instinct is plastic, so that the best 
 mode of reaction in the present environment may be 
 developed by imitation and by the individual's own 
 experience. Even quite fixed instincts need to be 
 plastic, so that there may be ready adaptation to 
 changes in environment. In past ages it was universally 
 advantageous for fish to take all worms and grasshop- 
 pers dropping into the stream ; but when man came on 
 the scene with hooks, the instinct often had bad results. 
 Probably the native instinct to snap at every worm has 
 not been destroyed ; but the more intelligent fish have 
 the instinct modified by experience, as many fishermen 
 can testify. 
 
 We therefore find some instincts that are perfect at 
 birth, and unchanging throughout thousands of genera- 
 tions of the species, and others so imperfect at first and so 
 variable in form that they can scarcely be distinguished 
 from habits developed by individual experience. In 
 general, the fixed instincts are the most prominent in 
 lower animals, and the indefinite in the higher. This 
 is not so much because the higher animal has no definite 
 instincts, as it is because he has so many partially or 
 wholly indefinite or undeveloped ones. 
 
44 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 CONTINUOUS, TRANSIENT, AND PERIODIC INSTINCTS 
 
 Since the structure of an animal and the usefulness 
 of any form of action varies with age, we should expect 
 that the instincts of any given species of animals would 
 not be equally strong at all times. Observation confirms 
 this view. Some instincts, like the feeding and fear 
 instincts, are present at birth and last all through life, 
 though usually they are more prominent at some times 
 than at others. 
 
 Other instincts, like that of play, are not present at 
 birth, but after they appear, continue to be manifested 
 all or nearly all through life, though perhaps in a dimin- 
 ishing degree. The instinct of chickens to follow is a 
 transient instinct, entirely disappearing in a short time if 
 not developed by experience. 
 
 Other instincts appear only at certain times, as at the 
 migrating season or when caring for young, and are 
 therefore in a certain degree rhythmic or periodic. 
 
 The chief problem which child study has to solve is 
 to determine the time at which each instinct of man is 
 naturally most prominent. This being done, the prob- 
 lem of the educator is to apply the right stimuli at the 
 right time, so as to produce the most perfect and rapid 
 development according to his ideas of what is desirable. 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES DETERMINING THE ORDER OF 
 >^ DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS 
 
 V In the plant world the order of development — leaves, 
 
 ' / jy stalk, blossom, fruit — is very definite and fixed. In 
 ^/ ^; ,the animal world the growth of parts of the body and 
 
 »^ 
 
 A / the appearance of hair, horns, etc., are nearly as fixed 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 45 
 
 and unvarying. Since structure and instinct are closely 
 related, we should expect to find a definite order in 
 which the instincts of each species of animal tend to 
 develop. Observation confirms this view in a general 
 way, as young animals do not show the mating, migrat- 
 ing, nest-constructing, and care-taking instincts of adult 
 animals, nor adult animals the same degree of playful- 
 ness as the younger ones. When, however, we attempt 
 to determine exactly the order in which instincts develop, 
 many doubts and difficulties arise. 
 
 The most common theoretical statement of the orders ^ <zi 7f 
 in which instincts develop is that they appear in the ' / > 
 order in which they have been acquired in the history '^-' ". '> 
 of the race, from the lowest forms up. This view is 
 supported by the general biological law discovered in 
 the study of embryology, that in the embryonic state 
 each animal goes through stages of development in 
 which it is successively similar in form or proportion of 
 parts to a higher and still higher animal, till it attains 
 the form of its species, and also by numerous parallel- 
 isms that can be pointed out in the development of a 
 child after birth with that of the human race since it 
 has become human. This law is supposed to apply not 
 so much to the first appearance of the various instincts 
 as to the time of their greatest^prqminence. 
 
 There are two other theoretical considerations, how- 
 ever, that should be given almost equal weight with this 
 theory of correspondence in the development of the 
 child and the race. In the first place, the strongest 
 instincts should be those that have been most univer- -/(^ic. !■:? 
 sally useful to all species of animals in all ages, rather j.^c 
 than the oldest. For example, the swimming instinct 
 
46 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 is probably one of the oldest instincts, but it has been 
 of little use among many species of animals, hence it 
 is not strong in all young animals. The instinct to 
 withdraw from an unfavorable stimulus has, however, 
 been useful to all animals in all stages of development ; 
 hence it is universally present and prominent in young 
 animals. 
 
 Again, we have noted the truth that different instincts 
 are needed at different stages of development ; hence if 
 instincts developed in the same order in the individual 
 as in the race, in any species of animals, that species 
 probably would not long survive, since the reproductive 
 and care-taking instincts are useful to the species only 
 when they appear in mature animals. Hence, though 
 the parental instinct is one of the oldest instincts, it is 
 yet one of the latest to become prominent in individual 
 development 
 
 CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES IN INDIVIDUALS OF THE SAME 
 
 SPECIES 
 
 Besides these fundamental, theoretical principles to be 
 considered in applying the main theory of correspond- 
 ence between race and individual development, there are 
 others, depending upon special conditions and upon the 
 laws governing the development of instincts. Since 
 A "the appearance of instincts depends upon structure and 
 V*^ physiological conditions, especially nutritive, an animal 
 / must be in good normal condition to show forth at 
 
 the proper time feeding, playing, fighting, and sexual 
 instincts. 
 ^ Since instincts depend also upon outer stimuli, the 
 
 ^ appropriate stimulus must be presented at the time 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 47 
 
 when, because of the internal bodily conditions, the 
 instinct is ripe, or the instinctive reaction may never 
 appear. For example, the swimming instinct does not 
 appear in ducks except in the presence of water, and 
 perhaps not without actual contact of the whole body 
 with it. For this reason environment may favor the 
 development of some instincts at certain times much more 
 than at others. If the proper stimulus is never given, or 
 if the instinctive tendency is transient, as is sometimes 
 the case, the instinct may never appear. For example, 
 the instinct of burying bones shown by most dogs either 
 does not appear, or appears only a few times if, while 
 young, they are kept all the time on boards. It is 
 doubtful if chickens would scratch if kept all the time 
 on a smooth floor with no unevenness as stimulus to their 
 feet. Certainly they will not follow unless the instinct 
 has exercise during the first few weeks. 
 
 Although most instincts are stronger at certain ages 
 or at certain times of the year than at others, yet most 
 of them continue to exist in some degree during the 
 whole life of the animal, both before their evident appear- 
 ance, and after the instinctive tendency ceases to play 
 a prominent part in the actions of the animal. Some 
 instincts vary but little in strength all through Hf e ; yet 
 even these may develop in quite different ways in dif- 
 ferent animals of the same species because of early 
 experience. For example, the feeding instinct is always 
 present, but animals and persons in certain localities get 
 into the habit of eating certain things and no longer 
 have an impulse to try any other kind of food when it is 
 presented, though when young they would have taken 
 it as readily as what they now feed upon exclusively. 
 
A-v 
 
 48 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 The feeding instinct is specialized, yet, if very hungry and 
 unable to get their habitual food, such animals and persons 
 take new foods which ordinarily they would not touch. 
 
 It is evident that with all these complications, the 
 most common and natural order of development of 
 instincts in animals is very difficult to determine. The 
 problem is still harder in children, who have so many 
 instincts, most of which are during a long period 
 easily modified by special conditions. Something, how- 
 ever, has been determined, as will be indicated later. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. As a machine, how does an animal differ from other machines ? 
 
 2. Do acquired movements ever become nearly as automatic as 
 breathing ? Illustrate. 
 
 3. Give examples of instinctive and of reflex movements. 
 
 4. Illustrate the fact that structure and instinct correspond not 
 only in different animals, ^d also in the same animals at different 
 times. How can naturalists tell the instincts of extinct animals by 
 examining their bones ? 
 
 ^ 5. Are there any acts that you can perform better when not 
 thinking of them ? What kind of acts are they ? 
 
 6. Why does an architect need to be more intelligent than a 
 mason, or a squirrel more intelligent than a fish ? 
 
 7. When is a deer probably most conscious and fearful, when 
 fleeing fi-om danger or when cornered ? 
 
 J 8. Give several illustrations of learning from few experiences by 
 
 animals or children as evidence of intelligence. 
 
 9. Give illustrations of the various conditions affecting the use- 
 fulness of instincts. 
 
 10. Give examples of fixed and of indefinite instincts. 
 
 11. Give illustrations of transient or periodic instincts. 
 
 12. Give some parallels between the development of the child 
 and the race. 
 
 13. Illustrate how the instincts of individuals may be modified 
 by accidental causes. 
 
NATIVE MOTOR ACTIVITIES 49 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 The best chapter on instinct is in James's Psychology^ and one 
 of the best popular books on the subject is Chadbourne's 
 Instinct. All books on animals treat of the subject. 
 
 The following chapters bear on the nature and use of instincts : 
 Morgan, Animal Life and Intelligence, chap, xi; Romanes, 
 Mental Evolution in Animals, chap, xi ; Wundt, Htanan and 
 Animal Psychology, chaps, xxvi and -xyMii ; Marshall, Instinct 
 and Reason, chap, iii ; Baldwin, Vol. I, chap, viii ; Jordan and 
 Kellogg, Animal Life, chaps, xiv and xv. 
 
 The relation of instinct to consciousness and intelligence is dis- 
 cussed ably in Morgan, Animal Life and Intelligence, chap, 
 xii, and Comparative Psychology, chap, xii, and Minot, Pop. 
 Sci. Mo., Vol. LXI, pp. 289-303 ; Baldwin, Vol. I, pp. 208-214; 
 Watkins, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XI, pp. 166-180. 
 
 The mechanism of reflex and instinctive movements ^Kg: discussed '>S 
 by Jennings, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. X, pp. 503-515, and in Loeb's 
 Physiology of the Braift. 
 
 On the general order of development read Vincent, The Social ^ 
 Mind and Education, pp. 66-90; Swift, Jr. Ped., Vol. XII, 
 pp. 295-303 ; Guillet, Ped. Sem., Vol. VII, pp. 397-445. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 
 BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION 
 
 In attempting to classify instincts it is not possible 
 to classify them according to the nature of the stimulus 
 or the kind of movements made, or the bodily or mental 
 states of the animals, for these are all so various that 
 they cannot be grouped under a few heads. Again, 
 those features are not of universal significance, since 
 what is a useful stimulus or movement to one animal is 
 harmful to another. Since all instincts owe their exist- 
 ence to their usefulness, the uses subserved by the vari- 
 ous instincts should be the basis of classification. To a 
 considerable extent all animals have the same general 
 needs, hence a classification based on the ends gained 
 by instinctive acts will apply to all forms of animal life, 
 including man. 
 
 From the amoeba, which can only contract and ex- 
 pand, up through the Paramecium, which has cilia that 
 can move in two ways, and the duck, which may in the 
 presence of danger shrink into hiding or use its legs in 
 running or swimming or diving, or its wings in flying, 
 to man, who may hide, run, swim, dive, fight, or make 
 use of the voice in calling help or intimidating an assail- 
 ant, or of artificial means of getting away, attacking, 
 
 51 
 
52 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 or intimidating, we have increasing variety of means of 
 securing what is substantially the same end, that of 
 escaping danger. All actions, therefore, that are clearly 
 designed for the accomplishment of the same end may 
 properly be grouped together, though differing greatly 
 in complexity, kind of motions involved, and nature of 
 stimuli calling them forth. Movements about equally 
 useful in accomplishing several ends are harder to clas- 
 sify, but may best be put in a group by themselves. 
 
 I. INDIVIDUALISTIC OR SELF-PRESERVATIVE INSTINCTS 
 
 All tendencies to action which have for their primary 
 end the good of the individual belong under this head. 
 I The most fundamental and universal form of this in- 
 stinct is shown in the tendency to contract the body 
 and withdraw from unfavorable stimuli, and expand or 
 approach toward favorable ones. 
 
 In its most primitive form the tendency to approach 
 favorable and recede from unfavorable stimuli is found 
 only in the tendency to move so as to increase favorable 
 or decrease unfavorable stimuli already being received. 
 For example, all animals, and even plants to some 
 extent, move toward or away from light, heat, chemical 
 and mechanical stimuli, so as to get more or less of 
 them according to the nature of their organism. Even 
 headless worms move so as to secure more of the kind 
 of heat and light stimulations most favorable to them. 
 It is not improbable that the migration of fish into fresh 
 water, before spawning, is the result of activity that in- 
 creases the thermal and chemical stimulation most favor- 
 able to the fish in the condition in which they are at that 
 season of the year. The movement of a fox toward a 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 53 
 
 partridge which he scents is of this nature, though 
 probably supplemented by conscious expectation. 
 
 Besides this tendency, which is universal in all ani- 
 mals, from the highest to the lowest, most animals have 
 a tendency to move about and to react in certain ways 
 to certain stimuli, before there is any chance to experi- 
 ence their favorable or unfavorable character in even a 
 slight degree. The chief ends subserved by the indi- 
 viduaHstic instincts are the securing of food, and the 
 avoidance or defeat of enemies. The chief forms of 
 this instinct may be designated as the feeding, fearing, 
 and fighting instincts. 
 
 The amoeba simply wraps itself around the food 
 which it touches, while the lion stalks, kills, bites, 
 chews, and swallows its prey. In both cases the same 
 end is subserved. All movements made in taking, 
 chewing, and swallowing food are examples of indi- 
 vidualistic instincts, and the same is true of all move- 
 ments used exclusively in escaping enemies by fighting, 
 shamming death, or getting away. It is evident that 
 means of locomotion, such as swimming, crawling, run- 
 ning, and flying, are useful both in obtaining food, 
 escaping enemies, fighting, and in obtaining other ends. 
 There is little doubt, however, that they were originally 
 developed and are now most used in self-preservation. 
 
 II. PARENTAL INSTINCTS 
 
 If animals (except the lowest, which are without sex 
 and multiply by division) had no instincts except those 
 connected with self-preservation, there would be only 
 one generation of each kind. To live as a species, 
 animals must have instincts impelling them to produce 
 
54 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 and care for young, as well as instincts impelling them 
 to preserve their own lives. Not only must they have 
 these instincts, but in most animals at certain times the 
 parental instinct must be stronger than the individualistic 
 instinct, so that animals with young will deny themselves 
 food and risk their lives to feed and defend their off- 
 spring from danger, otherwise the species would not 
 continue to exist. 
 
 In the lower animals, such as fishes and insects, 
 which produce thousands and even milUons of young, 
 there is need only for instincts leading to fertilization 
 and laying of eggs in favorable places ; while in higher 
 animals, such as mammals and birds, where only a few 
 young are produced each year, and they helpless and 
 in a complex and dangerous environment, it is neces- 
 sary that parents shall have the instinct of caring for 
 their young highly developed. 
 
 All actions, therefore, that have for their primary end 
 the producing of young, and preparing for and taking 
 care of them, are classed under " Parental Instincts." 
 Hence under this head we may include, with the more 
 obvious actions, those less directly related to the per- 
 petuation of the species, such as singing, self-exhibition, 
 fighting for mates, and nest building. 
 
 III. GROUP OR SOCIAL INSTINCTS 
 
 Many lower animals, such as bees and ants, always 
 live in colonies, and have instincts that impel them to 
 act primarily for the good of the group to which they 
 belong, and only indirectly for the good of themselves 
 or their species. In many instances there are in each 
 group several different types of individuals with corre- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 55 
 
 spending differences in instincts. In the case of bees 
 and ants there are nearly always three or more types 
 in each community. Some of the higher animals, such 
 as wolves and cattle, go in groups a part or all of the 
 time, and cooperate in securing food and escaping dan- 
 ger. In so doing they act not merely for their own good 
 and for the good of their species as represented in their 
 young, but for the good of the group to which they 
 belong. 
 
 This instinct is closely related to, and possibly the 
 outgrowth of, the parental instinct. It is especially 
 prominent in man, where the tendency is fostered 
 by the family life resulting from the long period of 
 infancy. Association and cooperation in family life pre- 
 pare individuals for association and cooperation with 
 other individuals not of the same family. The predomi- 
 nance of man over other animals is due in no small 
 part to the greater tendency of men to arrange them- 
 selves in groups, and cooperate for the common good 
 in attack and defence. In the history of the world 
 those tribes and nations that have had this tendency 
 most strongly developed are the ones that have won 
 in the struggle for existence. The lack of this 
 instinct is the weakness of the Chinese, who would 
 otherwise be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, 
 of nations. 
 
 This social instinct in man, and probably in some 
 animals, leads not only to seeking companionship and 
 acting with others of the species, but to desiring the 
 approval of the group which one joins. This in man 
 develops into pride and ambition, and may also give 
 rise to rivalry, jealousy, embarrassment, and shame. 
 
56 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 IV. ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS 
 
 Since all the higher animals come into the world in 
 an unfinished state, they need to be and are very plastic 
 to surrounding forces which develop and mould them 
 so that they become capable of surviving and making 
 their own living in the environment into which they 
 are bom. Mere clay-like plasticity to outside impres- 
 sions, however, is not sufficient. The young animal 
 not only adapts himself to his environment by respond- 
 ing to the stimuli he receives in ways most favorable 
 to himself, but he actively seeks stimuli and repeats 
 actions when their former stimuli are not affecting him. 
 This inner tendency to actively increase the number of 
 stimuli a^d reactions is the basis of the adaptive instincts. 
 
 Two phases of this tendency are more properly 
 physiological laws than instincts. One is the tendency 
 to spontaneous movement, i.e. movement without any 
 discernible external stimulus. Such movements proba- 
 bly originate in the chemical changes involved in nutri- 
 tion of the organism, especially the nerve centres. 
 They begin in the embryonic stage ; young chicks, for 
 example, before hatching, make frequent movements 
 when there is no perceptible change in the surround- 
 ings that could serve as a stimulus. These spontaneous 
 or random movements are very numerous in early life, 
 and hence there is greater opportunity to select and 
 perfect such of these chance movements as prove use- 
 ful. Such movements have the same place in the 
 development of individuals that variation has in the 
 development of the species, i.e» they furnish material 
 for natural selectionl 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 57 
 
 The other physiological principle is the tendency for 
 nervous energy to take the same course that has just 
 been taken. This not only favors the development of 
 habit through the performance of the same act when 
 the conditions are reproduced, but may, when there 
 is a surplus of energy or a tendency to action because 
 of some other stimulus, result in one or more repeti- 
 tions of the act without the repetition of the originating 
 stimulus. This tendency causes a child to respond in 
 the same way to several stimuli, as answering " yes " 
 to various questions, and to repeat a number of times 
 any act that he performs, as saying such a syllable as 
 "da,'' waving with the hand, or jumping up and down. 
 This tendency to what Baldwin calls the " circular 
 form of reaction," is so strong that it often seems 
 almost impossible for children to stop with one per- 
 formance of an act. Painful and unfavorable results 
 may inhibit this tendency, and pleasure or favorable 
 results indrease it; but it does not owe its existence 
 wholly to the results of movements. Clearly with this 
 tendency the power of movement must develop much 
 more rapidly than it would if a movement were repeated 
 only when the same inner or outer conditions happened 
 to call it forth again. 
 
 These two physiological tendencies to random move- 
 ment and to repetition of movement are not, however, 
 properly speaking, instincts ; for though they favor 
 varied and rapid development of powers, they do not 
 favor those that are useful to the organism any more than 
 those that are harmful. They are the basis, however, of 
 the three following tendencies which may more properly 
 be called instincts, — imitation, play, and curiosity. 
 
58 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Imitation may be defined in a general way as the 
 tendency to repeat what has been perceived, especially 
 the sounds and movements made by others of the 
 same species. There is an outer stimulus in imitation 
 that calls forth a movement producing to some extent 
 the same stimulus. It is evident that this tendency is 
 often of direct use to an animal in adapting itself to its 
 surroundings; for the young animal that imitates his 
 elders (which are already adapted to their environment), 
 in seeking shelter, selecting food, and avoiding enemies, 
 is much more likely to survive than the one who must 
 learn what is good for him from his own chance ex- 
 periences, any one of which may result fatally. The 
 advantages to the child who has so much to learn are 
 still greater, hence he is the most imitative of all young 
 animals. 
 
 Play^ or the tendency to perform acts for their own 
 sake rather than for the ends to be gained by them, 
 is of direct use to all immature animals because it gives 
 practice in performing acts before there is any serious 
 need for their performance, or any dangerous results 
 from imperfect performance. It is evident that animals 
 that play at chasing and fighting when young will have a 
 great advantage in the struggle for existence, when they 
 have to make their own way in life, over those that have 
 not played in youth. Sometimes play is not distinguish- 
 able from the tendency to spontaneous movements, or 
 the circular form of reaction, or from imitation. Playful 
 acts are always performed for their own sake, usually 
 prepare for future usefulness, and are the outcome of 
 inner tendencies of development resulting from past 
 experiences of the race. 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 59 
 
 Since playful acts are always performed for their 
 own sake, they are always suited to the powers of the 
 performer, neither too easy nor too difficult. This is 
 not denying the well-known fact that plays once started 
 are often continued too long, so as to produce extreme 
 fatigue and exhaustion of powers. In such cases, how- 
 ever, as a rule, the tendencies that give zest to the game 
 are not exhausted, though some powers needed in carry- 
 ing it out are. 
 
 Play, in general, is not completely determined either 
 by chance nutritive changes within the organism or by 
 stimulation from the outer environment, but by the ten- 
 dency to certain forms of action which have been useful 
 to the race, and which are not being used in a serious 
 way. Surplus energy tends to flow out along these old 
 racial channels as fast as their beginnings are developed 
 in the young animal. Every instinctive tendency is there- 
 fore manifested in play, and is thus perfected for future 
 use. Surplus energy is a favorable condition for play, but 
 what is played at any time is determined largely by the 
 degree of development and the relative prominence of 
 the instincts which are not needed for serious purposes. 
 
 Curiosity^ unlike imitation and play, is concerned 
 more with the securing of sensations than with modes of 
 action. It is an intellectual hunger, an impulse to se- 
 cure and test new sensations. An animal that possesses 
 it soon comes in contact with all phases of his environ- 
 ment, and examines every new thing as it appears, before 
 attempting to eat, attack, or run away from it. Under 
 ordinary conditions this instinct helps an animal to 
 adapt itself to its environment, and to more quickly dis- 
 cover dangerous or advantageous changes in its sur- 
 
60 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Foundings. Since man has come on the scene, however, 
 he has learned to use this instinct to the destruction 
 of many animals, as, for example, the deer. It is quite 
 evident, however, that under natural conditions a young 
 animal with curiosity will become adapted to its environ- 
 ment much sooner than one without such an instinct. 
 The prominence of the instinct in the rat has thus far 
 prevented his complete destruction by the traps and 
 
 /oisons of man.. 
 It is not too much to say that curiosity is the basis 
 of all intellectual development in animals and in man. 
 Imitation and play lead to the development of powers 
 and the acquisition of subjective knowledge of observed 
 acts, by causing the individual to perform them himself, 
 while curiosity leads to objective knowledge of all kinds 
 and is also a stimulus to the acquisition of subjective 
 knowledge by imitation. Every new thing introduced 
 into a familiar environment is a stimulus to curiosity, 
 and every new relation of object or idea to other familiar 
 ones is equally effective in man ; hence curiosity is to the 
 intellect what appetite is to the body — a cause of growth 
 and development. 
 
 V. REGULATIVE INSTINCTS 
 
 It is not easy to demonstrate clearly the existence of 
 these instincts, though good general grounds for affirm- 
 ing their usefulness and their existence in man are 
 easily found. Evidently, every species of animal that 
 is to survive must conform to the laws of nature and the 
 environment in which it lives. Every organism must 
 conform to the laws of rhythmic, seasonal changes im- 
 posed by the sun ; hence a tendency to conform to con- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 6l 
 
 stant environing conditions, or, in other words, to act 
 according to law, has naturally developed. Again, the 
 several varieties of instincts often impel to opposing 
 actions, and the tendency is for the strongest and most 
 quickly acting instinct to determine action, although 
 safety for the individual and species may lie in the 
 direction of the action suggested by a more slowly act- 
 ing instinct. In such cases a tendency to pause before 
 acting and give slower instincts time to awaken and 
 exercise their rightful influence would be of advantage. 
 Something to make the instincts work together for the 
 good of the animal and its species would evidently be 
 useful. 
 
 Such an instinct probably exists, in man at least, in 
 the moral tendency to conform to law and to act 
 for the good of others as well as self, and in the 
 religious tendency to regard a Higher Power. This 
 instinct gives rise to feelings that one ought to act in 
 conformity with certain laws fixed by the experience 
 of the race, or by customs and habits of groups of 
 individuals, and to a feeling of reverence and awe in 
 the presence of the Power back of these laws. 
 
 The constancy of law in preserving uniform conditions 
 or producing rhythmic variations tends to develop the 
 moral instinct of obedience, while the power manifested 
 in irregular changes in nature, as in the case of storms, 
 tends to stimulate the beginnings of the religious emo- 
 tions of awe and reverence. For these reasons, probably 
 the people of northern countries, where seasonal varia- 
 tions are g^eat, and if not conformed to, destructive, 
 have the sense of duty much more highly developed 
 than in tropical countries, where active conformity is 
 
62 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 not called for to any great extent. The difference 
 between the gods and mythologies of northern and 
 southern peoples cannot be wholly accounted for by 
 social heredity, but must have originated in the natural 
 surroundings. 
 
 Since every race and tribe of people has some form of 
 morality and worship, there is good reason for saying 
 that the tendencies to conform to law, and to worship 
 unknown sources of power, are instinctive ; though what 
 kind of law is obeyed, or source of power worshipped, is 
 a matter of local surroundings and social traditions. 
 
 VL RESULTANT AND MISCELLANEOUS INSTINCTS AND 
 FEELINGS 
 
 Actions for the attainment of the various ends already 
 enumerated, and numerous combinations and oppositions 
 of ends and means of attainment, give rise to many ten- 
 dencies to action and feeling that are not easily classi- 
 fied under any of the previously named heads. Among 
 the most prominent of these impulses and associated 
 feelings are : (i) the tendency to collect objects of various 
 kinds and to enjoy their ownership ; (2) the tendency to 
 construct or destroy, and the pleasure of being a power 
 or a cause ; (3) the tendency to express mental states to 
 others of the species, and to take pleasure in such 
 expression ; (4) the tendency to adornment, and the 
 making of beautiful things, and the aesthetic pleasure of 
 contemplating such objects. 
 
 A careful study of the social Hfe of various tribes and 
 nations of this and other ages will show that these 
 instincts and feelings are, in every man, nearly if not 
 quite as important sources of action as the more funda- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTINCTS 63 
 
 mental and necessary instincts, which impel to the acqui- 
 sition of food, clothing, and shelter, or the means of 
 getting them. Museums, apparatus and buildings of all 
 kinds, languages, and works of art are in a large measure 
 the results of these instincts in man ; and there is not an 
 individual, civilized or savage, who is not sometimes 
 influenced more by them than by his instinctive desire 
 for food and shelter. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Give illustrations of different instinctive modes of getting 
 food, escaping danger, and fighting. 
 
 2. Describe specific instances of animals acting according to 
 the parental instinct even in opposition to the individualistic. 
 
 3. Describe various instinctive modes of nesting by birds and 
 insects. 
 
 4. Give illustrations of spontaneous movements, and the ten- 
 dency to repeat movements that you have observed. 
 
 5. Give illustrations of each form of the adaptive instincts. ^ 
 
 6. Give illustrations showing the need of regulative instincts. 
 
 7. State evidence for or against the view that morality and 
 religion are instinctive. 
 
 8. Give illustrations of each of the resultant instincts named, 
 and mention other actions that you think may be instinctive. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 All the books on animal psychology and instinct will furnish illustra- 
 tions of the various instincts. 
 
 A good discussion of classes of instincts is to be found in Mar- 
 shall's Instinct and Reason^ chap, v, and of their relation to 
 the emotions in Ribot's Psychology of the Emotions^ especially 
 pp. 194-198 and 260-274. See also Chadbourne. 
 
 v/ 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 
 
 EARLY MOVEMENTS 
 
 The human infant is a very helpless being. This is 
 in accordance with the general law that young animals 
 have just enough power of movement so that when 
 their instincts are supplemented by those of their 
 parents, they are able to live. 
 
 The automatic movements of independent respiration, 
 circulation, and digestion begin as soon as the child is 
 born. 
 
 At or soon after birth, reflex movements may be 
 called forth by stimulating any of the senses, and most 
 of these reflexes, such as closing the eye when the lid is 
 touched, pushing out with the tongue unfavorable 
 objects, and withdrawing a hand or foot that is painfully 
 stimulated, are from the first, useful ; while others, such 
 as clasping with toes and fingers an object touching 
 them, were probably at one time in the race history use- 
 ful in helping the mother to carry the child. 
 
 The instinctive movements are very few, for human 
 parents are prepared to do almost everything except 
 breathe and digest for the child. Even the necessary 
 and important instinct of sucking is sometimes not well 
 performed at first. Usually, however, it is. A strong 
 
 F 65 
 
6S FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 infant held in a certain position and lightly touched on 
 the cheek will, when hungry, also make movements of 
 the head favorable to the finding of the source of nourish- 
 ment. There is also in strong infants early evidence 
 of rudimentary attempts at maintaining equilibrium of 
 head, and a little later of body also. 
 
 The expressive mechanism for crying is well developed 
 from the first, because this is needed to call the parents 
 to relieve unfavorable conditions; while smiHng and 
 laughing do not appear till much later, because such 
 movements are of little biological value. 
 
 Starting at sudden sounds, especially when they are 
 accompanied by a jar (as the sound of the slamming of 
 a door), is very marked. This is perhaps the first 
 evidence of a general instinctive fear of strange and 
 strong stimuli. A more specialized reaction which was 
 perhaps useful in an earlier period of race history is 
 shown in the tendency, beginning in the first month 
 and lasting several weeks, of shrinking together and 
 clasping as if afraid of faUing, when lowered suddenly. 
 Sometimes when clothes are removed so that there is 
 lack of their supporting contact with most of the body, 
 the same instinctive fear is manifested. 
 
 The tendency to bring the hands to the mouth, so 
 prominent almost from the first, may be the result either 
 of the habitual inter-uterine position, or of an instinct 
 which was useful in the earlier history of the race. 
 The tendency is certainly very helpful to the child in 
 obtaining touch sensations, since objects are by this 
 movement brought to the mouth for closer examination 
 by tongue and lips. 
 
 Since ability to use the sense organs is useful to the 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 6^] 
 
 child, we find a partially developed reflex tendency to 
 turn the eyes and possibly the ears into the most favor- 
 able position for use. Some weeks or months of time, 
 and possibly some experience, are necessary before any 
 but the first of these reflexes are perfect. Before the 
 beginning of the second quarter, however, the eyes 
 close at a threatened blow, move together, fixate, and 
 follow moving objects ; while a little later there is an 
 accurate turning of the head toward the source of sound, 
 and also a marked tendency to use the skin of lips, 
 fingers, and toes in getting sensations of touch. 
 
 From the first, the infant makes numerous spontaneous 
 and random movements of almost every part of the body, 
 independently of external stimuli. These movements, 
 resulting from organic conditions, growth changes, and 
 the consequent outflow of energy, are important means 
 of developing the muscles and preparing by experi- 
 ence for the voluntary contraction of the muscles thus 
 exercised. 
 
 INCREASE IN COMPLEXITY OF MOVEMENT 
 
 During the first few weeks the movements of an infant 
 seem to depend more upon general bodily conditions 
 than upon outward stimulation of any of the special 
 senses, and the movements of the different parts of the 
 body seem to have little relation to each other. Soon, 
 however, outward and special stimuli become more 
 effective, so that crying and restless movements, due 
 to bodily condition, may frequently be checked by 
 auditory, tactual, or visual stimulations, such as singing, 
 patting the child, or shaking something before his eyes. 
 
 In the second quarter, many combinations of move- 
 
68 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ment take place. The eyes not only turn toward and 
 follow a moving object, but turn toward a sound or 
 toward a portion of the body that is touched, thus 
 bringing more than one sense into action. The lips, 
 hands, and often the feet also, not only move when 
 touched, but move into contact with objects seen, which 
 are then tested by other tactile surfaces and perhaps 
 by eye and ear. In the meantime, the first reactions 
 against the tipping of head or body have developed so 
 that equilibrium is maintained against the tendency of 
 head and body to move out of balance. Not only this, 
 but equilibrium is maintained while grasping, and head 
 and body usually move with the hand in reaching for 
 an object. The movements of different parts of the 
 body are therefore no longer independent of each other, 
 but very closely connected. 
 
 In this and the next quarter a new kind of movement 
 becomes very prominent Random and meaningless 
 movements of parts change to those repeated rhythmic 
 and partially coordinated movements of various muscle 
 groups which we designate as play. Certain movements 
 of limbs or vocal organs are produced over and over for 
 several days, then a new one is practised for a while. 
 Various combinations of movements are made, and the 
 muscles and the senses are thus exercised and associ- 
 ated in countless ways, as the child amuses himself. 
 
 In the latter part of the first year not only are move- 
 ments previously made, repeated in play, but movements 
 seen and sounds heard are often playfully imitated and 
 repeated over and over. 
 
 The process of combination goes still further, and the 
 child begins to move toward things by crawling or other- 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 69 
 
 wise, or to stand, holding with one hand and reaching 
 with the other, and at about a year to maintain equilib- 
 rium while standing and walking, and in getting up and 
 down when he grasps something on the floor. 
 
 Looked at in a purely objective way, the most marked 
 change in the movements of a child during the first 
 year is, therefore, not in number, but in complexity, co- 
 ordination, and definiteness. From the use of one sense 
 and one or two groups of muscles at a time, the child 
 has progressed to the combined use of muscles of legs, 
 body, arms, fingers, head, and eyes, in getting objects 
 and obtaining visual, tactual, and auditory sensations from 
 them. The early movements were unconnected and un- 
 coordinated, and ended in nothing but movement ; while 
 at the close of the first year they are combined and 
 correlated with each other, and end in the changing of 
 the position of the child or of some object. These changes 
 toward more complex and unified movement are doubt- 
 less preparatory to, and correlated with, corresponding 
 changes in the conscious states of the child. 
 
 EARLY MENTAL STATES 
 
 " What is the baby thinking about .? " is one of the 
 most fascinating and puzzling of questions. Sympathetic 
 imagination endows him with a thousand adult feelings 
 and ideas, or dimly remembered childish states. Yet 
 no one can represent the baby's ideas except in terms 
 of his own present or former mental states. The im- 
 portant epoch included in the first year or two of life, 
 to which the memory of man goeth not back, cannot 
 therefore be pictured in its true colors by the most 
 gifted child lover. 
 
70 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 The scientist is almost equally impotent in attempting 
 to discover and describe the real mental states of an 
 infant. He is perhaps strongest on the negative side ; for, 
 reasoning from general principles, he can say with con- 
 siderable assurance what is not in the baby's mind, just 
 as he can affirm that a planet without atmosphere has 
 no animal life like our own, or that in a certain age 
 in the world's history there could have been no animal 
 life of a certain kind because it was too hot or too cold, 
 or because there was an absence of appropriate food. 
 When, therefore, the psychologist finds that the greater 
 part of the cortex of the brain (which there is good 
 reason to believe is the seat of consciousness) is not 
 active during the first three months of life, and when he 
 observes that nearly everything that the child does is 
 sometimes done equally well, or even better, when asleep 
 than when awake, and that in children born without a 
 brain, the movements are nearly the same as in normal 
 children, and when he remembers that the child cannot 
 have any knowledge gained from experience that the 
 adult has, he is warranted in saying that there is 
 nothing in the young infant's mind sufficiently like what 
 is in the adult's mind to warrant the use of the same 
 terms. If he makes any positive suggestion as to the 
 child's mental states, he will say that if there is any 
 consciousness at first, it is most like, yet much more 
 indefinite than, the vague feelings, almost without ideas, 
 that are sometimes experienced by adults when in a 
 drowsy state. 
 
 The child sleeps most of the time at first, and is prob- 
 ably conscious of only the more intense stimuli. The 
 field of consciousness, soon to become a fairy land of 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 7 1 
 
 new experiences, is at first a half-formed, barren desert, 
 with only an occasional rock of bodily pain or oasis of 
 comfort clearly discernible. 
 
 Since the only key to the mind of the young child, 
 who cannot speak for himself, by which his movements 
 may be interpreted, is a mental state like his own at the 
 time of making the movements, the door to his inner 
 mental states is forever closed to adults. To us every 
 sensation has a meaning; it is related to and calls up 
 sensations like it or associated with it in past experience. 
 The infant, however, has no past experience, and even 
 when its movements are significant, the various sensa- 
 tions are not related to each other, but merely each to 
 its appropriate, separate reflex. The first sound heard 
 carries with it no suggestion of sounds of its class, or of 
 an object to be seen or touched. It is probably only a 
 more vivid something in the mild chaos of organic and 
 movement sensations. 
 
 The child is at first simply a wonderful mechanism 
 whose parts are not all finished or connected, beginning 
 to feel and become conscious of what it does. It is 
 distinctly conscious of only the more intense or newer 
 things that it does, and learns how things are done only 
 after it has done them a number of times. Conscious- 
 ness probably has no influence whatever upon what is 
 done for several months, but is merely an imperfect 
 report of what is being done and has been done — a log 
 book of the first voyage of the vessel^of life, in which 
 appear only the regular food watches and the unusual 
 events of the voyage. 
 
 It is probable that there is very little unified conscious- 
 ness during the first quarter ; but in the second quarter, 
 
72 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 when movement becomes more complex, so that the 
 stimulations of one sense are connected with those of 
 another, consciousness probably becomes unified in a 
 corresponding degree, and every experience becomes 
 associated with others like or contiguous to it. Every 
 sensation soon has a background of general bodily 
 sensation and a fringe of past sensations. As con- 
 sciousness thus becomes unified and related, it begins to 
 assume its rightful place as general director of affairs, 
 and chooses that certain agreeable experiences shall be 
 continued or repeated, and a little later, exercises some 
 influence in determining how this shall be done. 
 
 Thus does the semi-conscious and utterly helpless 
 being acquire a definite and unified consciousness, and 
 gradually take possession of its developing self. The 
 functioning of reflex and instinctive mechanisms that 
 are perfect at birth, and of other mechanisms after 
 they become perfect, has little influence on the con- 
 scious self. The processes of perfecting mechanisms^ 
 developing them for nezv purposes, and combining them 
 in various ways, are the chief exciters of conscious 
 activity, and the me am by which the mental self grows. 
 Every new experience illuminates and enlarges the field 
 of consciousness, and extends the control of the growing 
 self. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF VOLUNTARY CONTROL 
 
 In the acquisition of voluntary control there are most 
 interesting combinations of motor and mental processes. 
 To understand them we must consider the ends gained 
 by movements, both objectively and subjectively. 
 
 Many, but not all, reflex and instinctive movements 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 73 
 
 accomplish definite ends, while spontaneous and random 
 movements occasionally do so. Every voluntary move- 
 ment must have a purpose ; but the fact that some objec- 
 tive end is gained, does not make it voluntary. To be 
 voluntary there must be some idea of the end previous 
 to the act by which it is gained. In complex volitions 
 there is consciousness of several ends, or several means 
 of attaining ends, and a choice as to which shall be 
 secured or used. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that voluntary efforts can be 
 made only after considerable experience in non-volun- 
 tary movements, which gives a basis for forecasting the 
 possible and probable results of movements in response 
 to familiar stimuli. The muscular and nervous mechan- 
 ism is, in part, the same, whether a motion is voluntary 
 or involuntary ; but in one case the results are antici- 
 pated and perhaps chosen from among several possibili- 
 ties, while in the other they are not. Whether will is 
 an actual force in consciousness or only the resultant of 
 the various tendencies to action, it is at any rate a new 
 state of consciousness, and an utterly impossible one to 
 a young child whose motions consist only of separate 
 random and reflex movements. 
 
 The first anticipation of the results of movements 
 probably arises in connection with movements of the 
 head in search of the nipple, and the next, in turning 
 the eyes toward the source of a sound. Such move- 
 ments, however, never lead to the more complex acts of 
 voluntary control, as do those of the limbs. They are 
 so simple and reflex in character that unless the 
 process is interfered with or delayed, there is little 
 consciousness of any kind, and certainly no choice of 
 
74 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 movement or of end. The hand, however, can move in 
 so many ways, each differing in character and difficulty, 
 and for so many different ends, that consciousness of 
 hand movements readily becomes intense, anticipatory, 
 directive, effortful, selective, and hence voluntary. The 
 acquiring of voluntary control of the hand is therefore 
 a good type of all volitional progress. The way in 
 which this takes place may best be indicated by notes 
 on how my own little girl learned to grasp objects. 
 
 " Sixty-first day, noticed her own hand and looked at it 
 for a number of seconds. Seventy-third day, put hand 
 in her mother's mouth several times, her eyes being fixed 
 on her mother's face, and her other hand nearly still. 
 Her hand often went higher or lower or to one side, but 
 the movement was successful and seemed to be called 
 forth by the object in that position. Eighty-first day, 
 held a book placed in her hands and looked at it for 
 some time. One hundred and eleventh day, movements 
 of scratching and pulling at things her hands touched 
 became frequent, and there were some instances of reach- 
 ing toward and scratching at objects, such as a magazine 
 held before her. Also scratched at table-cloth and at a 
 plate, and when her hand slipped off and came to her 
 mouth, she uttered a dissatisfied grunt as if disappointed 
 in not getting what she expected in the way of tactile 
 sensation on the lips. 
 
 "When lying on a lounge, has often got her hand 
 against a curtain, grasped and shaken it back and 
 forth for a long time. One hundred and twelfth day, 
 got her fingers caught in a ribbon tied around the cur- 
 tain and jerked at it till it came loose, and finally got 
 it in her mouth. Later in the day drew her father's 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 75 
 
 thumb into her mouth. He removed it, and she suc- 
 ceeded several times in getting hold of it and bringing 
 it to her mouth. When not successful, gave a fretful 
 cry, but renewed the effort. Sometimes her hand 
 slipped over the thumb and came into her mouth, 
 and she seemed disappointed and tried again. This 
 seemed like a clear case of voluntary movement, though 
 of the simplest kind, for there was probably no repre- 
 sentation of the end to produce expectation of a certain 
 tactile sensation and cause signs of disappointment and 
 renewed effort when she got a different sensation. 
 
 " One hundred and thirteenth day, repeatedly put her 
 father's finger in her mouth, having no difficulty in doing 
 so after she got hold of it She was not, however, always 
 successful in getting hold of it, sometimes one or two 
 fingers clasped it and sometimes all slipped past. One 
 hundred and fourteenth day, reached the finger several 
 times without trying to put it in her mouth. One hun- 
 dred and nineteenth day, carried watch to her mouth a 
 number of times, used both hands most of the time, 
 sometimes merely getting them behind the watch and 
 pushing it, at other times clasping it with one or more 
 fingers. The arms are controlled, but the fingers show 
 little more than the original reflex. Head usually moved 
 toward objects before and while reaching for them. 
 
 " One hundred and twenty-ninth day, control of 
 fingers not perceptibly better. She uses both hands 
 when object is directly in front, and the nearest hand 
 when it is on one side. Reached for watch four or 
 five inches beyond reach, but not as certain to try as 
 when closer. Slipped her fingers along her mother's 
 when her own instead of her mother's fingers touched 
 
'j6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 her lips. This may have been accidentally successful, 
 but it showed dissatisfaction in not getting the desired 
 sensation. One hundred and thirty-second day, seemed 
 to be reaching behind the mirror for the face. One 
 himdred and thirty-fourth day, can move her hands 
 with considerable accuracy and rapidity within a small 
 space directly in front of her, and in that space gen- 
 erally uses both hands. When the object is on one 
 side, she generally uses the hand on that side. Has 
 little control in reaching up high or down low. 
 
 " 07ie hundred and fifty-first day, tries to grasp nearly 
 everything within reach, and seems to be more accurate 
 when she does it very quickly than when she reaches 
 slowly. One hundred and fifty-third day, spent some 
 time in catching a swinging watch and letting it go. 
 Reached for it only when it was near, and naturally 
 was more frequently successful when it was swinging 
 toward her than when it was swinging out. One hun- 
 dred and sixty-eighth day, has now sufficient control of 
 her movements so that toys give more pleasure than 
 vexation. One hundred and seventy-first day, persist- 
 ently reached for a red bow, though it was nearly or 
 quite hidden from view part of the time. One hundred 
 and seventy-fifth day, does not keep things in her mouth 
 so much, and apparently shakes the rattle not simply for 
 the movement, but also for the sound, though this is not 
 certain. Often grasps things very quickly. 
 
 ** One hundred and eighty-second day, can now grasp 
 and hold in one hand a ball an inch or more in diameter. 
 Two hundred and second day, has been able to take a 
 handkerchief off her head for some time, and to-day suc- 
 ceeded a number of times in taking my stiff hat off her 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT jy 
 
 head, having difficulty only when she took hold too far 
 forward and pulled it against the back of her head before 
 getting it high enough. Two hitndred and thirteenth 
 day, if anything is held just out of reach in front or 
 over her head, she will try one hand awhile, then the other, 
 then give a discontented cry and try again. Two hun- 
 dred and fourteenth day, took hold of my mustache and 
 drew my mouth down to hers, but drew back when she 
 felt the prick of the mustache. This was repeated sev- 
 eral times, but the last time she did not bring my mouth 
 down quite close to hers. Two hundred aiid fifteenth 
 day, pulled my mouth down toward hers, but not closer 
 than three inches. 
 
 ** Two hundred and seventeenth day, looked intently 
 at a bell as she struck it repeatedly, evidently associating 
 sight, sound, and motion. Two hundred and thirty- 
 fourth day, reached with one hand, then the other, a 
 dozen times for toys held just up out of reach before 
 stopping to protest angrily. Two hundred and thirty- 
 sixth day, reaches for tassels on her carriage, when she 
 cannot see them, and sometimes cries when some one 
 approaches to remove them as has been done before." 
 
 Summing up these facts, it is clear that in obtain- 
 ing voluntary control of the hand in grasping, various 
 non-voluntary movements are grouped together and 
 repeated until they can readily be continued in various 
 ways. These combinations are produced at first in 
 response to the stimulus of some object which calls 
 forth various movements, one of which has desirable 
 results. At first the effective stimulus is some visual 
 object, and the desired result a tactile sensation on the 
 lips. Soon representation of the result is sufficiently 
 
yS FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 clear to produce disappointment when it is not obtained, 
 and the attempt is repeated. The act then has the 
 essential characteristics of a voluntary movement. This 
 usually occurs between four and five months, while a 
 month or two later there is shown the more complex 
 voluntary state of representing the exciting stimulus, as 
 well as the end to be secured, as when the child reaches 
 for what is not in sight. At about the same time the 
 end to be gained is often changed to tactile sensations on 
 the hand instead of on the lips, or to muscular sensations 
 as the hand is moved, or auditory sensations as the ob- 
 ject is made to strike something else. When a move- 
 ment is stopped because the consequence has proved 
 disagreeable (as when the mustache was brought to the 
 lips), we have a further complication of desired move- 
 ment and undesirable consequence. 
 
 The muscles first brought under control are the larger 
 ones of the whole arm, while the space in which control 
 is first exercised is directly in front and near the level 
 of the mouth. 
 
 Other movements than those of the hand come under 
 voluntary control in a similar way ; first the eyes and 
 head in turning toward sights and sounds, then the body 
 in sitting, then the hands in grasping, and finally near 
 the close of the first year, the legs in creeping, standing, 
 and walking, and the vocal organs in repeating sounds. 
 The first of these is so largely provided for by inherited 
 mechanisms that the movements soon come under the 
 possible control of consciousness, while the last involves 
 the coordination of so many simpler non-voluntary move- 
 ments that the whole series is often looked upon as 
 acquired by experience. 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 79 
 
 LEARNING TO WALK 
 
 The tendency to locomotion, though primarily devel- 
 oped in the race as a means of nutrition and escape, is 
 fostered in the individual child more by the instinct of 
 curiosity or the desire for the sensations to be obtained 
 by coming in contact with various objects than by the 
 desire for food and escape. 
 
 The fact that children are a long while learning to 
 walk, and that various movements such as rolling, crawl- 
 ing on stomach, or on hands and feet, hitching along in 
 some form of sitting position, pushing one's self back- 
 ward, or rapid running from one support to another, 
 may be used as means of approaching objects, before 
 the child attempts ordinary walking, seems to indicate 
 that there is in human beings no instinctive mechanism 
 for walking as there is in the case of chickens or pigs, 
 which can walk almost perfectly from the first. 
 
 On the other hand, the fact that the walking reflex 
 (the tendency to move one foot forward when the other 
 touches the floor) develops in the first or second quarter, 
 and that the rudimentary tendency to maintain equilibrium 
 appears even earlier, shows that part of the mechanism 
 of walking is in working order at an early date. Walk- 
 ing becomes possible when its reflex elements can be 
 properly combined. Such an instance as the following 
 shows that the whole mechanism for walking may be 
 developed and its parts connected without experience, 
 and that consciousness hinders rather than helps, all of 
 which indicates that walking in children is more instinc- 
 tive than is usually supposed. 
 
So FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 The instance is thus described by the father, Super- 
 intendent Hall of North Adams, Mass. 
 
 "In reply to yours of March 25th, I give you the fol- 
 lowing account of how my little daughter Katherine 
 learned to walk. She was the youngest of a family of 
 five. The other children had learned to walk soon after 
 they were a year old, and in the normal fashion — by 
 being encouraged to put forth a series of efforts until 
 they were able to go alone. Katherine was a normal 
 child in other respects, bright, active, and healthy, yet 
 unable to walk a step when she was seventeen months 
 old. Of course we were anxious, fearing the cause of 
 this inefficiency might be physical, especially as she 
 persisted in crawling and absolutely refused to try to 
 help herself under the encouragement of any assistance. 
 
 " At last we referred the matter to a physician who 
 said : * It is a peculiar case, and I can hardly tell whether 
 the difficulty is physical or mental. If there is no im- 
 provement in a short time, call me again.' Shortly 
 afterward I came home one day at noon, and placing 
 my cuffs on a table in the sitting room threw myself on 
 a lounge to rest. Katherine happened to notice the cuffs 
 from where she sat on the floor, and crawling across 
 the room pulled herself up by one leg of the table, and 
 reaching out with one hand, while she held on to the 
 table with the other, took a cuff off from the table 
 and slipped it on over her wrist. Of course to do this 
 she had to stand alone. I noticed it at once and was 
 surprised when she reached out her other hand for the 
 other cuff and slipped that on, and then stood looking 
 in a very interested way at the cuffs on both wrists. 
 Then, to our great surprise, she turned toward me with 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 8 1 
 
 a very pleased expression on her face and walked as 
 confidently and easily as any child could. Not only 
 this, but she immediately ran across the room, through 
 another room, and around through the hallway, not 
 simply walking, but running as rapidly as a child four 
 or five years of age would. What surprised us most 
 was that she did not seem to be wearied by her effort 
 at all. 
 
 ** We allowed her to keep the cuffs on for ten minutes 
 or more, and she was on her feet all the time. At last 
 she sat down a moment, rested, and then, strange to 
 say, got up on both feet without assistance, and com- 
 menced to run around the room again. As an experi- 
 ment I took the cuffs off, and she was as unwilling to try 
 to walk as before. We could not possibly induce her to 
 take a single step without the cuffs. When, however, 
 we allowed her to put them on, she seemed to be greatly 
 delighted and walked and ran as before. The result 
 was that I gave her an old pair of cuffs and allowed 
 her to wear them for two days. This was the only 
 way we could keep her from crawling. After that 
 time she seemed to be able to get along without the 
 cuffs, and has not crawled any since." 
 
 Since publishing this account other similar cases have 
 been reported to me. 
 
 MODES OF LEARNING 
 
 The child comes into the world not only with reflex 
 and instinctive tendencies to special movements, but 
 also to general movements. This is shown in the ten- 
 dency to spontaneously exercise all of his muscles. He 
 also tends to move every part of the body in response 
 
82 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 to any strong stimulus. Young babies twist and turn 
 and call into action nearly all of their muscles. When 
 a little older, a bright object causes them to throw up 
 hands, feet, and head, and perhaps to quiver with fear 
 or spring up and down in delight. 
 
 A large proportion of these general or spontaneous 
 movements are useless, but some of them, especially 
 when combined with the special instinctive or reflex 
 movements, secure favorable results. Such move- 
 ments, according to a fundamental principle of organic 
 life, are selected (not necessarily consciously, but in- 
 evitably as the plant grows toward the light) for repe- 
 tition. For example, a little girl who threw up her 
 feet in disgust when the milk ceased to flow, happened 
 to tip the bottle so that it flowed. This was repeated 
 several times; after that for several months she used 
 her leg to hold the bottle. Later the hand was found 
 to be more convenient for the purpose, and the habit 
 was dropped. In similar ways mechanisms for secur- 
 ing various ends are developed, and the will thus soon 
 has a chance to choose ends or means of attainment, 
 or both. 
 
 In spite of the fact that mechanisms for obtaining 
 many ends are thus developed, the child does not know 
 how to use them, and must learn how. He usually 
 needs also to effect some modification, refinement, or 
 new connection of mechanisms of movement in order 
 to gain his conscious ends in the new situations which 
 he constantly meets. He may have clearly in mind the 
 end of getting a red ball suspended near him; but if 
 it is up high, or far to one side, he may miss it a 
 number of times before he succeeds in getting hold of 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 83 
 
 it. With further experience he can reach it accurately 
 the first time. If, however, the ball is placed beyond 
 his reach, he must keep trying till he finds some mode 
 of approaching it, such as rolling or creeping toward it. 
 
 In all such instances the marked feature of the child's 
 attempts is the large number of useless and inaccurate 
 movements made before success is attained and expert- 
 ness gained. It is, therefore, very properly called the 
 " trial and success method " of learning. The first 
 success being determined largely by chance, the more 
 movements that are made the sooner is the right one 
 likely to occur. 
 
 Of course the dice are always loaded to some extent 
 by inheritance and acquired coordinations of sensations 
 and movements, hence success is attained much sooner 
 than it would be if it were a matter of pure chance as 
 to which of the more than four hundred muscles should 
 contract, and in what order and degree. 
 
 Another way by which mechanisms for obtaining 
 ends are developed is by imitation. When a child sees 
 an interesting movement or hears an interesting sound, 
 he has not only a tendency to move all his muscles, but 
 a stronger special tendency to move the muscles neces- 
 sary to reproduce the perceived movement or sound. 
 In this way he soon perfects the mechanism for making 
 many movements that are useful to others, and which 
 will be useful to him some day. Some children early 
 learn all the sounds of the language in this way, later 
 using the ability thus acquired in uttering words as a 
 means of expressing their wants. 
 
 In a large number of instances the child sees others 
 getting what he wishes to get, and by observing their 
 
84 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 movements his own are modified in the direction of the 
 movements necessary to success. Imitation is therefore 
 especially valuable in complex acts involving the use of 
 several mechanisms which have never been used together 
 in the required way. Almost all kinds of games and 
 occupations may be learned by this method. 
 
 There is still another and higher method of learning — 
 that of learning by means of the understanding or 
 reason. In its simplest form this means of learning 
 merely supplements the other methods. By the " trial 
 and success method," for example, a young and active 
 cat gets the door of its cage open sooner than an older 
 and less active one ; but the older cat drops useless 
 movements much quicker in subsequent experience, and 
 therefore sooner learns to open the cage by the one 
 necessary movement. In the older cat conscious in- 
 telligence probably aids in selecting and " stamping in " 
 the right movement. In a similar way the process of 
 learning by imitation may be hastened by conscious 
 selection of the portions of an act necessary to success, 
 and the proper modification of them to suit the powers 
 of the learner. In its higher forms the understanding 
 may be used in learning to do entirely new things, by 
 selecting from various observations and past experiences 
 the elementary acts required, and combining them in 
 the proper way. This mode of learning is in its highest 
 manifestations really a kind of discovery, invention, or 
 reasoning. 
 
 These three methods of learning are used by both 
 adults and children whenever ends are to be gained by 
 new means. The '* trial and success method " is espe 
 cially useful in perfecting the simpler mechanisms of 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 85 
 
 actions, the "imitation method," in learning the simpler 
 processes, or, in other words, in connecting elementary 
 movements with each other ; while the method of " under- 
 standing or reasoning" is best in learning to perform 
 complex acts or in coordinating several processes for 
 the accomplishment of one end. In learning to touch a 
 point accurately the '' trial and success method " is best, 
 in learning to knit, the ** imitation method," and in learn- 
 ing to play chess, the "understanding method," though 
 each method may be supplemented by one or both of 
 the other methods. 
 
 Animals and young babies learn almost wholly by 
 the "trial and success method," and by unconscious 
 imitation, young children by more or less conscious imi- 
 tation, and adults by understanding. This is partly 
 because the things children are learning are, as a rule, 
 of a different kind from those that adults are learning, 
 and partly because the adult's mind is better suited to 
 learning by means of ideas. It is absurd to have adults 
 try to learn acts of manual skill, such as bicycle riding, 
 by the method of understanding, and simply outrageous 
 to depend upon such methods in teaching children to 
 write and draw. 
 
 Conscious knowledge of the exact movements in- 
 volved in complex acts is of less significance than is 
 usually thought. It is generally recognized that there 
 is little or no consciousness of the details of familiar 
 acts like walking, writing, catching a ball, etc., but it is 
 usually supposed that we had to become conscious of 
 all the details when we learned the movements. This 
 is a mistake, however, for many things are learned with 
 little or no consciousness of the elementary movements 
 
S6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 involved. This is especially true of movements learned 
 when young. All movements largely reflex and instinc- 
 tive in character, and most of the elements of movements 
 gained by the "trial and success method " and by imita- 
 tion have never been known as means to ends, except 
 when more than one way of gaining an end is suggested 
 at the same time. Children, and even adults, are often 
 checked rather than aided in their efforts to gain an 
 end, by attempting to teach them exactly what motions 
 they must make in order to succeed. In general, con- 
 scious knowledge and understanding have been given 
 too prominent a place in the early stages of manual 
 training, especially in the case of children. 
 
 RELATION OF INSTINCTS TO MENTAL ACTIVITIES 
 
 The chief difference between a man and a photo- 
 graphic plate is that man has active instincts which 
 impel him to do something else besides receive and 
 reproduce impressions. Of course he responds to a much 
 greater variety of stimuli ; but the chief point is that he 
 is not passive, but reaches out into the world for stimuli 
 and responds to them in many self-determinate ways. 
 
 The chief differences in a human being at different 
 stages of development are due not merely to experience, 
 but to different instincts which are present or prominent 
 at different periods of life. 
 
 As we have already seen, impulsive movements are 
 the basis of voluntary control, since by no possibility 
 can the mind know how to make a motion or what will 
 be the result until the motion has been made and the 
 result experienced. The different ways in which a child 
 responds to the various stimuli that he receives are 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT S^ 
 
 important means of distinguishing one sensation from 
 another, and the chief means of associating them in cer- 
 tain ways, hence our intellectual life is based ultimately 
 upon our reflex and instinctive movements. The emo- 
 tions of a child also depend upon the ways in which he 
 reacts to various objects, the modes of expression used, 
 and the internal bodily changes that occur. His emotions 
 are therefore largely the consciousness of his own re- 
 actions to his surroundings. It is just as impossible to 
 experience an emotion previous to its corresponding 
 instinctive reaction as it is to voluntarily make a 
 particular movement that has never before been made. 
 Nothing surprises us so much as new emotions that 
 suddenly come into our lives, as novelists have often 
 shown in one sphere of instinctive development. 
 
 In the higher forms of action, involving not merely 
 control of movement but complex ideas and feelings, 
 emotions seem to be the conscious determinants of 
 action. It is really instinct and habits, however, that 
 determine what feelings shall be experienced under 
 present conditions and that render possible the pictur- 
 ing of the feelings that may be experienced through 
 the proposed actions. 
 
 Our whole mental life, intellectual, emotional, and 
 volitional, is developed from our instincts. All activities 
 of conscious life have for their root, unconscious, blind, 
 instinctive tendencies. The silking of growing corn is 
 not more entirely determined by the laws of organic 
 development than is the emotion of love in the youth, 
 by the emergence of a new instinct from the depths of 
 his unconscious nature. 
 
 In our further study of instincts and their develop- 
 
88 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 merit, therefore, we are really studying the fundamental 
 yet unrecognized basis of all intellectual, emotional, and 
 volitional development. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Report observations or printed records of the early reflex and 
 instinctive movements of infants. 
 
 2. Describe instances of an infant of less than a year, using many 
 parts of the body in a coordinate way for a single end. 
 
 3. Mention several specific movements of an infant less than six 
 months old, and give reasons for thinking them either unconscious, 
 conscious, or voluntary. 
 
 4. Report early instances of volition observed by yourself or 
 found in reading. 
 
 5. Report from observation, hearsay, or reading as fully as you 
 can how one child learned to walk. 
 
 6. Report from observation or reading, instances of animals 
 learning by the " trial and success method." 
 
 7. Give illustrations of the three methods of learning in the case 
 y/ of persons. Name two or three things that may best be learned by the 
 
 " trial and success method," by the " imitation method," and by the 
 " method of understanding," indicating in each case whether the age 
 of the person makes any difference as to the prominence of the pre- 
 ferred method. 
 
 8. By which method should children learn to sing ? 
 
 9. May we expect a child to know how to control a new feeling ? 
 Why? 
 
 ^ 10. Should we strive to control a child's actions by his feelings or 
 ^ his feelings by his actions ? Why ? 
 
 II. Is it better to do a kind act for a child or let him do one for 
 you ? Why ? 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general subject of infant development, read Preyer, Moore, 
 Shinn, Tracy, Compayre, Vol. I, and the following articles: 
 G. S. Hall, Ped. Sem.y Vol. I, pp. 127-138; Mrs. W. S. Hall, 
 Ch. S. Mo.y Vol. n, pp. 330-342, 458-473, 522-537; 586-608; 
 Darwin, Pop. Set. Mo., Vol. LVII, pp. 197-205. 
 
 / 
 
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN INFANT 89 
 
 On the development of voluntary control and learning to walk, see 
 Spence, Pop. Set. Mo.,Yo\. XIH, p. 444 ; Kirkpatrick, Psych. Rev.^ 
 Vol. VI, pp. 275-281 ; Baldwin, Science, Vol. XVII, O.S., p. 113, 
 or Pop. Set. Mo., Vol. XLIV, p. 606, and Science, Vol. XX, O.S., 
 p. 286, or Mental Development, Vol. I, pp. 47-103, 367-430; 
 Dexter, Ed. Rev., Vol. XXIII, pp. 81-91 ; Judd, Genetic Psy- 
 chology, chap, vi; Trettein, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XII, pp. 1-57; 
 Compayre, Vol. II, chap. iv. 
 
 On methods of learning, see Thorndike, Human Nattire Club, chap, 
 iii, or Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LV, pp. 480-490. 
 
 On relation of instincts and emotions, see James, Psychology, chapter 
 on " Emotions," and Ribot, Psychology of the Emotions, chap, 
 vii; Baldwin, Vol. II, pp. 185-220. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 
 STRENGTH OF THE INSTINCT 
 
 The usages of polite society all tend to suppress and^ 
 cover up this instinct, but it remains as a powerful 
 underlying force, directing the feelings, thoughts, and 
 actions of men and women. In times of excitement it 
 bursts into view in a most surprising way. In a 
 moment, a company of courteous ladies and gentlemen, 
 apparently intent only on giving each other pleasure,)^ ^ 
 may be transformed into a pack of wild beasts, strug-> /-> 
 gling and trampling under foot their helpless com- v^ , 
 panions in the effort to escape from a burning building. ^ 
 
 Even when reflective consciousness has attained to V'' 
 the view that life is not worth living, and decides upon 
 /:^suicide, a sudden change in conditions will arouse the 
 all-powerful instinct to live, and the individual then 
 struggles for life as frantically as if it were the most 
 desirable of all things. For example, a Frenchman ^ 
 who was on his way to drown himself, promptly climbed 
 a lamp post and clung to it with desperate energy 
 when death appeared in the form of a tiger escaped 
 from his cage. In a similar way, a young lady wading 
 into Lake Michigan to drown herself avoided destruc- 
 tion by running to shore when threatened with being 
 shot if she did not do so. Each had suppressed in 
 
 91 
 
92 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 one form only the instinctive tendency to avoid death, 
 hence impending destruction in another form produced 
 the usual instinctive reaction. 
 
 So strong is the self-preservative instinct that few 
 
 > sane persons commit suicide. It is also very difficult 
 
 for any one to voluntarily injure himself. Considerable 
 
 determination is necessary to prick one's own finger in 
 
 <^order to get blood for examination under a microscope. 
 
 It is also almost impossible to refrain from instinctive 
 
 <^movements when injury seems to be threatened. The 
 
 man who offered a prize to any one who would hold his 
 
 / finger against a glass without flinching, while a rattle- 
 
 l snake struck at it from the other side was quite safe in 
 
 doing so. In all sudden emergencies, where blind 
 
 instinct rather than reason controls, action is nearly 
 
 always governed by the individualistic instinct. 
 
 In deUberate action other instincts may temporarily 
 
 / attain ascendency in consciousness, yet none of them, 
 
 Kj^ as a rule, maintain their prominence for long periods of 
 
 time. Many cooperative and communistic experiments 
 
 /' have failed because they were opposed to the all-power- 
 ful individualistic instincts. Cooperative institutions, 
 which appeal to other instincts and to the individual- 
 istic also without opposing the one to the other, are, on 
 the other hand, grand successes. 
 
 PROMINENCE IN THE YOUNG 
 
 The instinct of self-preservation is not only the oldest 
 instinct, but one that has been most uniformly useful to 
 all species from the earliest beginnings of animal life, 
 hence we should expect it to be strong in the young 
 child. There is, however, a still more important reason 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT gi 
 
 for expecting it to be strong in the young of all animals, | 
 including man, viz. because it is the only instinct that] 
 can be of any use in this stage of early helplessness.j 
 Any tendency on the part of a young animal or child 
 to act for the good of any other being than itself would 
 be futile, and in many cases injurious to itself and indi- 
 Jf irectly to its species, hence the individualistic instinct 
 [must be dominant in the young of all species that 
 survive. 
 
 The dominance of this instinct in the child is due, 
 not so much to its greater intensity in childhood as 
 to the fact that he has neither the power nor the 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 tendency to use any other instinct (except the social 
 and adaptive, and these only for his own advantage). 
 When older, other instincts develop in a form that make 
 it possible to act for the good of others. The individual- 
 istic instinct is then less prominent because it is no 
 longer the only source of action. It is doubtful, how- 
 / ever, whether the individualistic tendency Ms really de-^ 
 ) creased very much in adults, though its influence^ is 
 / partially counteracted by other instincts and by training. 
 The child needs not only to act for his own good, but 
 to act so as to make his necessities and desires known 
 to his parents that they may be supplied, hence the ^M^^ 
 instinctive and acquired powers of expression are madey' J 
 to take the place of powers not yet developed. Activity V'^ 
 in forcing his wants upon the attention of adults is more /^ 
 helpful to him in securing the means of subsistence, 
 safety, and development than activity on his own 
 account in trying to get them. The child is, therefore, 
 a natural and persistent beggar. He not only makes 
 his wants known and forces them continually upon the 
 
94 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 attention of parents till his desires are satisfied, but 
 
 often seems to assume command over his elders as his 
 
 servants, and to demand of them what he wants. This 
 
 tendency is natural and unmoral, not immoral ; but both 
 
 for the child's own good and that of his elders, it needs 
 
 to be kept within bounds and directed. Even mother 
 
 birds, cows, and dogs find it necessary, as their little 
 
 I ones grow up and become able to care for themselves, 
 
 (to refuse their demands and perhaps drive them away 
 
 ) to look out for themselves. In a similar way parents 
 
 should continue to do things for a child only so long as 
 
 he is unable to do them for himself. Even before that, 
 
 social training should be begun by requiring him to 
 
 indicate his wants quietly and pohtely. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCTS INTO 
 MOTIVES 
 
 The individualistic instincts, like all others, are at first 
 blind. All the child's early movements are for his own 
 well-being, hence the ideas, emotions, and volitions that 
 develop from these movements are concerned with 
 obtaining desirable things for self, though he has, as 
 yet, no clear idea of self. 
 
 In the second and third year, when the adaptive in- 
 stincts and the lower forms of the social instinct are very 
 prominent, and the self is only partially distinguished 
 in consciousness from others, whose acts and mental 
 states are so frequently reflected in the child himself, 
 action is less directly individuaHstic. The child does 
 and feels as others around him, and sometimes seems 
 Cequally well pleased whether he or some one else gets 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 95 
 
 or does a thing, though in other instances he is very 
 strenuous about being the one to do, taste, see, etc. 
 
 In the fourth and fifth years, when the child has be- 
 come more of a self-conscious being, he looks ahead to 
 the favorable or unfavorable results of actions, and 
 recognizes the fact that favorable results to another 
 often mean that they shall not come to him. Thel 
 charming appearance of unselfishness in desiring others] 
 to eat, see, hear, etc., then disappears, and he, as a mat-] 
 ter of course, tries to get all good things for himself. Re- 
 flex sympathy, and the desire for approval, influence his 
 motives and actions ; but usually he tends to choose con- 
 sciously that which will bring pleasure to himself, regard- 
 less of how it will affect others (except as their pain is 
 reflected back upon himself). Sometimes he schemes 
 to both gratify selfish impulses and to secure social 
 approval, as did a little girl who had been taught to 
 take the smaller piece, when she insisted on giving her 
 brother his choice of two parts of an apple, instead of 
 taking her choice first. 
 
 In general, the question which the child mentally asks 
 of every object and every person is, ''What are they 
 good for ? " meaning by " good," " What can I get out 
 of them .? " He is the centre of the universe, and every- 
 thing and everybody is for his pleasure. Persons, as 
 well as things, are valued in proportion to the amount 
 of pleasure he can get from them. 
 
 The first few years of school life are preeminently the 
 period of selfness or individualism. The chief motive 
 in life is to get everything possible for himself, — objects, 
 sensations, knowledge, privileges, and honors. It is the 
 period in which individual rivalry is least checked by 
 
 M 
 
96 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 altruistic impulses. The interests of the chjyisjamily 
 * and special friends are looked after, largely because 
 ^they are his. The prowess of a big brother, or the 
 possessions of a father, or the goodness of a friend, are 
 merely a part of the young monarch's Treasures, to be 
 exhibited to those outside of his dominion. Their inter- 
 ests are to be advanced as a means of self-enlargement. 
 If, however, their advantage should conflict with his, 
 they at once become of secondary importance. Every 
 new acquisition of possessions, friends, knowledge, ex- 
 perience, and power is enjoyed as an enlargement of 
 the kingdom of self. 
 
 To be thoughtful of the interests of others, or to be 
 interested in anything not concerned with the advance- 
 ment of this kingdom of his, would be to be something 
 other than a healthy, normal child. He cares as little 
 for things outside of his domain as did the people of 
 ancient nations. The way in which the child mind re- 
 lates everything to self is beautifully shown by asking 
 children to give sentences containing such common 
 , words as cat, house, book, and noticing what a large 
 proportion of the sentences bring self in {^e.g. " My cat! 
 is white," " My uncle has a bull dog," "This is my book ") 
 as compared with corresponding sentences written by] 
 older children or adults. 
 
 INDIVIDUALISM THE BASIS OF HIGHER DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The extreme egoism or selfness of a child from six to 
 ten is not to be deprecated (though it may need some 
 mitigation) for it is an important and valuable phase of 
 development. The usefulness of any individual depends 
 upon what he is, the knowledge and power that he pos- 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 97 
 
 sesses, and the use he makes of them. It is therefore 
 necessary that the first law of Ufe should be one im- 
 pelling to self-enlargement and development. If the 
 law of service to others were the dominant one in early 
 life, there would never be a self capable of efficient 
 service. It is fortunate, therefore, that no training 
 can entirely suppress or overshadow the individualistic 
 instincts in early life, otherwise many children would 
 soon be so good they would be good for nothing as 
 men and women. 
 
 Modesty is undoubtedly a most admirable thing in a 
 man, especially one who has already developed a great 
 personality, but it is very disadvantageous in a child. 
 The more pride and ambition a child has, so long as it 
 is connected with active effort rather than passive enjoy- 
 ment, the better for his future development. If praise 
 and reward prompt to fresh effort (within the limits 
 of his strength), a child can scarcely have too much 
 recognition of his achievements. What would be insuf- ; ■ 
 ferable egotism in an adult is perfectly proper in the i < 
 child. If the child has companions who are his equals, 
 and is held to standards of attainment which require his 
 best efforts, he may be freely encouraged in the belief 
 that he is accomplishing wonders. 
 
 Every parent and teacher should frankly recognize i . 
 that the all-powerful motive to the child is gain to self. ' ^ 
 The gain to self may take the more refined forms of 
 securing the approbation of others or of demonstrating 
 his power to do things for them ; but it must contribute 
 in some way to the enlargement of the child's self, in 
 the minds of others and to his own consciousness. 
 
 Intelligent training, either for good or evil, will be 
 
98 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 based on the individualistic instinct. If it is good train* 
 ing, it will lead the child to discover that he can get the 
 most for himself in the long run by being kind and 
 helpful to others, because of the return favors, rewards, 
 an3~approbation thus gained. If the training is bad, it 
 will lead the child to the belief that he gets the most 
 when he disregards others, and gets all he can for self. 
 The worst possible training is the fond and fooHsh kind 
 which appeals to unselfish motives (without success, of 
 course), inflicts no punishment, and guards from the 
 natural consequences of acts.^ A parent who guards a 
 child from the natural results of his wrong acts, and a 
 teacher who makes many rules that only the good chil- 
 dren take the trouble to obey, while the bad ones enjojr^ 
 the forbidden privileges, form the worst conceivable 
 combination, especially if the child has no chance to 
 play with children of his own age. The rough com- 
 panionship of the playground without any attempt at 
 control by parent or teacher would be much better. 
 If he strikes another child, he gets a blow in return 
 which teaches him that such actions are not profitable ; 
 while if he strikes a fond parent he gets no blow, and by 
 a little crying in addition he may get some jam. 
 
 Even sympathy, g ratitude , and all the higher virtues 
 are b ased on regard for se lf. Only one who has 
 experienced an unpleasant mental state and felt a strong 
 desire to be freed from it, can appreciate such mental 
 states in others and experience gratitude for relief. The 
 golden rule is of most significance to him who cares 
 most for himself. 
 
 * For illustration, see Tanner, Journal of Childhood and Adolescence, 
 Vol. II, pp. 91-99, 229-246. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 99 
 THE FEEDING INSTINCT 
 
 This is one of the three most distinct forms of the 
 individualistic instinct and one of the first to be mani- 
 fested. Physically, the feeding instinct is the essential 
 one in early childhood, but mentally it is of no great 
 importance. The apparatus for satisfying the instinct 
 is so nearly perfect at birth, and the sensations given by 
 the first food — milk — are so mild, that the act of nursing 
 produces little consciousness. When the instinct is not 
 satisfied, the sensations arising from hunger and from 
 the act of crying are, however, probably among the 
 first vivid conscious experiences of the child. The 
 sense of taste proper plays a small part in the mental 
 life of the child during the first two years. His 
 curiosity, playfulness, and interest are much more 
 readily excited by tactile, visual, and auditory sdmuli 
 than by taste proper. The pjjigs of hung^er rather 
 than the pleasure of^ satisfaction are what render the 
 feeding instinct prominent in^ early life. 
 
 Variety in food develops the instinct of eating in a 
 positive way, so that by the time a child is three or four 
 years old sensations of taste occupy a prominent place 
 in his consciousness. This continues for several years, 
 and there is probably no time in life when gustatory 
 pleasures and pains are more intense than at five or six 
 years of age. To be able to gratify the desire for agree-1 
 .able food and avoid disagreeable tastes is at this time^i 
 one of the chief motives in life. 
 
 FEAR 
 
 Next to feeding, the most fundamental instinct is that 
 of escaping or avoiding danger, or fear. To be more 
 
/. 
 
 lOO FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 exact, fear is the emotion experienced when such actions 
 are performed, and especially when they are interfered 
 with. Start mg at l oud sounds is one of its earliest 
 manifestations in children. Another early and striking 
 
 :2 , evidence of this instinct is shown in the fear of^ falling 
 that appears between one or two months, and lasts only 
 a few weeks. This form of the instinct may never be- 
 come conscious, since it dies out so quickly. The fear 
 of falling, a number of months later, is largely the 
 result of experience. 
 
 The modes of manifesting fear are various, such as 
 running, hiding, screaming, keeping silence, changing 
 color, etc., but they are all Jargely instinctive, and at one 
 time in race history, were conhected with self-preservative 
 actions. 
 
 ^ All new, sudden, and strong stimuli are likely to . c 
 call into action the fear expressing apparatus. Sounds /> 
 are more ^ frequent ^ causes of fear than sights, probably V 
 because such stimulation may be more strong or V 
 sudden. " Aside from strength, suddenness, and new- /f* 
 ness it is doubtful whether the one kind of object is '^ ^, 
 in itself more fear-exciting than another. The dangers x/ 
 to young animals are so various that it is doubtful . 
 if any one kind of danger could have developed a r 
 specific kind of fear such as fear of hawks by chick- 
 ens, of cats by mice, or of snakes by children. The 
 important thing for a young animal is that he shall 
 ^ ^ .respond as his parents do to new stimuli, or if they are 
 
 ^^^not present, that he hide or get away from possible 
 
 
 idanger. The chicken crouches when a hawk appears 
 .r be 
 
 or if alone, because a sailing bird like a hawk is a new 
 
 AjT because its mother crouches and gives the danger signal. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSllNOT ICI 
 
 object. The mouse avoids the cat because its rii other 
 does, or as it avoids all moving things that are new to it. 
 The child fears a snake because of the shudders, excla- 
 mations, and stories of adults, or possibly because of the 
 strange form and movements of the reptile. 
 
 Probably the only/§pecializedrfearJthat_is instinctive is 
 that excited by the (danger call of parents?) If there is 
 any other it is fear of darkness, but that is a condition 
 in which fear may readily be excited rather than a 
 specific object of fear. All animals and persons are 
 more easily frightened in strange surroundings as well 
 ' as by strange objects. Darkness makes the surround- 
 ings strange and unknown, hence in darkness fear is 
 ' readily excited. 
 
 In the case of children in the dark no external object 
 is necessary to excite fear ; imaginary objects are suffi- 
 cient. Unless children have been accustomed to a light, 
 they never become frightened at the dark until their 
 imagination develops. When a child is capable of 
 picturing events, the recall of any fearful experience 
 while in the dark where the eyes do not contradict the 
 imagining is sufficient to excite fear. Thus a little girl 
 about two, who had been told the story of the " Three 
 Bears," with realistic imitations of the large bear, 
 
 /*^ddenly developed fear of being left in the dark. y^ 
 
 A^ After a child has once experienced fear in the dark)^ • 
 /he has a tendency to fear whenever left in the darkj ^^ 
 His imagination makes various vague or vivid pictures, 
 and often the more vague and indefinite the picture, 
 ^ * the greater the fear, for it has the element of strange- 
 ness and he has no means of demonstrating that it 
 has not objective reality. Where some definite visual 
 
r02' .FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 object is feared, especially if it is something new, the 
 fear may often be allayed by bringing a light and 
 showing what it is, or that nothing is really there. 
 
 There are few children who do not, for a consider- 
 able time, suffer tortures in the dark, often without the 
 knowledge of their parents. An unsympathetic or ridi- 
 r culing adult does not invite confidence, hence even if 
 the child's fears are of sufficiently definite things to be 
 expressed (as they are not usually), he does not make 
 many attempts to explain. He often either suffers in 
 silence with head covered or finds all sorts of excuses 
 for getting adults to come to his room or strike a light 
 in it. d'i^f-^ A <aA*-<-'-^*^wd.^' -Lc^r^ a />^fi.ou*»^ ^U#-cc<» . 
 
 The period of greatest fear, though it varies with 
 special experiences, is usually at about three or four 
 years of age. No matter how careful parents may be 
 about having their children frightened by stories or 
 ^., otherwise, they usually become at this time virtually 
 J/ little " 'fraid cats." Bi ologic ally, this is the time when 
 they begin to act for themselves to some extent away 
 from parents, and consequently the time at which readi- 
 ness to become frightened and run home would be most 
 useful. Psychologically, it is a time when the imagina- 
 tion is very active, and when its action is not limited 
 by any fixed laws of possibility or probability. Children, 
 however, who are unimaginative, or who are fortunate 
 enough to escape fearful experiences, are often at this 
 time literally without fear. Never having experienced 
 it they do not know what it is. A single experience, 
 however, in which the child is really frightened (not 
 merely hurt), may transform him into an arrant coward. 
 
 Fear should be and usually is ajv anin g instinct^ yet 
 
 ii 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 103 
 
 one that never entirely dies out. As the child becomes 
 better able to take care of himself, and more familiar 
 with his surroundings, fcar~m" tlie sense o|J a sudden and 
 \strong em otion b ecomes lessjthough perhaps fear in the 
 sense of caution or prudence is increasing. With prog- 
 ress in civilization, and knowledge which makes the 
 conditions of life safer, and leads more and more to 
 the belief that even the unknown is governed by known 1 { 
 laws, fear should gradually die out. ^ 
 
 Undoubtedly, there is less fear than formerly, but 
 many people suffer all their lives from fears which are 
 usually quite unreasonable. Some of these fears of 
 natural forces and forms, such as thunder, fire, water, I. 
 J caves, reptiles, and insects, may be survivals from more /- 
 primitive conditions of life ; but they are probably merely 
 transmitted from one generation to another by social 
 heredity. Others of them, such as of guns, engines, 
 knives, etc., cannot possibly be instinctive. 
 
 Fear in the sense of prudence, which leads one to 
 avoid what is likely to bring unpleasant results, or in 
 the sense of caution in_regard to incurring unknown 
 I consequences, is a good thing ; but fear, in the sense 
 . \of a sudden, strong, paralyzing emotion, is injurious 
 ! ^physically, stupefying mentally, and degenerative mor- 
 lally. It makes one's life miserable, weak, unworthy. 
 Every effort should therefore be made to eradicate it. 
 Fear is so powerful an instinct in children that by 
 means of it they may be made to do almost anything. 
 It should not, however, be used as a motive except in /*-*^ ' 
 I the milder forms, which develop prudence and caution ^'^>**^ 
 ! rather than terror. 
 
 As to modes of dealing with the fear of children, a 
 
/ 
 
 104 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 few general principles only are clear, (i) Occasions of , 
 
 fear should be avoided as far as possible, and when it \ j 
 
 \yis excited, reassurance given as quickly as possible. To 1 
 
 /^ compel children to endure terrors is decidedly cruel, and 
 utterly useless as a corrective. If their fears can be 
 J}/^ " allayed by temporarily bringing a light or otherwise re- 
 ^ moving the cause of fear, or if the child can be induced to 
 
 be "brave" and face it himself, much is gained. (2) Un- j 
 ipasonable fears, which are the most common and least '; 
 ^ ^•/dependent upon experience, cannot, as a rule, be dissi- 
 *Jv P^^^^ ^y reasoning ; but one can only trust to quieting 
 ^ / ^assurances, time, and experience, and the growth of 
 
 tr courage and self-control, to effect a cure. 
 ^ Fears caused by unfortunate first experiences with a 
 
 class of objects may usually be dissipated by reasoning 
 and favorable experiences. The quicker such cure can 
 be applied, the better. For example, a two-year-old boy 
 was frightened by a thunder-storm; but at his first call, 
 suggesting rising terror, his father went to him and 
 talked to him, comparing it to the lighting of great 
 matches, and remained with him awhile, admiring the 
 beauty of the storm. The result was that he never 
 afterward showed fear of a thunder-storm. 
 
 THE FIGHTING INSTINCT 
 
 /The fighting instinct and its accompanying emotion, 
 (anger,/ are'"earl3r^roused by anything interfering with 
 the child's activities or wishes. It is first mani fested by 
 2.3 crying, turning away the head, pushing away an offend- 
 ing object, and later in kicking and striking, and not 
 infrequently by stamping with the feet or striking the 
 X head against the floor. 
 
 6' 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 10$ 
 
 In general, this emotion is more intense and easily 
 aroused in children th&n in adults, but also very much 
 shorter lived. Within a space of less than half a minute 
 a boy of two fondly stroked his mother, then jumped 
 from her lap in anger when she refused to let him do 
 something, then burst out laughing at something he saw. -Y 
 
 In dealing with this emotion care should be taken to ^^^r 
 avoid occasion_s of anger, especially when the child is ^' \J^ 
 hungry or otherwise in an irritable mood, and equal care y^ -^c^ 
 taken that he gains nothing by his outburst, but rather ^y J^ 
 loses something. /Under no circumstanced should the c^ y 
 parent or teacher ^meet anger with anger^for nothing .y/ 
 will more surely make the matter worse. Indifference, ^/ 
 isolation, or a calm resistance that makes the child real- y 
 ize the utter uselessness of his passion are usually more \^ J 
 effective. The reaction following a futile outburst of ^^ 
 anger is likely to arouse reflections that lead to future ^ 
 
 efforts at self-control. 
 
 As to the fighting instinct, and the much mooted ques- 
 tion wjietjier boy^ should be allowed to fight, it may be 
 said that the instinct is a natural and legitimate one if 
 not carried to excess. A boy with no tendency to fight 
 under any circumstance, or with the tendency under full 
 control, would be a^monstrosity as a child, and a nonen- 
 tity as a man. Nothing can be more unwise than to tell 
 a child he musi never fight. It is not only unwise but 
 wrong to absolutely prohibit a child from fighting — 
 wrong to his nature, and to that of other boys, who will 
 thus be tempted to impose upon him. Fighting is a 
 crude f^rm_of__social action adapted to the early stage 
 of human development, and usually results in valuable 
 lessons. 
 
iq6 FUNDAMENTALS O^HILD STUDY 
 
 .S O^HIL 
 
 On the other hand, as a rule, the tendency to fight 
 needs no encouragement. The Bfest corrective for ex- 
 '^treme • pugnacity is, however, an encounter with a supe- 
 rior in the art, rather than the words or blows of some 
 , one in authority. 
 
 Competition is a form of fighting that is very promi- 
 nent all through life. The tendency to individual com- 
 petition is very strong the first half-dozen years of school 
 life and may very properly be utilized in school. Care 
 should be taken to make it fair to all, and after a time it 
 should take the form of competition of groups rather 
 than of individuals. 
 
 ^/Exercises for Students 
 
 1 . Give illustrations of the strength of individualistic instincts in 
 adults. ,"(*^ 
 
 2. Give piioof showing the uselessness to the species of any other 
 than individualistic acts by children. 
 
 3. Give a number of observations you have 3iade, showing how 
 children are governed by individualistic motives. 
 
 4. It will be well to make the experiment of having children and 
 adults write sentences containing common words, and note to what 
 extent self is brought in. 
 
 5. Two children of four and six, who went to buy a present for 
 ^ baby sister and for grandma, could hardly be prevented from buy' 
 
 ing things that neither baby nor grandma could use, though attrac- 
 tive to children of their own age. Why was this ? 
 
 6. Mention a number of ways of using rivalry in school. 
 
 7. Women are more personal in their relations than men, they 
 are also better primary teachers. Is there any relation between 
 these two qualities ? 
 
 8. Which should a teacher praise, perfectness of results or indi- 
 vidual effort and achievement ? Why ? 
 
 9. Which would you rather have, a child with too much or too 
 little regard for and confidence in self ? Why ? 
 
^ 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF Ti^NDIVIDUALISTIC INSTINCT 1 07 
 
 10. Illustrate how a child may be led to see that he can get more 
 pleasure by obedience aiAkindness than by the opposite. 
 
 11. A little girl who hOT often been reproved for not persisting in 
 her tasks, showed a great deal of gratitude when her father worked a 
 long while to make something for her. Why was this ? 
 
 12. Give illustrations of sympathy and gratitude of children. 
 
 13. Report observations or reminiscences of the prominence of 
 the desire in children for good things to eat. 
 
 14. Give a full report of your own fears at different ages, also 
 report observations that you have made. 
 
 1 5 . Give evidence for and against the view that there are special 
 instinctive fears. ^> 
 
 16. Illustrate the importance of first experiences in giving Rtee to 
 fears. "^ 
 
 17. Show how caution may be developed without exciting fear. 
 
 18. Report from observation and reacj^^ modes of treating 
 'anger. 
 
 19. Discuss evils and advantages of figl 
 
 Suggestions for Reading" 
 
 On the instinct of self-preservation, see Drummond, Alcl 
 
 chap, vi, and Ribot, Psychology of Emotions, pp. 199-206, and on 
 egoism and altruism, consult psychologies, especially Hoefding. 
 
 On the early emotions and their expression, see Compayre, Vol. I, 
 chap, v ; also Preyer, Tracy, et al. 
 
 On fear, read Ribot, pp. 207-217 ; Hall, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, 
 pp. 147-249 ; Stanley, Psych. Rev., Vol. I, pp. 241-256 ; Am. Jr. 
 Psych., Vol. IX, pp. 418-419 ; Barnes, Studies in Ed., Vol. I, pp. 
 18-21 ; Calkins, Ped. Sem., Vol. Ill, pp. 319-323; Sitwer, Kg. 
 Mag., Vol. XII, pp. 82-87; Tracy, pp. 44-47; Prayer, Part I, 
 pp. 164-172; Sully, Studies in Childhood, 0^2,-^. vi; Rowe, Out- 
 look, Sept. 4, 1898, p. 234. 
 
 On anger, read Hall, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. X, pp. 516-591 ; Ribot, 
 pp. 218-229; Tracy, pp. 47-49. 
 
% 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENTAL AND THE 
 SOCIAL INSTINCTS 
 
 I. The Parental Instinct it^-^ ^'l^ //<r- 
 
 LATENESS OF DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The terra parental instinct includes all native ten- 
 dencies to produce and care for the young. Since 
 sexual reproduction is the rule in all animal life except 
 possibly in a very few of the lowest forms ; and since it 
 has been necessary among all species that have survived, 
 it might be supposed that the parental instinct would 
 appear in man at a very early age. This instinct, how- 
 ever, does not, as a rule, appear with any prominence 
 until more than a dozen years after birth ; hence primi- 4d^^i^ 
 tiveness and universal usefulness cannot, in this case at 
 least, be the most important factors governing the order 
 of the development of instincts in the individual. Evi- 
 dently the principle of usefulness, as determined by 
 degree of maturity of the young animal, and the con- 
 ditions under which he must live, is the factor of greatest 
 significance here. 
 
 All physical and mental tests show that the differ- 
 ences between boys and girls are slight up to ten years 
 of age. Sexual feelings are probably experienced 
 before this only in abnormal children. As a rule, boys 
 
 109 
 
no FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 and girls exercise very little sexual influence upon each 
 other until just before puberty, though there are of 
 course many exceptions. Most of the little ** love 
 affairs " between small boys and girls are not greatly 
 different from the chumming of those of the same sex. 
 
 At puberty, however, there is a change. At first it is 
 manifested in a slight shyness in each other's presence, 
 or in repugnance to the companionship of the opposite 
 sex. A little later there is a subtle attraction toward 
 persons of the opposite sex, and a marked tendency to 
 dress and act differently in their presence. This ten- 
 dency soon becomes very strong. In the meantime, 
 distinct sexual feelings may have been experienced in 
 connection with dreams or otherwise. 
 
 In the ideal normal development the sexual feeling 
 and impulse are unconsciously the basis of the attrac- 
 tion toward the opposite sex, and of the desire to attract 
 the notice of its members and please them. The age of 
 love and romance has come, and well for the youth is it 
 if in loving he is conscious only of the physical beauty 
 and moral and intellectual worth of his love, while the 
 unconscious sex passion remains an unrecognized but 
 all-powerful force, impelling him to devote himself body 
 and soul to the object of his regard. 
 
 There are, however, earlier manifestations or premo- 
 nitions of one form of the parental instinct in caring for 
 pets and younger children by both sexes, and in doll 
 play, chiefly by girls. It may be, however, that such 
 care-taking activities are the result of social influence 
 and imitation, or as Hall suggests, of fetichism rather 
 than of the development of the parental instinct. 
 
 The protective instinct is very strong in the higher 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS III 
 
 animals for brief periods, while their young are help- 
 less ; but in man it is much more lasting and of a 
 higher form, leading to care for intellectual and moral, 
 as well as physical welfare. Parents live again in their 
 children and strive to secure for them a broader, better, 
 and happier life than they themselves have had. All 
 normal persons have the impulse to protect and help 
 the weak and helpless, and the higher spiritual instincts 
 can only be satisfied in this way. All good teachers, 
 especially of younger children, have this instinct in a 
 marked degree. Teaching, in a measure, takes the 
 place of parenthood in the development and matur- 
 ing of character. 
 
 RELATION OF THE PARENTAL INSTINCT TO OTHER 
 IMPULSES AND FEELINGS 
 
 Since the parental instinct is and has been in all ages 
 absolutely necessary to the continuation of the species, 
 and is in its very nature both individual and social, it has 
 become associated with all forms of action. 
 
 On the one hand, it has developed the fighting ten- 
 dency, since fighting for a mate is the most common 
 form of combat. The tendency to competition is thus 
 increased, courage is developed, and ambition aroused. 
 On the other hand, it has developed the opposite ten- 
 dency of seeking the favor of a mate. Most male 
 animals engage in some kind of courtship in which 
 they exhibit their powers and charms to the best advan- 
 tage, and strive to please her. 
 
 The tendency to certain forms of play and to adorn- 
 ment is also increased by the sexual impulses. Darwin 
 and others hold that there is a close relation between 
 
112 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the development of the aesthetic sense and sexual selec- 
 tion. It is significant that love is the most frequent 
 inspiration to artistic productions in poetry, painting, 
 and music. Lancaster finds that the appreciation of 
 beauty is greatly increased at puberty. There is good 
 reason, therefore, for holding that the aesthetic feelings 
 and impulses are closely related to this instinct. 
 
 It is evident, without discussion, that the social in- 
 stinct and feelings are only an extension of the parental 
 instinct from the family to larger groups. 
 
 Moral impulses and feelings are evidently related to 
 the parental instincts, since one of the first and most im- 
 portant forms of ownership is the ownership of a mate, 
 and resulting from such ownership are certain rights and 
 duties. In this instinct we find the first impulse to 
 please, help, and guard others instead of to act wholly 
 for self. The virtues of diligence in seeking food, and 
 courage in fighting rivals and defending offspring, are 
 developed in the males, and those of patience and ten- 
 derness in the females. 
 
 The relation of the parental instinct to the religious 
 was long ago suggested by the fact that revivals and reli- 
 gious excitement were frequently accompanied by many 
 engagements and marriages. Modern research has 
 confirmed this view and shown that in all ages and 
 among all peoples, religion and the sexual impulse are 
 related in some way. The exact causal relations are not 
 yet clear, but both instincts involve something of the 
 same feeling of love, reverence, and self-devotion to the 
 object of one's love. Hence religious awakening fre- 
 quently results in love for some one of the opposite sex, 
 and love often leads to religious interest. For similar 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS II3 
 
 reasons sexual and religious excesses and abnormalities 
 are frequently associated. 
 
 It is evident that the parental instinct is not only 
 necessary to the life of the species, but also to the health 
 and life of the individual physically and spiritually. No 
 other instinct, therefore, exercises such a profound and 
 far-reaching influence upon character. 
 
 RIGHT DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENTAL INSTINCT 
 
 Since the parental instinct is one of the most powerful 
 of instincts, and in man is related to all phases of his 
 nature, it is especially important that it develop along 
 right lines. In order that this take place there must be 
 avoidance (i) of an excessive or perverted development, 
 and (2) of unfortunate associations in consciousness. 
 
 (i) Sex feelings and perverted functioning of the 
 instinct sometimes occur in young children and even in 
 infants, but most commonly at puberty. Looking at the 
 matter from the physiological side, we note that not 
 infrequently some physical defect is the cause of sex 
 excitement and perversion in childhood. Circumcision 
 is often helpful in preventing such premature develop- 
 ment in boys. Uncleanness and irritation produced by 
 clothing are to be avoided as frequent exciters of the 
 organs. The ganglion especially concerned in the sex 
 instinct is located in the lumbar region of the spinal 
 cord, and heat is a most potent stimulus ; hence the sleep- 
 ing of a child with back to a feather bed or to a com- 
 panion, especially in a warm room or under thick covers, 
 should not be permitted. Stimulating food should be 
 avoided, and as puberty is approached it is especially 
 
114 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 important that the child have plenty of outdoor exercise 
 and something to occupy mind and body. 
 
 From the social side it is desirable that boys and girls 
 should play together freely without sex distinctions 
 being made prominent. Social customs usually demand 
 different conduct on the part of girls, but it were well 
 to make the differences as slight as possible, before ten 
 at least. Joking young boys or girls about their beaux 
 is as objectionable as pulling at buds on the rose-bush 
 long before they are ready to open. Boys and girls 
 should be permitted to remain good comrades and 
 chums as long as possible without any thought of love. 
 
 There is no reason whatever for separating boys and 
 girls in primary schools. In secondary schools and 
 colleges there are many arguments on both sides. 
 There is no doubt, however, that sexual development is 
 more normal and healthy when the sexes are together a 
 great deal than when they are separated. This, and the 
 fact that the best education for life is most like the life 
 to be lived, are strong arguments for coeducation in this 
 country, where men and women meet so much on equal 
 planes after they leave school. 
 
 (2) The question of greatest practical importance 
 regarding the parental instinct is, " What conscious asso- 
 ciations with the impulse shall be formed } " The asso- 
 ciations may be low and vile, or high and pure. In the 
 one case, selfish sensualism is likely to result, and in the 
 other, altruistic devotion and social service. 
 
 This matter is closely connected with the question of 
 how boys and girls shall acquire a knowledge of sex 
 functions. 
 
 It may be asserted that in the case of this as in other 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 1 15 
 
 instincts it is best to let the instinct gradually and natu- 
 rally come into consciousness as it begins to function. 
 This would be a good way to do were it not for a few 
 very practical reasons against it. 
 
 In the first place, social customs and moral principles 
 do not permit the functioning of the instinct except in 
 a very limited and prescribed way, and that not until 
 long after the instinct has become very strong ; hence 
 the necessity of controlling the instinct must be learned 
 artificially rather than by the natural social punishment 
 following indulgence. 
 
 Second, ignorance of sex functions cannot be pre- 
 served in boys or girls who associate with others. 
 They inevitably acquire some knowledge, and that 
 usually of the filthiest sort. 
 
 In the third place, the sex instinct, not having oppor- 
 tunity for its natural functioning, is likely to/ produce 
 unnatural modes of gratification, whose evil effects are 
 unknown to the youth. Recent studies indicate that 
 this is the case among nine-tenths of the best boys. 
 Such unnatural gratification is injurious physically when 
 carried to excess as it often is, and always more or less 
 damaging morally even if not carried to excess. This is 
 especially true where the imagination plays a large part 
 in the indulgence. The fountains of pure love, man- 
 hood, and decency are often forever befouled. The youth 
 is thereby unfitted for the highest type of love, the most 
 perfect union with one of the other sex, and the purest 
 fatherhood. His social, aesthetic, moral, and religious 
 capacities are also almost inevitably undeveloped or 
 perverted. 
 
 The importance of giving the sexual impulse right 
 
Il6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 associations is very much emphasized by recent studies 
 of sexual abnormalities. It seems that, on the one hand, 
 almost anything, by means of association, may become 
 a stimulus to the sexual feelings; while, on the other 
 hand, the unexpended sexual energy may be utilized in 
 almost any line oi physical, emotional, or intellectual 
 life. Science, religion, and philanthropy, as well as art, 
 literature, and industry, may be promoted, therefore, by 
 the use of the unexpended energy of the all-powerful 
 sexual impulse, diverted by appropriate associations 
 into these channels. 
 
 It is surprising how long civilized people have con- 
 tinued to believe in the idea that children may be kept 
 innocent sexually by keeping them ignorant of sex 
 functions. It has always been a double failure, for the 
 attempt to keep children ignorant has almost universally 
 failed, hence on that score the choice is necessarily 
 between half knowledge reeking with secret filth and 
 evil suggestions, and full satisfying knowledge drawn 
 from the pure fountain of parental wisdom accompanied 
 with and suggestive of high feelings and holy im- 
 pulses. 
 
 It is generally acknowledged that the sexual impulse 
 is inevitably one of the most powerful inner life ten- 
 dencies, especially during the adolescent period. This 
 instinct may be the basis of all manly and womanly 
 virtues, stimulating to love, tenderness, devotion, cour- 
 age, and high aspiration in social, aesthetic, moral, and 
 religious Ufe, or the foul source of hate, brutality, self- 
 indulgence, weakness, and low desires, in a purely sel- 
 fish and beastly life; yet as a rule, young people are 
 allowed to remain ignorant of all this. 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS I17 
 
 No parent who loved his children would permit them 
 to go out from his care into new surroundings, sure to 
 make or mar them morally, without seeking to prepare 
 them for avoiding dangers and securing benefits in 
 the new conditions of life. The adolescent is enter- 
 ing such a life ; hence there is no excuse for allowing 
 him to enter it without some foreknowledge of the facts, 
 possibilities, and dangers to be faced. 
 
 The imperfect knowledge gained from companions is 
 both unsatisfactory and misleading. Lancaster found in 
 the possession of one advertising firm, seven hundred and 
 five thousand letters from boys who had thus consulted 
 quacks regarding their perverted habits and real or sup- 
 posed diseases. Some had paid hundreds of dollars for 
 treatment, when the symptoms described were perfectly 
 normal (such as sexual dreams). Many of the boys 
 were suffering untold agonies because they supposed 
 they were ruined physically, socially, and morally. 
 They dared not speak to parent, family physician, or 
 adult friend, but poured out their whole souls to these 
 distant and unworthy strangers. 
 
 As to when the knowledge should be given, the an- 
 swer is plain, i.e. when the child first questions regard- 
 ing it and whenever further questions call for fuller 
 explanations. An unanswered question is insistent; 
 curiosity once aroused, grows by attempts of others to 
 suppress or divert it, and the matter is almost surely 
 dwelt upon secretly, and frequently knowledge is sur- 
 reptitiously sought. If one waits till the advent of 
 puberty, the mind of the youth is probably already 
 befouled, and in any case, very much directing of atten- 
 tion to the matter at this time may stimulate undesirable 
 
Il8 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 subjective states. To speak frankly for the first time 
 
 to a child of this age, is also so embarrassing that not 
 
 one parent in a thousand dare attempt it, though he 
 
 / knows it to be his duty. On the other hand, the per- 
 
 / feet and unconscious innocence of the child of four 
 
 / who asks where he came from or about parts of his 
 
 / body, makes plain, unabashed speaking comparatively 
 
 easy to adults who ordinarily cannot free the subject 
 
 from its, to them, evil suggestions. Further and fuller 
 
 information should be given as the child grows older. 
 
 The tendency on the part of the child to go to the 
 
 parent for information on this subject as frankly and 
 
 freely as on other subjects, instead of seeking it secretly 
 
 or of evil companions, should be carefully preserved. 
 
 Perfect truthfulness and frankness is the one essen- 
 tial, though much is gained by giving this truth sacred 
 associations. Books written for the purpose of giving 
 sex information may be useful, but should not wholly 
 take the place of frank talks between parent and child. 
 Teachers may sometimes be very helpful to young 
 people whose parents have neglected their duty in this 
 regard. 
 
 ^' II. Development of the Social Instinct 
 
 Men are preeminently social beings. Among all 
 races of men are to be found, not only families, but 
 larger aggregations, living in close proximity and asso- 
 ciation with each other. This is necessarily so, since 
 solitary individuals have little chance of survival in the 
 struggle for existence with nature and with groups of 
 men. Desire for companionship is the natural inherit- 
 ance of an ancestry that must have sought it in order 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS II9 
 
 to survive. Hermits are therefore rare exceptions, 
 while to most persons solitude is the greatest of punish- 
 ments. 
 
 This instinct is manifested (i) in the tendency to 
 seek the companionship of others, or gregariousness ; 
 (2) in the impulse to feel as others do, or sympa- 
 thy ; (3) in efforts to please others, or love of appro- 
 bation ; (4) in action with others for a common end, and 
 for the good of others, or altruism, 
 
 (i) The gregarious instinct needs to be prominent in 
 the young, as their life depends upon their associations 
 with adults. Most children manifest a desire for the 
 presence of adults before they can walk. A little later, 
 though ordinarily shy of strangers, they seek the pro- 
 tection of any human being, if frightened by an animal. 
 As early as the second year they manifest great pleasure 
 in the company of children near their own age. Evi- 
 dently they feel the greater likeness to themselves, and 
 this " consciousness of kind " produces a relationship 
 different from that with adults. Young children not 
 only enjoy the company of other children as they can- 
 not that of older people who are so different, but they 
 also often understand each other much better than 
 adults understand them. 
 
 Association with persons who are older, and with 
 those who are younger, gives pleasure and valuable 
 social development ; but these are produced in greatest 
 measure by association with those of one's own age, 
 where there is both give and take, coupled with a better 
 understanding and efforts for common ends. Children, 
 even as early as the second year, receive an education 
 from being with children of their own age that can be 
 
I20 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 obtained in no other way. The child who is never 
 allowed to be with other children is deprived of a valu- 
 able birthright, and can never be quite the same socially 
 as he would have been had he associated fully with 
 other children. A child may be better in some ways 
 and learn more by being kept with adults, but never can 
 his whole nature be so fully developed. 
 
 Chums exercise a powerful influence over each other 
 where the relation is continued for a long time, and 
 this more or less complete sharing of life with another 
 is a valuable experience. If, however, the relation 
 is long continued, and is so close that there is no asso- 
 ciation with other persons, the effect is narrowing; 
 because both are cut off from a wider social life. Again, 
 if one of the chums is a leader and the other a follower, 
 the results are unfortunate, for every child should have 
 experience in both capacities. 
 
 (2) Sympathy is closely related to, and probably, to 
 some extent, the product of, reflex imitation. The child 
 reflects the emotional expression of others, and as a 
 result feels somewhat as they do. Children, therefore, 
 readily cry in terror, or laugh with glee, when those 
 around them do so. 
 
 Real sympathy, of course, appears only when the 
 child not only feels somewhat as others do, but con- 
 sciously represents them as having feelings like his own. 
 This is likely to occur in the third year. When the 
 idea is once developed it is likely to be extended not 
 only to persons, but to animals, flowers, and even sticks 
 and stones. The child does not clearly distinguish him- 
 self from other things, hence his mental states are 
 readily projected into them. He thinks of other things 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 121 
 
 as feeling as he does, hence all nature seems to rejoice 
 or weep with him. When something in which he is 
 interested is injured, he also feels the injury much as 
 if it were himself. The child is thus, in a way, the most 
 sympathetic of beings, because he is identified with 
 everything that he knows. He begs that relief may be 
 given as if he himself were the sufferer, as indeed he 
 is to a considerable extent. 
 
 On the other hand, when interested in himself and 
 his own actions, it is often hard to get him to think of 
 any one else. As he gets a little older, and distinguishes 
 more clearly between his own experiences and those of 
 others, the individualistic instinct takes the lead, and 
 rarely indeed does he feel an impulse to take suffering 
 in place of another. 
 
 Again, the basis of a child's sympathy is his own 
 experience, hence he is often indifferent to the deepest 
 joys and sorrows of adults, though very sympathetic 
 toward those who are annoyed by what is to him a 
 cause of keen suffering. 
 
 In order to have sympathy aroused, one must not 
 only have had experience of the kind concerned, but his 
 imagination must be excited so that he puts himself in 
 the place of the sufferer. Boys are often cruel, not 
 because they wish to cause suffering, but merely because 
 they enjoy seeing the victim make queer motions with- 
 out once thinking how it feels. Sympathy, therefore, 
 depends not only upon experience, but also upon the 
 imagination. 
 
 (3) Love of approbation has its origin in the race, per- 
 haps in the fact that approbation of mates tnust be 
 sought, since the animals that do not make themselves 
 
122 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 agreeable to the group they have joined are likely to be 
 driven out to die. At any rate, the desire for appro- 
 bation is very strong in young children, even when not 
 developed by experience. The tendency to reflect the 
 emotional signs and feelings of others, and thus to share 
 the pleasure or disgust of the one observing him, is 
 perhaps the basis of the child's desire to be looked upon 
 with favor. The desire for approval never dies out, 
 even in the breast of the most hardened criminal, who 
 is often a hero to members of his own gang. 
 
 Even before a child can talk, he seems to be affected 
 by words of approval or disapproval, if they are uttered 
 in the appropriate tone of voice and with the fitting 
 gestures and expression of face. When the fighting or 
 competitive instinct is not aroused, the child is very 
 sensitive to expressions of approval or disapproval from 
 any one against whom he feels no antagonism at the 
 moment. At first he cares most for approval of parents, 
 later of teachers, then of companions. At puberty his 
 ambitions are stirred and he wishes for the approval not 
 merely of individuals, but for that of the world ; in other 
 words, he wishes to make a name and become famous. 
 In middle life most men care more for their reputation, 
 or, in other words, for the opinion others have of them, 
 than for their own personal needs and individualistic 
 desires. So strong is this instinct that what we eat, 
 wear, read, and do, are largely determined by it. 
 
 Children are not only greatly influenced by praise 
 and blame ; but they act, to a considerable extent, as 
 parents, teachers, and others expect them to act. Chil- 
 dren thus often become what their teachers believe 
 them to be, and many a boy has been saved by the 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 1 23 
 
 faith reposed in him by teacher, parent, or friend. It 
 is therefore very important that educators should see 
 the good in children. No one who has not a large faith 
 in humanity, and in the possibilities for good in every boy 
 and girl, should ever enter the schoolroom as a teacher. 
 
 The approval of companions as compared with that of 
 parents and teachers gains in influence with advancing 
 years. The approval desired is not merely personal 
 approval of individuals, but of the social group as a 
 whole. In other words, the child comes to have more 
 and more regard for the public sentiment of the social 
 group to which he belongs. After a few years in school 
 the public sentiment of a group of boys, as expressed 
 in taunts, such as, "girl's work," or "tied to mother's 
 apron string," is a more powerful stimulus than the 
 words or even the blows of the parent or teacher. 
 
 In the early years parents and primary teachers who 
 have the love of their children may get them to do 
 almost anything by appealing to the desire for personal 
 approval ; but as children get older they care more and 
 more for the public sentiment of their social group. 
 The successful grade teacher must therefore learn to 
 understand, mould, and use public sentiment in govern- 
 ing her school ; while the high school teacher must do 
 the same, but may also rely upon the general principles 
 of conduct accepted by the world. 
 
 (4) Altruism, the highest form of the social instinct, 
 is shown in the tendency to act for the good of the 
 social group of which one is a part, instead of merely 
 seeking their companionship, feeling as they do, or 
 seeking their approval. This tendency appears more 
 or less prominently in the early teens. 
 
124 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 At this time, when the youth first becomes capable 
 of contributing to the life of the race, and of actually 
 doing something for the group to which he belongs, his 
 ambitions are aroused, and he dreams and plans for 
 great deeds and great honors. The desire for approval 
 is strong, but there is also a genuine impulse to self- 
 sacrifice. Youths in all ages have been ready to risk 
 life, limb, and reputation, not chiefly because they are 
 ignorant and rash, but because they have an instinctive 
 tendency to disregard self and act for others. 
 
 Youths are then also for the first time genuinely 
 selfish, since if a selfish act is done now it may be in 
 opposition to an altruistic impulse, while before this 
 it had involved only a choice between immediate and 
 remote pleasure to self. True selfishness emerges only 
 when both the lower individuaUstic and the higher 
 altruistic impulses are felt. The adolescent may there- 
 fore be the most selfish or the most self-sacrificing of 
 beings, and is often each by turns. 
 
 The development of the impulse to social service is 
 greatly favored by experience of all kinds in working 
 with others for common ends. In such activities the 
 individual's life is enlarged, and in contests of group 
 with group, he subordinates his personal interests to 
 the success of his party, thus securing the broader 
 pleasures of the social Hfe. 
 
 We find, then, the development of the social instinct 
 marked by increased regard for the interests of others 
 and for law. Laws come to mean not merely the rules 
 of .action which bring to the child the most favorable 
 results, but standards of conduct to be conformed 
 to, whether agreeable to self or not, because they are 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 12$ 
 
 for the good of the social group. This tendency is 
 shown at the beginning of the teens, in class spirit in 
 the school, in group games on the playground, in chil- 
 dren's societies, and in the formation of gangs on the 
 streets. Rivalry of group with group may be even more 
 fierce than ever was individual rivalry at the height of 
 the individualistic stage of development. The greater 
 the rivalry, however, between groups, the greater the 
 class spirit within the groups. 
 
 The social group, whose interests are regarded and 
 promoted sometimes by self-sacrifice, is at first very 
 small. Only slowly does the social impulse broaden 
 into general philanthropy and feeling of human brother- 
 hood. Class spirit is a phase of social development that 
 needs to appear in a radical form and in connection with 
 rivalry as a preparation for the higher phases of social 
 development. It should therefore be encouraged, but 
 care should be taken that there shall be frequent change 
 and enlargement of the social groups engaged, other- 
 wise there is arrest of development, narrow prejudice, 
 and partisanship, rather than broad sympathy and 
 philanthropic effort. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Give illustrations showing the strength of the gregarious in- 
 stinct in adults, children, and animals. Report instances of showing v 
 effect of shyness as illustrations of the social instinct in children. 
 
 2. Give examples showing desire for companionship with those \/ 
 of one's own age, and the advantages of such companionship. 
 
 3. Describe one or more instances of chumming you have known, ^ 
 and the effects upon each of the chums. 
 
 4. What are the characteristics of a leader ? Should every child v 
 have some experience as a leader ? How may he get it ? 
 
 5. What kind of chums do children desire ? Report observa- 
 tions or readings. 
 
/ 
 
 126 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 J 6. Does being an only child, or the eldest or youngest of the 
 
 family, have any special influence on development ? What ? 
 
 7. Describe instances of sympathy on the part of children. 
 
 8. Show that experience and imagination are necessary to sjrm- 
 pathy. 
 
 9. Show how large a part love of approbation plays in social life 
 and morals. 
 
 10. Show how the teacher may utilize the love of approbation of 
 children. 
 
 11. In what grades has personal approval most influence ? And 
 in what grades is public sentiment more potent ? 
 
 12. Discuss the kinds and degrees of self-government that may 
 best be used at diff"erent ages. 
 
 13. Illustrate the prominence of altruistic ideals in the teens from 
 experiment or observation. 
 
 14. Discuss the social value, to yourself and others, of member- 
 ship in societies of various kinds to which you or they have belonged. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the significance of the parental and social instincts, read Drum- 
 mond, Ascent of Man, chaps, viii and ix ; Ribot, Psychology of 
 the Emotions, pp. 248-259, 275-289 ; Small, Ped. Sent,, Vol. VII, 
 pp. 13-68. 
 
 On the general problem of sex, see Geddes and Thomson, Evolution 
 of Sex; Ellis, Man and lVofna7t ; Clark, Sex in Education. 
 
 On the sexual and social characteristics at puberty, see Lancaster, 
 Ped. Se?n., Vol. V, pp. 61-128, and any other articles on " Adoles- 
 cence." See also Bell on " Love between the Sexes," Am. Jr. 
 Psych., Vol. XIII, pp. 335-354; Brockman, Ped. Sem., Vol. 
 IX, pp. 255-276. 
 
 On information regarding sex functions, see Hart,/r. Ch. and Ad.y 
 April, 1902, pp. 107-116; Barnes, Studies in Ed., Vol. I, pp. 
 301-308, and the best of the books described in the latter article. 
 
 On boys' clubs and other social activities of childhood, see Shel- 
 don, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. IX, pp. 425-448 ; Forbush, Ped. Sem., 
 Vol. VII, pp. 307-346 ; The Boy Problem, chaps, ii and iii ; Buck, 
 Boys^ Self Governing Clubs ; Riis, Children of the Poor, chap. 
 
PARENTAL AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 1 27 
 
 xiii ; Gladden, " The Junior Republic at Freeville, Outlook^ Oct. 
 31, 1896; Shaw, "Vacation Camps and Boy Republics," Rev. 
 of Rev., May, 1896; Johnson, "Rudimentary Society Among 
 l^oys,''"' Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, republished in Teachers 
 College Record, May, 1 901, pp. 91-94. 
 
 On chums, see Bonser, Fed. Sent., Vol. IX, pp. 221-236; and on 
 leadership, Barnes, Studies in Ed., Vol. I, pp. 295-297, and 
 on only child, see Bohannon, Fed. Sem., Vol. V, pp. 475-496. 
 
 On social ideals and attitude toward law, see Barnes, Studies in 
 Ed., Vol. I, pp. 213-216, 254-258, 259-263, Vol. II, pp. 5-30, 
 37-40, 123-140, 141-150, 203-217, 218-230; Sully, Studies in 
 Childhood, chap.viii. Scott, Ed. Rev., Vol. 21, pp. 153-162. 
 
 On the development of the social consciousness and social training, 
 read Monroe, N. E. A., 1898, pp. 921-928, or N. W. Mo., 
 Vol. IX, pp. 31-36; Boone, Ed., Vol. XXII, pp. 395-401, 
 Vol. XXIII, pp. 83-89, 270-276, 617-621 ; Wiggin, Children's 
 Rights, pp. 109-138, 1 71-186. 
 
 On pity and sympathy and other social feelings, see Hall and 
 Saunders, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XI, pp. 534-591, and Ribot, 
 Psychology of Emotions, 230-234, Baldwin, Vol. II, pp. 220- 
 246, Tracy, pp. 55-59. See also Hugh on " Animism of Chil- 
 dren," N. W. Mo., Vol. IX, pp. 450-453, Vol. X, pp. 71-74; 
 Hall and Smith, Ped. Sem., Vol. X, pp. 159-199; Jones, Psych. 
 Rev. Supple., Vol. V, No. 5 ; Washburn, Am. Jr. Psych. Vol. 
 XIV, pp. 'n-^Z. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS— IMITATION 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF IMITATION IN CHILDREN 
 
 ■t 
 
 In general, we think of acts as imitative when they 
 reproduce acts that have been observed by the performer. 
 The psychological basis of imitation is the general ten- 
 dency of the^idea of an action to result in the action. 
 In imitation the idea of the act comes more or less 
 directly from the perception of the act as performed by j 
 another. It is imitative just in proportion as the idea 
 and the impulse are derived from the perception of the 
 act. 
 
 If a hungry child begins eating when he sees some one 
 else eating, the act is not properly imitative, for the 
 child knows what eating is, how to eat, and has a ten- 
 dency to eat, while the sight of some one else eating \ 
 does nothing but suggest the idea, which would probably 
 be aroused just as effectually by the sight of food or 
 even by the utterance of the word " dinner " or the sound 
 of the dinner bell. If, however, a child tries to eat 
 ^like some one else, the mode of eating is imitative be- v^ 
 cause the idea of how to act is gotten from the observa- 
 tion of the act. If a child eats when not hungry^ or eats 
 something he does not like because he sees another 
 eating, the act is imitative, because the impulse to per- 
 form it results from observing its performance. When 
 K 129 
 
 A 
 
130 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 a child makes a new sound that he has heard, or tries 
 to pack a trunk after seeing for the first time some one 
 else do it, the act is imitative in a greater degree than in 
 the preceding ; for the idea of the act, how to do it, and 
 the impulse to perform it are all the result of observing 
 its performance. 
 
 Many of the child's acts are imitative in this sense, 
 but it is doubtful whether this is true of many animals. 
 Chickens, cats, rats, and dogs may run toward "fooH^oF 
 away from danger, or begin searching for food at sight 
 of companions doing the same, or make noises in re- 
 sponse to noises made by their kind, and such acts are 
 often called imitative ; but the animals know how to do 
 these things and have a tendency to do them, and per- 
 ceiving them done by another merely suggests the idea 
 without modifying its form or giving it much impulsive 
 force. Thorndike and Small found that animals which 
 observed their mates do new things, such as opening a 
 cage, did not learn more quickly to do them than those 
 that had no such chance for observation. Trainers of 
 dogs and horses for show purposes also depend but very 
 Httle upon imitation. It seems, therefore, that the imi- 
 tative tendency is not strong enough in most animals to 
 cause them to perform new acts they have observed, 
 but only to suggest the doing of things to which they 
 already have a tendency, and perhaps to modify the 
 mode of doing (as in the case of birds learning to sing). 
 
 Children, however, have a strong tendency to observe 
 and perform new acts ; hence imitation is an important 
 means of widening their experience and fitting them for 
 various activities and conditions. In most animals imi- 
 tation does little more than specialize and develop ten- 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 131 
 
 dencies already possessed in some degree, in ways that 
 will favor survival ; while in children it leads to an 
 almost infinite variety of action and adaptation to vary- 
 ing conditions. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF IMITATIVE ACTS OF CHILDREN 
 
 (i) Reflex imitation is shown when a child is caused 
 to do something he has a physiological tendency to do 
 by perceiving the act performed by another. Yawning, 
 crying, laughing, and other emotional expressions, which 
 may be reproduced by children in the first half year, are 
 of this class. The stimulus to reflex imitation is largely 
 sensory. 
 
 (2) Spontaneous imitation is shown when acts not 
 provided for by other instincts are reproduced without 
 any purpose other than the all-sufficient and uncon- 
 scious one of an impulse to reproduce and to experience 
 subjectively what has been observed objectively. The 
 stimulus is usually a perception of some kind. Every- 
 thing, from the crowing of chickens to the whistle of 
 a locomotive, from the wriggling of a snake to the 
 preaching of a sermon, is imitated. Nothing in his 
 environment, physical or social, escapes the child ; he 
 absorbs and makes it all a part of himself by reproduc- 
 ing, and thus getting a subjective knowledge of it. 
 For three or four years this form of the instinct is 
 dominant. 
 
 (3) Dramatic or constructive imitation is closely 
 allied to the spontaneous, and differs from it chiefly in 
 that the child now finds his own mode of reproducing 
 or representing ideas. Images of previous perceptions 
 are the usual stimuli. As in spontaneous imitation, 
 
132 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 there is no purpose outside of the act itself. Things 
 heard or read, as well as those observed, are imitated; 
 but the reproductions are not literal. Persons, animals, 
 jstones, and blocks are transformed in various ways by 
 the imagination, and made to aid in the representations. 
 1^ Symbols and images thus take the place of real person- 
 ) alities and acts. 
 
 (4) Voluntary imitation or imitation for a purpose 
 appears when a child reproduces an act, not for its own 
 sake, but to gain some end, as when a child imitates a 
 (\y word he has heard in order to get what he wants, or 
 (^ tries to walk like some one else to make people laugh, 
 (3) or tries to handle a spoon or pencil as some one else 
 does, in order that he may eat or write successfully. 
 This form of imitation is concerned merely with how to 
 imitate or represent. The impulse depends upon the 
 end to be gained, and not upon the mere perception of 
 the act. Voluntary imitation is always more or less 
 analytic and synthetic, attention being directed to the 
 parts of the process, and to the order of combination or 
 synthesis. Memory images are the guides in voluntary 
 imitation. When a child imitates spontaneously the 
 ' act of writing, he simply takes the pencil and scratches 
 around with it ; but when he voluntarily imitates the 
 ^A) drawing of another, he watches his successive move- 
 ments and tries to reproduce them. 
 
 Voluntary imitation is a different act from spontane- 
 ous imitation, as was most strikingly illustrated in the 
 case of a child who, before the close of the first year, 
 reproduced with phonographic exactness every word 
 she heard ; but later, when she tried to use words 
 voluntarily as a means of expressing thought, she went 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 133 
 
 through the usual stages of mispronunciation. Not 
 often is this so marked ; but every observer of children 
 knows that children who spontaneously imitate the 
 tones of those they hear speak and read, often find it 
 difficult or impossible to do so voluntarily in response 
 to a request. Every one can laugh or cry spontaneously, 
 but few can do so voluntarily. 
 
 (5) Idealistic imitation is that form of imitation in 
 which there is an attempt to act according to a copy 
 or standard conceived as correct and desirable. It is 
 guided by concepts. It is an attempt, not to reproduce 
 or represent any one act or object, but to produce an 
 ideal derived from these numerous particulars. Such 
 ideals, whether social, aesthetic, moral, or religious, are 
 naturally formed and imitated not from a study of their 
 expression in the form of general truths, but as shown 
 in concrete acts and objects. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF IMITATION 
 
 The different varieties of imitation combine and over- 
 lap so that detailed and exact statements cannot be 
 made ; but the general order of prominence is evidently 
 that in which they have been named. 
 
 (i) Reflex imitation is the only form of imitation 
 until the second half of the first year. Later it is 
 obscured, but remains all through life as an important 
 form of suggestion. It is for this reason that good 
 humor and bad humor, politeness and rudeness, careful- 
 ness and carelessness, are ** catching." All persons, 
 but especially children, are like mirrors reflecting back 
 what they observe, responding to smiles with smiles, 
 and to irritable words with similar words and actions. 
 
134 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 The personality and mood of each person is mani- 
 fested in some degree in his face, voice, and actions, 
 and the child reproduces refiexly to a greater or 
 less extent every such manifestation, and is himself 
 modified by it. If several children are together, each 
 acts refiexly on the others. The teacher who comes 
 into the room in the morning in an irritable mood, soon 
 infects some of her children, and these others. She is 
 therefore confronted ere long by an irritable and irritat- 
 ing school ; while the teacher who has entered the room 
 with cheerful good humor and kindly feeling, is soon 
 surrounded by a joyous group of children eager to follow 
 her leading and respond pleasantly to her slightest 
 suggestion. 
 
 (2) Spontaneous imitation usually becomes very promi- 
 nent the latter part of the first year. Although con- 
 cerned with new acquisitions, refiex imitation is often 
 combined with it, as when the tone in which a new 
 word is uttered is reproduced as well as its pronuncia- 
 tion. In fact, the early imitations of words are often 
 merely imitations of tones and inflections of voice rather 
 than of specific sounds. This is probably due to the 
 early development of reflex emotional expression. 
 
 Sometimes the early spontaneous imitations are of 
 single sounds and gestures, and sometimes of more 
 complex acts. My little girl imitated acts at first, as 
 poking the fire, packing a box, driving a nail, but never 
 gestures, such as raising the hand, nodding the head. 
 Neither did she imitate words as such, but only the 
 act of speaking on occasion. Children frequently repro- 
 duce sounds Hke a phonograph, and gestures, like a 
 shadow, sometimes without ceasing their play to do so. 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 135 
 
 In no case, however, is spontaneous imitation analytic 
 and synthetic. It is always of wholes, large or small. 
 
 The value of spontaneous imitation lies in the great 
 amount of material accumulated in the form of knowl- 
 edge and power of movement, which may be used or 
 analyzed and combined, then used in future actions for 
 a purpose. The knowledge thus acquired is of immense 
 extent and of the most fundamental character, for it is 
 subjective as well as objective. The child learns to 
 know movements and sounds not only as they are seen 
 and heard, but also as they are felt when performed or 
 uttered, and he can not only recognize them, but also 
 control them. Thus by spontaneous imitation he makes 
 the world his own and obtains control of it. 
 
 Although so various, spontaneous imitations are not 
 the result of chance. Nothing is imitated that does 
 not attract the attention. Attention is determined by the 
 prominent instincts or experiences as they appear in 
 the life of the developing child ; hence, the spontaneous 
 imitations of each age are indications of the stage of 
 development that has been reached. The investigations 
 of Frear indicate that young children spontaneously 
 imitate animals and children, while in the majority of 
 cases older children voluntarily imitate older persons. 
 
 At about three years of age contrary suggestion often 
 appears, and at more or less frequent intervals, controls 
 the child's action. The child seems to be surfeited 
 with taking into himself and reproducing from his sur- 
 roundings. He therefore asserts his own individuality, 
 which has heretofore been merged in whatever he 
 imitated, and refuses to follow the copy set before him. 
 He not only refuses to do what others do, and what it is 
 
136 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 suggested that he shall do, but as far as possible does 
 just the opposite of what the imitative impulse would 
 impel him to do. (Usually these attacks are inter- 
 mittent ; but if unsuccessful attempts are made to forci- 
 bly suppress them, they may become chronic, especially 
 if the child is not in perfect health) If no notice is 
 taken of such attacks of contrary suggestion or self- 
 assertion, or if they are vigorously suppressed instead 
 of combated just enough to develop them, they are 
 likely to soon yield to the more fundamental impulse 
 of positive suggestion or imitation. 
 
 Spontaneous imitation develops not only by becoming 
 more complete, and being concerned with more com- 
 plex acts, but by appearing in response to mental images 
 as well as to direct perceptions. Words, gestures, and 
 processes observed yesterday are reproduced to-day as 
 spontaneously and accurately as if just perceived. 
 
 (3) When the above stage of spontaneous imitation 
 is reached, dramatic imitation usually begins. Dramatic 
 imitations are not clearly differentiated in the mind of 
 the child, or easily distinguished by the adult observer 
 from spontaneous imitations. In purely spontaneous 
 imitation the child reproduces literally, as well as he 
 can, what he has observed, while in dramatic imitation 
 he does not. Sometimes, however, he forgets that he 
 is only making believe, and screams with terror at the 
 attacks of a make-believe bear or weeps over the mis- 
 haps of the make-believe baby or kitty, or actually chews 
 the make-believe bread, or is really worried by the idea 
 that he is going to be left by the imaginary car, or cries 
 with the pain of an imaginary burn or stomach ache. 
 Usually, however, there seems to be a sort of under- 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 137 
 
 consciousness of the make-believe character of it all, 
 which, as long as it remains, heightens the pleasure of 
 trying to make it seem real. 
 
 Dramatic imitation greatly increases the possibilities 
 of varied development, for much of what the child 
 observes or hears involves actions or objects unattain- 
 able to him. There is nothing, however, from the 
 noises and movements of a locomotive to the silent art 
 of Jack Frost, or from making a pie to constructing a 
 church, from burglary to a fashionable tea-party, that 
 the child cannot imitate by the use of make-believe 
 objects and symbolic movements. The essentials of 
 every process and action in the heavens above and the 
 earth beneath, of which the child sees or hears, are made 
 familiar to him in his dramatic imitations. He learns 
 something of every custom of society, and every trade 
 and profession, by the short-cut application of that most 
 important of all pedagogical laws, "learning to do by 
 doing," which is also the only sure way of learning to 
 understand. 
 
 What a change would result if this dramatic power 
 and tendency to imitation could be more frequently, 
 sensibly, and effectually utihzed in the kindergarten 
 and school. In its very nature, dramatic imitation is 
 spontaneous and original; hence any attempt at syste- 
 matic control of it must, in the nature of the case, almost 
 inevitably prove artificial and ineffective. The wise 
 teacher merely stirs the imagination, supplies the mate- 
 rial for dramatic representation, and gives occasional 
 suggestions as they are needed. For example, some 
 sixth-grade children, who were taught geography in 
 such a way that with very little help and suggestion 
 
138 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 they eagerly presented in character the different races, 
 in costumes which they had made, gained more of real 
 development than in a term of formal memorizing. 
 
 Froebel did well to recognize the dramatic tendency 
 in children ; but his followers have often done ill to use 
 the particular processes and occupations given by him, 
 at stated times, instead of those most common and inter- 
 esting in the child's environment, and at the most favor- 
 able times. 
 
 The dramatic tendency usually begins in the third 
 year and continues all through life, but is at its climax 
 from about four to seven. During this time the child 
 not only transforms objects, but persons, including him- 
 self, into whatever his fancy dictates or his dramatic 
 play demands. He assumes the part of some other per- 
 son, or of an animal, and perhaps for days at a time 
 acts out the character to some extent, and insists upon 
 being called by the name of the person or animal repre- 
 sented. So great is the tendency to represent by sub- 
 stitution, that even words are made to serve new purposes, 
 as "yes " to mean "no." Sometimes the child at once 
 forgets the arrangement he has made; then again he 
 adheres to it for days or weeks, and insists that others 
 do so. 
 
 This is the age also for the creation of imaginary com- 
 panions, and a careful study of the matter will probably 
 show that not only do a few lonely and highly imagina- 
 tive children have these companions, but nearly all chil- 
 dren have them in some form, for a greater or less period 
 of time. It is only one step from representing persons 
 by blocks to representing them in the mind without any 
 tangible object. Th(ise imaginary companions frequently 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 1 39 
 
 appear in the third year when the child is getting 
 acquainted with his own variable personality, which is 
 sometimes " nice " and sometimes " naughty," or in con- 
 nection with early experiences with a playmate who is 
 not present all of the time, or after hearing of a little 
 boy or girl of a certain character. Sometimes the imagi- 
 nary companion is an ideal self, sometimes a naughty 
 scapegrace, and at other times not self at all, but a dis- 
 tinct personality. The same child may have many such 
 companions at once, or one at a time in succession. 
 Where the phenomenon continues, as it sometimes 
 does, into adult life, it often takes the form of a con- 
 tinued story, in which the imaginary characters figure, 
 and perhaps grow older as their creator does. 
 
 Curiously enough, during this make-believe age, the 
 child is the most literal of beings as well as the most 
 imaginative. Left to himself, he often has a wonderful 
 perception of the essential truths symbolized ; but when 
 something is presented to him in symbolic form, and he 
 has no experience corresponding to that symbolized, his 
 ideas are surprisingly literal and materialistic. For this 
 reason religious instruction often produces in the child's 
 mind a gross caricature of holy things. For example, 
 a boy did not want to be Jesus' " little lamb," because he 
 would then have to eat grass. Myths and fairy stories 
 also often fail to teach the truth intended, because the 
 truths symbolized have not been experienced by the 
 child. 
 
 (4) Voluntary imitation appears in the second or third 
 year, but does not become prominent for several years. 
 When a child, instead of freely repeating over and over 
 the same sound in the same way, tries again and again 
 
I40 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 to speak a word as another does, each time changing 
 his pronunciation a little and getting nearer the correct 
 form, we have an example of voluntary imitation, because 
 it is performed, not for the pleasure of the act, but to 
 secure the approval that follows its successful perform- 
 ance, or the pleasure of being understood. Since, as we 
 have defined it, voluntary imitation is for a purpose, it 
 is concerned chiefly with the mode of performance. 
 
 Whenever a child is trying to find out how to do an 
 act, he is very ready to voluntarily imitate any mode of 
 performing it that he sees. It is also much easier for a 
 child to imitate the performance of an act than it is to 
 form an idea from a description of how it is to be done 
 and then do it. Voluntary imitation is, therefore, one of 
 the most important means of instruction, especially with 
 young children. They can learn by watching how a 
 thing is done, in a fourth the time required to learn 
 it by being told how it should be done. This is true 
 not only of manual but also of purely intellectual pro- 
 cesses. A child learns to add or use good language by 
 imitation better than by rule. Imitation might, there- 
 fore, very frequently be substituted for directions and 
 rules. With younger children the imitations should be 
 largely spontaneous, while with older ones it should be 
 voluntary, and with still older children should be followed 
 by analysis leading to specific directions or rules. Where 
 the process is complex, some analysis is helpful in learn- 
 ing it ; but the analysis should be simply into parts or 
 simpler wholes that the child can grasp, rather than into 
 separate elements such as the scientist is able to detect. 
 Most of the practice should also be upon the whole pro- 
 cess rather than upon the elements. 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 141 
 
 In using voluntary imitation educationally it is not 
 best to merely give models for imitation. On the con- 
 trary, voluntary imitation should be simply a means of 
 accomplishing successfully something that the child 
 already has a desire to perform. The great defect in 
 teaching has been too much analysis of processes into 
 elements, and too wide a separation of processes from 
 the ends they are fitted to secure, so that the natural 
 motives for learning are destroyed. 
 
 Unquestionably it is the function of the school in pre- 
 paring the child for the work of life to develop the 
 power of voluntary effort, and this means at first chiefly 
 the power of voluntary imitation ; but it does not follow 
 that spontaneous imitation should not be utilized, or that 
 the child should be required to voluntarily imitate what 
 he has, as yet, no motive for learning to do. The child 
 acquires the power and tendency to persistent effort by 
 the act of persisting in what he attempts ; and if he can 
 be held to a task by the desire to learn how, in order 
 that he may do something that he wishes to do, the 
 motive is a natural one and far more effective than 
 those arising from artificial punishments or rewards. 
 
 (5) Idealistic imitation, which is a sort of generaliza- 
 tion from all other kinds, begins perhaps in the third or 
 fourth year when a child has formed some idea of objects 
 and acts that are " pretty " or '' nice." A little girl of 
 four who admired a little girl in a story who always 
 walked and talked quietly and nicely, imitated her and 
 apparently thought of her as an ideal. In a similar way, 
 a boy of three seemed to have a pretty good idea of 
 " Papa's Jolly Boy," and sometimes when not feeling 
 well made considerable effort to smile and look pleasant 
 
142 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 under the inspiration of that ideal. Such idealistic imi- 
 tation is, however, largely a matter of training till the 
 teens are reached. 
 
 Spontaneous imitation leads the child to imitate every- 
 thing that attracts his notice, whether profanity or prayer, 
 caresses or cruelty, rudeness or politeness. There is little 
 or no selection of the more admirable for imitation except 
 as it is presented more often or made attractive by the 
 approval, cooperation, or help of others. In the home, 
 at school, and on the playground some selection of ideals, 
 leading to their imitation, is brought about by the attitude 
 and actions of parents, teachers, and companions ; but 
 for the most part children imitate certain ideals of con- 
 duct not so much because the ideal itself appeals to them, 
 as because adherence to it secures the approbation of 
 others, and ignoring it, their disapproval and perhaps 
 punishment. These ideals are built up and strengthened 
 by stories of persons performing admirable actions and 
 receiving praise and reward, and of the opposite results 
 from the performance of bad actions. The ideals 
 admired and imitated by the child are not his own, but 
 those of his people and his times. 
 
 This remains true, in large measure, till the child 
 reaches his teens, when he begins to find that within 
 himself which responds with admiration or disgust, 
 to certain deeds, acts, and objects. It is no longer 
 merely his own interests or the opinion of others that 
 arouse the feelings, but something within himself that 
 reaches out toward or draws back from certain objects 
 and acts, regardless of consequence. This is emphati- 
 cally the age of ideals and of hero-worship. Now, if 
 ever, the individual is stirred by ideals of the strong and 
 
• ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 143 
 
 true, the beautiful and the good. Spontaneous imitation, 
 and past and present example and training, still have 
 their influence upon the selection of ideals for imitation, 
 but not, as formerly, entire control. In this stage of fer- 
 ment and change from which is to emerge a more or less 
 unified and permanent individuality, there is developed 
 an inner principle of selection that results in the forma- 
 tion of ideals for imitation. It is not a mere selection, 
 as formerly, of certain objects, persons, and acts for 
 imitation, but a selection, from various sources, of quali- 
 ties that appeal to the individual, and a combination of 
 them into standards and rules of conduct. 
 
 Often the youth forms ideals without at once imitating 
 them. He feels their worth, but has not the force of 
 will to realize them in his acts. Usually, after a period 
 of variable action, the ideals or the habits are modified 
 so as to bring them more nearly into harmony, and the 
 character of the developing man is pretty firmly estab- 
 lished at a higher or lower level, according to the kind 
 of ideals formed and imitated. Sometimes, however, 
 the gulf between approved ideals and practice results in 
 a permanent division of personality, in which one phase 
 of it, then the other, dominates, as in " Dr. Jekyll and 
 Mr. Hyde." This condition is much more likely to 
 result when children have either been led to form high 
 ideals without being induced to imitate them, or when 
 they have been compelled to act according to certain 
 standards which they have not been led to approve. 
 If the child has learned to both admire and imitate his 
 ideals, and if these ideals are merely deepened and 
 broadened but not fundamentally changed during the 
 transition period, then there is no break in the develop- 
 
144 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ment ; but the new element that comes into the youth's 
 life merely perfects and completes what was begun 
 before the age of transition. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Describe instances of imitation and indicate in each case how 
 far perception of what is imitated gives any or all of these : (i) the 
 idea of the act ; (2) of how to do it ; (3) the impulse to perform it. 
 
 2. Give examples of imitation in animals and compare with imi- 
 tations of children, showing the difference. 
 
 3. Show how imitations by children lead to many adaptations, 
 or, in other words, to the gaining of much valuable knowledge and 
 experience. 
 
 4. Give original illustrations of each class of imitations. 
 
 5. State the order and the ages at which the different kinds of 
 imitation become prominent. 
 
 6. Show the importance of reflex imitation in school. Is there 
 any reason for objecting to the presence of stammering or nervous 
 children in school ? Can a noisy, unsystematic teacher teach 
 children to be quiet and orderly ? Why ? 
 
 7. Show how spontaneous imitation prepares for the doing of 
 useful acts in the future. 
 
 ^ 8. Give illustrations of contrariness as opposed to imitativeness 
 
 in children. 
 / 9. Give examples of dramatic imitation that you engaged in as 
 
 a child or have observed in other children. 
 / 10. Give examples of the ways in which dramatic imitation may 
 
 be utilized in school. 
 
 11. Describe imaginary companions that you have had or that 
 you know of other children having. 
 
 12. Give illustrations of symbolism that children have or have 
 not appreciated. 
 
 13. Show how voluntary imitation may best be used in gymnastics, 
 drawing, writing, word building, etc., indicating parts that need spe- 
 cial practice, and the motives to imitate, that may be appealed to. 
 Should a teacher seek to secure good vocal expression in reading 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — IMITATION 145 
 
 by much use of voluntary imitation, or should she depend on spon- 
 taneous imitation and natural emotional expression ? Why ? 
 
 14. Describe your idealistic imitations at different ages. 
 
 15. Show why ideals are especially important during the adoles- 
 cent period, and indicate a variety of means that may help in the for- 
 mation of high ones. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On imitation in animals, see Thorndike, Animal Intelligence^ pp. 
 47-64 ; Monograph Suppl. to Psych. Rev., Vol. II, No. 4 ; Mill, 
 Animal Intelligefice, pp. 163-164 ; Small, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XI, 
 pp. 160-164 ; Kinnaman, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIII, pp. 196-200. 
 
 On the nature and significance of imitation, see Baldwin, Century, 
 Vol. XLIX, pp. 160-164; Mental Development, Vol. I, pp. 263- 
 278; Royce, Century, Vol. XLVIII, pp. 137-145 ; Psych. Rev., 
 Vol. II, pp. 217-235 ; Ellwood, Am. Jr. Sociology, Vol. VI, pp. 
 721-741. 
 
 On suggestion and early imitations, see Baldwin, Vol. I, pp. 104- 
 134; Preyer, Senses and Will, chap, xii ; Tracy, pp. 102-103; 
 Compayre, Vol. II, pp. 1-17. 
 
 For descriptions and discussions of what children imitate, see 
 Haskell, Ped. Sem., Vol. Ill, pp. 30-47, or Child Observations^ 
 Frear, Ped. Sem., Vol. IV, pp. 382-386 ; Sudborough, N. W. 
 Mo., Vol. VII, pp. 99, 136, 162, 226, 300, 352; Waldo, Ch. S, 
 Mo., Vol. II, pp. 75-87. 
 
 On choice and imitation of ideals, see Barnes, Vol. I, pp. 243-253, 
 Vol. II, pp. 243-270; Chambers, Ped. Se7n., Vol. X, pp. 101-143, 
 and references given by the latter. 
 
 On imaginary companions, see Barnes, Studies i?i Ed., Vol. I, pp. 
 98-101 ; Learoyd, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VII, pp. 86-90. 
 
 On imitation in relation to education, Deahl, Imitation in Education, 
 Columbia Univ. Contrib. to Philos., 1900, pp. 103 ; Van Liew, 
 N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 320-327 ; Ledyard, JV. E. A., 1899, 
 pp. 547-551 ; Harris, JV. E. A., 1894, pp. 637-641. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 
 
 THEORY OF PLAY 
 
 The older theory set forth by Spencer considers 
 play to be the activity by which surplus energy is 
 used. If we conceive of surplus energy as meaning 
 superabundance of energy, the theory is not true to the 
 facts, for children must be very sick or tired before the 
 play impulse disappears. If, however, the word " sur- 
 plus " is taken to mean, in a general way, the energy 
 which is most easily set free, then play may properly 
 be looked upon as the activity by which such energy 
 is most likely to be utilized. 
 
 The more recent discussions of play, especially those 
 of Groos, have emphasized its instinctive character. 
 It is shown that young animals of all kinds have the 
 play impulse, and that the form of the play is related 
 to the instincts of the animal. In general, the animal 
 uses the same powers that his ancestors have used in 
 gaining food, avoiding enemies, and securing the per- 
 petuation of the species, and thus exercises the powers 
 he will himself need to use when no longer protected 
 by paternal care. Each instinct as it appears is thus 
 developed and perfected by playful activity before it 
 needs to be used seriously. 
 
 147 
 
 •/■ 
 
148 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 These two theories need to be combined. In play 
 there must always be some energy that is surplus in 
 the sense that it may be used in other ways than to 
 obtain necessary ends. The activities that are most 
 readily initiated are of parts that have most available 
 energy, either because they are growing and developing 
 or are less fatigued than other parts. The way in which 
 the active parts are used, depends upon the openness 
 of certain " paths " connecting them, which is deter- 
 mined largely by the instincts that are coming into 
 prominence at the time. The plays of young animals 
 are therefore greatly influenced by the order in which 
 their powers and instincts develop, and, in turn, play 
 directly promotes the development of powers that will 
 be needed in adult life. 
 
 In the case of adults, play is influenced by fatigue, 
 and is a means of developing powers not used in daily 
 work ; hence it aids all-round development and furnishes 
 a means of recreation. Play and necessity are the chief 
 means of learning. In children, who are largely 
 shielded from necessity, play in its various forms is 
 the more important factor in development. 
 
 WORK, PLAY, AND AMUSEMENT 
 
 Objectively^ work and play cannot be distinguished, 
 though the results of playful activity are usually of 
 little importance or prominence, while work usually 
 has results that are more or less valuable and perma- 
 nent. Subjectively y an act is play in so far as the 
 activity itself is enjoyed; while it is work in so far as 
 the end gained is the chief thing desired. A playful 
 act is freely chosen for its own sake, while work is 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS— PLAY 1 49 
 
 performed because it is a means to some end which 
 one feels bound for one reason or another to secure. 
 
 Physiologically^ work requires the use of the same 
 parts of body or brain in the same way, for a con- 
 siderable time ; while play exercises many parts of the 
 body in a variety of ways, and usually no one part for 
 very long without change. In work, the least avail- 
 able energy is often used, and the activity is always 
 directed ; while in play, parts having the most utiliz- 
 able energy are freely active. For this reason work 
 is much harder and more wearisome even when the 
 amount of activity is less. 
 
 Many acts involve elements of both work and play. 
 Some of the elements may be disagreeable, and involve 
 the continued use of parts that have little disposable 
 energy ; but if the complex act as a whole is freely 
 chosen and enjoyed, aside from the ends secured, the 
 act is play. 
 
 To the child play is natural, but he needs to learn to 
 work. In so doing, however, it is not necessary that 
 he cease to play. On the contrary, play is one of the 
 most effective means of learning to work. Obstacles 
 are met in most plays, and the child must do many things 
 that in themselves are disagreeable, in order that he 
 may perform the desired action. The act, as a whole, 
 is play, though parts of it are work. The more complex 
 a child's play becomes, the more does he work in per- 
 forming parts of it. Materials must be collected before 
 a tea-party can be held ; bait must be dug and a long 
 tramp taken before fishing is possible ; bases must be 
 marked out before the ball game begins, and forts must 
 be built before the snowball battle opens. The boys 
 
150 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 who cleared a field of stones in dramatic play, by repre- 
 senting the stones as water, and the pile where they 
 were dumped as fire, were playing, though doing with 
 much more than their usual working vigor what would 
 have been very hard and tiresome without the playful 
 exercise of the dramatic instinct to lighten it and make 
 it enjoyable. 
 
 Nearly every adult must of necessity work, yet his 
 work may be to him a most enjoyable play if it is well 
 chosen and carried on in the proper spirit. If it is so 
 well suited to his powers, and he takes such a pride and 
 pleasure in it that he would continue to perform it if 
 relieved of the necessity of thus making a living, then he 
 is really playing while he works. This is perhaps more 
 often the case with artists, authors, and inventors, but 
 it may be equally true of a farmer, business man, me- 
 chanic, motorman, or of a teacher. 
 
 Games are intermediate between free play and work 
 because they involve more or less direction of activity 
 according to rule, and more or less repetition of the 
 same acts ; yet they are always chosen and played for 
 their own sake, and not for results to be gained. Prp- 
 fessional players, who are after the rewards rather than 
 the pleasures of the game, are not playing but working. 
 
 Amusement is a mild and passive form of play, a 
 name of which it is scarcely worthy because it involves 
 BO little activity on the part of the one being amused- 
 Some one else does the work (though perhaps in the 
 form of play), while the seeker after pleasure enjoys it 
 if he can. Here, as in other cases, there is little to be 
 gained without earning it. One who has been working 
 hard may get a great deal of enjoyment and rest from 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY I5I 
 
 amusements ; but one who devotes his life to amuse- 
 ments, ceases to enjoy them. To amuse, a thing must 
 be novel or appeal to phases of one's nature not affected 
 by one's occupation. To hard-working people, with little 
 surplus energy, amusements are a valuable means of rest 
 and sometimes a source of general culture. To those 
 whose available energy is used in their daily tasks, 
 amusements are almost indispensable, and play scarcely 
 necessary ; while for all others active play is essential, 
 and mere amusement of secondary importance. Chil- 
 dren, in general, need play rather than amusement. 
 
 In these days of urban life and specialization, in which 
 not one per cent of a man's powers is used in his oc- 
 cupation, play is of far more importance than formerly. 
 The man who does not play in some way soon degen- 
 erates, because so few of his powers are used. 
 
 CHANGES WITH AGE AS REGARDS FREEDOM IN PLAY 
 
 The first plays of children are wholly free, i.e. follow 
 no rules. Attempts to direct a child's activity by show- 
 ing him how to pound or build are often resented in the 
 first year or two. During the next three or four years, 
 customs which serve the purpose of rules of the play 
 may be established through imitation ; but any attempt 
 to dictate when, what, or how a child shall play is met 
 with opposition. Suggestions other than imitative must 
 also be given with care. 
 
 Upon entering school the child is ready for games 
 with very simple rules, but quickly loses his interest in a 
 game having many rules, because too much voluntary 
 effort is required to play it. For example, drop the 
 handkerchief is enjoyed very much when there is no 
 
152 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 rule except to pick up the handkerchief and choose the 
 dropper, then to leave it behind some one else ; but if the 
 more complex form is tried, in which the one behind 
 whom it is dropped must discover it for himself, or go 
 inside the ring, or must run in a certain direction while 
 the dropper, if caught, goes inside the ring, and those 
 inside get out by being the first to seize the handker- 
 chief when dropped behind some one in the circle, very- 
 young children find it puzzHng and irksome, though 
 older children, familiar with the game, enjoy it more 
 than the simpler form. 
 
 During the first five years the child's activities belong 
 almost wholly to the kind called play, while in the 
 period from five to ten, games become more and more 
 prominent, and after twelve, plays, as ordinarily under- 
 stood, have almost wholly given place to games and 
 sports. 
 
 Play must always be free in the sense of being en- 
 gaged in because the individual wants to perform the 
 acts for their own sake and their immediate results, 
 such as satisfying the instinctive desire to win in a 
 contest. If a person is forced to play, or paid for play- 
 ing, the act is at once transformed into work. Tennis 
 played only for the benefits of the exercise is not play 
 but work. 
 
 Play becomes less free with age, in the sense that 
 activity is directed in definite lines by the requirements 
 of the rules of the game. This conformity to law does 
 not decrease the freedom of the individuals engaging 
 in the more complex group games, but rather increases 
 freedom by restricting the action of each individual as 
 to kind, time, and place, so that one may not interfere 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 1 53 
 
 with another. Children enjoy playing with an older 
 person who leads according to rules, and they thus learn 
 to appreciate the value of rules, so that they become 
 indignant with the companion who interferes with the 
 game, and consequently with the freedom of each player, 
 by refusing to conform to rules or by trying to cheat. 
 
 The great lesson of law as a means of freedom is 
 nowhere so well taught as in well-directed and orderly 
 play. In no other place can a child so fully realize for 
 himself the value of law as on the playground. A 
 teacher who can successfully lead children to play hap- 
 pily in accordance with whatever rules are necessary, is 
 not only forming a public sentiment in favor of orderly 
 and fair play, but she is also preparing the children for 
 good citizenship more effectually than she can possibly 
 do in the schoolroom, where the children have not so 
 keen a personal interest in what is being done. 
 
 CHANGES WITH AGE AS REGARDS POWERS USED IN PLAY 
 
 Children begin playing in the second quarter of the 
 first year, and long before the close of that year have 
 engaged in a great variety of plays. Almost every sen- 
 sation and movement that comes under their control is 
 repeated again and again as play. Objects are scratched, 
 rubbed, pounded, rolled, and tossed about almost con- 
 tinually. If in doing so the eye and ear are variously 
 stimulated, the pleasure is all the greater. Not only 
 objects, but parts of the child's own body, are used as 
 instruments of play. This is perhaps most marked in 
 the case of the mouth and vocal organs, which during 
 the first year or two are endless sources of amusement. 
 The powers most exercised in this early play are evi' 
 
154 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 dently those of the sense organs and the muscles. 
 There is no attempt to use them accurately or in any 
 definite way, but merely to use them freely over and 
 over, yet as it happens with infinite variations. In 
 shaking brightly colored balls or a rattle it is hard to tell 
 which is the greater source of pleasure, — the varied 
 and repeated muscular sensations, or the changing and 
 recurrent visual and auditory sensations ; but either alone 
 is sufficient to call forth the play instinct, for the sight 
 of waving ribbons or dancing sunbeams is a visual play, 
 as are sound jingles auditory play, and movements of 
 limbs muscular play. 
 
 For two or three years the child's play is almost 
 wholly physical and perceptional. Great progress is 
 made, however, during this time, for the movements be- 
 come much more complex, so that all parts of the body 
 are used at once, and they are not merely used but 
 exercised in doing specific things involving some ac- 
 curacy, as in preserving the balance when jumping or 
 throwing something, or in hitting objects or piling them 
 up so they will stay. 
 
 On the mental side, also, there is great change, for it 
 is not mere sensation that is exercised, but perception of 
 relation and Hkeness, difference and space, as the child 
 pounds objects and puts one inside of or on top of 
 another and arranges (or scatters) them to his satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 In the third year the representative powers are de- 
 veloped sufficiently to be exercised in play. The child 
 begins to find amusement in reproducing or represent- 
 ing acts and events that have been observed on previous 
 occasions. He delights in reproducing phrases, rhymes, 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 1 55 
 
 and actions, and in representing events, as a visit to a 
 neighbor or a ride. Soon nearly all of his play is trans- 
 ferred to the field of imagination, where his freedom is 
 complete ; and no object is so remote, rare, or costly that 
 he cannot have it in the form of a representation, and 
 no process so difficult that it is not readily performed (in 
 his mind) by the manipulation of a few simple objects. 
 Feasts and fetes are provided on short notice, and with- 
 out the hitches that so often trouble adult dispensers of 
 hospitality. 
 
 Imagination, as the important factor in the child's 
 plays, usually reaches its climax in the fifth and sixth 
 years, but continues to be an important though decreas- 
 ing element in his plays and games till puberty. Fairy 
 stories are interesting largely because they give playful 
 exercise to the imagination. 
 
 As the child grows older, mere exercise of physical 
 powers becomes a less important element, though 
 any new movement, as standing on the head, turning 
 somersaults, skinning the cat, walking on the hands, 
 etc., always appeals to the ever-developing instinct 
 of play. After five or six years, familiar movements 
 are not made in play merely to use the power, but 
 to use it in some definite way, involving quickness, 
 strength, endurance, or accuracy. From six or seven 
 years to puberty, testing exercises of physical powers 
 are important elements in the plays and games of chil- 
 dren, especially of boys. The latter part of this period 
 there is not only desire to do what companions can or 
 what they cannot do, but to reach certain standards, to 
 ** make records." 
 
 On the mental side the changes from six to twelve are 
 
156 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 of a corresponding nature. Perceptive and representa- 
 tive powers are not merely used, but tested. Thought 
 power has been used to some extent before this time in 
 connection with the imagination, in judging and reason- 
 ing as to the proper and logical mode of representing 
 persons and events (e.g. the larger stick must be papa 
 and he must sit at the head of the table or must drive 
 the horse, or the yellow block must be the car and the 
 black one the engine and the latter must be in front). 
 Thought power as a distinct element in the pleasure of 
 play is not, however, very prominent till about seven or 
 eight, when guess games and riddles begin to have a 
 great fascination. A little later, games especially exer- 
 cising thought power, such as morris, checkers, cards, 
 authors, come into favor, and later the most intellectual 
 of all games, chess. 
 
 In general, we may say that every power, physical and 
 mental, as it appears, is playfully exercised, and thus its 
 development is hastened, and after each power is de- 
 veloped to some extent, it is tested and perfected in 
 contests and games. 
 
 CHANGES WITH AGE AS REGARDS INSTINCTS INVOLVED 
 
 IN PLAY 
 
 The early stages of almost all instincts are manifested 
 in play, and after they are used for the serious purposes 
 of life they are still important factors in more or less 
 playful activities outside of one's vocation. 
 
 Perhaps the earliest instinct to be shown in play is 
 that form of curiosity which delights in changes. For 
 this reason, peek-a-boo and other sudden transforma- 
 tions are enjoyed, when repeated over and over again. 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 1 57 
 
 A certain interval of preparation before making a final 
 movement which effects the change seems to add to the 
 pleasure. This indicates that the rhythmic tendency is, 
 from the first, an important element in children's play. 
 The early enjoyment of recurrent sensations, movements, 
 and jingles is further evidence of the early prominence 
 of this instinct. 
 
 The movements of emotional expression in attitude 
 and voice are often made playfully in the third year, 
 though the expressive instinct has a serious use for 
 them from the first. 
 
 The feeling of personal power which can effect 
 changes is an important element in play, as soon as 
 the child gains control of his hands. 
 
 As soon as a child attains any form of locomotion, 
 whether rolling, creeping, or walking, he delights in 
 being chased. This, one of the most universally useful 
 of all instincts, appears in play at all ages and is the chief 
 element in nearly all the more popular games, at least 
 before puberty. 
 
 Imitative acts, when repeated over and over without 
 purpose, may be considered as playful ; hence imitative 
 and dramatic plays are very popular from three to seven, 
 and dramatic play continues in favor much later. 
 
 It is hard to say just when the fighting and competi- 
 tive instinct is first manifested, either seriously or play- 
 fully ; but competition is the most prominent element in 
 the play of children from seven to twelve. It continues 
 to be a prominent feature in games all through life, but 
 is often subordinated to the group instinct which devel- 
 ops at puberty. ^ Such games as baseball and football, 
 which involve cooperation and subordination of individ- 
 
158 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ual prowess and honor for the sake of the greater 
 prowess and honor of the group (which represents the 
 youth's larger self), are then most favored. This co- 
 operative or tribal tendency is also manifested in con- 
 nection with predatory instincts at the beginning of 
 puberty, in the formation of gangs for such purposes as 
 hunting, fishing, robbing, teasing policemen, or fight- 
 ing boys of another neighborhood. Other instincts 
 taking the form of play or involved in play are the 
 constructive, collecting, and aesthetic instincts, all of 
 which begin early and continue all through life, but so 
 far as is known, without any clearly marked period of 
 prominence except that they change their form with age. 
 
 PLAY AS A FACTOR IN EDUCATION 
 
 Necessity is not only the ** mother of invention," but 
 also of a great deal of knowledge of all kinds. Animals, 
 nations, and individuals must learn something of their 
 environment, such as how best to secure food, escape 
 danger, and preserve their species. This is true of 
 adults, but not in so great a degree of young animals 
 and children, for they are, to a considerable extent, 
 screened from the necessities of life by parental care 
 and protection. Without this protection, necessity 
 would be to the young, in their weakness and ignorance, 
 an executioner rather than a teacher. 
 
 How shall these helpless and ignorant young ones 
 become strong and wise .•* Partly through physical 
 development as determined by inner laws governing 
 the growth of the species, and partly through occasional 
 touches of necessity in spite of the screen of parental 
 care, but chiefly through Nature's jolly old nurse, Play, 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 1 59 
 
 who charms children into using every power as it devel- 
 ops, and into finding out everything possible about their 
 environment from the heavens above to the earth 
 beneath. 
 
 Practically all education among animals and savages 
 is carried on by " Mother Necessity " and " Nurse Play," 
 but among civilized people there is a third teacher which 
 we may designate as *' Stepmother Authority." All civ- 
 ilized people select certain truths and activities that they 
 regard as valuable, and induce the children, by various 
 more or less artificial means, to learn and thus prepare 
 for the life they are to live as adults. Such education, 
 if consistent and wise, may be very valuable, but it is 
 artificial. It often does not make use of natural im- 
 pulses, and is therefore a source of a large amount of 
 waste on the part of teachers and pupils. If the natural 
 educators, necessity and play, were properly utilized, it 
 would be like travelling with the wind and tide, instead 
 of by wearisome rowing in dead calms or against ad- 
 verse winds. 
 
 Since the conditions of life are now quite different 
 from what they were in a savage state, we need a special 
 preparation for Hfe as it has to be lived now. Activities 
 which would develop all the powers possessed by our 
 ancestors in a proper degree would not give the best 
 preparation for the life of to-day. It is necessary, there- 
 fore, that truths and activities suited to modern life shall 
 be selected, to the end that children may be properly 
 educated. If the child comes in contact with this arti- 
 ficial environment, necessity and playful imitation will 
 induce him to choose many, perhaps most of the truths 
 and activities that will be of greatest value to him in 
 
l6o FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 life. Yet it is still necessary for authority to do some- 
 thing in the way of selecting and arranging educative 
 truths and activities for the young. 
 
 The teacher, in presenting this educative material to 
 the children, may act as a servant of authority and sim- 
 ply require, by rewards and punishments, that children 
 shall take it, or she may try to present it in such a way 
 that the greater portion of the time the child recognizes no 
 other teachers than stern " Mother Necessity " and joy- 
 ous " Play." If she succeeds in the latter method, play 
 is the chief factor in education during the early years ; 
 but gradually more and more place is given to Necessity, 
 until she is the honored director of activity in manhood, 
 or perchance both give place to the twin sisters. Doing 
 and Achievement, who smile alike on work that is as 
 joyous as play, and play that is as valuable as work. 
 
 In school, where what is to be done and learned is 
 determined by the course of study, there are yet so 
 many ways of doing and learning that it is often possi- 
 ble for the teacher to arrange exercises so that the domi- 
 nant powers and instincts of the children at each age 
 shall be called into activity in a playful way. Curiosity 
 supplies all the interest necessary in learning new things ; 
 but something else is required in drilling on what has 
 been learned, to produce accuracy, speed, permanency, 
 and facility in using. It is in this part of school work 
 that the play impulse may be utilized to the best advan- 
 tage. With a little ingenuity every such exercise may 
 be so conducted that it will really be play. It will also 
 be work, in that the child will be induced to perform 
 again and again the same act ; but without weariness, 
 because the act is variously associated, and always 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY l6l 
 
 agreeably, in new combinations with powers and in- 
 stincts that are being playfully exercised. All school 
 exercises in which repetition to secure skill and accuracy 
 is necessary, including word drill, numbers requiring 
 rapidity in fundamental operations, factoring, etc., and 
 fixing facts of geography, history, and grammar, may be 
 conducted as games rather than as formal drills. 
 
 In conducting such exercises the teacher may or may 
 not call them games, and she must not make them too 
 easy. Most games owe their charm to their difficulty, 
 and nothing is more tiresome and destructive of real 
 interest and ambition in children than doing easy things 
 only. On the other hand, there is nothing so stimu- 
 lating and inspiring to children as to be allowed to do 
 things that are supposed to be difficult. The more 
 difficult an exercise can be made to appear to children 
 the better, providing they are not deterred from trying, 
 and that it is not really so difficult that they cannot 
 succeed. 
 
 The other essential to the success of such exercises is 
 that there shall be frequent changes to give variety. 
 Except for very young children, these changes may 
 consist largely of slight modifications in the exercise 
 that make it more difficult in one way, then in another, 
 as they acquire facility in one phase of activity after 
 another. By such changes interest is maintained through 
 variety and by the constant re-adaptation of the exercise 
 to the growing powers of the child. Adaptations to 
 new powers and instincts are also desirable as the child 
 develops. 
 
 In planning educational games for younger children, 
 the muscular, perceptive, and imaginative powers must 
 
1 62 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 be called into action and tested. For children a little 
 older, thought power may be exercised and imagination 
 and memory power tested. As children grow older, 
 the tests of power may be made more difficult and 
 complex, resulting finally in tests of various powers 
 combined, including thought power. The rhythmic, 
 imitative, and dramatic instincts may be chiefly appealed 
 to in the younger children, then from seven to twelve 
 the competitive instincts, and from ten years on, the 
 cooperative, group, or class spirit. The chief points to 
 be recognized are that the drill be neither too difficult 
 nor too easy, that there be some element in it that 
 appeals to the children, and that variety be introduced 
 in order that there may be no fatigue or loss of interest. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Mention some plays of animals and children that you think 
 develop their instincts and prepare them for adult life. 
 
 2. Describe the recreations of some adults you know, and explain 
 on the theory of play. Why do brain workers engage in manual 
 labor and city people go to the country for recreation ? 
 
 yj 3. Why is a mason piling up brick, working, and a child piling up 
 
 blocks, playing ? 
 / 4. Is one who engages in billiards or bowling to secure a prize 
 
 of value, working or playing ? Why ? 
 
 5. Is drawing or singing work or play for you ? Why ? Is any 
 of your work really play to you ? 
 
 6. Mention games and sports that are especially valuable in 
 preparing for work, giving reasons. 
 
 7. Yoder, in his study of the boyhood of great men, found that 
 most of them were noted players when boys. How do you interpret 
 this ? 
 
 8. Mention several amusements as distinguished from play, and 
 indicate their value, if any. 
 
 J 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — PLAY 1 63 
 
 9. Does the statement, " A teacher should interest her pupils," j, 
 mean she should amuse them, or what does it mean ? 
 
 10. What plays and games did you most enjoy at different ages ? 
 What games are most popular among children you have observed 
 at different ages ? Determine as well as you can what character- 
 istics of various games make them popular, taking into account the 
 freedom of the game, the powers used, and the instincts involved. 
 
 1 1 . Mention things some animals you know learned by necessity. 
 Mention things you and other individuals learned because it was 
 necessary. Mention differences in knowledge possessed by the 
 people of different regions, produced by conditions under which 
 their life must be maintained. 
 
 12. Which has been the larger factor, necessity or the play impulse 
 in developing practical knowledge ? The sciences ? The arts ? 
 
 13. What connection is there between the statements that we . . 
 should utilize the play impulse of children and that we should 
 appeal to their interests ? 
 
 14. Mention indoor gymnastic plays that are good for recreation 
 and physical development. When the teacher directs each move- >y' 
 ment, are gymnastics a rest or another form of work ? 
 
 15. Describe games that may be used in numbers, arithmetic, 
 geography, and history in certain grades, and indicate changes that 
 may be made as the children progress. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general theory and value of play, read Spencer, Psychology, 
 Vol. I, sec. 50, and Vol. II, chap, ix ; Groos, Play of Animals, 
 especially pp. 1-8 1, and the preface by Baldwin ; Stanley, Psych. 
 Rev., Vol. VI, pp. 86-92 ; Allen, Invest, of Ch. Dept. of Psych, 
 and Ed., Univ. of Colo. Studies, Vol. I, pp. 59-72 ; Carr, Univ. 
 of Colo. Studies, Vol. I, No. 2, pp. 1-47 ; Blow, Symbolic Edu- 
 cation, chap, v ; Chamberlain, The Child, chap, ii, and on kinds 
 of play, Groos, Play of Man. 
 
 On development of the play instinct, besides records of the play of 
 infants in Preyer, Moore, Shinn, Tracy, and of young animals 
 in Mills and Groos, see Monroe, N. E. A., 1899, pp. 1084-1090 ; 
 Crosswell, Ped. Sem., Vol. VI, pp. 314-371 ; Gulick, Ped. Sem., 
 Vol. VI, pp. 135-151 ; Burk, N. W. Mo., Vol. IX, pp. 349-355 ; 
 
1 64 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Hall and Allen, Ped. Sem., Vol. IV, pp. 129-175 : 
 tier's Mag., Vol. Ill, pp. 689-696; Barnes, Studies in Ed,, Vol. 
 I, pp. 171-174. 
 On the use of play in education, Johnson, Ped. Sem,, Vol. Ill, pp. 
 97-1 33» Vol. VI, pp. 513-522 ; Felker, N. E. A., 1898, pp. 624- 
 630 ; Powe and others in N, E. A., 1901, pp. 502-532 ; Harri- 
 son, Child Nature, chap. iii. 
 I For descriptions of games to be played, see Lucas, What Shall We 
 Do Now f Newell, Gafnes and Songs of American Children \ 
 Chesley, Indoor and Outdoor Gymnastic Games. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 y DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — 
 CURIOSITY 
 
 FUNCTION OF CURIOSITY 
 
 From the moment that the sunlight dancing on the 
 wall, or the little hands waving before the eyes hold the 
 infant's gaze, till the time when the latest discoveries in 
 science are eagerly examined by the savant, curiosity in 
 some form is daily and hourly a factor in human action 
 and thought. 
 
 Curiosity is even more omnivorous than imitation. It 
 is at first almost entirely unselective, except as stronger 
 stimuli force themselves upon the attention. It may be 
 described as an appetite for new experiences. In in- 
 fancy everything is new, hence everything is interesting. 
 Curiosity is early manifested in a tendency to prolong a 
 sensation, as by gazing at a new object ; or to reproduce 
 it, as when a sound is made again ; or to act so as to get 
 one or more additional sensations, as when an object 
 seen is felt of ; or to find the relation of one sensation 
 to others, as when a child discovers that touching an 
 object being struck, deadens the sound. Later, similar 
 things are true of ideas. 
 
 By means of curiosity a child is brought into intimate 
 relation with various phases of his environment, instead 
 of simply those that minister to his existence. Every- 
 
 i66 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 1 67 
 
 thing around him is made a part of himself. The trees, 
 the hills, the birds, the people of his home surroundings, 
 are compared and related to what he finds in new sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 The greater the knowledge of environment gained 
 through curiosity, the greater the possibiHty of adapta- 
 tion to environment, as occasions arise involving appli- 
 cations of knowledge that have hitherto been ' useless. 
 Thus a child who has learned a word through mere 
 curiosity may be able to use it as a means of getting 
 what he wants, or one who has learned through mere 
 curiosity that wood floats, wasps sting, plants grow, fire 
 burns, etc., may on occasion use the knowledge in a 
 practical way. Other instincts tend to produce the 
 proper response to present stimuli, while curiosity is 
 continually preparing for the right response to condi- 
 tions that may be met in the future. It lays up great 
 stores of knowledge that serve as a basis for useful 
 reactions. If man never learned anything before he 
 had occasion to use it, he would suffer in countless ways 
 from improper and delayed action. Necessity is a 
 great teacher, but curiosity is a greater teacher in early 
 life, because even in early infancy it gives lessons that 
 prepare for life. It does not inflict immediate and severe 
 punishment as does necessity, but it gives present joy 
 and prepares for great rewards in the future. 
 
 The race as well as the individual has learned by 
 means of curiosity. In its highest form curiosity has 
 led to many scientific discoveries that were of no imme- 
 diate practical value. Sooner or later, however, these 
 abstract scientific truths nearly always find valuable 
 practical applications. 
 
l68 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 CURIOSITY, ATTENTION, AND INTEREST 
 
 Curiosity, as an instinct or impulse, produces in con- 
 sciousness a concentration of activity called attention, and 
 a feeling accompanying the act, called interest. Study- 
 ing attention and interest is therefore the chief means 
 of studying curiosity, since they are largely the result of 
 curiosity, though other instincts and much experience 
 may also be involved. The simple mental state of 
 attention to the act of eating, or of drawing back from 
 a dangerous object, is the result of the feeding and the 
 fear instincts ; but attention to the taste^ feeling, or 
 appearance of food, or the characteristics of the object 
 of fear, is due mainly to curiosity. Often there is a pro- 
 longed period of attention and interest, before action in 
 the way of eating the food, or backing away from the 
 fearful object, or of approaching for closer investigation 
 results. Curiosity may, therefore, either support or 
 oppose the attention and interest excited by other in- 
 stincts. For most instincts, however, especially for play 
 and imitation, it is a forerunner and supporter in the 
 sense of leading to a closer examination of objects, 
 though this often results in checking the usual instinc- 
 tive mode of reaction to those objects. 
 
 The essential characteristic of a stimulus that arouses 
 the instinct of curiosity is that of novelty. Since, how- 
 ever, a stimulus must have a certain degree of intensity 
 to be effective, and as everything is at first new, it is 
 the louder sounds, the brighter colors, and stronger con- 
 trasts, as, for instance, the dark hair and white forehead 
 of the mother, that secure the infant's attention when he 
 begins to take notice in the latter part of the first 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 169 
 
 quarter year. The sensations that are repeated, how- 
 ever, soon cease to be noticed, through loss of novelty. 
 
 Close observation shows that certain objects, sounds, 
 or colors are attended to longer and a greater number of 
 times than others of equal or even greater intensity, 
 objectively speaking. This suggests the well-known 
 fact that stimuU are effective according to the sensitive- 
 ness of the organism to them, rather than according 
 merely to their objective strength. A shght touch on 
 a boil or a corn is a stronger stimulus than a hard blow 
 on some other part ; in a similar way individuals differ 
 greatly in sensitiveness to the same sounds, colors, and 
 objects. As a child's instincts develop, he becomes more 
 sensitive to certain stimuli, consequently his curiosity is 
 more readily excited in some directions than in others. 
 When a child's competitive instincts are strong, he likes 
 to hear of contests ; and when he has been flying kites, 
 he likes to hear how children in other countries and 
 scientific men fly them. Children's interest or curiosity, 
 therefore, changes with the development of new instincts 
 and with new experiences. 
 
 The tendency to imitation and play heightens the 
 interest for a time by helping to disclose new charac- 
 teristics of the object, then decreases it by effectually 
 removing the essential element — newness. Though 
 curiosity is thus continually destroyed by the results of 
 its own action assisted by play, the knowledge thus ac- 
 quired becomes the basis for a fresh growth of curiosity 
 and play a little later. For example, colored cubes lose 
 their interest when played with a great deal, only to 
 regain it again and again as increased experience with 
 other things prepares for new uses and the consequent 
 
I70 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 observation of new characteristics. The child, after 
 losing his interest in looking at and touching them, 
 enjoys placing them in rows, or on top of each other, in 
 building houses of them, counting their sides and curves, 
 comparing them with other soUds, and noting their 
 weight and material as compared with other cubes, and 
 finally in studying geometrical relations of all kinds. 
 Thus familiarity with the shape and composition of the 
 first cubes prepares the way for noticing the character- 
 istics of blocks differently shaped and composed, and 
 also lays a foundation in experience for a study of 
 mathematical relations. 
 
 Since nothing is noticed as new except as it differs 
 from the familiar, every familiarity prepares for a fresh 
 novelty. The materials produced by the self-destruc- 
 tive acts of curiosity therefore furnish a rich soil for 
 the growth of a more vigorous interest. This growth 
 of interest through increase in knowledge may be illus- 
 trated mathematically. If you know but two character- 
 istics of an object, you can compare these with two of 
 another object; but if you know four, you can compare 
 with four and thus make sixteen comparisons ; while if 
 you know eight, you can make sixty-four comparisons, or 
 thirty-two times as many as when you knew only two. 
 The increase is therefore in a geometrical ratio. To him 
 who gains knowledge more interest and knowledge is 
 continually given. 
 
 Curiosity has therefore two means of growth: (i) 
 through new stimuli gained by changing or enlarging 
 one's environment, and (2) through increasing knowledge 
 of familiar objects by the discovery of new relations. 
 From the psychological point of view the problem of in- 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY I^I 
 
 terest is concerned chiefly with the effects of experience. 
 Psychology shows how interest may be promoted by a 
 changing or enlarging environment, and by increasing 
 the knowledge of things already in the environment. 
 From the child-study point of view, however, the prob- 
 lem is one of development. It is not to find how any 
 particular kind of desirable interest may be increased 
 by external influences, but to discover at what stages 
 of organic and instinctive development the child is espe- 
 cially sensitive to certain phases of his surroundings, or, 
 in other words, to determine what interests, if any, are 
 naturally strongest at each stage of development. This 
 is a very difflcult matter because, as we have already 
 seen, previous experience is such a large factor in 
 interest that it is hard to tell what is interesting because 
 of inner conditions of development, and what is interest- 
 ing because of experience and training. 
 
 CHANGES IN CURIOSITY WITH AGE 
 
 Curiosity has so many forms, and the impulse toward 
 the new so frequently alternates in children with the 
 love of the familiar, as shown in love for old stories, 
 games, etc., that the general course of development is 
 hard to trace. There are times when nothing but some- 
 thing new will satisfy the child, then again, he wants 
 nothing but the old, the familiar. Such changes, though 
 irregular, are frequent enough to suggest that curiosity 
 impels to the acquiring of a system of knowledge of 
 certain phases of the environment, then to a reaching 
 out after a new environment. Play and imitation make 
 the more obvious characteristics of this new territory 
 familiar ; curiosity then leads to a fresh excursion into 
 
172 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the new, but there is often a return to the old, which is 
 then reviewed in the light of the new experience. 
 
 Early in life, and whenever a new object is introduced, 
 the kind of curiosity or interest excited by the mere fact 
 of newness may be called empiricaL Later, the same 
 object excites curiosity, not because of the new sensations 
 or ideas it gives, but because of the desire to trace the 
 relation of some of its characteristics to those of other 
 objects. The curiosity or interest thus excited may be 
 called speculative or relational. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the curiosity of children 
 is largely empirical, partially because there are more 
 new things for them to experience, while adults who 
 have more knowledge to relate to whatever they per- 
 ceive are more concerned with speculative interests. 
 
 Before a child begins to talk, his interest is mainly in 
 getting new sensations and noting their relations; but 
 when the instinct of expression awakens, names for 
 experiences are sought in the constant question, " What 
 is that?" which is satisfactorily answered by a name. 
 After various objects and acts and the names for them 
 become familiar, the interest changes to their relations, 
 and the constant questions are: " What is that for.'* " (use), 
 and " How do you do that.?" or '* What do you do that 
 for } " (how and why). Again, for a time, interest goes 
 from objects and acts to their origin, and the constant 
 question is, " Where did that come from .? " Later, 
 *'Why.!*" questions predominate, but often with a little 
 different meaning. They refer less to subjective reasons 
 for doing a thing and more to common laws or general 
 truths, e.g. " It is dark because the sun has gone down." 
 Interest now is often concerned with the applications of 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 1 73 
 
 truths that have previously been learned. " Is the sun 
 down ? " — " No." — '' What makes it dark then.? " This 
 stage is reached in the third or fourth year. At about 
 this time every question regarding a general truth is 
 succeeded by another " Why ? " till the puzzled adult 
 reaches what the persistent little questioner accepts as 
 an ultimate reason, or the circle is completed and the 
 first answer is given, or in exasperation the child is told 
 to "keep still." 
 
 From the earliest days of taking notice, movements 
 and actions are the strongest stimuli to curiosity. This 
 remains true all through life, but investigation shows 
 that it is less so in the later than in the earlier years of 
 school life, and most so before entering school. Chil- 
 dren of two years use nearly twice as large a proportion 
 of action words as adults. Professor Shaw found that 
 in school the younger children, when asked to tell what 
 they thought when certain words were named, mentioned 
 actions more frequently than the older ones ; Barnes, 
 that they were more interested in the use of things ; 
 and I have found that if asked to give a list of words 
 younger children give more action words than older 
 children and adults. Vostrovsky found that actions were 
 prominent in children's own stories, and Kohler, that 
 they remembered the action of stories told them better 
 than descriptive details. 
 
 As to other interests, Vostrovsky found that in chil- 
 dren's stories names, appearance, time, place, and pos- 
 session are prominent; while Barnes found that in 
 history they questioned most about cause and effect, 
 who, why, personal detail, general detail, and least 
 about time and truth. 
 
1/4 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 As to objects of interest, various studies of children's 
 reading and of their spontaneous drawings indicate 
 that they are interested, in the earlier grades, in colors 
 rather than in form, and in animals and children rather 
 than in adults. 
 
 As to the mental powers appealed to, Barnes found 
 critical inferences most numerous at twelve and thirteen, 
 and Lindley, interest in reasoning and puzzles greatest 
 at twelve. 
 
 At about twelve, interest in history greatly increases, 
 as all studies of reading interests show, probably be- 
 cause history supplies in a representative form new 
 environment and experience, but more particularly be- 
 cause the social instincts direct curiosity to the study 
 of groups of people. A little later, moral and religious 
 questions have a great fascination, probably because the 
 regulative instincts are developing. ^Esthetic interest 
 also increases at this time. 
 
 Since curiosity is modified by every new instinct, 
 changes in curiosity may serve as signs of the develop- 
 ment of new instincts. Curiosity serves as a guide by 
 giving complete knowledge of everything connected 
 with satisfying the instinct that excites it. The boy's 
 interest in fables prepares him for wise action in the 
 pursuit of his individual ends, and the youth's historical 
 interest in groups of men, for performing his part as a 
 social being. 
 
 CURIOSITY AND EDUCATION 
 
 Long ago Plato said, " Curiosity is the mother of all 
 knowledge ; " but too often since then she has been 
 regarded as merely the mother of gossip and scandal. 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 1 75 
 
 The latter, however, are illegitimate children, resulting 
 from poor feeding and union with small and unworthy 
 passions. The legitimate offspring of curiosity are 
 interest, learning, science, and love of truth. 
 
 Children enter school as animated interrogation points, 
 and instead of having their mental hunger gratified, 
 they are stuffed with knowledge they have not asked 
 for, and required to answer instead of being led to ques- 
 tion, until their intellectual appetite is dulled and only 
 the most stimulating diet appeals to them. They are 
 led to study only by the desire for approbation, or by 
 some form of compulsion or reward. It is not the truth 
 they are after, but the words and acts that will satisfy 
 the teacher, hence the slightest change in her expres- 
 sion or tone of voice often leads them to modify their 
 statements. 
 
 Unfortunately, curiosity and interest, like play, are 
 often identified with amusement, by many teachers, when 
 as a matter of fact, healthy curiosity is one of the strong- 
 est stimuli to effort. Of the two ways of exciting 
 curiosity, that of giving new experiences by showing or 
 describing something never seen before, and that of 
 directing attention to unobserved qualities or relations 
 of familiar objects, the first is unfortunately the mode 
 more often used by those who try to interest children in 
 their lessons. In many cases, therefore, teaching has 
 become nothing more than the art of amusing. The 
 result is that all the sweetness is taken out of a subject 
 before there is anything of value learned about it, and 
 subsequent teachers find it almost impossible to interest 
 the children in these unpalatable and half -chewed mate- 
 rials. Not only has the delightful flavor of newness 
 
176 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 been removed from the subject, but the mental habit of 
 taking rich food instead of working for daily bread has 
 been cultivated, until in many ways the children are, 
 intellectually, pampered weaklings. Their curiosity is 
 aroused only by intellectual doses highly seasoned with 
 the new and marvellous, administered by teachers who 
 know of no other way of appealing to interest. 
 
 The old-fashioned discipline of rod and ferule, wielded 
 according to fixed rules, compelled the scholastic pris- 
 oners to learn their trade, and thus effective intellectual 
 workmen were often turned out, who had performed 
 difficult and unpleasant tasks till they had no thought of 
 hesitating at any drudgery. Unwise attempts to carry 
 out the imperfectly understood doctrine of interest have 
 developed intellectual laziness and repugnance to effort. 
 
 Properly understood and applied, however, the doctrine 
 of interest will emancipate, not enervate, children intel- 
 lectually. Just as a free laborer does a vast deal more 
 work than the most closely watched slave, and does it 
 with a pleasure and self-respect the slave can never 
 feel, so does the child, working under the stimulus of 
 interest, accomplish far more intellectually and morally 
 than the uninterested urchin who slaved at his task 
 under the watchful eye of the old-time teacher. 
 
 Interest that is educationally valuable is not that 
 which pleases and amuses (though a little such interest 
 is helpful, especially with young children), but that 
 kind of interest which causes effort to be put forth in 
 order to satisfy the hunger for knowledge. The real test 
 of interest is not how much pleasure do the children get 
 out of the study, but how much effort do they put forth 
 in pursuing it. Curiosity, like play, may be the stimu- 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 1 77 
 
 lus to an immense amount of what would otherwise be 
 drudgery. 
 
 The conditions most favorable for rendering curiosity 
 a strong motive to effort are (i) the perception of the 
 relation of what is being studied to familiar and interest- 
 ing experience and knowledge, (2) receptivity to the 
 kind of knowledge being gained because it is suited to 
 the stage of development the individual has reached. 
 Many other things are helpful, but these are the most 
 important essentials. How to bring about the first 
 condition is the problem of psychology and pedagogy, 
 while the second condition can only be secured through 
 child-study investigations. 
 
 The purposes of education must determine what shall 
 be taught; psychology, how or in what order subjects 
 shall be taught, that each subject and part of subject 
 may form a basis of interest for the next ; while child 
 study must say when and how certain teaching shall be 
 given, in order that the natural curiosity and interest of 
 each age may be utilized. The teacher should use her 
 skill in associating studies with the child's instinctive 
 tendencies at the time, and with his more recent activi- 
 ties, that there may be no lack of natural, healthy 
 interest regarding every subject as it is pursued. 
 
 If properly appealed to, curiosity alone is a sufficient 
 motive for the invasion of every fresh field of knowledge ; 
 while imitation and play will supply the practice and 
 drill necessary to insure continued possession of it. 
 These instincts may very properly be supported by 
 others, especially the desire for approbation in the 
 earlier years, the pleasures of competition, and the 
 desire for results, in the later years of school life. 
 
178 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1 . Has the search for scientific truths usually been carried on in 
 order that they might be directly applied in practical life, or merely 
 that the truth may be known ? Mention some such truth that has 
 proved useful. 
 
 2. Give illustrations of knowledge of environment, gained by 
 yourself or by children through mere curiosity, that will prove or 
 has proved useful later. 
 
 3. Illustrate how stronger or newer stimuli excite curiosity. 
 
 4. Give examples of children who are especially curious regarding 
 certain objects, acts, or lines of thought. 
 
 5. Give illustrations of the relation of curiosity (a) to other 
 instincts, (d) to past experience. 
 
 y/ 6. Illustrate from your own experience or observation how 
 
 increase in knowledge develops new phases of interest. 
 
 7. Show bow interest may be increased through new experience 
 gained by enlargement of mental environment, without changing 
 one's location. 
 
 8. Illustrate further how increased knowledge of familiar things 
 has increased the interest of yourself or of others. 
 
 y 9. Give illustrations of children's interest (a) in the old, (d) in 
 
 the new, (c) of fresh interest in the old, after study in other lines. 
 / 10. Can you determine what were the causes of your interest in 
 
 certain kinds of reading at different ages ? 
 
 11. Give instances in which children seek to give the answers the 
 teacher wants, rather than to find out and state the truth. 
 
 12. Illustrate what children will sometimes do of themselves in 
 the way of investigation and study when curiosity is excited. 
 
 13. Give illustrations of how teachers may or have connected 
 topics with recent experiences and interesting activities outside of 
 school. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On curiosity as an instinct, see Lindsay, Mind in the Lower Animals^ 
 pp. 252-256 ; Ribot, Psychology of the Emotions^ pp. 368-379 ; 
 Groos, Play of Animals^ pp. 214-222; Morgan, Comparative 
 Psychology, pp. 297-298. 
 
ADAPTIVE INSTINCTS — CURIOSITY 1 79 
 
 For researches and discussions of the interests of children, read, 
 besides the observations on infants, Barnes, Studies in Ed., 
 Vol. I, pp. 15-17, 43-52, 83-93, 203-212, 222-227, Vol. II, 
 pp. 338-351 ; Shaw, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. II, pp. 152-167; Taylor, 
 Ped. Sent., Vol. V, pp. 497-511 ; Laing, Ed. Rev., Vol. XVI, 
 pp. 381-390; Wissler, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. IV, pp. 139-146; Ped. 
 Sein., Vol. V. pp. 523-540 ; Clapp, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. XLIV, 
 pp. 799-809 ; Griffith, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. IV, pp. 285-287 ; O'Shea, 
 Ch. S. Mo., Vol. II, pp. 266-278, or N. E. A., 1896, pp. 873- 
 881 ; Luckey, N. E. A., 1897, pp. 284-288; N. W. Mo., Vol. 
 VII, pp. 67, 96, 133, 156, 221, 245, 306, 335 ; Harrison, Child 
 Nature^ chap, ii; Compayre, Vol. II, pp. 17-28. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE jl'ia^>• 
 I. Moral Instincts p.lfh 
 
 PREPARATORY STAGE OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The child's instincts are nearly as independent of 
 each other as are individuals in the social organism. 
 Each instinct stimulates to action for its own gratification, 
 just as each man seeks his own interests. The indi- 
 vidual in society learns that certain actions are undesir- 
 able, because they result in other persons performing 
 acts that are unpleasant to him. Out of such experi- 
 ences grow the laws governing society. The child finds 
 that some instinctive acts are more pleasurable than 
 others, or that one kind of act interferes with another, 
 and thus learns to regulate his conduct. He is also 
 impressed less directly with their undesirability by the 
 attitude of other people. For example, a child who was 
 drinking water in such a way as to get his dress wet, 
 said, " I don't care if it does run down on me." Mamma, 
 " But I care ; it isn't nice, and if you do it any more I 
 shall take your glass away." Child, " I won't do it any 
 more then, never." 
 
 The child is at first neither moral nor immoral, but 
 unmoral. He is acting according to his natural instincts 
 when biting and striking his mother as much as when 
 he is hugging and kissing her, and no more. In both 
 
 i8i 
 
1 82 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 cases he acts as his instincts and feelings prompt, 
 and to him one act is just as good as the other. Expe- 
 rience, however, soon teaches him that one kind of act 
 brings pleasant results in the way of approbation and 
 favors, while the other brings him disapprobation and 
 perhaps punishment. He thus learns that some acts 
 are better than others. " Better," however, means to 
 him merely more pleasurable in results to himself, not 
 morally better, for of that he has no conception. He is 
 not kind or cruel in a moral sense, neither is he truthful 
 or untruthful, honest or dishonest ; but he readily learns 
 to be whichever secures him the most advantages. 
 
 What habits of action he shall form, or what he shall 
 come to regard as right or wrong, is wholly a matter of 
 experience and training. The law of his nature at this 
 time impels him to conform to his environment in such 
 a way as to get as much pleasure and as little pain as 
 possible. For about a dozen years this individualistic 
 law of life holds almost complete sway ; hence this is 
 the period during which the child is naturally unmoral. 
 It is distinctively a preparatory stage of moral develop- 
 ment ; yet it is not for that reason any the less important. 
 The foundations of a future less individualistic and more 
 altruistic moral life are being laid. 
 
 MORAL TRAINING DURING THE PREPARATORY STAGE 
 
 In this stage should be developed: (i) regularity of 
 physical and mental processes, (2) the consciousness 
 that it pays to do right, (3) the tendency to inhibit im- 
 pulses, (4) to endure hardships, (5) to wait for future 
 good, (6) to take pain before pleasure, (7) to seek the 
 satisfaction of higher instincts, (8) to form right habits, 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 83 
 
 (9) to act from increasingly higher motives, (10) to form 
 right ideals, (11) to obey, (12) to exercise self-control. 
 
 (i) Since regulation of action is an important phase 
 of moral training, and since unconscious actions influ- 
 ence conscious choices, the preparation for a moral life 
 may begin in infancy. The foundations of morality 
 should be laid by the development of regularity in the 
 more or less unconscious organic processes of sleep- 
 ing, eating, and eliminating waste materials from the 
 body. Parents should therefore seek to establish regu- 
 larity in these respects, not only as a condition of health, 
 but as a solid basis for the development of a stable, 
 moral character. 
 
 (2) As soon as the infant notices the results of his 
 actions, consciousness may be utilized in the develop- 
 ment of moral habits and the acquisition of moral truths. 
 In doing this one must see to it that right actions are 
 followed sooner or later by pleasurable results to the 
 child, and wrong actions by disagreeable results, be- 
 cause both blind instinct and acute intelligence impel 
 to the repetition of actions having pleasurable results, 
 and the avoidance of those whose results are painful. 
 The child should come to realize that most fundamental, 
 though not the highest, of moral truths, " It pays to do 
 right." 
 
 (3) The first step in self-control may be taken by get- 
 ting children to inhibit, for a short time, organic and 
 instinctive impulses. An assuring word that causes a 
 child to stop crying for food till preparations for giving 
 it to him are completed, may become a sign to him that 
 if he is quiet his wants will soon be satisfied, and the 
 time of waiting may be gradually lengthened. Care 
 
l84 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 must be taken, especially at first, that the interval be- 
 tween assurance and satisfaction is short, or crying will 
 be renewed, and the word intended to quiet will become 
 instead the signal for a period of crying. The cry of 
 the infant is a most useful, instinctive mode of obtaining 
 parental help, but its function is to attract attention of 
 parents, rather than to force them, by its continuance, 
 to respond. The latter function is, however, very read- 
 ily taken up if a long period of crying is allowed to pre- 
 cede the satisfaction of wants. Moral development is 
 promoted by getting the child to inhibit the crying 
 impulse as soon as possible, by quieting words and 
 prompt relief, if they are to be given at all. 
 
 (4) Repressing impulses and doing disagreeable tasks 
 should also be encouraged by desirable results follow- 
 ing such actions. The child who can be induced to 
 stop crying when hurt, face danger when afraid, or to 
 continue carrying a heavy load when tired, by desire 
 for the approval he will get as a " brave boy," is gaining 
 in moral development. When a child can be induced 
 to put forth effort to control self or accomplish any task 
 through the desire to satisfy the competitive instinct by 
 winning, he is also developing morally. If, however, 
 he gains advantages over another, not by effort, but by 
 yielding to the natural impulse to cry and fret about the 
 success or advantages of others (as when jealous), there 
 is a development of undesirable impulses instead of 
 control, and the effect is demoralizing. 
 
 (5) As children grow older they should learn that it 
 often pays to delay the gratification of an impulse for a 
 time, in order that a greater pleasure may be experienced 
 later. " If you eat now you can have bread only, while 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 85 
 
 if you wait until dinner is ready you may have other 
 things." '' If you will keep quiet till I get through, you 
 may then look at this and ask as many questions as you 
 wish." " If you do not buy candy to-day but save your 
 pennies, you can get a doll next week." " If you rest 
 awhile and wait till the others are ready, I think you 
 will enjoy your game more." 
 
 (6) " Work before play and pain before pleasure!' 
 is a good motto. If a disagreeable task is to be per- 
 formed or pain suffered, in connection with a pleasure 
 or reward, it is always better to have the pleasure or 
 reward last, since anticipation Ughtens the pain and 
 effort, perhaps even making the act pleasurable, while 
 the pleasure afterward is enjoyed all the more because 
 of the effort by which it was obtained. If the order is 
 reversed, pleasure is lessened by dread, and pain increased 
 by thought of previous pleasure. If every child were 
 led to form the habit of enjoying reward only after 
 earning it, the world would be vastly happier and 
 better. The pampering and demoralizing tendency to 
 get what has not yet been earned, by going in debt, gam- 
 bling, or speculating, is the natural result of a childhood 
 that has been allowed to take the sweet first, then dodge 
 the bitter or to take it with much fussing and grumbUng. 
 
 (7) The conscious states or motives preceding action, 
 as well as those succeeding, are significant from the 
 dawn of volition, and increasingly important as an essen- 
 tial element in moral acts. As. soon as an action be- 
 comes purposive rather than blindly impulsive, the aim 
 is the satisfaction of some instinct. Since the kind of 
 instincts whose satisfaction is most sought, determines 
 in a large measure the moral character of an individual. 
 
1 86 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 it is important that the habit of seeking to satisfy the 
 higher instincts should be developed as far as possible 
 even in early childhood. If a child chooses to gratify 
 the higher social impulse of desire for approval by 
 offering the best to others, instead of gratifying the 
 lower individualistic impulse to take the best for himself, 
 he is forming a most excellent moral habit. If, however, 
 his desire for approval leads him to say what he does 
 not believe, in order to secure the favor of others, the 
 effect is demoralizing. 
 
 (8) It must never be forgotten that the formation of 
 habits is the important thing in the preparatory stage of 
 moral development, since they will ultimately determine 
 motives and ideals. If none but the lowest motive will 
 produce right action, that motive should be appealed to 
 in order that the right action may be performed. Again, 
 no motive, however high, should be appealed to, if it is 
 certain to fail to call forth right action, because the 
 separation of habits and ideals thus produced is sure to 
 disintegrate moral character. The general rule to be 
 followed is, be sure to secure right action even if a low 
 motive must be appealed tOy but always appeal to the 
 highest motive that will be effective. If children are 
 forced, without arousing too much antagonism on their 
 part, to do as they should for a sufficient length of time, 
 the tendency to act in that way becomes stronger than 
 to act in any other way. They also come to take pleasure 
 in doing what they have developed a tendency to do, 
 though at first it was not agreeable. On the other hand, 
 if matters are so arranged that right doing always has 
 pleasanter results than wrong doing, right actions are 
 consciously chosen and more quickly become habitual 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 8/ 
 
 Moral progress is measured, not only by increase 
 in the number of right acts, but by increased tendency 
 to perform acts from higher motives. A child who is 
 polite for a long time, through fear of punishment, may 
 remain polite because of the social advantages thus 
 secured. Later, he may be polite to one outside of his 
 circle from the kindly motive of encouraging him, or 
 from a genuine feeling of brotherhood. In this, as in 
 other cases, a habit formed from a low motive may 
 make it possible for a higher motiye to be effective. 
 On the other hand, the habit of politeness may be more 
 quickly and firmly established by appeal to the imitative 
 instinct and the desire for approval. 
 
 (9) In general, the motives to action may be ranked 
 as follows : the pleasurable, as higher than the dis- 
 agreeable of the same general kind, and the instincts 
 to be satisfied, in this gradation — individualistic, adap- 
 tive, parental, social, regulative. Of course some forms 
 of each of these instincts are higher than some in a class 
 above them, for instance, the social desire for approba- 
 tion is not only lower than the social desire to be helpful 
 to others, but also lower than the parental desire to care 
 for children ; hence the ranking given above is subject 
 to many changes, according to the form of each instinct 
 involved. 
 
 Any substitution of a lower motive for a higher that 
 has hitherto been effective, is demoralizing. A man is 
 therefore degraded by voting his party ticket for money 
 or by receiving pay for granting justice. Personal ser- 
 vice is often unjustly regarded as one of the lowest 
 occupations, probably because those engaged in it are 
 supposed to be actuated wholly by individualistic motives, 
 
1 88 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 in performing acts that are, in their nature, social 
 Keeping a boarding-house is not dishonorable, but it is 
 often hard for one who has hospitably entertained friends 
 a great deal, to receive guests for pay, without feehng 
 that she is in part doing for a lower motive what she 
 has been in the habit of doing only for a higher motive. 
 Ministers, doctors, and teachers are retrograding morally 
 if they are thinking more of the pay they are to receive, 
 and less of the good they are trying to do. Mechanics 
 and merchants are advancing morally as they think 
 more and more of doing their work well and of render- 
 ing good service to the world. 
 
 Undoubtedly, most acts are performed from mixed 
 motives, but usually one stands out in the individual's 
 mind as the controlling factor. When an individual 
 is consciously acting from a high motive, it is either 
 insulting or degrading to try to make a lower one 
 prominent in his consciousness. To offer for social 
 favors similar favors is all right, but to let another 
 understand that he will gain financially by social favors 
 or by philanthropy is either insulting or demoralizing. 
 
 To impute a higher motive to an act that is really 
 being performed from a lower, is sometimes almost 
 equally bad in its effects, because the individual is often 
 thus led to believe that he is really acting benevolently, 
 when his act is wholly selfish. Men who pay a low price 
 for a good supper, therefore, often pride themselves on 
 their benevolence to the church or other cause. 
 
 (lo) Ideals are helpful in childhood in forming habits, 
 but are not usually strong enough to be depended upon 
 to produce right action, except as they are founded on 
 well-established habits or supported by expectation of 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 89 
 
 desirable consequences. For example, a little girl, with 
 clear ideals as to being helpful, thoughtful, and pleasant, 
 and a genuine desire to be so, rarely holds herself to 
 those ideals a whole day, but did so for over a week, 
 when she thought a promised hammock was not likely 
 to come till she had been pleasant for some time. Un- 
 conscious habits of right action, as well as pleasurable 
 results of acting from higher motives, are important 
 factors in the building of effective moral ideals. The 
 training given in the preparatory stage should not be 
 concerned so much with the formation of conscious 
 ideals, which at this time are usually very changeable, 
 as with the habits and feelings that underHe them and 
 make them prominent and effective forces in the next 
 stage of moral development. 
 
 (11) Obedience, which is regarded by many as the 
 chief virtue of childhood, is important not for its own 
 sake, but for what it involves. It necessarily involves 
 inhibiting and controlling impulses of all kinds, and 
 produces habits of acting according to law. This is 
 important, since in a state or an individual any kind of 
 government or law is likely to be better than anarchy. 
 These advantages result only when the one who enforces 
 the obedience is entirely consistent, for otherwise the 
 advantages of occasional inhibitions are neutralized by 
 the fact that no settled habits of action are formed. 
 
 Obedience to personal authority is in reality con- 
 forming to a more or less artificial environment, and 
 it fits for a useful and effective life in proportion as 
 this artificial environment, which inflicts pain and pleas- 
 ure for the various acts performed, is in accordance 
 with natural laws and moral ideals. If it results in 
 
IQO FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 making good acts painful and evil ones pleasurable, 
 and in hatred for law, it is distinctly demoralizing in 
 its effects, as is also the case when only lower motives 
 for obedience are appealed to. If, on the other hand, 
 the personal authority is consistent and natural, so 
 that obedience involves little more than conformity 
 to the natural environment of the child, the effects 
 are decidedly good, because right habits are more 
 quickly and effectively developed, and natural results 
 that would be too intangible or remote to be effective 
 are made real and immediate by substitution. Authority 
 should prevent the child from performing acts whose 
 consequences would be very serious or fatal. If they 
 are immediate, but not serious, he should be warned, 
 then allowed to perform the act and receive the natu- 
 ral consequences. For example, a child should not 
 be prevented from touching something hot, but he 
 should not be allowed to eat poison. 
 
 The person who exercises authority is also an impor- 
 tant addition to the child's environment, and exercises 
 great influence for good or ill by his personality, as 
 well as by the way in which he exercises authority and 
 calls attention to higher or lower motives of conduct. 
 
 (12) It should be clearly recognized by every one in 
 authority that obedience is only a means to an end, 
 the end always being self-control. Strict control by 
 another, till habits of action are formed, is often, 
 for a young or perverted child, the best preparation 
 for self-control, for it makes his habits his aUies, so 
 that he has what he lacked before — the power of 
 controlling himself. Arrest of development, however, 
 always results if the power of self-control is not given 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 191 
 
 a chance for exercise soon after it is developed. Au- 
 thority should enforce obedience in one field of action 
 after another, and then leave the child free to control 
 the field that has been conquered. Obedience is a 
 temporary and immature virtue, which becomes mature 
 and lasting only when it grows into free self-control, 
 by appropriating outer laws and making them inner 
 standards of conduct. 
 
 TRANSITION STAGE OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 Up to about twelve years of age the moral condition 
 is almost wholly the result of environment and train- 
 ing. These may make the child into the semblance 
 of an angel or an imp, yet he can be neither. He is 
 not essentially good or bad, because though his actions 
 have that form, they have not that spirit. Every action 
 is the result of an impulse, a habit, or a choice, that 
 has for its end the pleasure or advantage of self in 
 some way. This is the one law governing the child's 
 conscious action, whatever instinct or motive is in- 
 volved, and however remote or concealed the advan- 
 tage to self may be. If well trained, the child has 
 learned to find his pleasure in acts of politeness and 
 kindness, and if ill trained, in rudeness and cruelty; 
 but in either case the action is fundamentally for his 
 own ends, not for the good or hurt of another. 
 
 With the dawn of pubescence, however, a new instinct 
 — the parental — emerges. In its very nature this in- 
 stinct impels to action for others rather than for self. 
 The inner law that says, " Act for yourself," is now for 
 the first time opposed by the law that says, "Act for 
 others." The choice is no longer merely between possible 
 
192 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 advantages for self, or ways of getting them, but between 
 acting for self or for others. Kind and selfish acts are 
 now, for the first time, morally kind or selfish, for they 
 represent the free choice of actions for self or for others. 
 The individual has begun to live the life, not merely of 
 the individual, but also of the race. 
 
 If he has been prepared for this by cooperative games 
 in which he acts for the good of the group rather than 
 for his own exaltation, and if his training has been such 
 that he already has the habit of acting for the advan- 
 tage of others, then there is no break in the moral 
 progress. Figuratively speaking, the parental instinct 
 infuses Ufe into the moral mechanism, the wheels revolve 
 more rapidly, and the engineer begins to direct its course 
 according to his own judgment, instead of merely obey- 
 ing orders or following impulses. The youth is no longer 
 merely an individual, but one of the world's forces, and 
 he feels the obligation, not merely to live, but to do. It 
 is no longer himself and the world, but himself as a part 
 of the world. He begins to feel as never before his 
 own responsibility for that self. The old impulse to get 
 all he can for self is partially replaced by the impulse 
 to be all that he can for himself and to do all that he can 
 for the world. 
 
 This is the age of idealistic imitation and of ideals. 
 Works of art, heroic lives, and rehgious ceremonies take 
 on a new meaning. Ambitions and ideals are no longer 
 dependent on the immediate environment, but the most 
 beautiful, noble, and high are chosen from the larger 
 world of history, literature, and art. In the earlier 
 stage of this wider life, the most attractive ideals are 
 frequently very crude. Boys are most appealed to by 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 93 
 
 action, power, and courage; hence not merely history, 
 but all kinds of stories of adventure in which marvels 
 of skill and bravery are shown are their delight. Such 
 types of character are sometimes imitated regardless of 
 the moral character of the actions in which they appear. 
 
 With girls, there is something of the same attraction 
 toward the strange and wonderful, but the more passive 
 virtues of love and devotion under trying circumstances 
 are most interesting ; hence romantic stories are much 
 in favor with girls at this age. 
 
 This is a period of change in attitude toward ideals, 
 which are for a while often contradictory and variable. It 
 is a time of transition from personal authority to abstract 
 law, during which there may be considerable lawlessness, 
 especially in cases where control has been entirely ex- 
 ternal. The rules of the game and the unformulated rules 
 imposed by the customs and public sentiment of the class, 
 school, gang, or society, are usually observed with the 
 greatest care. The social customs of polite society and 
 fashion in dress are often first despised and flagrantly 
 violated, then respected and most slavishly followed. 
 Laws of state come to be regarded in a different light, 
 and principles of morality take on an entirely new mean- 
 ing. Laws of all kinds are viewed, not simply from the 
 standpoint of personal interest, but as a part of the 
 larger life of the world now revealed. 
 
 MORAL TRAINING IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD 
 
 There can be no moral action where the individual 
 does not have the chance to choose for himself ; hence 
 if genuine morality develops at this period, it must be 
 through self-direction. The second essential is plenty 
 
194 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 of ideals for imitation ; the third, good companions ; and 
 fourth, wholesome public sentiment in school, class, and 
 social circles. 
 
 (i) Self -direction does not mean that no authority 
 shall be exercised over the youth, but that the authority 
 shall not be merely a person arbitrarily dictating and 
 enforcing what the youth shall do. Personal authority, 
 however valuable in a previous stage, especially in the 
 early years, must now be relaxed, and example and 
 advice, preferably in the form of suggestion, substituted. 
 There is never a time when personal authority of parents 
 and teachers counts for so little, and personal character 
 for so much. Arbitrary authority is ridiculed, evaded, 
 defied, or shame-facedly yielded to as unworthy the 
 developing man. At the same time the youth is a 
 most ardent hero-worshipper and imitator of what to 
 him is ideal. 
 
 Commands and rules should be based on general 
 principles, and should not be numerous or cover minute 
 details of conduct. This is the time of all others when 
 outer laws should be adopted as inner standards of 
 action, and are likely to be, if they are founded on broad 
 general principles and prepared for by previous training. 
 
 Under wise guidance, this is also a favorable time for 
 giving practice in making and executing laws, or, in 
 other words, for the introduction of some measure of 
 self-government. At this age, when personal authority 
 is losing its power, when the attitude toward law is chang- 
 ing, and when principles of action for life are being 
 chosen, nothing will help more in producing regard for 
 laws and a feeHng of obligation to obey them than expe- 
 rience in making and executing them. Responsibility 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 95 
 
 of some kind in which the youth has perfect freedom of 
 choice, but must take the consequences, is the kind of 
 freedom needed, rather than that in which he is free 
 to choose, but is at the same time shielded from the 
 results of his choice. 
 
 (2) The ideals, early in this stage, must be personal. 
 Reading is the great source of them at this time, espe- 
 cially for boys. Nearly every boy, however, finds one 
 or more heroes in his local environment, usually in an 
 older man or sometimes in a woman. Some of these 
 may be partial ideals, as of strength or skill or beauty 
 or knowledge ; but one is likely to be a moral ideal, the 
 embodiment of all that is noble and worthy. Girls are 
 almost sure to find some such ideal in an older woman, 
 and often the feeling inspired is not unlike that felt 
 later for a lover. 
 
 The choice of such personal ideals by youths and 
 maidens cannot readily be directed and controlled, and 
 one can only hope that it will be fortunate. The actions 
 of such chosen demi-gods and goddesses are often, un- 
 consciously to themselves, the source of keenest joy and 
 grief to their admirers, whose whole future life is not 
 infrequently moulded by them. 
 
 Training in the choice of moral ideals is best given 
 by presenting instances of heroism and virtue in history 
 and story, and dwelling on them long enough to stir 
 admiration but without any preaching. Formal state- 
 ments and discussion of general principles of morality 
 are also often valuable as giving youths clearer and 
 better standards of action. Care must be taken not to 
 interfere with freedom of choice by exhortation and 
 urging; for in their very nature ideals must be freely 
 
196 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 chosen by the individual because they appeal to some- 
 thing within him, and not because somebody else finds 
 them good. The teacher's art consists in presenting 
 them in a form likely to be attractive. If principles of 
 conduct are stated by a hero, or given as having been 
 practised by a hero, they are more Ukely to be accepted. 
 Every youth should have opportunity and encourage- 
 ment to do something toward carrying out his ideals. If, 
 to do so, he must sacrifice self to some extent, all the 
 better. This is preeminently the time for developing 
 altruism in deed as well as in thought. The youth 
 should now attain to the higher stage of doing right 
 even when it seems sure not to pay. 
 
 (3) Companions, especially chums, are chosen by 
 youths and maidens themselves, and only incidentally can 
 the educator determine these choices. Boys more often 
 have a group of companions, and girls a single chum, 
 with whom they wish to be every moment while the 
 intimacy lasts, which may be for days or for years. 
 Associations with these companions may exercise greater 
 moral influence on young persons than association with 
 adults. 
 
 (4) The public sentiment of school and class, which 
 may be regarded as an emanation from companions, 
 is to some extent under the control of the wise teacher. 
 He should not only know what it is, and make use 
 of it in governing the school, but he should mould it 
 into a finer and nobler form. The general moral 
 tone of a neighborhood, a school, or a society should 
 also be one of the most important considerations in 
 placing a youth, for nothing more surely determines 
 his future character. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS -- REGULATIVE 197 
 
 II. Religious Instincts -;^.4/- 
 
 PREPARATORY STAGE OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The credulity and trustfulness of children, and their 
 dramatic and symbolic tendencies during the period of 
 childhood, make it possible to impart to them the 
 forms of any religion. Any kind of religious instruc- 
 tion, especially that which involves observing and taking 
 part in religious ceremonies during childhood, leaves a 
 permanent impression upon the mind and heart. The 
 theological beliefs taught may later be utterly rejected 
 by the intellect, as are fairy and ghost stories ; but the 
 forms, phrases, and ceremonies still stir the heart. 
 
 It is perfectly evident that there can be no compre- 
 hension of abstract theology during this period, though 
 some sort of crude doctrine or cosmology is needed to 
 satisfy the child's questions regarding causes and reasons. 
 That the deeper religious feelings cannot be aroused 
 during childhood is less evident, but scarcely less cer- 
 tain. The child has great capacity for fear and faith, 
 which are important elements in reverence and wor- 
 ship. He also has a strong tendency to love whatever 
 brings him pleasure. What he lacks is the vital element 
 of religion in its higher form, the impulse to self- 
 surrender — the spirit that says, " Do with me as thou 
 wilt." Every instinct of the child says, " Do for me as 
 I wish, and I will love and serve thee." This sentiment, 
 however, is not greatly different from much of that 
 shown forth in the Old Testament, though it is from 
 the deeper sentiment of the Old and New Testament; 
 and of the sacred books of other great religions. 
 
198 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 RELIGIOUS TRAINING IN CHILDHOOD 
 
 The training should not be predominantly intellec- 
 tual, for the child is incapable of forming abstract reli- 
 gious conceptions, and the ideas that he does form are 
 almost sure to change later. An element of mystery 
 in forms and ceremonies also makes them far more 
 fascinating and impressive to the child than any acts 
 which he thinks he understands. In general, there- 
 fore, training during this period should be of the heart 
 rather than of the head, and perhaps even more of the 
 hand, i.e. a training in doing, or, in other words, taking 
 part in religious forms. 
 
 The training must vary according to the kind of 
 religion for which the child is being prepared. As a 
 preparation for all kinds of religion, however, the moral 
 training previously described and the cultivation of the 
 spirit of reverence are distinctly helpful. 
 
 The religious training of Catholics is a most admi- 
 rable preparation for that religion which is based on 
 authority. The large number of symbols and the cere- 
 monies suggesting unexplained mysteries, in which the 
 children take some part at stated times, are woven into 
 their life in a way that makes them an indestructible 
 part of it.. They are thus prepared for accepting what- 
 ever is taught by the embodiment of all this mystery — 
 the church and its priests, who are beings apart from 
 other men. 
 
 The reHgious training of Protestantism is often far 
 less effective, because it seeks to be more intellectual 
 and to teach absolute truths instead of symbols of 
 unexplainable mysteries. It appeals far less to the 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 1 99 
 
 symbolic and dramatic tendencies of childhood, which 
 are then strongest. Authority of person or book is 
 the basis of teaching, because most of what is taught 
 cannot be brought within the child's experience. Since, 
 however, religion is usually taught as a personal 
 matter, reason is continually appealed to. The child 
 is almost compelled to think and feel, if taught that 
 not the things he does, but his mental states when 
 doing them, are the important factors in religion. In 
 thus ignoring the strongest instincts of childhood (sym- 
 bolic and dramatic tendencies), and in enforcing author- 
 ity while appealing to reason and in trying to make the 
 child subjective instead of objective. Protestantism has 
 a difficult task, and it is a wonder that it succeeds as 
 well as it does. The changes needed to make Protes- 
 tant reUgious instruction more effective during this 
 period are, on the negative side, to cease trying to give 
 children much theological instruction at this time or to 
 make them consciously and subjectively religious, and 
 on the positive side, to give more opportunity for chil- 
 dren to take part in whatever religious forms and cere- 
 monies are practised, to inculcate reverence for sacred 
 things, and to develop moral habits. 
 
 For this period, the cruder and more objective reli- 
 gion of the Old Testament, and some of the narratives 
 of the New Testament, are far more suitable than the 
 finer and more subjective teaching of Christ and his 
 apostles and of the psalms. Few stories in all litera- 
 ture can be compared with those of the Old Testament 
 as instruments of moral and religious instruction, and 
 their moral value remains whatever belief is held re- 
 garding their origin and literal truth. 
 
200 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Without entering into details, the great thing in reli- 
 gious training before twelve years of age is not to 
 make children religious in the fullest sense of the 
 word, but to prepare them for becoming religious by 
 cultivating feelings and habits that will be in accord- 
 ance with the religious impulse when it is felt. In 
 doing this, religious conceptions should be left in a 
 crude, plastic form, that they may be moulded to fit 
 the broader life of the individual, instead of having to 
 be torn out of the mind and replaced by others, to 
 which early feelings and habits do not so readily attach 
 themselves. 
 
 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS AWAKENING 
 
 During the adolescent period, when the dawning 
 parental instincts impel the youth to act not merely for 
 self, but as a part of the world and for the good of 
 the world, he is driven to consider not merely laws, 
 people, and institutions, but also the Power and Intelli- 
 gence that lies back of it all. At this stage, when 
 idealistic imitation is so strong, and impulses of self- 
 sacrifice are stirring the nature of the youth, the Supreme 
 Ideal of power, wisdom, and goodness can scarcely fail 
 to attract him and arouse aspiration and devotion. 
 The vital breath has come, and this is the time of all 
 others for the development of genuine rehgion ; hence 
 it is not strange that this is the period during which 
 by far the larger number of people become consciously 
 religious. Space does not permit a full treatment of 
 this topic, hence it must be omitted, or studied in the 
 references cited below. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 201 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Give illustrations of difference among various nations and 
 among different children, as to ideas of right and wrong. 
 
 2. Should children be allowed to do a great deal of lunching 
 between meals ? Why ? Mention several habits not usually con- 
 sidered moral, that may be a basis for moral action. 
 
 3. Illustrate how children may be taught that it pays to do right. 
 
 4. Is there any moral value in having a child wait until others 
 have been served at the table ? Why ? Illustrate further how the 
 power to inhibit impulses may be developed. 
 
 5. Have hard work and difficult games a moral value ? Why ? 
 Give specific illustrations. 
 
 6. Do children's savings banks have any moral effects ? Why ? 
 
 7. Is there a good psychological basis for the custom of having 
 dessert at the close instead of at the beginning of the meal ? A 
 teacher said, " I will read you a good story, then I shall expect you 
 to study very hard the rest of the afternoon." Was she wise ? 
 Why? 
 
 8. A little girl ate very slowly because she did not wish a visitor 
 to think her greedy. What instinct was uppermost in that case ? 
 Give other examples of the conflict of instinctive impulses. 
 
 9. Mention some cases in which you think it best to get right 
 habits of action even by means of low motives, and other cases in 
 which higher instincts may be aroused. 
 
 10. Indicate whether the following acts were elevating or degrad- 
 ing morally, (a) Mrs. Burnett, when a little girl, would not say a 
 certain name was pretty, though she thought the lady asking her 
 would be very much hurt if she did not. (d) A boy took from a 
 dish the largest and reddest apple before passing it to a visitor. 
 (c) A little girl who carefully covered a younger sister who had 
 fallen asleep was, upon the return of her parents, given ten cents by 
 her father. The next time her parents went away she got her little 
 sister to lie down and be covered, hoping to get another ten cents. 
 {d) People who have been very hospitable, frequently after their 
 neighborhood has become a summer resort, show kindness to 
 strangers for pay only. 
 
 Children who are working well in school are sometimes offered a 
 
202 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 valuable prize for the best work. Is the effect the same when the 
 prize is money as when it is opportunity for further study ? 
 
 What is the effect of offering a half holiday for good attendance? 
 What of offering a treat such as candy ? 
 
 Sometimes a child is induced to tell of the misdemeanors of others 
 by threats of punishment or offers of reward, and in other cases the 
 attempt is made to get a child to tell by showing him that the good 
 of the school makes it necessary. What is the moral effect in the 
 two cases ? 
 
 Bring up for discussion other cases of substituting or mixing of 
 motives, and the moral effects of the same. 
 ^^ II. Illustrate the fact that ideals, only, cannot usually be depended 
 
 upon to govern the actions of young children. 
 
 12. Give instances in which natural results are best for children, 
 and others in which authoritative punishment or reward is best. 
 
 Give illustrations of temporary authority leading to self-control 
 and of too long continued authority leading to arrest of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 13. Report from your own experience or observation changes in 
 feeling and attitude toward moral questions early in the teens. 
 
 14. Describe the results of experiments in self-government of 
 which you have known, also the effects of having to bear responsi- 
 bility of any kind either at home or in school. 
 
 15. Recall as many as you can of the moral ideals that you 
 formed from the people around you or from reading. 
 
 16. Give illustrations from experience or observation of the moral 
 influence of companions upon a child. 
 
 17. Indicate some of the ways in which sentiments of honor, 
 truthfulness, and kindness, or other sentiments, may be developed 
 in a school. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On moral and religious instincts and their prominence at puberty, 
 see Marshall, chaps, ix, x, and xiv ; Chadbourne, chaps, xi and 
 xii; Ribot, pp. 289-377; Leuba, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VII, pp. 
 309-385; Coe, Trans. III. Ch. S. Soc, Vol. Ill, pp. 97-io8; 
 also " The Spiritual Life," Gale,/r. C/t. and Ad., September, 1900, 
 pp. 17-25 ; Jr. Ch. rt«</^df., January, 1902 ; Starbuck, Psyctwlogy 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — REGULATIVE 203 
 
 of Religion, or Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, pp. 268-314; James, 
 Varieties of Religious Experiences ; Dawson, Ped.Sem., Vol. IV, 
 pp. 221-258, and Am.fr. Psych., Vol. XI, pp. 181-224; Stanley, 
 Psych. Rev., Vol. V, pp. 254-278. 
 
 On early moral and religious development and training, see Com- 
 payre. Vol. II, chaps, v and vi ; Harrison, chaps, iv, vi, vii, and 
 viii ; Wiggin, pp. 141-165 ; Sully, chaps, vii and viii ; Chrisman, 
 Ch. S. Mo., Vol. Ill, pp. 516-528; Van Liew, N. E. A., 1899, 
 pp. 551-559; also Malleson, Winterburn, and Proudfoot. 
 
 For investigations of children's moral and religious ideas, see Barnes, 
 Studies in Ed., Vol. I, pp. 270-271, 299-300, 332-337, 344-35 1? 
 366-367, Vol. II, pp. 62-70, 203-217, 283-307, 308-313, 323-337 ; 
 Schallenberg, Ped. Seni., Vol. Ill, pp. 87-96; A. G. Spencer, 
 Century Mag., Vol. XIX, p. 238 ; Barnes, Ed., Vol. XVIII, pp. 
 387-395? Vol. XIX, pp. ,72-75 ; Osborn, Ed. Rev., Vol. VIII, 
 pp. 143-146; Sears, Ped Sem., Vol. VI, pp. 159-187; Street, 
 Ped. Sem., Vol. V, pp. 5-40; Brockman, Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, 
 pp. 255-273 ; Swift, Ped. Sein., Vol. VIII, pp. 65-91 ; Sud- 
 borough, N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 327-333; Hall, Am. 
 Jr. Psych., Vol. Ill, pp. 59-70; Kline, Ped. Sem., Vol. X, 
 pp. 239-266. 
 
 On moral and religious training, see Adler, Moral Instruction of 
 Children ; Forbush, The Boy Problem ; Koons, 7^he Child''s 
 Religious Life; Hall, Am.fr. Psych., Vol. Ill, pp. 59-70; Ped. 
 Sem., Vol. II, pp. 72-89, Vol. VIII, pp. 439-469; Luckey, 
 N. E. A., 1899, pp. 127-136; De Garmo, N. E. A., 1894, pp. 
 165-173; Dinsmore, N. W. Mo., Vol. X, pp. 74-80; Spencer, 
 Education, chap, iii ; White, School Management, chapter on 
 "Punishments"; V^olfe, N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 431-435 ; 
 Hinsdale, Studies in Education, Chap. ii. 
 
 See also Morrison, fuvenile Offettders ; Royce, " The Social Basis 
 of Conscience," N. E. A., 1898, pp. 196-204. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — VARIOUS RESULTANT / , 
 INSTINCTS AND FEELINGS / ' 
 
 THE COLLECTING INSTINCT 
 
 This instinct is clearly manifested in both animals and 
 men. When food and materials for nests and homes 
 are collected and used or stored for future use, the act 
 is of advantage to the individual, and often to the spe- 
 cies, as a means of preserving the young. When, how- 
 ever, objects of all kinds are collected and hidden or 
 stored and played with, as is the case with many kinds 
 of animals, there appears to be nothing of immediate 
 value gained by the act. It seems as if the usefulness 
 of certain acts of collecting has led to an unspecialized 
 tendency to collect objects of all kinds. 
 
 In human beings the instinct is very strong, and as a 
 result not only have we museums of all kinds, but nearly 
 every individual has at least one collection of some sort. 
 
 This instinct unites with other instincts in a way that 
 makes it impossible to determine its actual strength. 
 The amassing of wealth, which is an indirect way of 
 collecting food and shelter for self and descendants, is 
 probably often due as much to the blind impulse to 
 busy one's self in collecting, as to the desire for money 
 and what it will buy. The instinct is often associated 
 with the play instinct, since the objects collected are 
 
 205 
 
206 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 frequently an important source of amusement. Curios- 
 ity not infrequently contributes to the impulse, as does 
 also the tendency to construct. The aesthetic tendencies 
 are also often gratified in the objects collected and their 
 arrangement. 
 
 In children the instinct is manifested to some extent 
 in the second year, especially in connection with play; 
 sticks, stones, etc., being collected and kept as play- 
 things. It continues all through life, and varies not so 
 much in intensity at different ages as in the objects 
 with which it is concerned and the conscious motives 
 with which it is associated. In children, especially 
 when there is no conscious motive for the act, the im- 
 pulse is extremely variable. Objects of a certain kind 
 may be collected and guarded with the greatest eager- 
 ness, as if life depended upon their possession, then in 
 a few days, or perhaps a few hours, they may be aban- 
 doned, thrown away, or destroyed. The sight of some 
 one else appropriating objects, or anything that suggests 
 the idea of securing possession of objects, is sufficient 
 to awaken the collecting impulse, while the awakening 
 of another interest changes the form of the impulse or 
 causes its disappearance for the time being; yet en- 
 tirely useless collections of glass, stones, etc., are some- 
 times preserved for years. 
 
 When the instinct is associated with some other in- 
 stinct, such as the individualistic, the competitive, the 
 imitative, the aesthetic, or that of curiosity, the impulse 
 manifested in a certain line in childhood may continue 
 for months or years, or even all through life. Thus a 
 passion for collecting may develop into love of money 
 or even miserliness, or into love of winning in any kind 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 20/ 
 
 of contest, or into the pursuit of an artistic or a scientific 
 career. 
 
 The elements that make collections, or objects in a 
 collection, desirable are, according to the reminiscences 
 of Barnes's pupils, variety, quantity, rarity, beauty, and 
 personal association or ownership. The reasons given 
 for making collections are emulation, imitation, pleasure 
 of ownership, and of classifying or arranging. 
 
 The instinct has already been utilized to some extent 
 in school, but there are undoubtedly much more exten- 
 sive and fitting uses yet to be made of it. The educa- 
 tional value is not so much in what is collected as in 
 the physical, mental, and volitional activity called forth 
 directly or indirectly while collecting. 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTIVE INSTINCT 
 
 The general tendency to construct things is largely 
 the outgrowth of that form of the parental instinct which 
 causes suitable places to be prepared for the shelter and 
 protection of the young. Some constructions, however, 
 are means of promoting individual ends, such as obtain- 
 ing food or shelter for self, e.g. webs by spiders, holes 
 by ground-hogs. In animals the tendency does not seem 
 to be generalized, but is manifested only in constructions 
 that are characteristic of and useful to the species. In 
 man, however, there seems to be an impulse to construct, 
 independently of any end to be gained. 
 
 From the time the child begins to pile up sand or 
 blocks, through the ages when boys construct tools and 
 dig caves, and men design temples, bridges, business 
 blocks, and balloons, the constructive instinct is promi- 
 nent. There is a peculiar pleasure accompanying these 
 
208 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 acts of construction, perhaps because one feels and per- 
 ceives in concrete form the evidence of his power to do, 
 to modify and change. 
 
 The destructive tendency is probably only a modified 
 form of the constructive, for it gives the same evidence 
 of power to change. The destruction or displacement 
 of something is also often merely a preliminary to the 
 construction of something else of the parts or frag- 
 ments that are being made. Children frequently break 
 or take apart complex toys and make some crude thing 
 in which they take great pleasure. 
 
 The constructive instinct naturally associates itself 
 with the adaptive instincts of imitation, play, and curi- 
 osity, with the aesthetic and expressive . instincts, and 
 sometimes with various other instincts and motives. 
 
 Imitation and suggestion are the natural stimuli to 
 this impulse. Like other forms of play, it needs to be 
 spontaneous and free. Definite directions as to what 
 shall be constructed, and how it shall be done, often 
 effectively inhibit the constructive impulse. 
 
 The order of development of the impulse is from the 
 more concrete and tangible to the more immaterial and 
 symbolic. Making things, therefore, naturally pre- 
 cedes making pictures of them or compositions about 
 them. In general, the manual element is naturally 
 most prominent in early constructions, and the artistic 
 and literary, in later. At present, children are often 
 guided and drilled in artistic and literary creation be- 
 fore they care much about that phase of construction, 
 and are not given sufficient opportunity for manual 
 work till many of them have partially or wholly lost 
 their interest in making things. 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 209 
 
 THE .ESTHETIC INSTINCT 
 
 The biological value of this instinct is not easily dis- 
 cerned. It is most satisfactorily explained as a result- 
 ant tendency rather than as a primarily useful instinct. 
 The idea that insects select flowers that are beautiful 
 for fertilization, and hence such flowers survive, and 
 that females select the mates most beautiful in appear- 
 ance and action, and thus promote the development of 
 the beautiful, leads to the rather absurd conclusion that 
 all the beauty of organic life is the result of the good 
 taste of the lower animals. The more reasonable view 
 is, that the quaHties of plants or animals that attract in- 
 sects and mates, or favor avoidance of enemies, are pre- 
 served by natural selection. In other words, the useful 
 survives. It becomes agreeable according to the gen- 
 eral law of accommodation by which every organ of every 
 animal comes to respond in the most favorable way to 
 every impression that is often repeated. Leaves and 
 grass are green because the elements favoring plant 
 growth give them that color, and green is pleasant and 
 restful to the eye because in the course of ages the 
 eye has become accommodated to green. For a similar 
 reason we find grace and beauty in nearly all forms of 
 life and action. 
 
 Although the aesthetic reaction is in a large measure 
 playful (the product of the excess of life above what is 
 necessary to its maintenance), yet it is always closely 
 associated with the useful from which it has evolved. 
 Anything suggesting want of equilibrium or strength 
 fails to appear beautiful because such objects have not 
 been useful, and hence not numerous and permanent 
 p 
 
2IO FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 enough to result in favorable accommodation to them. 
 Symmetry and a position in accordance with the law of 
 gravity are therefore universal elements of beauty. For 
 similar reasons harmony of parts and unity of the 
 whole is a universal requisite of beautiful objects. 
 The elements of beauty that are associated with uni- 
 versal laws of existence and permanency are therefore 
 responded to in approximately the same way by all 
 nations of people. 
 
 Those that are associated with local characteristics 
 and customs, on the other hand, are responded to dif- 
 ferently by each nation, tribe, and community. For 
 example, the peculiar blues of Scandinavian art are not 
 so much enjoyed by people of other countries where 
 they are rarely found in nature. Our music, also, is as 
 painful to the Chinese as is theirs to us. 
 
 Recent experiences make wonderful changes in the 
 aesthetic reaction. Even in the same community the 
 beautiful sleeves or hats of last year are "horrid" a 
 year or two later. What is common for temporary 
 reasons, as well as what is common because constantly 
 useful, comes to be regarded as beautiful ; hence beauty 
 is in part a matter of style or custom. 
 
 Since the experience of each individual differs from 
 that of every other, each person has also, in a measure, 
 his own standards of beauty. Purely personal associa- 
 tions aroused by an object sometimes have more influ- 
 ence upon one's judgment than the more universal and 
 fundamental elements of beauty. 
 
 Standards of beauty are therefore partially determined 
 by universal laws of use and beauty, partially by local 
 surroundings, customs, and style, and partially by indi- 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 211 
 
 vidual peculiarities of temperament, experience, and 
 training. 
 
 The aesthetic instinct is closely connected with several 
 other instincts. Whenever certain forms of the play 
 impulse are clearly marked, either in animals or chil- 
 dren, there is good reason for believing that there is a 
 crude form of aesthetic appreciation. This is especially 
 true of all playful exhibitions by animals, of form, color, 
 movement, and voice, by which they and their compan- 
 ions, especially mates, are pleased. Such acts of show- 
 ing off and of adornment are common among all savage 
 tribes and are very characteristic of children. 
 
 The aesthetic impulse is thus a form of the play in- 
 stinct and closely associated with the parental and social 
 instincts. It is not less closely associated with the rhyth- 
 mic, dramatic, constructive, and expressive instincts. 
 The joy of doing always culminates in the pleasure 
 of contemplating the beauty of the product or the per- 
 formance. The impulse to express mental states also 
 reaches its climax when the expression itself is beautiful. 
 
 The development of the aesthetic impulse is greatly 
 influenced by the development of the instincts with 
 which it is associated. It cannot, therefore, reach its 
 deepest and broadest development until after puberty. 
 In early childhood the aesthetic sense is largely sensory; 
 color, sound, and rhythm being the most effective stimuH. 
 Beauty of form, harmony, and unity become more im- 
 portant as the mind develops and standards are formed 
 by habit and training. Colored pictures and those with 
 subjects interesting to young children therefore appeal 
 more to them than the most artistic black and white 
 pictures. 
 
212 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Vocal skill and auditory appreciation develop much 
 earlier than manual skill and visual appreciation (except 
 in the case of colors). Children enjoy rhythm, melody, 
 and the act of singing much sooner than they ap- 
 preciate symmetry of form, unity of design, and the 
 power to make beautiful forms. Lancaster's investi- 
 gations show that, on the average, great musicians 
 achieved their first success at nine or ten years of age ; 
 while artists have not obtained corresponding success 
 until about eighteen years of age. 
 
 That the aesthetic instinct should be developed is 
 admitted by all, but there is difference of opinion as to 
 the best method. Should only the highest art be shown 
 children, even though they do not appreciate it, or 
 should they be allowed to revel in bright colors and 
 sharp contrasts until their aesthetic appreciation be- 
 comes less crude ? It is of no use to place before them 
 high art that excites no interest or feeling, and, on the 
 other hand, continued association with crude and imper- 
 fect art develops wrong standards. Nature gives the 
 best models because universal laws of beauty are shown 
 in every flower, leaf, and twig. Other models for chil- 
 dren should be chosen: first, because they exemplify 
 fundamental laws of beauty ; and, second, because they 
 have qualities that will attract the attention and arouse 
 the interest of children. Great works of art that appeal 
 to children because of their color, or the subject repre- 
 sented, will mould their taste ; while those that fail to 
 attract their attention will have little or no influence. 
 Care should therefore be taken that pictures in the 
 schoolroom are both artistic and interesting. 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 213 
 
 THE MIGRATORY INSTINCT 
 
 In its primitive form this instinct is probably nothing 
 more than a manifestation of the general tendency to 
 act so as to increase or get more of a favorable stimulus 
 already received. At a certain season of the year, sal- 
 mon, for example, experience bodily changes preparatory 
 to the production of young, that cause them to move so 
 as to get into an environment more and more favorable 
 to their present bodily state as regards temperature, 
 chemical condition, etc. The result is that after many 
 days they find themselves in the fresh water where 
 their eggs were deposited the year before. After the 
 breeding season, movement in the opposite direction 
 is more favorable, and the ocean again becomes their 
 home. 
 
 This is the fundamental form of the instinct which 
 makes every animal, including man, experience an im- 
 pulse to migrate when, through changes in himself or 
 his surroundings, he is out of harmony with his environ- 
 ment. The impulse is felt in the spring by nearly 
 every one in a greater or less degree. Some persons, 
 such as tramps, pioneers, and travellers, never become 
 so firmly settled and accommodated to any environment 
 that they do not yield to the migratory impulse. 
 
 Children of two or three years nearly always have a 
 period of running away. Later, the impulse to play 
 truant from school or to leave home often comes, and 
 is frequently acted upon without conscious purpose or 
 reason. The impulse is especially strong during the 
 period of adolescent changes, and if there is not actual 
 running away there is at least a strong desire to travel. 
 
214 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Special causes of discontent often bring on or increase 
 such impulses. 
 
 THE RHYTHMIC INSTINCT 
 
 The universal tendency to rhythm in action may b& 
 considered under the head of instinctive tendencies, 
 though it is really an organic and automatic tendency 
 even more fundamental than an instinct. 
 
 Rhythm is a marked feature in physical phenomena 
 as well as in plant and animal life. In man, all bodily 
 processes are rhythmic, and all repeated movement 
 tends to take a rhythmic form. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that consciousness is rhythmic. There are 
 rhythms of attention, activity is followed by rest, and 
 one emotional extreme is succeeded by its opposite. 
 Consciousness even makes rhythmic what is objectively 
 without rhythm, as when continuous and uniform beats 
 of a metronome are heard as rhythmic beats. 
 
 The more instinctive form of the rhythmic tendency 
 is shown in the impulse to produce rhythmic move- 
 ments and sounds, and to appreciate or respond in a 
 particular way when such rhythms are produced by 
 others. Both of these tendencies are manifested in the 
 first few months of life. The tendency remains much 
 the same all through life except that the rhythms be- 
 come more complex. The rhythm of conversation, 
 music, and poetry is often appreciated long before 
 the other elements of which they are composed. 
 Mother Goose rhymes and some of Tennyson's finest 
 poems are enjoyed by children for exactly the same 
 reason, i.e. their rhythmic character. Many games also 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 21$ 
 
 owe their charm to the opportunity they afford for 
 rhythmic sounds and movements. 
 
 RELATION OF INSTINCTIVE ACTIONS TO FEELINGS 
 
 In general, an instinct, as Professor James says, is a 
 tendency to act; and an emotion, a tendency to feel. 
 Since most instinctive actions are at least occasionally 
 accompanied by feeling, there is an emotion for every 
 instinct. Every emotion has also its appropriate bodily 
 expression which varies somewhat from the correspond- 
 ing instinctive action. 
 
 The tense muscles, labored breathing, pale or flushed 
 face, quickened heart beat, and irregular movements 
 of anger are only partially reproduced in the purely 
 instinctive movements of fighting. The act of fighting 
 is exhilarating and pleasurable, while anger, especially 
 when it takes the form of irritation and hate, is rather 
 painful and depressing. Anger appears whenever an 
 action of any kind is interfered with, as is clearly shown 
 in young babies. The resulting irregular, varied, and 
 vigorous movements often overcome the interference, 
 and fighting movements are probably the result of the 
 selection of the most favorable of these. When the 
 stimulus to action continues without the obstruction 
 being removed, irritation or sullenness and smouldering 
 hate of the cause of the interference are likely to 
 result. 
 
 Jealousy and envy are produced by the sight of an- 
 other enjoying the pleasures of a loved being or object. 
 These emotions seem to be experienced by nearly all 
 species of animals and are usually especially promi- 
 
2l6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 nent in children. The tendency to them remains 
 strong all through life, but is suppressed and covered up 
 by training and social convention. 
 
 Humorous emotions are, in nature and cause, the oppo- 
 site of those of anger. Instead of interference with activ- 
 ity, when the sense of humor is aroused there is a sudden 
 opening of a channel of free activity. Any sudden stimu- 
 lus giving rise to playful movements is likely to arouse 
 the emotion in young children and perhaps in animals. 
 The delight of children in " peek-a-boo," and in all play 
 in which there is a sudden transformation that may be 
 accompanied by movements of laughing, jerking heads 
 away, running, etc., indicates the early rise of this 
 emotion. When a child of less than two suddenly turns 
 his head away from the one he has offered to kiss, and 
 runs off laughing, the presence of humor is unmistak- 
 able. In general, humor is the result of a more or less 
 serious form of physical or mental reaction being sud- 
 denly converted into a playful form. Naturally, there- 
 fore, humor and pathos are often associated, and " there 
 is only a step from laughter to tears." Humor is a 
 permanent emotion, as play is a permanent instinct, 
 but it is stronger in childhood than in old age. The 
 stimuli to humor, like the forms of playful activity, 
 vary greatly with age. The child's humor is often 
 nonsense to the adult, and the adult's, incomprehensible 
 to the child ; but whenever they can play together they 
 meet on a common basis. 
 
 The emotions of awe and reverence are accompani- 
 ments of reactions which involve little or no movement 
 because there is no movement suited to the stimulus 
 which arouses them. The object arousing the emotion 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 217 
 
 is impressive but not exciting, and there is no fitting 
 motor response except the more or less complete 
 inhibition of movement. It is related to that form of 
 the fear instinct in which safety is gained by keeping 
 still; but the object is less definitely fearful, and is 
 attractive rather than repulsive. 
 
 RELATION OF FUNDAMENTAL STIMULI TO FEELINGS 
 
 There are many kinds of stimuli that have affected 
 the development of mind in animals and men from the 
 earliest ages. Heat and cold, fire and frost, light and 
 darkness, the clouds and heavenly bodies, water and earth, 
 trees and flowers, birds and animals, heights and depths, 
 open and closed spaces, feathers and fur, eyes and 
 teeth, etc., are some of the more or less constant stimuli 
 that mould mind in the race and the individual. A 
 large amount of data regarding the feelings and ideas 
 excited by these phenomena of nature has been col- 
 lected from folklore, reminiscences of adults, and obser- 
 vation of children, under the direction of Dr. Hall. 
 This material is very interesting and suggestive, but 
 exceedingly diverse. This is probably to be expected, 
 since the favorable or unfavorable character of these 
 phenomena varies with the species concerned and with 
 various conditions, surroundings, and experiences of 
 the species and the individual. Thus water or fire may 
 be fascinating to one, terrifying to another, and tranquil- 
 lizing to a third, or each of these to the same individual, 
 when appearing in special forms. 
 
 It is evident also from the descriptions, and from well- 
 known laws of association, that many of the emotions 
 excited by these stimuli are the result of early experi- 
 
/ 
 
 2l8 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ences of the individual with such stimuli, or of the 
 influence of the words and actions of adults in connec- 
 tion with them. It is utterly impossible from the studies 
 thus far made to say how far these mental states or 
 " psychoses " are due to hereditary racial experiences 
 and how far to individual experiences in connection 
 with social heredity. 
 
 The nature and development of the emotional life of 
 man can never be understood till we have learned more 
 regarding the universal effects of instinctive actions, 
 and of the more constant and universal stimuli, upon 
 mental activity and feeling. Many years must elapse 
 before such knowledge can be obtained. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1 . Report full details of one or more collections that you have 
 made. Give some specific illustrations of the way in which the col- 
 lecting instinct may be utilized in education. Are ready-made col- 
 lections of as much value as pupil-made collections ? Is it of any 
 advantage to children to make scrap-books? 
 
 2. A boy of four worked a considerable part of two days con- 
 structing a tool box out of laths, and a very restless little girl worked 
 steadily for two hours sewing on a dress for her doll. What does this 
 indicate ? Give a number of illustrations of ways in which the con- 
 structive instinct may be utilized in the different grades in the school. 
 
 3. Report instances where children have been greatly affected by 
 what they regarded as very beautiful or ugly. Mention various 
 ways in which the aesthetic impulse may be cultivated directly and 
 indirectly in school. 
 
 4. Give illustrations from your own experience or observation of 
 J the strength of the migratory instinct. May mental changes be made 
 
 to take the place of physical ones, e.g. imaginary journeys for real 
 ones? Illustrate. 
 
 5. Give illustrations showing the strength of the rhythmic ten- 
 dency, and show how it may be utilized in school. 
 
VARIOUS INSTINCTS 219 
 
 6. Give illustrations of the instinctive basis of various emotions. 
 
 7. Reminiscences and observations regarding the influence of light 
 and darkness, and perhaps of other stimuli, should be reported. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On children's collections, read Barnes, Studies^ Vol. I, pp. 144-146 ; 
 C. Frear Burk, Ped. Sem., Vol. VII, pp. 179-207 ; Groszmann, 
 Jr. Ch. and Ad., April, 1901, pp. 377-385. 
 
 On the constructive instinct, see Small, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XI, 
 pp. 152-153 ; and on its use in education, see Dewey, The School 
 and Society. 
 
 On aesthetic feelings, see Ribot, pp. 328-367 ; Scott, " Sex and 
 Axi,'''Am.Jr. Psych., Vol. VII, pp. 153-226; Harris, N. E. A., 
 1897, pp. 330-338; Chamberlain, pp. 173-189; Sully, chap, ix ; 
 Brown, "Art in Education," N'. E. A., 1899, pp. 112-121. 
 
 On migratory impulses, see Kline, Ped. Sem., Vol. V, pp. 381-420; 
 A?n.Jr. Psych., Vol. X, pp. 1-8 1 ; Dinsmore, N. W. Mo., Vol. 
 IX, pp. 183-186; Brooks, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LII, pp. 784-798. 
 
 On rhythm, see Bolton, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VI, pp. 145-238 ; Sears, 
 Ped. Sem., Vol. VIII, pp. 3-34; Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIII, 
 pp. 28-61. 
 
 On various Impulses and feelings, see Burk, " Teasing and Bullying," 
 Ped. Sem., Vol. IV, pp. 336-371 ; Bolton, "Hydro-Psychoses," 
 Ajn. Jr. Psych., Vol. X, pp. 169-227; Hall, "Tickling and 
 Laughing," Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. IX, pp. 1-41 ; Hall and Smith, 
 "Reactions to Light and Darkness," Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIV, 
 pp. 21-83 ; Hall and Brown, " Fire, Heat, Frost, and Cold," Ped. 
 Sem., Vol. X, pp. 27-85 ; Hall and Wallin, " How Children and 
 Youth Think about Clouds," Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 460-506 ; 
 Ellis, " Fetichisra in Children," Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 205- 
 220; France, "Gambling Impulse," Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIII, 
 pp. 364-407; Chamberlain, chap, vii; Small, "Methods of 
 Manifesting the Instinct for Certainty," Ped. Sem., Vol. V, 
 PP- 313-380 ; Phillips, "The Teaching Instinct," Ped. Sem., 
 Vol. VI, pp. 188-245 \ Arnett, "Origin and Development of 
 Home and Love of Home," Ped. Sefn., Vol. IX, pp. 324-365 ; 
 Lindley and Partridge, "Some Mental Automatisms," Ped. 
 Sem., Vol. V, pp. 41-60. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTINCTS — THE EXPRESSIVE ^ 
 INSTINCT / 
 
 ORIGIN, NATURE, AND FORMS 
 
 This instinct belongs with the resultant and miscel- 
 laneous group because it owes its origin to various other 
 instincts. Expression is a means of frightening enemies, 
 and communicating with friends regarding food and 
 danger, consequently it has been developed in the 
 attainment of individual, parental, and social ends. 
 
 In the lowest animals, expression, so far as there is any, 
 is accomplished by means of feelers or antennae (notably 
 in the case of ants), but in higher animals the chief means 
 used are sounds. Most mammals and birds have from 
 two or three to a dozen different calls which are appro- 
 priately responded to by others of their species. In 
 man, the expressive instinct reaches its highest devel- 
 opment because of his social nature and the perfectness 
 of his vocal organs, and also because of the complexity 
 of the mental states to be expressed. Instinctive 
 emotional expression and expressive gestures are so 
 effective that savages, without a word of artificial lan- 
 guage in common, can communicate more accurately 
 than any of the lower animals. 
 
 Man is not limited, however, to the language of natu- 
 ral signs. Every race has formed an artificial language 
 
 221 
 
222 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 of arbitrary symbols. Animals, on the other hand, have 
 no artificial language, and only a few of them can use 
 such language even in an imitative way. In man, the 
 need for such a language is so great, and the instinct of 
 expression so strong, that children who had never heard 
 any language would probably form a crude one suited 
 to their needs. The fact that children who hear but 
 little spoken language sometimes, as Horatio Hale has 
 shown, form a language of their own, is evidence of this. 
 Many children also invent new words, notwithstanding 
 the fact that they continually hear a fully developed 
 language. 
 
 Since any means by which the mental state of one 
 being is expressed to another is a language in the broad 
 meaning of the term, words may be tactual, motor, or 
 visual, as well as auditory ; and ideas may be expressed 
 in the permanent form of some constructed object or 
 representation, as well as temporarily by sound, touch, 
 or gesture. Constructive activities of all kinds are 
 important forms of expression ; but we shall take 
 space to discuss in detail only the forms in most gen- 
 eral use, namely, (I) Oral Language, (H) Written Lan- 
 guage, and (HI) Drawings. 
 
 L Auditory Language 
 
 FACTORS CONCERNED IN ITS ACQUISITION 
 
 The fundamental factor is, of course, the expressive 
 insthuty and this is founded on a still more fundamental 
 organic tendency, i,e, the tendency to respond by move- 
 ment of some kind to every stimulus received. In the 
 purely expressive form of reaction the movements made 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 223 
 
 are not usually valuable in themselves, but because of 
 the movements they cause others to make. In a com- 
 plex being such as man, so many stimuli are received and 
 noted that the most economical form of response is 
 by means of a word for each different kind of stimulus, 
 whether object as "tree," or an organic state as "hunger." 
 Writing the word "tree" is simply a shorter and more 
 convenient means of indicating the object than would 
 be the act of going to one and touching it. The funda- 
 mental basis of vocal language is therefore to be found 
 in the tendency to respond by one kind of movement and 
 sound to each of several similar stimuli. The modes of 
 response that will fit the largest number of cases are 
 selected and developed into the words of an artificial 
 language; words, therefore, take the place of many 
 other forms of movement. 
 
 The next most important factor, in producing a vocal 
 language, is the imitative instinct. This leads to sounds 
 and gestures being responded to by similar sounds and 
 gestures. These naturally arouse corresponding ideas 
 in other persons, and are therefore often repeated and 
 learned. They are then used for other similar stimuli, and 
 thus they become words and a means of classification of 
 objects. The use of " tree " for certain kinds of objects, 
 "flower" for others, and "animal " for others causes the 
 common characteristics of each class to be noted more 
 carefully, and the general notion or concept of it is thus 
 perfected. Other symbols are used to indicate sensa- 
 tions and qualities as well as objects and acts. Often 
 they are also applied to analogous and associated objects. 
 Not only knives are "sharp," but pains, vinegar, and 
 wits. " Kitty " meant to M. not only the animal, but 
 
224 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 anything that was soft to the touch, and finally any. 
 thing that was pleasing. 
 
 In the case of a child surrounded by people speaking 
 a vocal language, imitation is the most important factor 
 in his language development. The child has continually 
 Jx^fore him examples of persons responding to stimuli 
 by words only, and the imitative instinct leads him to 
 respond in the same way. He is much more likely to 
 imitate a response than an original stimulus, though 
 sometimes the child who has not been taught the word 
 "dog," for example, will say "bow-wow" when he per- 
 ceives or pictures the animal ; but with equal opportunity 
 to hear a dog bark and hear the word " dog," he is likely 
 to adopt the sound used by others. For this reason each 
 child, no matter what his nationality, learns the language 
 he hears spoken. Deaf children are usually slow in 
 learning visual language as well as auditory; but not 
 so much because hearing is necessary to language learn- 
 ing as because they are deprived for many years of the 
 chance to imitate any artificial language. 
 
 The play instinct is another important factor in lan- 
 guage learning by children, especially at first. Before 
 learning to talk, and sometimes afterward, children fre- 
 quently use their vocal organs as playthings, and thus 
 develop their vocal centres in preparation for the pro- 
 duction of any sound they may subsequently have 
 occasion to use. Later, children often combine and 
 substitute words in various ways, as a matter of 
 amusement. 
 
 Necessity, which really means action for one's good, 
 or conformity to the fundamental individualistic instinct, 
 is another important factor in the individual language 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 225 
 
 development, as it was perhaps the chief one in the 
 development of language by the race. The child who 
 learns to understand words of warning or approval suc- 
 ceeds in avoiding various painful stimuli and in secur- 
 ing pleasant ones. Similar results come from ability 
 to indicate hunger, and objects of fear or desire. If a 
 child is helped to what he wants in response to the lan- 
 guage of natural signs, he is often slow in using conven- 
 tional language ; hence, it is sometimes well for parents 
 to refuse to understand the wants of children old 
 enough to talk until they try to express them in 
 words. 
 
 Another more obscure but very important factor in 
 acquiring language is the instinctive social tendency 
 to have sympathy and approval. This is also really a 
 phase of the expressive instinct itself. Children seem 
 especially desirous that others shall hear, see, and feel 
 what they do, as well as that they themselves shall have 
 the same experiences that others are getting. Lan- 
 guage is one means of sharing experiences, hence it 
 is used a great deal for that purpose. Children often 
 repeat over and over a statement to make sure it is 
 understood, and cease only when they receive assurance 
 by word or act that they have been understood. Lan- 
 guage is the chief medium by which the wider social life 
 is brought to the individual soul, and by which he infuses 
 his own mental states into the thoughts and feelings of 
 the group to which he belongs. All impulses to com- 
 municate, whether to engage in the most trivial gossip 
 or to give expression to the profoundest feelings and 
 thoughts, are the result of the social tendency to share 
 one's experiences with others of his kind. 
 
 Q 
 
226 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 STAGES OF LEARNING ORAL LANGUAGE 
 
 Instinctive Stage 
 
 The instinctive language which man has in common 
 with the lower animals is that of emotional expression. 
 He begins life with a cry and often ends it with a moan. 
 This language of natural signs is not learned by the 
 individual, but is instinctively understood and spoken by 
 all races. 
 
 At first the child has no cry except for pain, and little 
 or no variation in its cry to express the kinds of pain. 
 Soon, however, the cry of anger or the wail of disap- 
 pointment is differentiated from the cry of physical 
 pain. At about the same time, or a little later, other 
 cries, screams, gurglings, and cooings, suggestive of en- 
 ergy or pleasurable contentment, are made. Differentia- 
 tion in vocal expression probably proceeds more rapidly 
 than differentiation of the different forms of emotion, 
 since emotions are probably, in part at least, the result 
 of what is called their expression. 
 
 Children only a few months old are sensitive to 
 emotional expression of others, and may be soothed, 
 irritated, or depressed by appropriate tones of voice. 
 Vocal laughter, however, is sometimes rather late in 
 appearing in children and correspondingly late in being 
 understood. My own little girl was well along in her 
 second year before she laughed aloud, and until she 
 herself laughed, was disturbed and even frightened by 
 the sudden laughter of others. 
 
 Besides the purely instinctive language of emotional 
 expression, there is usually developed in the second 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 22/ 
 
 year. a more intellectual language, which prepares the 
 way for purely symbolic language. The child learns to 
 vary the tone of his grunts and squeals so as to express 
 fear, surprise, question, desire, satisfaction, and assent, 
 and he associates gesture with these variations in 
 tone. Soon, therefore, he can express, to one quick to 
 interpret, nearly all his feelings, ideas, and wishes. All 
 through life, tone of voice, emphasis, inflection, and 
 gesture continue to be effective aids in expression, and 
 important means of interpretation, especially of whatever 
 concerns the emotions. 
 
 Since the child's life is more emotional than intellec- 
 tual, this form of language is peculiarly appropriate in 
 communicating with him. After he begins learning 
 artificial language, the instinctive language of tone and 
 gesture remains an important means of communication, 
 and an effective aid in interpreting what is heard. A 
 child may be commended in tones that will make him 
 cry, or condemned in accents that will cause him to smile 
 with pleasure. 
 
 Playful and Imitative Stage 
 
 This stage of language learning does not take the 
 place of the preceding stage, but is added to it. Be- 
 ginning in the second quarter of the first year, it is 
 usually prominent for from one to several years. In 
 the second and third quarters of the first year, the vocal 
 organs of a child are his most important playthings. 
 During this period of babbling a child may make nearly 
 every sound in the language. 
 
 In the last quarter of his first year, babbling often 
 gives place to imitation, and instead of repeating chance 
 
228 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 sounds over and over, the child reproduces nearly 
 every sound that he hears. Sometimes this is done 
 almost automatically and with phonographic exactness. 
 In other instances the imitations seem to be more vol- 
 untary from the first, since the child keeps trying to 
 utter a word, with varying success, until he gets tired 
 or succeeds in speaking it satisfactorily to himself. 
 
 Sometimes this imitative stage is almost, if not en- 
 tirely, omitted, as was the case with M. The " da da," 
 or purely playful use of language, was very inconspicu- 
 ous in another of my children. One or more phases of 
 language learning are therefore sometimes omitted en- 
 tirely or subordinated to others. 
 
 Quite frequently the child imitates tone, inflection, 
 and rhythm before attempting to articulate separate 
 words. Sometimes so perfectly is this done that a 
 person in another room is led to believe that a con- 
 versation is being carried on. Evidently in such cases, 
 tone and rhythm are most impressive to the child, and 
 the motor adjustments for their imitation most easily 
 made. 
 
 Word-learning Stage 
 
 As soon as a child begins to utter sounds for some 
 other purpose than the mere making of them, the stage 
 of word learning proper is introduced. Frequently the 
 playful and imitative utterance of words is intermingled 
 with their use for a purpose, in a way that is rather 
 puzzling to adults. This word-learning stage may begin 
 in the first year, but is not usually very marked till the 
 last half of the second year. 
 
 Usually, children understand words before they speak 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 22g 
 
 them ; but in cases where the imitative stage is marked, 
 many words are uttered before their meaning is known. 
 The meaning of words applied to objects and acts is 
 learned by hearing them in connection with the percep- 
 tion of object or act; yet even these words are under- 
 stood not so much by their sound as by means of the 
 circumstances and the gesture or glance of the eye that 
 accompany the utterance of the word. It is therefore 
 difficult, before a child begins to talk, to tell what words 
 he really knows. He is often greatly puzzled by a familiar 
 word uttered without the usual suggestive conditions, or, 
 if they are present, some other word may have the same 
 effect as the right one. A child, who had often been 
 told to "lie down" when she sat up after being put to 
 bed, would lie down if the words " sit up " were sub- 
 stituted, but uttered in the usual tone of voice and 
 with the usual glance. 
 
 The child is always liable to associate a word with 
 a different characteristic from the one intended. To 
 one little girl, "chair" meant not so much the article 
 of furniture as the act of sitting, and to another, 
 "quack" meant not only a duck, but the water in 
 which it was seen. 
 
 Pronunciation of words which require very accurate 
 adjustment of muscles is a difficult task in the early 
 stages of word learning. The power to understand 
 words is usually more quickly gained than the power 
 to control the vocal apparatus. Some children do not 
 try to use words difficult of pronunciation till long after 
 the meaning is perfectly familiar to them. Thus M. 
 refrained from using " grandma " for about a year after 
 she knew the word. Most children, however, are not 
 
230 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 often deterred from trying to use words by inability to 
 pronounce them correctly. 
 
 The question of pronunciation is simply one form 
 of the general problem of how voluntary motions are 
 acquired. Some sounds, and especially some combi- 
 nations of sounds, are difficult of utterance for adults 
 as well as for children ; hence it is not easy to separate 
 the childish difficulties from other difficulties of the 
 language. A study of the first sound of all the words 
 used by children will show that words beginning with 
 certain sounds, such as thy r, are not so well repre- 
 sented as those beginning with other sounds, such as t 
 and b. This may be interpreted as showing that words 
 beginning with difficult sounds are avoided. To mean 
 anything, however, the prominence of those sounds in 
 adult language must be considered. A study of the 
 sounds mispronounced, especially of those at the be- 
 ginning of words, and of sounds substituted for those 
 presumably more difficult of pronunciation, therefore, 
 may be more significant. The difficulties, however, of 
 getting accurate records of children's pronunciations 
 (many of which are intermediate between sounds recog- 
 nized as elementary by adults) are so great that one does 
 not feel sure of the data. The errors and substitutions 
 change also with age, and vary greatly with individuals. 
 Presumably there is some law of variation with age 
 corresponding to the natural order in which the centres 
 controlling the vocal apparatus develop, though the 
 course of development must be greatly modified by indi- 
 vidual training and experience. Common observation 
 indicates that this order is from large, comparatively 
 free, to finer and more definitely controlled movements 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 23 1 
 
 involving accurate coordination of the several parts of 
 the vocal apparatus. The fact that sounds are difficult 
 not merely in themselves, but according to the sounds 
 with which they are associated, makes the question of 
 the natural order of development an exceedingly com- 
 plex one. 
 
 Habit and the relation of one centre to another also 
 modify the natural order, if there be one, to such an 
 extent that its determination is very difficult. As soon 
 as a new word is learned there is a tendency to assimi- 
 late other words to it ; hence the pronunciation of any 
 word is likely to be modified by some other word that 
 has recently been learned or often pronounced. Thus 
 Mrs. Moore's boy, who used ^'ama" for "grandma," used 
 "appa" for "papa," and after learning "baba" for "baby," 
 changed to **pa ba," and after using "be be" for " baby," 
 to "pape," and then finally to "papa." 
 
 Again, pronunciation is a matter of auditory percep- 
 tion and memory, as well as of motor development. As 
 a consequence, words are often mispronounced because 
 the child does not discriminate sounds accurately, and 
 still more often, because he discriminates sounds just as 
 they are pronounced by adults, instead of as they should 
 be. Most adults slur certain sounds, and the child 
 naturally reproduces only the accentuated portion of 
 the words he hears, or fills out the word with sounds 
 already familiar to him. For example, a child who had 
 been singing a familiar hymn suddenly stopped, and 
 said, "What is a consecrated cross-eyed bear, anyway?" 
 The first or last or most impressive syllable only of a 
 long word is often used because it is most noticed and 
 best remembered 
 
232 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 The rate at which children overcome the difficulties 
 in the way of learning to understand and pronounce 
 words becomes more, rather than less, marvellous as it 
 is studied. Records of children's vocabularies, which 
 have multiplied greatly within the last few years, show 
 that children of two or three years actually use more 
 words than adults were formerly supposed to use. 
 From thirty to a hundred new words a month is not 
 an unusual rate (of learning) after the acquisition of 
 language fairly begins. 
 
 Children rarely learn to walk and to talk at the same 
 time. When, as is usual, walking precedes talking, the 
 language-learning stage is not generally marked till the 
 last half of the second year. At two years of age a 
 child's vocabulary may not exceed a score of words ; 
 but is likely to number from two to four hundred, and 
 may reach the surprising figure of ten or fifteen hun- 
 dred. The rate of acquiring words between two and 
 four years of age varies with the degree of interest in 
 learning as compared with interest in combining words 
 already known, and with the waxing and waning of 
 interest in other forms of motor activity, such as walk- 
 ing or building with blocks. The child's vocabulary 
 may therefore increase very rapidly for a month or two ; 
 then remain almost the same for a time, while facility in 
 the use of the new words is gained, or while interest is 
 temporarily occupied with objects and acts, rather than 
 their names and descriptions. 
 
 As to the kind of words most learned by children, 
 close study shows that the supposition that nouns espe- 
 cially appeal to children, is wholly wrong. At two years 
 of age the proportion of nouns in children's vocabularies 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 233 
 
 is about the same as in the language, viz. 60 per cent ; 
 but the proportion of verbs is about 20 per cent, or 
 nearly twice what it is in the language. Adverbs are 
 also relatively more numerous than adjectives. These 
 facts harmonize with other studies, showing that chil- 
 dren are more interested in actions than in things. 
 Adjectives and verbs are often learned first, yet nouns 
 seem to predominate during the first months of speaking, 
 when the per cent may be 70 or 80. In reality, however, 
 the noun idea is not so prominent as this, for words that 
 in adult language are nouns are to the child verbs, or 
 else the distinction is not yet made. For instance, M. 
 used " bed " in the sense of lie down, just as we use *' dress" 
 to mean the act as well as the object. Prepositions also 
 are at first for the child nearly always verbs, " up " or 
 " down " signifying the act rather than the position. 
 
 Sentence-making Stage 
 
 Groups of words, e.g. "da 'tis" (there it is), are 
 sometimes learned before single words ; but words 
 learned separately are rarely combined until they have 
 been used separately for some time. The stage of 
 word learning gradually merges into the stage of word 
 combining, and a close observer will usually discover 
 that a time comes when a child is more concerned with 
 the combination of familiar words than with the learn- 
 ing of new words. This stage is apt to become promi- 
 nent in the third or fourth year. 
 
 The single words that a child uses are, in a way, 
 sentences, especially when expression is helped out by 
 tone inflection and gesture, e.g. " papa " means " Papa 
 
234 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 has come," " I want my papa," " That is papa," " Papa 
 will do It," ** I will give it to papa," etc. 
 
 An exact report of what a child just beginning to 
 combine words says, is surprisingly unintelligible to 
 one knowing nothing of the child, or, the circumstances 
 and tone of voice accompanying the words. Only that 
 portion of a thought that is accentuated or seems to 
 need statement is expressed in words — all the rest is 
 understood from the circumstances or expressed in some 
 other way, e,g. " Little story " means " Tell me a little 
 story." 
 
 Progress in sentence making is the result of three 
 processes: (i) the substitution of words for what is 
 understood or indicated by tone or gesture ; (2) analysis 
 of situations into separate elements which then are 
 expressed by words ; (3) increase of mental grasp so 
 that the relation of different elements to each other is 
 held in mind, and words selected and arranged to ex- 
 press that relation. 
 
 The shifting of interest and attention from the thing 
 to the actor or the action evidently calls attention to 
 the elements of a situation and leads to the attempt 
 to express the various elements and their relation. 
 Adverbs, adjectives, and prepositions are the result 
 of attempts . to express the less important phases of 
 thought and their relations, e.g. "Get bed papa" be- 
 comes later " I want to get in bed with papa." 
 
 Soon more complex relations are expressed by the 
 introduction of conjunctions and relatives so as to con- 
 nect clauses into complex sentences, e.g. " I will go and 
 see if papa is there." 
 
 The arrangement of words is determined largely by 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 235 
 
 imitation, but is also influenced by shifting of interest 
 and attention. Thus, a little girl said, " Eat, papa 
 apple," then a moment later when apple (as contrasted 
 with pear) was most prominent in her mind, she said, 
 ** Apple, papa eat," while at another time, when the 
 person was most thought of, she said, " Papa, eat apple." 
 
 Records of all sentences used by a child between two 
 and four, during an hour or more, taken at regular inter- 
 vals, show a marked increase in completeness, length, 
 and complexity of sentences, as is shown by the following 
 extract from such a record and the table on page 236. 
 
 Twenty-eighth month. ** More pencil " (I want the 
 other pencil); "Little story" (Tell me a little story); 
 " That all 1 " (Is that all .?) ; ** New cuff .? " (Is that a new 
 cuff.?) " Cracker want " (I want a cracker). 
 
 Thirty-fourth month. " Know where is my papa } " ; 
 " I want kiss baby " ; " No want to be dressed " ; " I 
 don't want to be dressed"; "Got some little birds on" 
 (said of a screen). 
 
 Fortieth month. " Baby want to get down run round 
 a little while" ; "I run back and forth " ; "No, I don't 
 want to run out in the hall " ; " Baby do like to have me 
 run in here, baby do " ; " He want me to run here." 
 
 Forty-sixth month. "This is a nice little kitty"; 
 " Don't you want to go down there and pat him } " ; 
 " Why don't you, he is nice and soft } " ; " He is afraid 
 sometimes " ; "I tried to catch him and give him to 
 you to pat him." 
 
 Contrary to all rules of grammar, most of the child's 
 first sentences have no subject, many are without an 
 assertive verb, while only a few are without an ob- 
 ject. The length of sentence is doubled in a few 
 
236 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 TABLE OF SENTENCES AND WORDS USED BY "M.' 
 
 Date 
 
 Age 
 
 Sentences 
 
 Compound Sentences . 
 Complex Sentences . . . . 
 Compound and Complex Sen- 
 tences 
 
 Clauses 
 
 Compound Subjects 
 Compound Predicates . 
 Compound Objects or Modifiers 
 Prepositional Phrases . 
 Infinitive Phrases . . . . 
 Assertive Sentences .... 
 Question Sentences .... 
 Command or Wish . , . . 
 Incomplete Sentences . 
 Subject Omitted . . . . 
 Assertive Verb Omitted 
 Object of Verb or Preposition . 
 
 Words 
 
 Nouns 
 
 Pronouns 
 
 Verbs 
 
 Adverbs 
 
 Adjectives 
 
 Prepositions 
 
 Conjunctions 
 
 Interjections 
 
 Different Words . . . . 
 
 Noxuis 
 
 Pronouns 
 
 Verbs 
 
 Adverbs 
 
 Adjectives 
 
 Prepositions 
 
 Conjunctions 
 
 Interjections 
 
 Nov. II, 1898 
 28 months 
 
 May 13, 1899 
 34 months 
 
 May 13, 1900 
 46 months 
 
 No. 
 
 o 
 
 lOI 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 2(8) 
 2 
 
 42 
 20 
 
 37 
 96 
 81 
 67 
 4 
 23s 
 91 
 12 
 
 53 
 20 
 46 
 
 9 
 o 
 
 4 
 
 107 
 
 SO 
 
 4 
 
 24 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 % 
 
 No. 
 
 100 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 lOI 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 42 
 20 
 
 37 
 96 
 81 
 67 
 
 4 
 100 
 38.7 
 
 5-1 
 22.5 
 
 8.5 
 19.5 
 3.8 
 o 
 1.2 
 
 574 
 46.7 
 
 3-7 
 22.4 
 
 6.5 
 
 15-8 
 
 1.8 
 
 •9 
 o 
 
 100 
 
 5 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 117 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 X 
 
 151(11) 
 
 17(2) 
 
 45 
 
 14 
 
 37 
 
 62 
 
 38 
 
 44 
 
 5 
 
 405 
 
 73 
 "3 
 137 
 
 32 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 130 
 44 
 15 
 41 
 10 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 No. 
 
 100 
 5 
 
 I 
 117 
 o 
 I 
 I 
 
 15 
 
 17 
 
 45 
 
 14 
 
 37 
 
 62 
 
 38 
 
 44 
 
 5 
 
 100 
 
 18 
 
 27.8 
 
 33-6 
 7.8 
 5-9 
 5.6 
 0.2 
 o 
 
 32.1 
 
 33-8 
 
 II-5 
 
 33.5 
 1-7 
 9.2 
 6.1 
 o 
 
 100 
 29 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 156 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 29 
 
 26 
 
 50 
 28 
 22 
 
 23 
 9 
 
 14 
 o 
 
 700 
 
 108 
 
 186 
 
 217 
 
 94 
 
 49 
 
 27 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 180 
 
 43 
 18 
 
 65 
 
 23 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 ^ Additional phrases partly expressed. 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 237 
 
 months, and complex and compound sentences appear 
 and increase in number, showing the rapid increase in 
 mental grasp or span of consciousness. 
 
 In changing words to indicate person and number, 
 and in arranging words in the right order, children often 
 make mistakes, but the irregularity of the language in 
 forming plural or tense forms is usually the cause. 
 Without conscious generalization, children are marvel- 
 lously quick in applying a common form of ending or 
 law of language to new words, e.g. "tooken," "eated," 
 "mans." A similar influence often leads children to 
 make new forms of words according to the genius of the 
 language. Thus M., who had been rolling a hoop, said 
 she had been "hooping," and at another time spoke of 
 her shoe as "worning" out. 
 
 II. Visual Language 
 
 The factors leading to the understanding and use of 
 visual language are only partially the same as for oral 
 language. Vistial language, as we have it, is at best 
 purely conventional, and hence it is not directly based 
 on or associated with a natural and instinctive form of 
 expression, as is oral language. The irritative ten- 
 dency is appealed to less frequently and less impres- 
 sively by visual than by oral symbols. Necessity, or the 
 gaining of desirable ends by understanding and using 
 visual language, is a much less important factor in learn- 
 ing to read and write than in learning to talk, because 
 the child already has an adequate and easier means of 
 communication in his oral language than he had in the 
 language of natural signs when learning the oral. It is 
 also much more difficult to make the understanding and 
 
238 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 use of visual language as necessary to the gratifica- 
 tion of the daily desires of the child than in the case of 
 oral language. Questions, answers, commands, and re- 
 marks might, however, be expressed in visual language 
 a great deal more than they are in the primary schools. 
 
 In the early stage of learning to read and write, the 
 only instincts that can be appealed to with as great 
 effectiveness as in oral language are the play instinct 
 and the social desire for approbation. Hence, although 
 much pedagogical skill is now expended in arranging 
 words so as to show their likeness and difference, and 
 lead to their analysis and classification, the progress in 
 learning visual language is, for some time, slower than 
 in the early stage of oral language learning without any 
 formal teaching whatever. Children would probably 
 progress much faster if oral language were associated 
 with visual, in much the same way that oral language is 
 at first supplemented by the instinctive language of natu- 
 ral signs. For example, a teacher may write only the 
 most important words of a sentence and speak the 
 others, or in the earlier attempts at writing children may 
 be allowed to speak some of the difficult words in every 
 sentence that they write. 
 
 After children have gained the power to read with 
 some facility, the instinct of curiosity and the desire to 
 know about the world and its people, and to share the 
 thoughts of mankind as expressed in books, are the im- 
 portant factors in language learning. A sort of read- 
 ing craze often sets in at this time, which results in an 
 enormous addition to the youth's vocabulary (probably 
 a thousand words a year would be a low estimate, since, 
 according to my investigations, high school graduates 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 239 
 
 usually know the meaning of twenty or thirty thousand 
 words). The reading also exercises a great influence on 
 the language habits. Sometimes even oral language is 
 thus rendered ''bookish." 
 
 The impulse to express to individuals or to humanity 
 his own ideas and feelings in poem, story, article, or 
 book, often becomes strong in the early teens. If teach- 
 ers could skilfully use this impulse instead of ignoring 
 or checking it, enormous advances would be made in 
 teaching language as a means of expression. 
 
 Interest in language as such, aside from ideas to be ex- 
 pressed, is often first manifested in a marked degree (not 
 counting the early period of imitative play) in a playful 
 form of learning to use and construct secret languages. 
 This tendency reaches its climax at about thirteen. 
 Probably, therefore, this is the age for learning foreign 
 languages. Interest in the study of language as a form 
 of art or as a science, such as is required in literary appre- 
 ciation and the study of grammar, cannot be greatly 
 developed until the language is learned, and as a rule 
 only after some of the higher forms of aesthetic appre- 
 ciation and of abstract thought of the early teens have 
 been reached. Up to this time, children are interested 
 in language only as a means of expressing thought, and 
 the correctness of their language is almost wholly the 
 result of imitation and habit. 
 
 After language is learned, rather than before, is the 
 time for studying its structure and appreciating its 
 beauty. Grammar is not to be regarded as a means of 
 speaking correctly, but as a scientific analysis and classi- 
 fication of means of expression that are already familiar. 
 In this, as in other cases, the natural order for the race 
 
240 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 and for the individual is to learn how to do a thing, then 
 to admire grace in doing it, or enjoy the scientific study 
 of how it is done. 
 
 III. Drawing 
 
 Drawing may be considered as an art based on the 
 constructive and aesthetic instincts, but in its eaflier 
 stages, at any rate, it is to a considerable extent really 
 a language based on the expressive instinct. 
 
 There is no purely instinctive stage of drawing as 
 there is of oral language, but there is a very well-marked 
 playful and imitative stage. Children delight in making 
 marks just as they delight in making sounds, so the 
 scribble stage corresponds exactly to the "da da" stage 
 of oral language. The sight of some one using a pencil 
 is likely to set a child to scribbling, just as the talk of 
 others often sets the young child to babbling. In neither 
 case is there at first any real imitation of distinct move- 
 ments. A little later crude attempts at imitating the 
 movements of others are made, but with much less per- 
 sistency and success than in the case of sounds. Evi- 
 dently the natural relation of eye perceptions to hand 
 movements is much less perfect than between ear 
 perceptions and vocal movements. 
 
 In the next stage, corresponding to the word-learning 
 stage of oral language, drawings are made by the child 
 not merely for the pleasure of making movements and 
 the joy of imitating, but in order to express ideas of 
 objects and events. Any dot or line or combination 
 of them that suggests to the child the appearance of 
 any object is at first a perfectly satisfactory picture 
 of it. Often a "picture" is named or renamed after it 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 241 
 
 is made, because something is suggested by the lines 
 or dots. What to the child is most essential, whether 
 visible or not, is indicated, and the rest unnoticed or 
 filled out in the mind. The stomach of a man may 
 be represented when neither the rest of the trunk nor 
 the arms are shown. At first the different parts of a 
 man may be scattered over the paper, a dot or curve 
 being pointed out or made as each part — eye, mouth, 
 head, etc. — is named. 
 
 A little later much more attention is paid to the posi- 
 tion of one part in relation to the others, and still later, 
 to the relative size of parts. This evidently corresponds 
 to the word-combining or sentence-making stage of lan- 
 guage expression. The child not only tries to make 
 something that will suggest the idea he wishes to 
 express, but aims to represent objects; just as in lan- 
 guage, his sentences become not merely suggestive of 
 ideas, but complete expressions of them. 
 
 At the time when the child's drawings are partly 
 symbolic and partly representative, they are often very 
 free and unconstrained expressions of his ideas. His 
 make-believe tendency helps him to see in his drawings 
 all that he meant by them. He has little feeling of their 
 inadequacy, and is ready to make almost anything, and to 
 tell almost any story with his graphic art by which both 
 outside and inside of houses are shown, wind or heat 
 indicated, successive events pictured, and the important 
 parts shown by increased size. During this period the 
 child draws from what is in his mind rather than from 
 what he perceives, hence his picture of a man or table 
 is generic rather than individual, as is shown by the 
 fact that placing a model before him produces little 
 
242 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 or no modification of the conventional design he has 
 adopted. 
 
 Sooner or later, perhaps most frequently at about 
 nine years of age, the child begins to feel the inadequacy 
 of his representations. He can no longer believe that 
 his drawings really look like what he wishes to repre- 
 sent ; hence he is not so ready to try to draw everything. 
 This is the time when he needs encouragement, and 
 before long some instruction as to how he may show 
 perspective and represent objects as they look instead 
 of as they are. The difficulties of doing this are so 
 great, especially when the process is not associated with 
 the desire to express something, that only a few ever 
 regain their former freedom of graphic expression. 
 Drawing becomes for most children, therefore, an exer- 
 cise in mechanical imitation and representation instead 
 of a favorite means of expression. If drawing were 
 taught in these early stages as a mode of telling what 
 has been observed, rather than as an art, the results 
 would be far better. 
 
 A little earlier than the time at which language 
 acquires a scientific and aesthetic interest, drawing ac- 
 quires similar interest, and great delight may be taken 
 either in mechanical drawings or in the making of beau- 
 tiful drawings or pictures. All along there has been 
 some aesthetic interest in colors, but now this interest 
 is deepened and refined, and the appreciation of beauty 
 of form develops. This is the time for artistic and 
 mechanical drawing and for the study of the subject as 
 a science or as a fine art, though drawing as a con- 
 venient means of expressing ideas gained in nearly all 
 subjects studied should not be neglected. 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 243 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. Describe means of expression employed by animals, and 
 show that they are useful. 
 
 2. Describe any modes of expression that you have noticed 
 infants use. 
 
 3. What kind of words do the blind learn ? The deaf ? Those 
 who are both blind and deaf ? 
 
 4. Have you ever had the impulse to express yourself in other u 
 ways than by language, such as painting or modelling ? 
 
 5. Give evidence that there is a tendency to respond to every ^/' 
 stimulus by a movement, and for every idea to be expressed in 
 movement. Illustrate how words may be used in place of other 
 movements. Look up the root meanings of several words. 
 
 6. Is the growing custom of beginning to teach deaf children at 
 an early age a good one ? Why ? If a deaf and a hearing child 
 enter school at five, which should be farther along in language, the 
 deaf child at twelve or the hearing child at nine ? Why ? 
 
 7. Can you express feeling by writing as perfectly as by talking ? / 
 Why ? Are children under ten affected as much by stories told as 
 
 by stories they read ? Why ? 
 
 8. Report any instances you have observed of playful or imita- 
 tive use of words by young children. 
 
 9. Report any observations you have made of the serious efforts 
 of children to learn words. 
 
 10. Illustrate how necessity leads a child to learn to understand 
 and use language. 
 
 1 1 . State facts showing the prominence of one or another of the 
 stages of language learning of a child you know. 
 
 12. Report just as many examples of childish mispronunciation 
 as possible, and state the cause if you can. Compare tables of 
 Lukens and Tracy. 
 
 13. Record and report vocabularies of children of about two years 
 if possible, noting pronunciation and meaning and parts of speech 
 of all words. Compare with Tracy, Moore, Gale, ei al. 
 
 14. Record everything said by a child of two or three during an 
 hour or two, and study to discover omissions and other peculiarities. 
 
/ 
 
 244 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 15. Report instances of children extending the rules for forming 
 endings or in making new forms of words. 
 
 16. Report what you have done or observed regarding secret lan- 
 guages. Could not the playful tendency to make a language be 
 utilized in the study of visual language more than it is ? 
 
 17. Illustrate how the same kind of necessity that leads a child to 
 learn oral language may be used in learning visual language. Illus- 
 trate in detail how oral language may be used to supplement visual, 
 e.g. the teacher says part of a sentence and writes the rest. 
 
 18. Estimate your own vocabulary by counting all the words you 
 know on every tenth, fiftieth, or hundredth page of the dictionary. 
 
 19. Let some one pose for children of the kindergarten or first 
 grade while they draw. Examine the drawings. Bring in speci- 
 mens of drawings of children not yet in school. Compare Barnes, 
 Sully, Lukens, and Brown. 
 
 20. Have children of several grades illustrate a story, and make 
 a study of the drawings. 
 
 2 1 . Should drawing be taught children as an art or as a means of 
 expression before ten years of age ? Why ? 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general subject of expression and language, consult Romanes, 
 Mental Evobition in Man., chaps, v to ix ; Baldwin, Vol. I, pp. 
 221-262, and Vol. II, pp. 126-139; Whitney, Life and Growth 
 of Language; Robinson, Pop. Set. Mo.y Vol. LIII, pp. 784-798 ; 
 Hale, Fop. Set. Mo., Vol. XXX, pp. 712-713 ; Science, Vol. XII, 
 O. S., p. 145- 
 
 On the development of speech and vocabularies, see Lukens, Ped, 
 Sem., Vol. Ill, pp. 424-460; Tracy, chap, v, also in Am. Jr. 
 Psych., Vol. VI, pp. 107-138; Sully, chap, v; Preyer, Part II; 
 Moore, Part IV ; Taine, Pop. Set. Mo., Vol. IX, p. 129; Noble, 
 Educ, Vol. IX, pp. 44-52, 117-121, 188-194; Chamberlain, 
 chap. V ; Compayre, Vol. II, chap, iii ; Gale, Ped. Sent., Vol. IX, 
 pp. 422-435 ; Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LXI, pp. 45-51, or in Univ. 
 of Minn. Psychological Studies -, Sanford, Ped. Sem., Vol. I, pp. 
 257-259 ; W. S. Hall, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. II, pp. 585-608 ; Jr. Ch. 
 and Ad., January, 1902, pp. 1-13 ; Kirkpatrick, Science, Vol. 
 
THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCT 245 
 
 XVIII, O. S., pp. 107-108, 175-176 ; Wolfe, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. Ill, 
 pp. 141-150; Jegi, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. VI, pp. 241-261; Barnes, 
 Studies in Ed., Vol. II, pp. 43-61. 
 
 On language teaching, see Groszman, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. IV, pp. 266- 
 278 ; Hinsdale, Teaching the Language Arts ; Jacobi, in Psycho- 
 logical Notes on Primary Education, pp. 62-120 ; Iredell, Educ.y 
 Vol. XIX, pp. 233-238. See also Williams, "Children's 
 Interest in Words," Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 274-295 ; Han- 
 cock, "Children's Tendencies in Written Language," IST. W, 
 Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 646-649; and Judd, chap, viii, on the 
 process of reading, and chap, vii, on writing. 
 
 On development of interest and ability in drawing, see Shinn ; 
 Brown, Univ. of Cal. Studies, 1897, pp. 75 ; Barnes, Studies, 
 Vol. I, pp. 283-294, Vol. II, pp. 75-77, 163-179 (also a child's 
 drawings in every number) ; Sully, chap, x; \.vk.^vis,, Ped. Sem.^ 
 Vol. IV, pp. 79-110; Chamberlain, pp. 190-21 1 ; Hart, TV. W. 
 Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 193-196; Clarke, Ed. Rev., Vol. XIII, pp. 
 76-82 ; O'Shea, N. E. A., 1894, pp. 1 01 5-1023 ; Gallagher, 
 N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 130-134; Scott, Trafis. III. Ch. S. 
 Sac, Vol. Ill, p. 12 ; F. Burk, Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 296-323 ; 
 Fitz, Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LI, pp. 755-765. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES 
 
 As we have already seen, the child begins life with 
 little or no conscious intelligence, yet with well-marked 
 reflex and instinctive tendencies to act for its own good. 
 This unconscious mechanical intelligence controls the 
 infant's action and enables it to survive. It also deter- 
 mines the general characteristics of conscious intelli- 
 gence, for it determines the kind and sequence of 
 movements and, to some extent, of sensations other 
 than motor, as the child acts and reacts in ways favoring 
 self-preservation. Conscious intelligence is developed 
 by receiving and relating the sensations thus produced. 
 
 Since each new instinct modifies action, and since in- 
 stinctive tendencies are the basis of interest, conscious 
 intelligence is greatly influenced by mechanical and 
 instinctive intelligence long after the early days of 
 infantile irresponsibility are past. 
 
 As conscious intelligence develops, it chooses, from 
 the various possibilities presented to it by the results of 
 previous action, those objects and acts that are most 
 pleasing. In every form of repeated action, however, 
 conscious intelligence soon becomes more or less un- 
 necessary because of the development of the uncon- 
 
 247 
 
248 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 scious intelligence of habit. The chief difference 
 between the intellect of the child and of the man, there- 
 fore, is that the child's actions are controlled largely by 
 unconscious instinctive impulses and interests, and the 
 man's by unconscious habitual reactions and interests. 
 The conscious intelligence of the man is not essentially 
 different from that of the child, except that the extent 
 of its activity is greater because of more numerous 
 experiences, and its direction different because of other 
 instinctive and developed interests. 
 
 The problem of intellectual development is therefore 
 simply one of determining the influence of instinctive 
 tendencies upon its direction and vigor, and correlat- 
 ing these truths with all that is known of the effects 
 of experience upon the growth of intelligence. All 
 that physiology and psychology teach us of habit and 
 association, as well as all that child study teaches us of 
 the development of instinct, must be utilized in explain- 
 ing the changes that take place with age. 
 
 In this study we must recognize that conscious intelli- 
 gence may be gradually and unconsciously modified, as 
 well as changed suddenly and consciously. This is 
 demonstrated by Judd's experiments, in which persons 
 who did not know the object of the experiment be- 
 came more and more accurate in adjusting the parts of 
 
 this line so as to make ac seem equal «>— K ^* to cb. 
 
 One who recalls accurately his former mental states 
 will also recognize without experiment that his judg- 
 ments have been unconsciously modified in various 
 ways. When we take into account unconscious as 
 well as conscious modifications of mind, we realize that 
 the enormous differences between the intellects of adults 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 249 
 
 in general, and children in general, as well as between 
 individual adults of different training, may be accounted 
 for largely by difference in kind and number of experi- 
 ences. Habits of analyzing, associating, and classifying, 
 and standards of judgment, though influenced to some 
 extent by instjpptive interests, are largely determined by 
 experience and training. Since the character of the in- 
 tellect at each age is so largely the result of experience 
 and so little influenced by inner laws of development, 
 our study of the different phases of intellectual develop- 
 ment will necessarily be more a study of general laws of 
 psychology and habit than of innate laws of child devel- 
 opment. 
 
 The most important question in regard to intellectual 
 development is, as to whether special training of any 
 kind produces general training of the mind as a whole 
 or even of powers similar to those exercised. A thorough 
 scientific training in perceiving flowers may or may not 
 improve one's perception of rocks, or of ladies' hats. 
 It was formerly assumed that training the attention, 
 memory, or reason in one line of study increased one's 
 power to attend, remember, or reason in all other lines. 
 This is now being questioned. 
 
 Physiological experiments show that training one set 
 of muscles increases the size or skill of other muscles 
 that are frequently associated with them (especially the 
 corresponding muscles on the other side of the body). 
 In a similar way training in an intellectual act, such 
 as discriminating the shape of leaves, may and must 
 give exercise in concentration, and favor clear images 
 and accurate retention; and it can scarcely fail to 
 increase the accuracy of discrimination of the forms 
 
250 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 of other objects so far as they are similar. If, however, 
 the form and size are greatly different, the special train- 
 ing will increase the accuracy of judgment only slightly, 
 if at all. Thorndike found that practice in judging the 
 length of short lines did not improve the judgment as 
 to the length of long lines. It seems ateogether prob- 
 able, therefore, that acquiring skill in one line does not 
 increase skill in any other line except in so far as the 
 activity is complex and requires that some of the powers 
 that have been trained shall be used in the new act 
 in the same way. If they have been used, but not in 
 the same way, as when one is sorting the same kinds 
 of cards, but putting one kind where he had formerly 
 put the other (as in Bergstrom's experiments), the for- 
 mer training hinders, at least for a time, rather than 
 helps. In the case of all acts that become fixed habits, 
 special training probably does not directly produce gen- 
 eral results. 
 
 In new and more purely intellectual acts, however, 
 where the " idea " rather than the " trial and success " 
 method of learning is used, consciousness, by singling 
 out and combining the right elements of former 
 activities, may at once utilize former special training 
 in any one of a variety of ways. This peculiar power 
 of the human intellect, by which it can go beyond 
 any individual experience, is possessed in but a slight 
 degree, if at all, by animals, which are almost wholly 
 without the power of generalization. Hence all training 
 of animals must be mechanical and special. A child 
 or man who learns in that way gets nothing but the 
 special training that is given him, while one who uses 
 intelligence and insight while learning, goes forward by 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 25 1 
 
 leaps and bounds and is able to utilize his special knowl- 
 edge and power in other ways. If one is practising 
 such an exercise as tossing and catching two balls, his 
 successes as compared with failures in catching the balls 
 will increase but gradually, unless he uses insight and 
 consciously cl^pbses the best methods, such as throwing 
 the balls so they will rise a little to the left of the centre 
 of his body. If he takes advantage of such ideas, im- 
 provement is immediate rather than gradual. 
 
 The insight thus gained can then be used in throwing 
 and catching anything. Without such insight the 
 unconscious manual skill acquired by the practice in 
 catching balls would be of little help in catching 
 larger, heavier, or differently shaped objects. Probably 
 only the more or less conscious generalizations made 
 in special training are effective as general training, 
 except where the parts of the processes are identical. 
 It is important to bear this in mind in judging of the 
 practical or general educational value of different kinds 
 of knowledge and the utility of any proposed method of 
 training. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF DISCRIMINATION 
 
 Discrimination is one of the most essential of all men- 
 tal powers, and it seems to be greater in adults than in 
 children. It may be doubted, however, whether the 
 better discrimination of adults is not a matter of 
 special knowledge and practice, helped a little by in- 
 creased power of analysis and concentration. An 
 Indian can read the signs of the passage of enemies or 
 wild animals much more perfectly than the white man, 
 who is so acute as to read little black marks on paper , 
 
252 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 a sailor can see land long before the landsman, and a 
 blind man can recognize persons by touch or sound with 
 a readiness astonishing to a seeing man. In all these 
 cases one seems to have greater power of discrimination 
 than the other ; but in every case it is probably wholly 
 the result of special knowledge and ||actice. Each 
 knows what signs to look for and what they mean, while 
 the man of different training is familiar with an entirely 
 different set of signs. Each has certain centres devel- 
 oped, but we cannot say that one has greater general 
 power of discrimination than the other. The effect of 
 knowledge upon discrimination is impressed upon one 
 when he tries to read familiar sentences and unknown 
 names in a dim light, or in poor writing, for one may 
 easily be read while the other cannot be made out 
 at all. 
 
 The extensive experiments of Gilbert upon children 
 of school age, indicated that their power of discrimina- 
 tion of weight, distance, color, pitch, etc., increased from 
 two to five times with age — a difference corresponding 
 pretty well to that which may be produced in certain 
 lines in a short time by special training. Since most 
 of his tests were made in such a way that comparison 
 and classification of a number of stimuli, as ten colors, 
 were required, instead of mere discrimination between 
 two, it is probable that the superiority of the older 
 children was due partly to increased power of concentra- 
 tion, systematic comparison and expression, and partly 
 to greater practice in making discriminations similar 
 to those tested, and not at all to any fundamental 
 difference in the power of discrimination of children 
 and adults. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 253 
 
 DEVELOPMENT IN RATE OF MENTAL ACTIVITY 
 
 The difference in the mental quickness or reaction 
 time of children and adults is very marked, but it may 
 be doubted if it would exist were both to face an experi- 
 ence equally new to both. It is a well-known fact that 
 any act, physical or mental, can be performed more 
 quickly after practice. The reasons for this are : 
 (i) nervous impulses move more rapidly so that move- 
 ment and thought are quicker ; (2) they go more directly 
 and continuously so that motion and thought are less 
 diffuse, and (3) several series of impulses move at once, 
 as when one is reading notes, playing with both hands, 
 and singing at the same time. 
 
 It is not unusual for simple reaction time to be re- 
 duced one-half by practice ; and complex tasks are fre- 
 quently done, after a few months' practice, in from a half 
 to a fifth of the time required for the first performance. 
 Hence, it is not improbable that the difference in mental 
 quickness of children and adults is entirely the result 
 of incidental practice in activities that are the same, or 
 partly the same, as those tested. The tests of Bryan, 
 Hancock, and Gilbert, on rates of movement, and of Gil- 
 bert, Bentley, Partridge, and Curtis on reaction time, 
 both simple and complex, show that from school age to 
 maturity the rate of movement and of mental activity 
 is not quite doubled, and that the improvement is great- 
 est where there has been most special training, as in 
 naming printed words, rather than naming pictures or 
 objects ; hence there is little reason to doubt that the 
 difference between adults and children in rate of mental 
 activity is almost wholly the result of training, either 
 special or incidental. 
 
254 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 INCREASE IN MENTAL GRASP 
 
 That the child's mental grasp is small, is evident from 
 his first attempts at speech. He cannot keep several 
 syllables in mind long enough to pronounce them all. 
 His ideas are expressed by means of single words or 
 gestures. Soon he uses two words, usually a predicate 
 and object or modifier. His sentences grow longer as 
 adjectives and other modifying words are added, but it 
 is a long time before conjunctions are used and com- 
 pound sentences formed. Complex sentences, which re- 
 quire even more mental grasp, come still later. A little 
 girl of thirty-two months understood, when told to eat her 
 potatoes with her spoon and her meat with her fork, but 
 was unable to hold the four ideas in mind while she got 
 the right words in which to express them. A few days 
 later, however, she used her first conjunction in the sen- 
 tence, ** I pin it there so baby can get it." Children 
 are often confused when told to do more than one 
 thing, because they have not sufficient grasp of con- 
 sciousness to hold all in the mind at once. The fact 
 found in many tests, that children of school age read by 
 words and cannot carry in their minds any but short 
 sentences, while older children and adults read by 
 phrases or even clauses, and can carry in consciousness 
 enough of a long, complex, and compound sentence to 
 give each clause the right expression, is very significant. 
 
 The experiments of Jacobs, Jastrow, Bolton, Smedley, 
 and myself, upon children of school age, show that their 
 ability to repeat or write a list of letters, figures, sylla- 
 bles, or familiar words, immediately after they have been 
 heard or seen, generally increases with age by about one- 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 255 
 
 third, from the age of eight or nine to eighteen. As 
 the reproduction is immediate, it is not so much a matter 
 of memory proper as of mental grasp. 
 
 The cause of this increase in mental grasp with age 
 is probably the same as that which makes it possible 
 for us to hold in mind a long description of a route to 
 be taken among familiar objects; while a short descrip- 
 tion of a route among unfamiliar objects cannot be kept 
 in mind long enough perhaps to get started right. The 
 same cause makes it easy for a skilful chess or checker 
 player to see at once many more results of a move than 
 he could when he began, or for an experienced musician 
 to play with both hands, work the pedals, perceive the 
 notes, and sing the words of a song all at the same time. 
 In other words, ideas, or a series of ideas, and even com- 
 binations of several series of ideas that have become 
 definite and well established, are easily held in mind, 
 while indefinite and newly formed ideas can be kept 
 in consciousness only in limited numbers and with 
 effort. 
 
 The ideas of the child are largely new, while those of 
 the adult are oftener old or connected with old ideas ; 
 hence the adult's mental grasp is greater chiefly because 
 of knowledge and experience. The effect of knowledge 
 on mental grasp is well shown by a series of experi- 
 ments in which first-grade children and adults repro- 
 duce ordinary letters, Greek letters, and familiar 
 sentences. The adults have little advantage in the 
 case of Greek letters, a great deal in ordinary letters, 
 and are almost infinitely better in reproducing the let- 
 ters making a sentence. Evidently the difference is 
 due to greater familiarity and increased mental grasp. 
 
256 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF PERCEPTION 
 
 Perception depends upon three things : (i) the sensa- 
 tions experienced at the moment ; (2) power of discrimi- 
 nation, and (3) the results of past experiences that are 
 reproduced more or less perfectly at the moment of 
 perceiving. There is no reason to suppose that the 
 sensations of children and adults differ materially. The 
 power of discrimination varies, as we have seen, with 
 special practice. The chief difference, therefore, in the 
 perception of a child and an adult, is in the past experi- 
 ences that are called up by the sensations. 
 
 Since the adult has many more experiences that may 
 be suggested by a sensation than a child, there is a 
 greater possibility of a wrong idea being awakened ; but 
 this is offset by greater power of discrimination, hence, 
 though the adult is not always more quick in classifying 
 an object or interpreting a sensation, he is likely to be 
 more definite and accurate than the child who has fewer 
 possibilities suggested from his limited experience, but 
 who does not so readily analyze and note essentials. 
 The difference is not, however, greater than that between 
 adults of different occupations, such as a botanist and a 
 milliner, a printer and a pilot. 
 
 The practical necessity in all perception is not to 
 note the exact nature of the sensations produced by 
 different objects and under different circumstances, but 
 to recognize objects and react to them in the proper way. 
 Nothing but a sphere gives, in all positions, the same 
 visual sensations ; hence we learn to know, not the 
 apparent form of objects, but their real form. This 
 " real " form, however, is simply the appearance which 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 257 
 
 they assume when perceived most clearly, i.e. when near 
 at hand, directly in front, and at right angles to the line 
 of sight. Other sensations vary also. For example, the 
 sound produced by an object depends upon what it is 
 struck with, as well as its distance ; while objects vary 
 in taste according as they are more or less hot or cold, 
 wet or dry, etc. 
 
 Before the child enters school, he has learned to know 
 just what appearances may be relied upon as indicating 
 a certain form, sound, taste, or touch. He has also 
 learned an immense number of correspondences between 
 the different senses, so that he no longer needs to feel 
 of most things he sees, in order to know, as much as he 
 wishes, of how they will feel, or to strike or taste them, 
 to know how they will sound or taste. Yet there are 
 many appearances and correspondences that he does 
 not know very well, and hence, as compared with adults, 
 he is still at considerable disadvantage in judging ob- 
 jects. He also fails to note fine distinctions unless 
 necessity requires it, for very different sensations have 
 nearly the same practical meaning to him. 
 
 The necessity of identifying an object by means of 
 sensations suggesting its **true appearance," rather 
 than by the exact sensations it gives, together with 
 the limited power of discrimination that children have, 
 renders them very suggestible, or, in other words, un- 
 discriminating as to whether a sensation is actually 
 experienced or only called up by other sensations. 
 Small found, that of children in the first grade about 
 nine out of ten could be made to think that they 
 experienced sensations of taste, smell, temperature, 
 and visual movements, when no such sensations were 
 s 
 
258 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 given them ; while the proportion that could thus be 
 deceived, became very much smaller in the higher 
 grades. My own tests with ink spots also showed that 
 critical judgment becomes more prominent than sug- 
 gestibility in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. 
 
 On the other hand, the habit of the adult mind of 
 looking only for essential characteristics may lead 
 him into error when the conditions or his purposes 
 change. For example, it is very hard for one who has 
 been reading rapidly for the purpose of getting thought, 
 to read a printed page for the purpose of correcting the 
 proof. If the thought and language are very familiar, 
 as when the proof is of an article by one's self, the 
 errors overlooked are likely to be very numerous. Pills- 
 bury's tests show that familiar words misspelled are 
 frequently read without the error being noticed, and 
 that letters spelling nothing are often seen as words. 
 Children, therefore, sometimes notice mistakes in spell- 
 ing and changes in the arrangement of things that are 
 overlooked by adults, because the tendency to perceive 
 certain words and arrangements is not so strongly 
 developed in them. 
 
 Since the purpose of perception is to identify objects 
 and make the proper reaction to them, and since the 
 characteristics to be noted differ according to the end 
 in view, quickness and accuracy in perception depend 
 on discrimination in relation to the end to be gained. 
 Definiteness and accuracy of perception can, there- 
 fore, only be developed by practice in perceiving for a 
 purpose. Careful discrimination of sensations, analy- 
 sis, and the discovery of essential characteristics, and 
 the learning of what characteristics go together, so that 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 259 
 
 when one is experienced, others may be inferred, are 
 the natural results of efforts to obtain practical ends. 
 For example, in learning to tell when watermelons are 
 ripe, the color, hardness, sound, and appearance of the 
 melon and of the curl are discriminated, and their con- 
 nection with the inside appearance and taste of the 
 melon is noted. Or, again, in trying to build a house 
 with blocks so that it will stand and look pretty, care- 
 ful discrimination of form, position, size, and color of 
 the blocks, and of their relation to each other, is neces- 
 sary. Similar statements are true of nearly all games, 
 plays, and construction in which children engage, as well 
 as in drawing, writing, and all affairs of practical life. 
 
 The function of the teacher in such training is prin- 
 cipally to put before the child interesting and definite 
 things to be done or found out, and to occasionally 
 direct his attention toward essential characteristics so 
 that habits of analytic and concentrated attention will 
 be developed. This gives a training in perception not 
 to be gained by any series of exercises for the special 
 purpose of training the senses only. 
 
 Since such training of perception is, in the nature of 
 the case, special as regards the purposes directing it, 
 general training in perception can be secured only by 
 getting children interested not only in many things, but 
 in many things from various points of view, as the prac- 
 tical, scientific, aesthetic. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE POWER TO IMAGE 
 
 True images are formed only when an object not pres- 
 ent is represented, as when a child recognizes that some 
 person or object is not in the usual place. Language 
 
26o FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 is probably an important factor in developing such 
 images: the sound of the word "dog," being closely- 
 associated with the animal, calls up a visual image of 
 him just as his barking does. Words are for some 
 time almost as closely associated with objects as are 
 the sensations concerned in their perception. The 
 name of an object is really, to the child, a part of his 
 perception of the object ; hence it is not strange that a 
 little boy put a curl at the end of the word "dog" he had 
 written, to represent the tail, or that a little girl of three 
 and a half readily learned the script word "cow," be- 
 cause the finishing stroke of the last letter looked to 
 her like a horn or " hook," as she called it. 
 
 After a child has gained the power to form mental 
 images, he takes much the same pleasure in forming 
 them that he showed a little earlier in getting sensa- 
 tions of all kinds. His first interest in stories is largely 
 the pleasure of forming mental pictures of all the famil- 
 iar objects and acts named. It is some time before the 
 connection of the parts of the story is of much signifi- 
 cance to him. 
 
 By the time the child is three or four years old, the 
 parts of short stories are connected so as to give a 
 pretty good understanding of the story as a whole. 
 This means that the mental grasp and power of con- 
 structive imagination is developed so that he can com- 
 bine mentally several acts and images according to 
 verbal direction. 
 
 Soon the child recognizes his power in this direction, 
 and begins to combine mental images according to his 
 own ideas. He now experiences something of the same 
 pleasure that he felt when he got beyond the stage in 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 26 1 
 
 which sensations were changed for him by the action 
 of other people, into the stage in which he effected the 
 changes for himself by his own movements. His daily 
 sensory activities have lost the charm of novelty, the 
 stories told him have directed his imagining in a way 
 that is new and pleasurable, yet this pleasure is depend- 
 ent upon the will of others ; hence it is an important 
 epoch in the child's development when he learns that 
 he can use the power of free creative imagination, and 
 experience whatever combinations of mental images he 
 wishes, independent of his surroundings and of the 
 action of other people. It is not strange, therefore, 
 that some children for several years live a large part of 
 the time in this free imaginary world, which they peo- 
 ple with toys, animals, and imaginary companions that 
 conform to the will of their creator. 
 
 This imaginary world may seem as real and more 
 important to the child than the world of solid reality ; 
 hence to tell what takes place in it is more pleasurable 
 than to describe uninteresting realities. He tells imagi- 
 nary experiences as naturally as an adult tells a dream, 
 and no moral significance should be attached to the 
 child's stories until he distinguishes between the ex- 
 periences of the two worlds and learns to appreciate 
 the desirability of making such distinction clear in all 
 that he tells. 
 
 The child's images are often more vivid (at least as 
 compared with the original perceptions) than in later 
 life. Some children have difficulty in distinguishing 
 images from percepts, so. that their images are in reality 
 hallucinations. It is probable that after definite stand- 
 ards of "true appearances" have been established, images 
 
262 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 usually become less vivid with increased age, except at 
 about fourteen or fifteen, when images are for a time 
 probably more vivid. 
 
 One reason for decreased vividness of images is that 
 one finds it necessary to note class rather than indi- 
 vidual characteristics as he meets with many varieties. 
 For example, lilies or turnips are easily pictured, so long 
 as only white ones are known, and officers are easily 
 imaged so long as only a few large, blue-coated police- 
 men have been seen ; but when many varieties have 
 been met with, mental images are a less satisfactory 
 means of thinking of each class of objects. The increase 
 in vividness of images at fourteen or fifteen is probably 
 correlated with physiological and emotional changes. 
 After puberty, images become more or less vivid, 
 according to the nature of one's mental operations. A 
 student of an abstract subject is likely to image less, 
 and an artist or anatomist, more vividly and definitely. 
 
 The studies of Phillips and others show that many 
 peculiar number, form, and color associations originate 
 in the early years, usually before entering school. 
 
 As regards accuracy of images, the results depend 
 upon interest and practice. Wolfe found that younger 
 children represented the size of pieces of silver money, 
 of bills, areas of circles, and length of lines in inches, 
 more accurately than either the fourth grade or the uni- 
 versity students. My own studies, also, indicated that 
 there is little difference with age as regards judgments 
 of the size of a quart measure, distance apart of carriage 
 wheels, number of wings and legs of a fly, etc. On the 
 other hand, the power to image words, as shown by 
 ability to spell, grows with age during school life. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 263 
 
 As to kind of images most used, observation does 
 not confirm the a priori view that taste and smell are 
 more prominent in the mental life of the child than of 
 the adult, for young children discriminate poorly with 
 those senses, and are readily drawn from them by stimu- 
 lating the eye or the ear. It is not likely, therefore, 
 that they play much part in the child's mental imagery, 
 especially as his chief food, milk, has little taste or odor. 
 In general, for people in America, the changes in kind 
 of imagery are from motor and auditory imagery to the 
 visual, especially as regards symbols, such as words. 
 According to Smedley, the climax of ability to repro- 
 duce auditory numbers is reached between thirteen and 
 fourteen, and for visual numbers between seventeen 
 and eighteen. The experience that the child has in the 
 schoolroom of learning a visual language, learning visual 
 signs for numbers, of studying things by means of pic- 
 tures and diagrams, and of being required to perform 
 mathematical and other operations by means of visual 
 images, develops the tendency to represent everything 
 visually. In the lower grades the child's words and 
 numbers are auditory and motor ; but as he reaches 
 maturity, visual words and figures become more promi- 
 nent, until finally adults can often understand visual 
 language much better than auditory. 
 
 GROWTH OF CONSTRUCTIVE IMAGINATION 
 
 Constructive imagination depends for its development 
 upon (i) the acquisition of mental images, (2) attention, 
 or power of control of images, and (3) mental grasp. 
 
 (i) As bricks could not be made without straw, so con- 
 structive imagination cannot act without mental images. 
 
264 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 (2) Power of attention^ or control of mental images, 
 is no less necessary. Constructive imagination differs 
 from reproductive imagination or memory, inasmuch 
 as images are not combined as they were in the original 
 experience; and from creative imagination, inasmuch 
 as the mode of combining images is not determined 
 by the choice or the habits of the one imaging, but by 
 the directions of another. Considerable power of atten- 
 tion or voluntary control therefore is necessary. In 
 listening to a description of a house, for example, one 
 must not give it color, size, position, material, etc., ac- 
 cording to his past experience or his own taste, but pic- 
 ture each according to the description as he hears or 
 reads the words. 
 
 The disposition of mental images is difficult to the 
 child, for much the same reasons as is accurate control 
 of movements. Yet if the words are familiar, the 
 subject interesting, the arrangement of the ideas in 
 accordance with the child's habits of thinking, and the 
 rate neither too fast nor too slow, the words direct his 
 attention so that little effort on his part is necessary. 
 This experience in thus having his attention directed, 
 prepares him to direct his attention according to the 
 words, when not so interesting or so well arranged. 
 
 (3) Yet, however well the child's attention may be 
 directed, his mental grasp is limited ; hence complicated 
 descriptions, which require that a number of things shall 
 be kept in the mind at once, in order that they may 
 be properly related, are beyond a child's powers. For 
 these reasons, the ability of children to draw or do things 
 according to direction is limited. The kindergarten 
 child may be able to place the base of a triangle on the 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 265 
 
 top side of a square ; but if the number of figures and 
 positions are several, he is unable to hold all the images 
 in mind so as to construct the figure. For the same 
 reason primary children are unable to make complicated 
 things, comprehend long sentences, appreciate stories 
 having many characters and incidents, or perform prob- 
 lems involving several numbers or conditions. 
 
 Since mental grasp in any line increases as ideas in 
 that particular line become more familiar, the power of 
 constructive imagination may increase much more in 
 some lines than in others. A child, therefore, who can 
 readily represent, visually, certain combinations of fig- 
 ures, lines, or letters, may fail in the less familiar ones, 
 or find it hard to represent the result of combining two 
 or more sounds, and hence be slow in word building. 
 
 The constructive imagination is called into play by 
 stories, reading, arithmetic, geography, and history, pro- 
 viding they are taught as they should be, and by all 
 directions such as are given in physical exercises. The 
 proper understanding of Lessons, and the development 
 of accurate constructive imagination, cannot be brought 
 about by allowing the pupil to perceive every object 
 and combination every time, but by having them partly 
 imaged and partly shown, then imaged by the help of 
 simple pictures, diagrams, or gestures, and finally by 
 means of words only. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE IMAGINATION 
 
 The essentials of creative imagination, aside from 
 abundance of images from past experiences, are free 
 activity and the impulse to create stirred by interest. 
 
 (i) Free activity means either spontaneous activity or 
 
266 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 activity whose excitant is so subtle that it is not 
 discernible. To put it in physiological terms, nervous 
 impulses tend to diffuse themselves to parts that have 
 not been active, or to pass irregularly from one estab- 
 lished centre of activity to another. If there is a strong 
 tendency to such activity, many unusual combinations 
 of mental images will result, a large portion of which 
 may be merely absurd or grotesque (as they usually are 
 in dreams), but some of which are likely to be artistic 
 or useful. 
 
 Careful training, which results in definite ideas and 
 particular ways of doing things, if continued for a long 
 time, checks the tendency to free activity and may de- 
 stroy the power of creative imagination. It is for this 
 reason that untrained men like Edison are often the 
 most original. Definite training, with some imitation of 
 various models, gives a good basis for the development 
 of the creative imagination ; but the training and the 
 imitation must be varied and not too long continued in 
 one line, or the material becomes " set " by habit, and 
 can be arranged only in the customary ways. An 
 artist, for example, who studies and imitates one school 
 of painting only, for years, can never become an original 
 painter. 
 
 (2) The impulse to create cannot be directly produced 
 by training, since it comes from instinctive tendencies 
 to construct and express, stirred by various emotions. 
 It is especially strong when new experiences are met 
 or new instincts come into prominence. One of the first 
 emotions to stir the imagination is often that of fear, 
 especially when the child is alone in the dark. Later the 
 more aesthetip emotions stimulate the imagination. The 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 267 
 
 earliest creations are likely to be expressed in actions, 
 especially in representative or dramatic plays, and in 
 constructions, at first with blocks, then in making toys, 
 forts, and machines. After several years of school life, 
 oral language, music, and drawing, and a little later, 
 written language, are the principal media of expression. 
 The subjects with which creative imagination deals 
 are various, but are evidently determined by the emo- 
 tional and instinctive interests prominent at different 
 ages. Moreover, new experiences or ideas of one age 
 become entirely familiar a little later, and hence do 
 not excite the imagination unless they are brought into 
 new relations. It is, therefore, impossible to say just 
 what exercises are best to develop the creative imagi- 
 nation of a child or group of children, unless one knows 
 the children ; but we may say in general, that whatever 
 stirs the emotions and excites a desire to do something 
 stimulates imagination, and that previous experiences 
 in perceiving good models, and in imitating, expressing, 
 and constructing, furnish the conditions for its effective 
 use. For example, to tell a child to write an autobiog- 
 raphy of an oak tree when he knows little about how 
 the oak tree grows, and less about what an autobiogra- 
 phy is, would be absurd ; but if he had recently heard 
 several biographies, and had been studying about acorns 
 and oaks, it is not improbable that he would have both 
 the impulse and the necessary training that would lead 
 him to write an imaginative autobiography. His pre- 
 vious experience in writing, as a mechanical act and as 
 a means of expressing his own ideas, and his interest in 
 autobiographies and in the growth of oaks, together 
 with the special motive for expression, as, for example, 
 
26S FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the desire to write a story that will please mamma when 
 it is taken home, will, with other things too numerous 
 and subtle to enumerate, influence the activity of creat- 
 ing and expressing. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that creative imagination 
 is more dependent upon individuality, mood, and special 
 circumstances than any other mental activity that may 
 be classed as intellectual, yet there is nothing in mental 
 life more certainly characteristic for different ages than 
 the nature of the fancies as new instincts develop and 
 emotional interests change. The boy's day dreams of 
 a dog and a cart have no attraction for the youth who 
 pictures himself rescuing a beautiful maiden, or for the 
 business man, politician, or artist who dreams of his 
 plans and successes. Learoyd and Calkins, who secured 
 by inquiry an account of continued stories carried on in 
 the minds of one hundred and seventy-five persons, 
 found that in the younger years such stories were usu- 
 ally concerned with fairies and martyrdoms, in late child- 
 hood and youth with romance and adventure, and in 
 maturer years with practical affairs. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY 
 
 As already shown, mental grasp or memory span, in 
 reproducing impressions just received, increases with 
 age in a marked degree. The increase in power to 
 recall after an interval of time, which is more properly 
 called memory, is much less. Jastrow found that uni- 
 versity students remembered only i or 2 per cent more 
 words after an interval of three days than high school 
 students five years younger. My tests showed little 
 difference in the reproduction after three days, of words 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 269 
 
 seen or heard and objects shown, by children from the 
 third grade up to college students, except that the memory 
 of the older persons was more voluntary and less ready 
 and spontaneous. Shaw found that a story consisting of 
 three hundred and twenty-four words, and nearly half as 
 many distinct facts, was reproduced more than twice as 
 fully by pupils of the ninth grade as in the lowest grade 
 tested, and as well or better than by high school or univer- 
 sity students. He counted as correct, facts expressed in 
 other words than those given in the story. The greater 
 difference with age in this test, compared with others, is 
 probably because it involved associations of ideas instead 
 of mere retention of impressions. If we take into account 
 the slight mental grasp of the children and the length of 
 time required for them to express what they remembered 
 in writing, the difference in memory of impressions is 
 almost nothing, and in memory involving associations of 
 ideas is not very great. 
 
 The receptivity and retentiveness of the child's brain 
 is probably as great as that of the adult. The differ- 
 ence in the memory of children and adults is, therefore, a 
 difference in kind rather than in degree, and is caused 
 largely by experience. Nothing that can be used as a 
 memory test is as new for the adult as it is for the 
 child. The adult already knows a part of what he is 
 given to remember, or, in other words, certain brain 
 centres have already had practice in reproducing such 
 impressions. In the adult brain also, where many centres 
 are already well practised, new impressions readily run 
 into the old channels ; hence impressions are easily classi- 
 fied, and their centres readily awakened to activity again 
 because of their connection with centres frequently called 
 
2/0 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 into action. Finally, the adult mind has more power of 
 voluntary attention, both in receiving impressions and in 
 trying to reproduce them by holding in mind some idea 
 connected with them. As a consequence, the spon- 
 taneous and unclassified memories of adults are not 
 better than those of children, if they are as good, while 
 their voluntary and systematic memories are better. 
 
 The above differences are most marked between chil- 
 dren and well-educated adults, while adults without sys- 
 tematic training differ but little from children in this 
 respect. The trained mind has much greater power of 
 attention, and a much more definite system of classified 
 ideas, or, in physiological terms, more distinct centres of 
 activity and paths of association. Development of mem- 
 ory is, therefore, largely a matter of training in habits of 
 attention and in methods of classifying impressions. 
 Most improvement in memory is special, certain classes 
 of things only being attended to, classified, and remem- 
 bered, while others are unnoticed, and consequently not 
 remembered. If discoveries or improvements in his 
 special line are read, respectively, by a historian, a bota- 
 nist, a chemist, a psychologist, a bicyclist, a civil engineer, 
 or a doctor, each readily attends to, classifies, and remem- 
 bers the facts of his specialty ; but all would experience 
 great difficulty if they exchanged memory materials. 
 So special is the development of power in these direc- 
 tions, that one man may remember figures indicating 
 dates readily, but utterly fail to remember a list of prices 
 readily recalled and quoted to him by a business man. 
 One mathematician who could repeat in order as high 
 as fifty-two figures, could not repeat more than eight 
 or nine letters given orally as were the figures. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 2/1 
 
 Memory for isolated impressions, and in fact for 
 nearly all things that are largely sensory, reaches its 
 climax early in the teens. The plasticity of the brain 
 probably decreases after puberty, and further improve- 
 ment in memory is special, conceptional, associative, and 
 only along lines in which one has already started ; while 
 the tendency, and in part the ability, to acquire and 
 retain facts in other lines after a while decreases until 
 in old age the number of facts acquired each year is 
 very much less than the number that are forgotten. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS 
 
 The child is largely engaged in sense perception, and 
 thus his thought processes are not far removed or eas- 
 ily distinguished from his sense activities. The sight 
 of its mother by a child of six months may produce 
 some expectation of auditory, tactile, and other sensa- 
 tions that have been previously experienced in connec- 
 tion with seeing her. There is, however, probably no 
 distinct or separate representation of each of these 
 sensations ; yet other persons, as well as the mother, 
 are distinguished from chairs, beds, and other inani- 
 mate things, and call up a different class of images. 
 There must therefore be the beginning of the concept 
 of a class of objects which we know as persons with 
 common characteristics differing from those of inani- 
 mate things. 
 
 This crude form of concept, much like that of ani- 
 mals, may be formed without language. This must 
 have been the case when a child, less than a year old, 
 who was shown a bird, turned and looked at a stuffed 
 bird in the room, and when another child, a little over 
 
2/2 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 a year old, showed surprise and fear at an envelope 
 that seemed to move of itself, which was contrary to 
 her idea of that class of objects. A child can sort 
 blocks, putting those of a color together, before he 
 can point to, or give them as they are named. In the 
 case of M. this was true for a year. He also forms class 
 ideas before he uses class names. For example, men 
 are distinguished from other objects, and from women 
 and children, by the particular name " papa," but they 
 are not all treated as that particular individual is ; hence 
 papa is not only perceived as an individual, but there 
 is a crude concept of the class to which he belongs. 
 There can be no doubt, however, that language is 
 an aid in the development of thought, and a necessary 
 factor in all general and abstract thinking. There is 
 nothing in general and abstract concepts such as ** organ- 
 ism " or " color," by which they can be recalled or indi- 
 cated, except a sign or symbol of some kind that can 
 be associated with the common element in the variety 
 of experiences giving rise to the concepts. A word is a 
 convenient mode of reacting to all members of a class 
 of objects, and therefore an important part of the con- 
 cept as well as a means of recalling and expressing it. 
 
 The first few hundred words and concepts are gotten 
 by children through direct association with objects and 
 experiences. These first words help in gaining other 
 concepts and words as the child hears them in remarks 
 and stories, and in answers to his questions. Often for 
 several years the child's questions show that he is learn- 
 ing the general qualities of things of which he is trying 
 to form concepts, e.g. " Is iron heavier than wood } " 
 ** Will iron burn ? " "Is there anything stronger than 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 2/3 
 
 iron ? " " Where do we get iron ? " or again, " What do 
 policemen do ? " " Where do they live ? " " How strong 
 is a poUceman ? " " Is he stronger than you ? " " Do 
 they always have a club ? " In school, formal definitions, 
 special study, and reading become important means of 
 acquiring concepts and making them more definite. 
 
 Three degrees of definiteness of concepts may be 
 named : (i) one in which a class of objects can usually be 
 distinguished from other classes in ordinary experience, 
 but whose distinguishing qualities have not been picked 
 out or named, as when a child can tell dogs and cats 
 apart, but cannot state the difference. (2) A stage in 
 which one or more of the most evident characteristics 
 that distinguish one class of objects from other classes, 
 as dogs "bark" and cats "mew," maybe stated. (3) 
 Perfect concepts in which all the distinguishing char- 
 acteristics can be named, or, in other words, when a 
 scientific definition can be given, as, "A parallelogram 
 is a plane figure whose opposite sides are parallel and 
 equal." A young child's concepts are all of the first 
 degree, while the most cultivated man probably has 
 some of the first type, and a good many of the second ; 
 while few of his concepts outside of the lines to which 
 he has given special study are of the third degree. 
 
 The difficult task of finding what concepts of com- 
 mon things, of the second degree of definiteness, are 
 possessed by children upon entering school, has been 
 attempted in BerUn, Boston, and other places. As a 
 result of such study. Dr. Hall concludes: (i) "There 
 is next to nothing of pedagogic value, the knowledge 
 of which is safe to assume, at the outset of school 
 life. (2) The best preparation parents can give their 
 
274 
 
 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 children for good school training is to make them ac- 
 quainted with natural objects, especially with sights 
 and sounds of the country. (3) Every teacher, on 
 starting with a new class, or in a new locality, to make 
 sure that his efforts along some lines are not utterly 
 lost, should undertake to explore carefully, section by 
 section, children's minds with all the tact and inge- 
 nuity he can command and acquire, to determine exactly 
 what is already known. (4) The concepts that are 
 most common in the children of a given locality are the 
 earliest to be acquired, while the rarer ones are later." 
 Some of the striking per cents of ignorance of the 
 Boston children are as follows : — 
 
 Robin 
 
 
 . 60.5 
 
 Ankles 
 
 . . 65.S 
 
 Pig 
 
 
 . 47-5 
 
 Elbows 
 
 . . 25.0 
 
 Chicken 
 
 
 • 33-5 
 
 Dew 
 
 . 78.0 
 
 Elm tree 
 
 
 . 91.5 
 
 Woods . 
 
 . . 53-5 
 
 Wrist 
 
 
 • 70.5 
 
 HiU 
 
 . 28.0 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF REASONING 
 
 The beginning of practical reasoning is found, physio- 
 logically, in the instinctive tendency to do under simi- 
 lar conditions what has been done previously with 
 favorable results, and to refrain from doing what has 
 brought unfavorable results. A child, when uncomfort- 
 able, instinctively cries, and after a few months, if a 
 continuation and increase of crying effort has always 
 been followed by some one's coming- to the rescue, habit 
 establishes this method of obtaining relief. Some 
 months later the child not only has this physiological 
 tendency, but he is conscious of crying as oneXjnethod 
 of getting things, in much the same w^y that he is con- 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 2/5 
 
 scious of reaching, as a means of getting objects. A 
 year or two later the child may be so conscious of cry- 
 ing as a means that has secured desired ends, that he 
 makes the cry with a purpose, instead of merely allow- 
 ing it free course or increasing the instinctive tendency 
 to cry. In this the child's reasoning is not much 
 beyond that of an intelligent dog that lies down, rolls 
 over, or " speaks " for a piece of bread. 
 
 In all the child's experiences during the first few 
 years as he learns to reach for things, keep them from 
 falling, maintain his own equilibrium in various positions, 
 walk, climb, fall without getting hurt, avoid the stove, 
 use a spoon, or pile up blocks, in stinct is the bas is of ttie \ 
 practical ^easo n which is developing in a remarkable y 
 degree. 
 
 On the conscious side he is_guidedjby. sensations, 
 percepts, and images of particular experiences that were 
 like those now occurring. He usually knows practically 
 that things have to be held or something put under , 
 them or they will fall, by the middle of the second year ; 
 but it is many years before he actually thinks the gen- . 
 eral truth, "unsupported bodies fall," though he soon . 
 has representations of particular, unsupported bodies fall- . 
 ing. Hence, though children make practical inferences 
 at an early age, it is often a long time before they reason ' 
 in a general and abstract way. 
 
 As soon as children begin to learn language they are 
 implicitly generalizing, classifying, and reasoning as 
 they apply the words to new objects. Probably ngt. 
 until between three and four Vears of age do children, 
 begin' tqJ[£onsciously and explicitly?^eneralize7*and then 
 the geheralizatloiTlConsists,' at first, of several similar 
 
276 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 particulars, as the following remarks of a little girl 
 when about three and a half years old indicate. After 
 having often asked and been answered as to where vari- 
 ous things came from, she asked, " Where did I come 
 from?" and was answered, "You grew." Later she 
 asked : ^' Where did papa come from ? " " Where did 
 mamma come from } " " Where did grandma come 
 from ? " Later when told the baby had two legs, she 
 asked : ** How many legs has papa .? " " How many legs 
 has mamma .J^" and so on for the several members of 
 the family. At this time general statements did not 
 satisfy her. When told she did things for papa, she 
 asked, "What do I do for you.!*" and would not be 
 satisfied with the answer, " Lots of things," till a par- 
 ticular thing, "You get the paper for me," was named. 
 A few days later such remarks as the following were 
 common, "When I get big I will go to the gymna- 
 sium, the library, the normal school, kindergarten and 
 Jots of places,'' showing that her ideas were getting 
 slightly broader and more general than the particulars 
 named. 
 
 A little later a conscious attempt to generalize and 
 classify was indicated by the following, "The coffee 
 pot won't break, but the cup will break and the saucer 
 will break and the sauce dish will break," etc. The 
 crudeness of her ideas, however, was shown by the fact 
 that when questioned, she said that the silver sugar- 
 bowl and pitcher, and even a spoon, would break, 
 notwithstanding she had often dropped spoons without 
 their breaking. Practically, she handled cups and 
 spoons differently; iSut when she talked of them con- 
 sciously, no memory of different experiences with them 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 277 
 
 occurred to her to prevent her putting them both in 
 the class of breakables. 
 
 In all the earlier attempts at reasoning, images of 
 past experiences compose most of the " train of reason- 
 ing," and personal actions or commands to ^elf* are trans- 
 ferred to others, or of others to self," as the following 
 examples illustrate. To papa, " You eat something else 
 first, then you can have some cake." Having been told 
 that she could have something when it was noon, she 
 later asked, " Has noon gone ? " — ** No, noon is com- 
 ing." — "Has noon footies .?" — " No." — "How does 
 the noon come, then .? " perhaps thinking vaguely of 
 other ways of coming, as by means of wheels. It was 
 explained to her that we called it noon when the sun 
 got up high so we had to look up straight to see it. 
 Several times after that on cloudy days she said at din- 
 ner that it was not noon, for she could not see the sun, 
 which shows how largely her " thoughts " consisted of 
 definite sensations and images. One day the follow- 
 ing conversation between her and hej> father occurred : 
 "When I get big, X will poplifie com and you won't 
 have to do, it, will your? " — " No." — " You v^rill be a 
 little girl then, won't you ? " — " No." — " Yes, you will." 
 She had previously learned that she would get big, and 
 that papa had been little, and she had often changed 
 places with others, as, "You hide now, and I'll find you,'/* 
 and so she probably pictured herself as a big man pop- 
 ping corn, and papa as a little girl standing by as she 
 was then. 
 
 The child is continually gaining new truths that are 
 general in the sense that they can be applied to a num- 
 ber of particuilars ; his conceptions are increasing in 
 
2/8 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 number, and passing from the first to the second stage 
 of definiteness as he becomes conscious of common char- 
 acteristics and important differences in various classes 
 of objects; and he is continually trying to find out and 
 apply general truths, though he often discovers that 
 their application is more limited than he expected, as 
 when he goes out in the rain so he will grow, or plants 
 money or a ring expecting it to produce more. 
 
 In the following from a boy of four who has an unu- 
 sual tendency to generalize, the induction seemed to be 
 conscious : " All things that will run, like water and 
 milk, will wet, won't they, papa?" 
 
 The child gets his general truths (i) from practical 
 experiences, without being conscious of them as gen- 
 eral truths ; (2) from adults, perhaps in answers to such 
 questions as : " Where do apples come from ? " *' What 
 are you putting that pie in the stove for ? " " What 
 is it made of?" "What makes flowers grow?" 
 and (3) from his own generalizations and inductions, 
 though these are often more a recognition of similarity 
 of particulars than genuine abstract generalizations. 
 In other words, he goes from one particular to another, 
 instead of reaching a generalization inductively, then 
 applying it deductively as does the logician. For ex- 
 ample, a boy of five who saw white caps in the water 
 overflowing a meadow, and asked, " Is there soap under 
 every one of those waves ? " evidently remembered other 
 appearances like that, protluced by soap in water, and 
 thought of the same cause in this case without going 
 through any such logical coursejDf reasoning as the 
 following : ( i) (inductive) " I have observed such appear- 
 ances produced in water by soap and ^ nothing else. 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 279 
 
 What is true of the cases I have observed is true of all ; 
 therefore, such white stuff on the water is always pro- 
 duced by soap." (2) (deductive) "White stuff on the 
 water is always caused by soap ; that water has white 
 stuff on it, therefore there must be soap in it." 
 
 Whatever the source of the general truth involved in 
 a child's.. r easonitigT-he- is likely t o appl y it not-only to 
 thp. rlas s of objects or CQnditio.ns_lQ which it__.belQngs. 
 butJalsa.±CLiith£rs, and many of his_.mistakes in reason- 
 ing are^due to this fact. This is not because his gener- 
 alizations are so wide, as one might think, but because 
 they are so indefinite and undiscriminating, as are also 
 the concepts with which they are concerned ; hence as 
 soon as he notes similarity to something familiar, and 
 pictures what was true of it, he expects that the same 
 will be true of what seems like it. This is true even 
 when the similarity is only in name. For example, a 
 little girl of five, who had borrowed an eraser of a young 
 lady several times, was told that a plant in the window 
 was a rubber plant, when she quickly exclaimed, " Oh, 
 that's why you always have so many rubbers, isn't it ? " 
 
 In other instances the characteristic to which the truth 
 is attached is not an essential one ; hence the truth is 
 wrongly and often too narrowly applied, as when a boy 
 of eight said, "You should not call him Mr., he is not 
 married yet." In reality this and many similar mis- 
 takes come from too wide a generalization previously 
 made, which in this case probably was, women who 
 are married change their title ; hence all persons do so. 
 
 The numerous mistakes in reasoning that a child 
 makes often lead to his being laughed at, and this 
 tends to discourage him somewhat in original thinking, 
 
280 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 and to make him rely more upon others for his general 
 truths. 
 
 When he enters school the conditions are usually 
 unfavorable for developing his power and tendency to 
 reason. Before this, his practical reason was exercised 
 in his plays and experiences with real objects and situa- 
 tions, and his conclusions were usually of immediate 
 value to him. Though some of his reasoning had been 
 conscious, and some of his thinking animated by pure 
 curiosity, yet much of it had been influenced by practical 
 interest of some kind, while nearly all of it had been 
 concerned with persons, things, and incidents in his 
 immediate environment. In school, conscious reason- 
 ing is usually appealed to, and there are almost no 
 opportunities for the child to use his practical reason in 
 doJhg things. The school studies, especially arithmetic, 
 are supposed to be adapted to the development of the 
 child's reason ; but the appeal is almost wholly to con- 
 scious reasoning, which, unaided by the practical reason 
 and the stimulus of interest in the conclusions that 
 always accompanies reasoning in acts instead of in 
 thought, is not very vigorous. 
 
 His arithmetical thinking is also very imperfect 
 because it is not usually appealed to sufficiently through 
 the . senses and through images^ of definite individual 
 experiences, which, ,as we have already seen, naturally 
 occupy a large place in a child's reasoning. So man 
 truths are^fesented to him, and they are applied si 
 often without the results or conclusions having an 
 'bearing upon his present actions, that he ^oes not 
 care particularly what the truth is, or how it is applied, 
 proyiding he can say or do what will satisfy the teacher. 
 
 |i 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 28 1 
 
 In short, the effect of school life is usually inimical to 
 the activity of reasoning, at least for a time. 
 
 The ordinary child in the public school exercises his 
 practical reason less in the first half-dozen years of 
 school life than does the ordinary street urchin. Yet 
 the schoolboy acquires a great many valuable concepts 
 and general truths, and forms habits of orderly analysis 
 and synthesis which enable him, when his reason 
 awakens to full activity again (as it is likely to do in his 
 teens), to far surpass the street urchin, not only in more 
 abstract reasoning, but with some practice, in the reason- 
 ing involved in practical affairs. The training in the 1 
 school is not, therefore, valueless, but it produces a break 
 in the development of reasoning that is sometimes never 
 even apparently repaired. 
 
 Naturally, reasoning is first instinctive, sensory, and 
 practical, then conscious, imaginative, and individual, 
 and finally abstract, analytic, and general. The school 
 unsuccessfully seeks to develop the last form of reason- 
 ing before the others, which are a necessary basis for it, 
 are sufficiently developed. 
 
 After about twelve years of age, a child's interests^ 
 usually broaden so that he is no longer almost wholly 
 concerned with his own affairs and with particular results,^ 
 but begins to develop a social and speculative interest 
 in groups of persons and classes of objects and events. 
 By this time the child has also acquired enough con- 
 cepts and general truths, together with the power of 
 analyzing and discriminating difference and likeness, so 
 that he now has the power as well as the impulse to 
 reason in a general and abstract way concerning persons 
 in history, words in language, and things in science. 
 
282 
 
 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 What is needed more than anything else to develop 
 the reasoning power of children in school is that, 
 they shall have more opportunity to work out for 
 themselves methods of doing things which they are 
 immediately interested in doing, and more practice in 
 discovering the results of particy,lar acts and conditions, 
 before they are expected to reason in an abstract way 
 about classes of things in which they have no immediate 
 or practical interest. It is also important, especially in 
 arithmetic, that they shall have much practice in apply- 
 ing general truths to various classes of problems, with- 
 out anything to show them which general truth will fit 
 each particular case. In other words, their need is not 
 more general truths, but more practice in discerning 
 essential characteristics and applying truths. ' i^^ 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. If similarity in mental processes helps one person in under- 
 standing another, are teachers who are studying some new sub- 
 ject likely to succeed better in teaching than those who are not ? 
 Why ? ^^ ■ \ '^^ " 
 
 2. Give a number of illustrations of special training that does or 
 does not increase general mental power. 
 
 3. As a means of showing that our perceptions become definite 
 regarding familiar things, note the fact that a figure like the accom- 
 panying one may be seen in two or three definite 
 and familiar ways, but not in any intermediate 
 or confused way. Note, also, how easy it is to 
 hear sounds and nonsense syllables as words. 
 Is this true to the same extent of children ? 
 
 4. Give illustrations of differences in the dis- 
 crimination of individuals, and indicate how far 
 they may be explained by special knowledge and 
 practice. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 283 
 
 5. Test first or second grade children and adults by having them 
 make straight lines, then words, as many times as possible in a min- 
 ute, and note the difference in the two cases in the rate of children 
 and adults and the causes of the difference. 
 
 6. Report tests and observations showing difference in mental 
 grasp of children and adults. 
 
 7. Give illustrations showing that differences in the perceptive 
 power of adults may be as grea^as are to be found between children 
 and adults. 
 
 8. Why do people who have never studied drawing usually say 
 that a circle looks the same in all positions ? Give other illustra- 
 tions of the ignoring of variations in sensations, in perceiving objects 
 as the same. 
 
 9. Have students experiment and report on weight and size 
 illusions. 
 
 10. Show children successively sticks of the following length in 
 inches : i, i^, 2, 2|, 3, 3^, 4, 4, 4, 4, and see if they get the sugges- 
 tion, that each line is to be larger than each of the preceding. Show 
 a series of lines drawn on paper of the above lengths, and ask the 
 children to point to one three inches long, then just as the child is 
 doing so, say, "Are you sure you are right ? " Report other obser- 
 vations and experiments showing the greater suggestibility of chil- 
 dren as compared with adults. 
 
 11. Show to adults for a moment the name of your city or some 
 other familiar word, with some letters omitted and similar ones sub- 
 stituted, and see if familiarity with the word does not lead to error. 
 Report other observations and experiments showing that knowledge 
 and habit may lead to error. 
 
 12. To get an idea of how large a part purpose plays in percep- 
 tion, look at a book with one after another of the following purposes : 
 jto know the name and author, to know regarding the capitalization 
 'of letters, the size of letters, spacing and design on the back, to 
 
 determine the quality of the binding as to material and color, to see 
 if the book is perfectly new and clean, to see if its edge is smooth 
 and straight so it can be used in place of a ruler, to determine its 
 size in inches, to judge of the quality of the paper. Find other illus- 
 Ltions of how the purpo^ in perceiving, rather than the mere power 
 of discrimination, determines what shall be perceived. 
 \ 
 
284 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 13. Is there any relation between manual training and sense train- 
 ing ? Explain fully. 
 J 14. Give illustrations of the imaging power of children. 
 
 15. Is your image of a wooded hill that you have seen many times 
 at various seasons of the year as definite and vivid as some land- 
 scapes you have seen only a few times ? Give other illustrations 
 showing how increased experience may lead to less definiteness and 
 vividness of images. 
 
 16. Report fi-om experience, observation, or reading, instances of 
 letters or numbers, which always call up images of certain colors or 
 forms. 
 
 17. Is it better to tell children of the second, third, or fourth grades 
 something you wish them to remember, or to have them read it ? 
 Why? 
 
 18. Try with children and adults some such experiment as the 
 following. Say, " Make a dot two inches from the top of the page 
 and one inch from the left edge, then from it draw a line to the right 
 two inches long, then downward three inches, then to the left one 
 inch, then upward an inch, then to the dot first made," and see how 
 well they follow directions, or say, " Think of a square with a 
 triangle on top with point upward, a circle underneath, and an oblong 
 on each side with ends next the side of the square." 
 
 19. Illustrate from school work, successes or failures of children 
 due to good or poor constructive imagination. 
 
 J 20. What is the effect on the creative imagination of always 
 telling children not only what to do, but also just how to do it ? 
 
 21 . Mention a number of exercises that you think would give good 
 training to the creative imagination, in which you recognize a stage 
 of imitation and practice, and another stage of free creation, indicat- 
 ing the grade to which these exercises would be most suitable. 
 
 22. Find how many words a child of two uses, as an indication of 
 the number of concepts he has. 
 
 23. Attempt to determine what concepts of common things, of 
 the second degree of definiteness, a child of from four to six has. 
 
 24. It will be interesting for students to try to gain some idea 
 of how many concepts they have by counting the words familiar to 
 them on every tenth or hundredth page of a dictionary, and estimat- 
 ing their total vocabulary. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 285 
 
 25. Give a number of instances of childish reasoning from obser- 
 vation or reading, and explain the modes of reaching a conclusion 
 in each case. 
 
 26. Give illustrations of work in school studies, so planned that 
 the reasoning may be simply a means to an end the child desires to 
 reach. 
 
 27. Give such problems as these to children, and explain why 
 they make mistakes. " A boy walked directly east three miles, then 
 directly west three miles, how far was he from where he started ? " 
 " If a stalk of corn two feet high grows two feet in the month of 
 July, how much will a peach tree three feet high grow in the same 
 time ? " 
 
 28. Algebra may be described as arithmetic generalized. Why 
 is it better suited for older pupils than arithmetic ? 
 
 29. Have children find out what you are thinking of by asking 
 questions that you answer by yes or no. Notice how many of their 
 questions are particular or ignore former answers, and hence show 
 lack of conceptional thought and reasoning. 
 
 30. Tell a story, such as the following, with many contradictions 
 in it, and ask children to give their reasons for thinking it is or is 
 not true. Notice in how few cases they put parts together so as 
 to show their logical contradictions. " The water would not be very 
 warm if it was winter " is a logical reason, while " His father would 
 not have praised him " is merely reasoning according to probabilities. 
 
 A Boy's First Fish 
 
 One winte r afternoon a boy went fishing in a lake a short distance 
 from his home. He had a bent pin for a hook, and a thread for a 
 line, which he fastened to a goocLstrong pole. As soon as he threw 
 the hook in, a fish took it in his mouth and started downstream. 
 The boy began to pull, but his foot slipped and he fell into the river. 
 He was frightened at first, but when he found that the river was" 
 shallow and the water very warm, he did not care, but held to the 
 pole. He waded to the shore and pulled till the pqle^ bent and 
 almost broke before he could draw'.the fish out of the lake. When he got 
 it out he saw that it was about eight inches kyig and he was very much 
 pleased. He tried to catch more, but they would not take the hook. 
 
286 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 His hands got cold in the wintry wind, so he started home with the 
 fish. He got very tired carrying the h^vj^^^sh so far, but forgot all 
 about it when he got home, and his papa praised him for holding to 
 the pole, and his mamma said the fish would make several nice meals 
 for all of them. " "" 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general subject of intellectual development and training, see 
 besides psychologies, Baldwin, Vol. I, pp. 301-332 ; Hinsdale, 
 Studies in Education^ chaps, ii and iii ; and Ed. Rev., Vol. VIH, 
 pp. 128-142; Judd, chaps, i and ii; Compayre, Vol. I, chaps, 
 vi and vii. Vol. H ; Thorndike, Human Nature Club, chap, xv; 
 Jr. Ped., Vol. XIV, pp. 60-65 ; Thorndike and Woodworth, 
 Psych. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 247-261, 384-395, 553-564; Aiken, 
 "Methods of Mind Training"; Allen, Jr. Ped., Vol. XIV, 
 PP- 237-254; Bergstrom, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. V, pp. 356-369; 
 Swift, Ped. Se?n., Vol. X, pp. 3-22 ; Hugh, Ped. Sem., Vol. V, 
 pp. 599-605 ; Bryan and Harter, Psych. Rev., Vol. IV, pp. 27- 
 53, Vol. VI, pp. 345-375 ; Andrews, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIV, 
 pp. 121-149 ; Johnson, Yale Studies, Vol. VI, pp. 51-103 ; Swift, 
 Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. XIV, pp. 201-251. 
 
 On the senses and early intellectual development, consult Preyer, 
 Shinn, Tracy, Moore. 
 
 On discrimination, rate of mental activity, perception, suggestion, and 
 illusions, read Kirkpatrick, Psych. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 563-577, 
 Vol. VII, pp. 274-280; parts of Gilbert, Yale Studies, Vol. II, 
 pp. 40-100; Iowa Univ. Studies, Vol. II, pp. 1-84; Christo- 
 pher and Smedley's Reports of Child Study Investigations to the 
 Chicago Board of Education ; Judd, Psych. Rev., Vol. IX, pp. 
 27-39; Small, Ped. Sent., Vol. IV, pp. 176-220; N. W. Mo.y 
 Vol. IX, pp. 134-135 ; Sidis, Psychology of Suggestion ; Bolton, 
 Psych. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 537-548 ; Jastrow, Fact and Fable 
 in Psychology, pp. 106-136, 275-295 ; Binet, Psych. Rev., Vol. 
 VIII, pp. 610-616; Pillsbury, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, pp. 
 315-393; Dressier, Am. Jr. Ps^ch., Vol. VI, pp. 343-363; Sea- 
 shore, Yale StJtdies, Vol. Ill, pp. 1-67; Iowa Studies, Vol. II, 
 pp. 1-64. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECT 287 
 
 / 
 On mental images, see Galton, Pop. Set. Mo., Vol. XV, p. 532 ; Vol. 
 
 XVIII, p. 64, or consult his Human Faculty, Patrick, Pop. 
 
 Set. Mo., Vol. XXXIX, p. 761 ; Kirkpatrick, Science, October, 
 
 1893 ; Binet, Pop. Set. Mo., Vol. LI, pp. 539-544; Bryan, 
 
 N. E. A., 1893, pp. 779-781 ; Talbot, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, 
 
 pp. 414-417; Hall, F. H., /r. Ped., Vol. XIV, pp. 214-223; 
 
 N. E. A., 1897, pp. 621-628 ; Ch. S. Mo., Vol. VI, pp. 297-307 ; 
 
 ^y\\^Ped. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 127-160; Jastrow, Fact and 
 
 Fable in Psychology, pp. 337-370; Philipps, Am. Jr. Psych., 
 
 Vol. VIII, pp. 506-527; Wolfe, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. IX, pp. 
 
 137-166. 
 
 On memory, see Colgrove, especially chap, v ; Eldridge-Green, 
 
 Memory and its Cultivation, Part I, chaps, vii and viii and 
 
 Part II ; Waldstein, The Subconscious Self', Bolton, Am. Jr. 
 
 Psych., Vol. IV, pp. 362-380 ; Shaw, Ped. Sem., Vol. IV, pp. 
 
 61-78; Kirkpatrick, Psych. Rev., Vol. I, pp. 602-609; Jastrow, 
 
 Ed. Rev., Vol. II, pp. 442-452 ; Patrick, Ed. Rev., Vol. IV, pp. 
 
 463-474 ; Barnes, Studies in Ed., pp. 58-61 ; Jacobs, Mind, Vol. 
 
 XII, pp. 75-82. 
 
 On associative, creative, conceptive, and reasoning activities of 
 children, see Bolton and Haskell, Ed. Rev., Vol. XV, pp. 474- 
 499 ; Barnes, Studies in Ed., Vol. I, pp. 41-52 ; Vol. II, pp. 43-6i> 
 373-387; Royce, Psych. Rev., Vol. V, pp. 1 13-144; Hall, Ped. 
 Sem., Vol. I, pp. 139-173; Lindley, Aitu Jr. Psych., Vol. VIII, 
 pp. 431-493; Brown, Ped. Sem., Vol. II, pp. 358-39^; Gale, 
 Jr. Ch. andAdoles., July, 1902, pp. 149-74; Hancock, Ed. Rev.^ 
 Vol. XII, pp. 261-268; Learoyd, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VII, pp. 
 86-90. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 HEREDITY 
 MEANING 
 
 Heredity is the term applied in biology to the pro- 
 duction of like by like. The fact that the offspring of 
 plants and animals always belong to the same species 
 as their parents, is named if not explained by the word 
 "heredity." When the term is used by stock-breeders 
 and students of man, however, it has a more restricted 
 meaning. It then refers not merely to the likeness in 
 species, but to the less-marked characteristics that dis- 
 tinguish different breeds or families of the same species. 
 A negro's child is not merely a human being, but he is 
 a human being of the black type. A Bach is, as a rule, 
 not merely a human being, a Caucasian and a German, 
 but also a Bach in the sense of being a musical genius. 
 The context will usually show whether the term is used 
 in the narrower or the broader sense. In both senses, 
 the laws and the fundamental phenomena are the same. 
 A minute cell formed by the union of a cell from a 
 male with the cell of a female of the same species 
 develops into a being similar to its ancestors, both near 
 and remote, and yet not exactly like any one of them. 
 
 The characteristics of every animal and person are 
 determined not only by the union of cells from two lines 
 of ancestry, but also by the environment which begins 
 u 289 
 
290 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 to act as soon as the embryo is formed, and continues to 
 mould the developing organism till birth, then in a still 
 greater variety of ways until maturity. The changes 
 produced before birth are often very marked, since a 
 nervous shock to a mother four or five months before 
 the birth of a child often results in some deformity in 
 the child. It is claimed by some, but not generally ad- 
 mitted by physicians, that the physical and mental con- 
 dition of the mother during the entire time the child is 
 carried, affects its development in a marked degree. The 
 special characteristics this gives a child are congenital, 
 but not, properly speaking, hereditary. In common lan- 
 guage they are often spoken of as hereditary, but in 
 the scientific sense only those characteristics that result 
 from the union of two germ cells are hereditary. 
 
 GENERAL TRUTHS OR LAWS OF HEREDITY 
 
 (i) Children usually resemble their parents. A child 
 is, however, never exactly like either the father or the 
 mother, nor does he possess the sum of all the char- 
 acteristics of both or an equal fusion, but surely some 
 of each. The prominent qualities of one parent or the 
 other, rather than a fusion of those of both, frequently 
 appear in the child. For this reason we find black- 
 haired and red-haired children in the same family, 
 instead of all with hair of an intermediate color. The 
 child usually has also characteristics not possessed by 
 either of his parents. The resemblance to a grand- 
 parent or even a more remote ancestor, or to a relative 
 not in the direct line of descent, as uncle or cousin, may 
 be more marked than to the parents. 
 
 (2) This suggests the truth that inheritance is not 
 
HEREDITY 29I 
 
 simply from parents y but from the two lines of ancestry 
 of the two families. This view is supported by the fact 
 that stock-breeders cannot predict the characteristics of 
 the offspring of mongrels or mixed breeds, while they 
 can of those known to have been of pure blood for 
 many generations. Going back a generation at a time 
 one finds the number of ancestors increasing geometri- 
 cally as follows : 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc., so that in the tenth 
 generation there are a thousand ancestors. This shows 
 why, when there are various breeds or families repre- 
 sented, it is impossible to predict the result of the 
 union. On the other hand, when the ancestors are all 
 from one line, the results can be predicted with some 
 accuracy. So far as the facts are known it appears 
 that the offspring of two parents of different Unes of 
 pure breed will, other things being equal, most resemble 
 the one that has been kept pure the greatest number of 
 generations. 
 
 In the human race there is far less pureness of breed 
 than in animals. A practically pure breed of animals, 
 pairing every year, can be established in five or six 
 years ; while to establish a pure breed of human beings, 
 even if a regular plan were followed as is done with 
 domestic animals, would require a century and a half. 
 Again, since human beings move about much more than 
 other animals, the people of any given locality are, as a 
 rule, of much less pure blood than the various species 
 of animals in the same region. Migration, wars, and 
 inter-marriage have resulted in the mixing of blood 
 from almost all portions of the globe. The results of 
 heredity in human beings are therefore, under ordinary 
 conditions, infinitely more difficult to predict than in 
 
292 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 animals; yet color may be predicted with a good 
 deal of certainty in the offspring of black and white 
 races. 
 
 (3) There is a tendency to return to the normal type. 
 For example, even when both parents vary from the 
 normal in the same way, the offspring usually do not 
 show as much variation as the parents. The children 
 of a large father and mother are usually larger than the 
 normal, but smaller than their parents ; and children of a 
 small father and mother are usually smaller than normal 
 but larger than their parents. The son of an unusually 
 strong or brilliant man is likely to be less strong or 
 brilUant than himself ; but on the other hand the son of 
 a man diseased or of unusually small capacity is likely 
 to be more healthy and intelligent than himself. 
 
 (4) Heredity is often of a general capacity rather than 
 of a specific ability. For example, the son of a great 
 scientist may become a great writer or attain great suc- 
 cess in business or politics. Moreover, nervous irregu- 
 larity in the parents may appear in the children in the 
 form of imbecility, insanity, or criminality. 
 
 (5) Where there is close in-breedingy it has been 
 thought that weakness, especially mental, is likely to 
 appear, and some of the royal families that have inter- 
 married and degenerated are cited as evidence. Recent 
 writers, however, are inclined to think that where weak- 
 ness results from in-breeding, it is because weakness 
 already exists and is merely increased by the process, 
 while strong qualities are just as surely perpetuated and 
 increased. The Jews have not developed mental weak- 
 ness, though history shows no other such instance of 
 human in-breeding carried on for thousands of years. 
 
HEREDITY 293 
 
 (6) The offspring of parents of pure blood sometimes 
 show characteristics of the remote ancestors of the breed ; 
 this is known as atavism, or reversion. For example, 
 pigeons, like the original blue-rock pigeons from which 
 all are descended, are occasionally found among the 
 offspring of fancy breeds that ordinarily breed true. 
 Reversion is more likely to occur when distinct breeds 
 are crossed. For example, mules, which result from 
 crossing the horse and the ass, often have stripes similar 
 to those of their zebra-like common ancestor. 
 
 (7) Not all hereditary qualities are apparent at birth. 
 There is good reason to believe that they appear at 
 various stages of development, as do instincts, especially 
 at the time of puberty. Physical features, and mental 
 and moral qualities of father or mother hitherto unno- 
 ticed, often become conspicuous at this time. It is 
 also claimed that inherited bodily or mental disease 
 frequently appears at about the same age in certain 
 families. 
 
 GENERAL THEORY OF HEREDITY 
 
 The germ cells that unite to form the embryo of a 
 man are of almost microscopic minuteness. The em- 
 bryo can at first scarcely be distinguished from the 
 embryo of a rat or an elephant, yet it has potentially 
 all the characteristics of the species man. Moreover, 
 it has the peculiarities of the race, nation, and family 
 of each of the two parents from whom the germ 
 cells came. How such minute portions of matter can 
 embody all the characteristics of their ancestors and 
 impose these characteristics upon all the nutriment by 
 which their size is increased many million fold, is one of 
 
294 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the greatest marvels of nature and life. Anything that 
 will make this marvel definitely conceivable is therefore 
 to be welcomed. 
 
 If we accept the results of recent experiments show- 
 ing the exceeding smallness of particles of matter, we 
 may think of each characteristic of each tissue (such 
 as bony or nervous) and of each organ as represented 
 by different kinds of particles of matter in the germ 
 cells. It is thus possible to conceive of the way in 
 which the characteristics of the parents may be trans- 
 mitted to their descendants. This gives a very crude 
 theory, however, which is not supported by observation 
 and experiment. If every tissue and organ must con- 
 tribute material to the germ cell, we should expect that 
 the child of a man who had lost a leg or an arm would 
 lack the same member, but such is not the case. Again, 
 if the different parts of an embryo are formed of differ- 
 ent kinds of particles, we should expect that if an embryo 
 were divided that a complete organism could not develop 
 from one of the parts. It has been found, however, 
 by experiments upon frogs and other of the lower 
 animals, that the fourth of the embryo (for example, 
 of a frog) will, under favorable conditions, develop into 
 a whole animal with no part missing. 
 
 Slight changes in conditions, such as turning an 
 embryo over, putting it in a new medium, subjecting 
 it to a different temperature, or supplying it with food 
 differing in kind or amount from the normal, greatly 
 modify its development. For example, queen bees 
 are the result of rich feeding, and experiment shows 
 that as high as 90 per cent of frogs* eggs may develop 
 into females if the embryos are richly fed. It is, there- 
 
HEREDITY 295 
 
 fore, improbable that the characteristics of each animal 
 and each organ are determined by fundamentally dif- 
 ferent elementary particles of which the germ cells are 
 composed. It is more reasonable to suppose that there 
 are comparatively few varieties of particles, and that 
 these tend to combine in certain ways for each species, 
 according to preestablished affinities, attractions, and 
 repulsions that are modified in a greater or less degree 
 by external surroundings of the embryo, and by the 
 relative vigor of the different elements of the two germ 
 cells composing it. 
 
 The chief discussions in biology during the last decade 
 have centred about the possibility of modifying germ 
 cells through modifications of body cells. Changes in 
 food, exercise, and mode of life may make great changes 
 in an animal or person ; but whether such changes mod- 
 ify the germ cells also, so that descendants will have the 
 new characteristics, is a disputed point. For example, 
 if a son is born to a man at twenty-five, and after the 
 father has spent twenty years in practice to develop his 
 musical talents, another son is born, will the last son 
 inherit any more musical ability than the first one .? 
 Weismann, who has been the leader on one side of this 
 controversy, says that no changes that take place in 
 the life of a parent can modify the germ cells so as 
 to affect the offspring. Each parent transmits to his 
 offspring what he inherits, but not what he acquires. 
 If this be true, culture cannot be directly trans- 
 mitted; each new generation must begin where the 
 old began, and if it advances beyond the former, it 
 must be because of better advantages for learning 
 rather than because of inherited ability. According 
 
296 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 to this view, acquired weakness of body or mind are 
 also non-transmissible. 
 (k In the biological world, progress is possible according 
 to this theory because no two individual descendants are 
 exactly alike, and because the members of each new 
 generation that are best suited to survive under certain 
 constant conditions, are the ones that live and produce 
 offspring, while the others die or produce few offspring. 
 This process being repeated generation after generation, 
 all offspring finally come to have the favorable character- 
 istics in a marked degree. For example, of a dozen 
 young partridges, the ones that are colored most nearly 
 like their surroundings are likely to survive and produce 
 descendants with similar coloring. Again, the most fa- 
 vorably colored of these survive and produce, and thus 
 after many generations the principle of natural selection 
 results in complete color adaptation to surroundings. 
 When a breeder of fancy pigeons continues to breed 
 only those having certain coloring, the results are simi- 
 lar, only in this case it is human instead of natural selec- 
 tion that determines the type of pigeon that shall survive. 
 Instincts and intelligence are modified in a similar 
 way. For instance, only those young partridges that 
 have in the greatest degree the tendency to remain quiet 
 when danger threatens, are likely to reach maturity and 
 produce offspring. Natural selection, therefore, has 
 thus determined the instinct as well as the coloring of 
 the partridge. In the case of intelligeftce, the results are 
 much the same. Plasticity or ability to learn is unques- 
 tionably favorable to survival ; hence the young animals 
 that learn most readily are likely to survive and produce 
 descendants, some of which have the capacity in a 
 
HEREDITY 297 
 
 greater degree. These in turn survive, and thus may 
 natural selection alone account for the development of 
 intelligence in the higher animals and in man. To them 
 ability to learn in infancy is more advantageous than 
 to know unchangeably many favorable modes of re- 
 action. Thus ability to learn which is the essence of 
 intelligence is developed. 
 
 This question of inheritance of acquired characteris- 
 tics is not yet settled in biology, but it is now generally 
 admitted that the characteristics that a parent transmits 
 are chiefly those that he inherited, and that the character- 
 istics acquired by the parent rarely, if ever, so affect the 
 germ cells as to be transmitted to his descendants. In 
 the case of human beings if there is any transmission 
 of acquired characteristics by germ inheritance, it is 
 probably in so slight a degree as to have no effect 
 worthy of note, unless it be where many generations 
 have made the same acquisitions. Progress in civili- 
 zation is therefore not to be looked for in greater in- 
 herited skill or intelligence. 
 
 SOCIAL HEREDITY 
 
 The acceptance in whole, or even in part, of Weis- 
 mann's theory of heredity seems at first to make the 
 problem of the improvement of the human race an 
 almost hopeless one, since each generation gets no 
 direct benefit from the improvement of the preceding 
 generation, but must begin just where it did. A closer 
 study, however, shows that the chances for racial im- 
 provement are just as good on this theory as on any other. 
 Capacity for education, rather than increased knowledge 
 and power at birth, is what human beings need in order 
 
298 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 that they may advance ; and natural selection will amply 
 provide for this, especially in these days of rapid change 
 in the conditions and activities of life. 
 
 The other factor most needed for racial advancement 
 ^^is a mort favorable environment — greater intellectual 
 and social treasures — which may be appropriated by 
 the new generations without the toilsome digging re- 
 quired by their predecessors. Each new generation 
 inherits, not only the wealth and knowledge, but all 
 the means of wealth and knowledge, such as ma- 
 chinery, industrial and commercial organizations, edu- 
 cational and scientific institutions, systems and methods, 
 together with more or less fixed social ideals, customs, 
 and language. Whether a man inherits the minute 
 structural changes produced in his parents' bodies by 
 what they did before his conception, is a matter of 
 little moment compared with his inheritance of ca- 
 pacity and opportunity for using all the accumulated 
 results of the experience of the ages. It is this in- 
 herited environment in which he is to grow, and upon 
 which he is to feed, th^t chiefly determines the amount 
 and direction of his development. All the conditions 
 of life produced by civilization constitute what, in a 
 very general way, may be called " social inheritance." 
 Man is truly " the heir of all the ages," and each gen- 
 eration utilizes what has been produced and learned by 
 the preceding. The social heritage of an individual 
 consists of all the knowledge, beliefs, customs, laws, and 
 language of the nation, community, and family into 
 which he is born. 
 
 Much of what has been ascribed to physical he- 
 redity is, in reality, due partially or wholly to social 
 
HEREDITY 299 
 
 heredity. The history of the Jukes family, in which 
 it is shown that nearl)^ all of more than a thousand 
 descendants of one man were criminals or paupers, 
 proves nothing regarding physical heredity, for the 
 family was for many years almost isolated from so- 
 ciety ; consequently, the factor of social heredity had 
 the fullest chance to operate. The children of a young 
 couple belonging to this family who moved into another 
 neighborhood, and thus partially got the benefit of a 
 different social inheritance, grew up much as other 
 children of the neighborhood. The records of chari- 
 table societies show that about eighty-five per cent of 
 the children of paupers and criminals who are placed 
 in good homes at an early age become good citizens. 
 
 Every nation and every family possesses a wealth of 
 beliefs, sentiments, artistic and moral ideals, lore, tradi- 
 tions, and customs which descend to the children by an 
 incontestible law of entail. Truly, in educating a child, 
 we should begin with his grandparents ; for he will in- 
 evitably get the benefit through social heredity in the 
 form of family customs,^ habits, and traditions, though 
 probably not through inherited acquisitions. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1 . Give examples of heredity in both the broader and the narrower 
 meaning of the word. 
 
 2. Illustrate each of the laws of heredity. 
 
 3. Indicate how such characteristics as those of pointer dogs, 
 trotting horses, homing pigeons, could have developed either with 
 or without the inheritance of acquired characteristics. 
 
 4. Imagine a company of people of a civilized country placed on 
 an island without tools or machines of any kind, and think how long 
 it would take them to be able to live as they had been living. Then 
 
300 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 imagine a company of children of civilized people left without a lan- 
 guage or any social or intellectual knowledge, as well as without the 
 material conveniences of civilization, and think how long it would 
 take them and their descendants to reach the civilization of their 
 parents. 
 
 5. Are the peculiarities of half-breeds and others who are without 
 a country or people of their own due chiefly to physical or to social 
 heredity? 
 
 6. What is the effect of never being a member of a family, as in 
 the case of children in orphan asylums ? Why ? 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general theory of heredity, see Orr, Theory of Development 
 and Inheritance ; Brooks, Heredity^ also The Foundations of 
 Zoology ; Weismann, The Germ-Plasm ; Romanes, An Exami- 
 nation of IVeismannismy also Darwin and After Darwin^ 
 Vol. IL 
 
 For facts regarding heredity and environment, consult Ribot, Hered- 
 ity ; '^'ishtt, Marriage and Heredity ; works on criminals, espe- 
 cially Morrison, Jtwenile Offetiders ; Winship or Dugdale on The 
 Jukes ; Galton, Hereditary Genius ; Woods, " Mental and Moral 
 Heredity in Royalty," Pop. Sci. Mo., Vol. LXI, pp. 366-378, 
 449-460, 506-513, Vol. LXII, pp. 76-84, 167-182; Ellis, Pop. 
 Sci. Mo., Vol. LVIII, pp. 595-603; Vol. LIX, pp. 59-67; 
 Oppenheim, Development of the Child, chap, iv; and for a good 
 brief discussion of theory and facts, see Eigenmann, Pop. Sci. 
 Mo., Vol. LXI, pp. 32-44. 
 
 On heredity and education, see Guyau, Education and Heredity ; 
 Bradford, Heredity and Christian Problems. 
 
 On social heredity, see Baldwin, Vol. II, especially pp. 57-64; Allen, 
 AT. W. Mo., Vol. IX, pp. 400-403, 436-439 ; Ed. Rev., Vol. 
 XVIII, pp. 344-352 ; Monro, Ed. Rev., Vol. XVI, pp. 367-377. 
 
 See also Wilson, The Cell in Development and Inheritance ; Mar- 
 wedil, Conscious Motherhood. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 INDIVIDUALITY 
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TERM 
 
 Whatever has a separate existence so that it cannot 
 be divided or fused with something else, without losing 
 its essential unity, has individuality. A pebble, there- 
 fore, has some individuality, while a drop of water has 
 none. Again, in order to have individuality, an object 
 must not only have a unitary and separate existence, but/ 
 it must differ from every other unit. Coins, as they roll 
 from the mint, have no individuality, for each is exactly 
 like the other. The products of machines generally 
 lack individuality, while hand-made goods and the prod- 
 ucts of organic nature all possess some individuality. 
 No two leaves are ever found exactly alike. 
 
 Difference from other similar units may be taken as 
 the essential element in individuality. The difference 
 may be slight or great, and in one or many characteristics. 
 The more characteristics a thing possesses, the greatenj 
 are the chances for difference or individuality. A 
 mere point can differ from another point in position 
 only, while a line may differ from other lines in position, 
 direction, and length, and a rectangle from other rec- 
 tangles in position, length, breadth, and proportion of 
 length to breadth. If the rectangle is a material object, 
 it may also differ from other rectangular objects, in 
 
 302 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 303 
 
 composition, weight, thickness, color, and smoothness. 
 Organic objects may differ in all these ways and also 
 in origin, manner of growth, length of life, etc. It 
 follows, therefore, that the most complex things may 
 be most unlike ; hence man, the most complex of animals, 
 has the greatest individuality of all. This is true of the 
 body, and with still more truth may we say, '* every 
 human soul is unique." 
 
 Although a description of the peculiarities of an in- 
 dividual, as compared with the corresponding qualities 
 in others, is the easiest way of showing his individuality, 
 it is in a way superficial. Individuality depends more 
 upon harmony and unity of qualities or their lack 
 than it does upon the degree in which each quality is 
 possessed as compared with the average person. The 
 permanency of the particular organization of qualities 
 is also another measure of individuality. 
 
 BIOLOGICAL VALUE OF INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 Biologically, the significance of individuality is as 
 great as that of heredity. If every individual of a new 
 generation were exactly like its parents, evolution would 
 be impossible. An almost infinite variety of individuals 
 must be produced in order that the fundamental prin- 
 ciple of evolution, i.e. natural selection, may act effec- 
 tively. Probably not one acorn in a thousand sprouts 
 and takes root, and not more than one in a hundred of 
 those that do, ever reach the proportions of a full-sized 
 oak. The loss of buds and branches in each individual 
 oak is almost equally great. In the animal world the 
 loss is scarcely less, especially in the lower forms of 
 animal life. If all grasshoppers' eggs matured, the 
 
304 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 globe would be buried with them in a few years. Which 
 of these vast multitudes of young creatures of each 
 species shall survive, seems entirely a matter of chance, 
 or, in other words, of temporary and local conditions ; but 
 such is not the case. No two organisms, from the tini- 
 est leaf, or seed, and the smallest bug to the most com- 
 plex of all beings, — man, are exactly alike. Despite 
 their similarity every member of each species has some 
 individuality. Those having characteristics in the sHght- 
 est degree more suitable to the constant conditions of 
 life, are most likely to be preserved to produce others 
 with some of the same characteristics. 
 
 The enormous loss of life in each new generation is 
 therefore not wholly useless, for those animals that sur- 
 vive have the characteristics that fit them to live success- 
 fully in the environment into which they were born, 
 while those that perished were less favorably endowed. 
 The continued existence of the species so long as con- 
 ditions remain the same, is thus assured. If conditions 
 change, some individuals are likely to survive and pro- 
 duce descendants, whereas, if all were alike, all would 
 perish. The selection, for survival, of those best suited 
 to the new conditions, results in further evolution of the 
 species and its more complete adaptation to the new 
 life conditions. 
 
 To the human race, individuality is even more im- 
 portant, for not only does it favor physical evolution, 
 but also social progress. If there were no persons 
 differing from the common mass of mankind, to serve 
 as leaders and models for imitation, changes in customs 
 and modes of thinking would be impossible. Progress 
 would come to an eternal standstill 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 305 
 
 COMMONALITY AND INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 Every person, as Shylock eloquently shows, has the 
 essential characteristics of a common humanity as well 
 as individual peculiarities. Physically, all have body, 
 limbs, head, and internal organs ; but the absolute and 
 relative size of each are never the same in two indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 In height, men vary from three feet to eight feet, and 
 in weight, from fifty to five hundred pounds. The aver- 
 age child at birth weighs about seven pounds, but an 
 individual child may weigh anywhere from three to 
 sixteen pounds. Although seventy per cent of the chil- 
 dren in a first grade may be comfortable seated in 
 the average seat for that grade, some individuals will 
 require much smaller seats, and others, seats as large as 
 are usually required in a sixth-grade room. The aver- 
 age pulse beat of men is seventy, but it may be 
 forty or over a hundred. Differences equally great are 
 found in every organ and process, and in the relation of 
 parts and processes to each other, e.g. a man six feet 
 high may have a shorter body than one only five and a 
 half feet in height. Indeed, it is difference in propor- 
 tion of parts rather than in absolute size that enables 
 us to distinguish one individual from another. 
 
 Even the very elements of which bone and muscle 
 are composed differ in different persons; hence the 
 combination of these elements into organs of different 
 sizes must give rise to still greater differences in physi- 
 ological processes, temperaments, movements, sensa- 
 tions, thoughts, emotions and actions. 
 
 Shoe dealers, doctors, teachers, and preachers would 
 
 X 
 
306 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 find their tasks much simplified (though rather dull 
 and mechanical) if there were complete uniformity. 
 Society would be quite democratic. There would be 
 no idiots and no geniuses, no criminals and no philan- 
 thropists, no radicals and no conservatives. Methods of 
 work and modes of worship would soon alike be me- 
 chanically regulated and continued without change. 
 
 On the other hand, in a country where there is great 
 individuality and no uniformity, governments exist only 
 by force. Common processes, standards, and laws are 
 impossible ; there is no peace except that of tyranny and 
 subjection, and no permanency beyond the life of the 
 dominant individual. A certain amount of uniformity 
 is therefore necessary to the stability and peace of the 
 social organism, while individuality is equally necessary 
 if it is to be progressive. 
 
 Looking at the matter simply from the standpoint of 
 individual happiness, the person who is like his fellows 
 in nearly all respects is in harmony with his social en- 
 vironment, and so far as that is concerned, is at least 
 negatively happy. The person who differs greatly from 
 his fellows in knowledge, temperament, habits, and 
 ideals is shut off from any real companionship, because 
 there are none of his kind with whom to associate. He 
 is irritated by their monotonous lives, and they, by his 
 eccentricities ; hence the man of genius is often miser- 
 able. The person who differs from his fellows by in- 
 feriority is even more unfortunate if he realizes it. 
 Perhaps there is least comfort for the man who is 
 neither superior nor inferior, but simply different. To 
 be happy, a man must have much in common with his 
 fellows ; and to be useful, he must have also something 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 307 
 
 that they have not. It follows, therefore, that not only 
 does the stability and improvement of the social organ- 
 ism depend upon the presence of both common char- 
 acteristics and individual peculiarities, but so also does 
 the welfare and happiness of the individuals composing 
 the social organism. 
 
 FACTORS PRODUCING COMMONALITY AND INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 Heredity favors uniformity in proportion to the old- 
 ness and pureness of the ancestral line, while mixed 
 parentage results in greater differences in the offspring. 
 In no case, however, are all the children of the same 
 parents exactly alike, even at birth. How far these 
 differences are due to germ heredity, and how far to 
 prenatal influences, we do not know; but the fact 
 remains that every person has in some degree native 
 or congenital individuality. 
 
 Experience^ trainings and teaching, in so far as they 
 are uniform, favor commonality. Where there is the 
 same climate, industries, customs, laws, religion, and 
 knowledge distributed through the schools and the press, 
 the people will inevitably be of a single type. 
 
 Though there are natural and social influences tend- 
 ing to produce commonality, yet a greater or less degree 
 of individuality is found in every home, community, and 
 nation because (i) congenital differences cause the indi- 
 viduals to react in various ways to the common external 
 influences, (2) differences in treatment result from these 
 congenital peculiarities {e.g. a bright child is asked to do 
 things a dull one is not, and a quarrelsome child is 
 treated differently from an even-tempered one by his 
 companions), and (3) chance influences (such as being 
 
308 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 the youngest or oldest in the family, and special ac- 
 cidents or events that affect one child and not another, 
 or that occur at a different stage of development) give 
 a different form to each character. Slight differences 
 may produce, ultimately, enormous individual varia- 
 tions. The truth : " To him that hath shall be given," 
 is of the widest possible application, and thus all con- 
 genital individuality may be increased by external in- 
 fluences. 
 
 TIME OF GREATEST INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 It is hard to say at what age individuality is greatest. 
 In adults there is much more of the harmony and unity 
 of characteristics that make an individual a person, 
 instead of a mass of partly related phenomena, than in 
 the case of an infant. The individuaUty is also more 
 fixed, so that it is less modifiable by surroundings. In 
 children, individuality is less because the child's nature 
 is simpler and many of his peculiarities are transient. 
 On the other hand, the child's individuality is greater in 
 some ways because he has not been subjected to the 
 many years of social training and education that have 
 tended to make adults all ahke. The new instincts that 
 develop as the years pass, increase the possibility of 
 individual differences in a way that partially balances 
 the influences tending to uniformity. 
 
 Measurements and tests show greater individual differ- 
 ences for young children, and for those just entering 
 their teens, than for other ages. This is largely ac- 
 counted for by the fact that rapid changes are occurring 
 at these ages, and by the fact that such changes begin 
 earlier in some children than in others. About three 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 309 
 
 times as many children are of the mean weight at eight 
 years of age as at fifteen ; while the difference in weight 
 between the largest and the smallest boy at fifteen is 
 about twice as great as between the largest and smallest 
 boy at eight. The changes being slow for several years 
 before and after eight years, a difference of a year or 
 two in the time of entering upon a new stage of de- 
 velopment makes only slight individual difference in 
 children of that age, while at about fifteen the changes 
 are so great that the difference between one who is 
 a year late and one who is a year early in his develop- 
 ment is very marked. 
 
 Physiological studies show also that adolescents differ t 
 greatly from each other in thought, feeUng, and action'; ^ 
 and history testifies that many inventions and innova-'j 
 tions have been made by adolescents. We therefore ' 
 conclude that, everything considered, individuahty is j 
 greatest during the adolescent period. Some persons ( 
 who resist common influences, and continue to develop | 
 their own pecuHarities, show the greatest individuality in \ 
 maturity or old age; but the majority become more and 
 more like their fellows in general society, and like theirj 
 Go-workers in their occupation. 
 
 GENERAL AND PARTICULAR TRUTHS REGARDING 
 CHILDREN 
 
 The anatomist, physiologist, psychologist, and moral- 
 ist make many generalizations as to what is true of the 
 average man ; but no individual will be found who is in 
 all particulars an average man. The generalizations are 
 not false or useless, but eminently true and valuable, 
 since they give a mean or standard to which the great 
 
310 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 majority of men approximately conform. Where there 
 is one man between seven and eight feet high, there are 
 hundreds of thousands between five and six feet. It is 
 thus practical to construct doors, chairs, and beds to suit 
 the majority of men. The variations in proportion of 
 parts are greater, yet the majority of men can be fairly 
 well fitted with ready-made clothing. A perfect fit, 
 however, requires individual measurement, and in a few 
 cases such measurement is necessary in order for the 
 clothes to be worn at all. 
 
 Standards regarding physical processes are of great 
 value in medicine as indices of physical health; yet 
 physicians find it necessary to determine the normal 
 standards of individuals in order to properly diagnose 
 and prescribe successfully. 
 
 Generalizations regarding the mental power and the 
 moral worth of the average man are of immense value in 
 practical and social life, yet individuality must be recog- 
 nized in explaining or appealing to men, to a greater 
 extent than in manufacturing furniture and clothing, or 
 in prescribing food, medicine, and exercise. 
 
 Scientific students of children are trying to make 
 generalizations in the realms of anatomy, physiology, 
 psychology, and morals as to the characteristics most 
 prominent at different ages. Such generalizations, when 
 carefully made, are valuable as standards of comparison. 
 They are not, however, models to which individuals 
 should be made to conform, any more than men should 
 be made over to fit coats, chairs, or the size of pills. 
 On the contrary, the results of child-study investigations 
 have always emphasized the greatness of individual dif- 
 ference in children and the need of recognizing it. For 
 
INDIVIDUALITY -3 1 1 
 
 example, though carefully prepared tables show that 
 the average boy of eight is forty-seven inches high, yet 
 individuals of that age are found fifty-five inches in 
 height, which is equal to that of the average twelve- 
 year-old, and others, only thirty-five inches, or less than 
 the height of the average three-year-old. 
 
 After the sixth year, the fifteenth year is for the aver-^ 
 age boy the year of most rapid growth ; but individual 
 boys begin to grow more rapidly as early as the twelfth 
 year, and others as late as the nineteenth. Again, the 
 average boy grows about three inches in his fifteenth 
 year ; but individuals have been known to grow thirteen 
 inches in that year. Tests of rate of movement, strength, 
 endurance, sensitiveness, discrimination, and memory 
 show increase during school age of from two to five 
 fold ; yet nearly as great differences are found between 
 the poorest and the best individuals of each age. In 
 nearly all tests of children of different school grades, 
 even where the change with grade is marked and fairly 
 regular, one usually finds nearly as wide a divergence 
 between children in the same grade as between the 
 averages for the lowest and the highest grades. 
 
 Children usually learn to walk when a little over a year 
 old, but some begin as early as seven months, and others 
 not until nearly two years of age. At two years, most 
 children use three or four hundred words ; but some do 
 not use a dozen, and others, more than a thousand. 
 Most children show marked changes soon after enter- 
 ing the teens; but some show none, and others go 
 through such changes long before or long after that 
 time. Children who do well in their school work (ac- 
 cording to Porter and Hastings) average larger than 
 
312 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 those who do poorly ; but a dozen exceptions to this 
 generalization could probably be found in almost every 
 school. The time element makes all generalizations in 
 child study more difficult than in mere anatomy, physi- 
 ology, psychology, and ethics, because the age at which 
 changes take place varies greatly in different children ; 
 hence those who may, when mature, be much alike, 
 are often quite different at certain periods of life, 
 because one has entered upon a new stage of develop- 
 ment much earlier than the other. 
 
 NECESSITY OF RECOGNIZING INDIVIDUALITY IN CHILDREN 
 
 Whether the teacher wishes to promote individuality 
 or uniformity, she must (if she is to be in the highest 
 degree successful) recognize individuality. Children 
 are different to begin with, hence they react differently 
 to the same treatment. In order to get them to react 
 in the same way, so as to have uniform development, 
 they must be appealed to differently. If a uniform 
 standard is to be approached, certain characteristics 
 must be fostered in some and suppressed in others. 
 If the same knowledge and skill are to be obtained, 
 different individuals must be allowed different periods 
 of time for doing a given amount of work, because 
 experiments show that the number of units of work 
 that can be accomplished by some members of a class 
 in a given time is from two to four times as great as 
 can be accomplished by other students of the same 
 class, and this even in a senior class of a high school 
 supposed to be well graded. If all are to form habits 
 of effort and industry, different requirements must 
 therefore be made of different children, otherwise some 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 313 
 
 will be forming habits of idleness, while others are over- 
 doing or forming habits of " skimming." Difference 
 in knowledge, as well as in natural powers and tenden- 
 cies, must be recognized, or one will be confused where 
 another is enlightened. 
 
 It is clear from the preceding that if one wishes 
 uniform results from educational processes, he must 
 recognize individuality. Much more, then, if one aims 
 to develop individuality, must he recognize it at every 
 step in the process. If, as in the highest ideals of 
 education, it is desired to make each individual like his 
 fellows in all ways necessary to association with them, 
 and different from them in all ways which his natural 
 tendencies and position in life demand shall be different, 
 there is double reason for recognizing individuality. 
 
 When we say individuality must be recognized, we 
 mean the same, only with greater emphasis, as when we 
 say each person must be measured in order that his 
 clothing may be made to fit. We know, however, that 
 the people of a city can be better fitted from a stock of 
 ready-made clothing, which has been cut according to 
 general principles governing the size and proportion 
 of parts of the majority of men and boys, than they 
 can be by a poor tailor who measures and tries to fit 
 each one individually. He is only an artisan, and not- 
 withstanding his opportunity for individual measurement 
 his results are inferior to those of other artisans who 
 make no measurements of individuals, but work accord- 
 ing to general principles under the direction of experts. 
 The best results can only be obtained by the expert 
 tailor who is able to measure the individual accurately, 
 apply general principles correctly, and exercise his 
 
314 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 judgment in making each garment a work of art. In 
 a similar way, we may say that children may be taught 
 more successfully in the mass, according to general 
 principles under the supervision of an expert, than they 
 can be taught individually by a poor teacher who has 
 little knowledge of general principles of education, and 
 less ability in reading individual children, and no skill 
 in dealing with them. The best results can be reached, 
 however, only when the teacher is an artist and able to 
 fit the work to individual needs, so that every child may 
 be moulded according to the same general type as other 
 children, and developed so as to bring out the highest 
 and best of his individual characteristics. 
 
 HOW COMMONALITY AND INDIVIDUALITY MAY BE 
 DEVELOPED 
 
 To develop the common characteristics necessary to 
 the maintenance of proper social relations, there must 
 be some uniformity as to what is done and learned. All 
 must at least learn a common language, and some of 
 the fundamental customs of the nation. Many other 
 things in our present course of study are more or less 
 necessary and desirable, but none are so essential as 
 means of communication and common traditions. A 
 certain amount of knowledge of arithmetic, geography, 
 etc., is also desirable as a common basis of under- 
 standing. 
 
 To preserve individuality, the requirements in all the 
 subjects of a course of study should be set at rather 
 a low minimum, with no maximum and no time limit. 
 In other words, every child may be required to reach 
 a certain minimum of knowledge and skill in funda- 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 3 1 5 
 
 mentals, but not in any stated time. To promote 
 individuality, he must be allowed and encouraged to 
 go beyond the minimum in any lines he chooses, and 
 given opportunity for becoming interested and for 
 working in any and every possible line of study and 
 activity. 
 
 TYPES OF INDIVIDUALITY 
 
 Since every one comes in contact with thousands of 
 individuals of varying similarity and difference, it would 
 be very convenient if one could classify them into a 
 few types, and then deal with the individuals accord- 
 ing to the types to which they belong. The classifica- 
 tion most commonly used has been that of temperaments, 
 but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) few individ- 
 uals exhibit exactly the characteristics ascribed to any 
 one of the several temperaments. Some of the charac- 
 teristics of several temperaments are shown by one 
 individual, and none of them in the same degree by 
 any two. In many cases the best method of treatment 
 may be more readily and accurately determined by 
 studying the individual than by classifying him as 
 belonging to a certain type. 
 
 The varieties of individuality are so great that psy- 
 chology and child study can never tell teachers what 
 they would most like to know — just how to deal with 
 individual pupils. Science in its very nature is general ; 
 its goal is the discovery and statement of general rather 
 than individual truths. Scientific knowledge is not, how- 
 ever, useless to the teacher; the more she knows of 
 how most human beings act and develop, and of the 
 characteristics most common at each stage of develop- 
 
3l6 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 ment, the more quickly and correctly will she be able to 
 determine what is the best treatment for an individual 
 child. Experience in dealing with other children more 
 or less similar, will also be helpful in determining what 
 to do with the child in question. The reading of how 
 other children have been dealt with and the study of biog- 
 raphies and of novels that are true to life, may in part 
 take the place of actual experience with children. From 
 such experience and study one may form in his own 
 mind a more practical classification of children than 
 he can by trying to understand the types described by 
 another. 
 
 Children are usually best described and managed 
 according to prominent characteristics, rather than ac- 
 cording to groups of qualities indicated by type names. 
 It is much more important to the teacher to know 
 whether a boy is slow or quick in his mental operations, 
 than it is to know whether he has all the characteris- 
 tics of the phlegmatic or of the nervous temperament. 
 The accuracy and ease with which a pupil works, de- 
 pends, more than anything else, upon the rate at which 
 he is required to perform each operation. Often a pu- 
 pil can work best and most easily at twice the rate that 
 is best suited to his classmate. On the other hand, the 
 slow pupil may be able to maintain a steady, prolonged 
 activity under direction, for a length of time utterly 
 impossible to the pupil with the more agile mind. Ex- 
 periments by Davis indicate that persons who are quick 
 in their reactions gain more in muscular power by light 
 than by heavy practice, while those who are slow gain 
 most by heavy practice. Experiments on fatigue also 
 indicate that quick persons show more rapid and sud- 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 317 
 
 den variations in fatigue than those who are slow. 
 Observation also indicates that slow individuals often 
 improve under stimulus and direction, while the quicker 
 pupil may be so excited and disturbed by stimulation 
 and close supervision that he makes many mistakes and 
 wastes much energy. 
 
 Of course there are large numbers of children who 
 are neither especially quick nor slow, and who are there- 
 fore most helped by an intermediate mode of treatment. 
 The final test of the suitability of any method of treat- 
 ment for a child is the effect which it is observed to have 
 upon him ; hence no study of generalizations and types of 
 individuality can ever render unnecessary the observation 
 of individuals. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. State some examples of individuality that you have observed 
 in plants or animals. 
 
 2. If plants of the same variety were all alike, would it be possible 
 to improve the variety ? Why ? 
 
 3. Give not less than six examples of extreme variation of some 
 kind in people. Are any of these persons treated differently because 
 of their peculiarity ? 
 
 4. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of uniformity and 
 individuality in ability, beliefs, and customs in a community, so far 
 as they may be produced by education and law. 
 
 5. Give illustrations of persons who were miserable because of 
 their diiference from other persons, of those who were useless for 
 lack of it, and of those interesting or influential because of it. Do 
 leaders have much, little, or a medium individuality ? 
 
 6. Give illustrations of individuality due to heredity, to accel- 
 eration or retardation in development, to surroundings, to chance 
 circumstances, to congenital peculiarity. Is it of any value to the 
 teacher to know the causes of individuality? Why? 
 
 Have the people of the United States more or less individu- 
 ality than those of other nations? Why? Mention the various 
 
3l8 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 fectors tending to make them have more or less individuality than 
 the people of England. 
 
 7. As regards permanency or degree of individuality, what would 
 the following be : a radical ? a conservative ? a man set in his way ? 
 a genius? an imbecile? a saint? a criminal? an athlete? an invalid? 
 a giant ? a dwarf ? 
 
 8. Do the following promote individuality or commonality: 
 churches ? lodges ? public lectures ? theatres ? factories ? shops of the 
 Roycroft type? Name other things that produce uniformity or indi- 
 viduality. 
 
 9. In what respects is the individuality of a successful reformer 
 like that of a crank or a martyr, and in what respects different? 
 
 10. At what age did you feel yourself most different from other 
 people? If one goes into new social surroundings, is he likely to 
 feel his individuality more or less? Why? 
 
 11. Give illustrations showing the value of knowledge of certain 
 general truths regarding the characteristics of children of each age 
 and grade, and also of the value of knowledge of individual peculiari- 
 ties. Which do you think is of more advantage to a teacher, to 
 know many general truths regarding children, or to be able to readily 
 note and understand individual peculiarities ? 
 
 12. If a class of children are to be prepared for the same exami- 
 nation, why should individuality be recognized? Illustrate. 
 
 13. In preparing a lesson, should a teacher think more of the 
 common characteristics of a class or of their individual peculiarities ? 
 During the lesson which should she think more of ? How car. she 
 best meet both class and individual needs? 
 
 14. What is the general effect upon individuality of allowing chil- 
 dren to choose for themselves a good deal? Illustrate. 
 
 15. Describe some of the ways in which you have known indi- 
 viduality to be recognized and promoted in school. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the nature and importance of individuality, see Bailey, Psych. 
 Rev., Vol. VI, pp. 649-651 ; N. IV. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 250-256, 
 370-375; Stanley, Kd, Rev., Vol. XVIII, pp, 8o-S|; Howerth, 
 
INDIVIDUALITY 3 ; 9 
 
 Jr. Fed., Vol. XIV, pp. 311-324; Doan,/r. Fed., Vol. XIV, pp. 
 13-33 ; Ribot, Fsychology of the Emotions, pp. 380-404. 
 
 On tests and types of individuality, Wissler, Monograph Suppl. to 
 Fsych. Rev., No. 16, pp. 1-62 ; Jr. Fed., Vol. XIV, pp. 203-213 ; 
 Sharp, Am. Jr. Fsych., Vol. X, pp. 328-391 ; Kirkpatrick, Fsych. 
 Rev., Vol. VII, pp. 274-280 ; Kelley, Fsych. Rev., Vol. X, pp. 
 S4S-372 ; Bagley, Am. Jr. Fsych., Vol. XII, pp. 193-205 ; Bohan- 
 non, Fed. Sem., Vol. IV, pp. 3-60, Vol. V, pp. 475-496 ; F. Burk, 
 N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 481-484; Baldwin, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. 
 I, pp. 121-124; Beebe, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. Ill, pp. 14-25; Burn- 
 ham, Fed. Sem., Vol. II, pp. 204-225 ; Davis, Yale Studies, Vol. 
 VIII, pp. 64-108 ; Ladd, Fhysiol. Fsych., chap, xviii. 
 
 For studies of individuals, Stableton, Diary of a Western School- 
 master, or a series of articles in N. IV. Mo., Vol. VIII ; Carmin, 
 Fed. Sem., Vol. IX, pp. 106-117; Galton, "History of Twins," 
 in Human Faculty, or as reprinted in Teachers College Record, 
 May, 1 90 1, or a number of sketches of individual children in 
 Ch. S. Mo., together with such works as Smith's Evolution of 
 Dodd, 
 
 On individual teaching, see Search, An Ideal School, chap, viii; 
 N. E. A., 189^, pp. 398-406; Ed. Rev., Vol. VII, pp. 154-170; 
 Kennedy,/^. Fed., Vol. XIV, pp. 130-139; N. E. A., 1901, pp. 
 295-305 ; Greenwood, Frinciples of Education practically Ap' 
 plied, pp. 173-192. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ABNORMALITIES 
 
 Abnormality may be regarded as that form of indi- 
 viduality which is in some degree destructive. No 
 peculiarity, however marked, is, properly speaking, an 
 abnormality, unless it interferes either immediately or 
 ultimately with physical or mental functions. We shall 
 consider here only those abnormal conditions and de- 
 fects which are of most significance to parents and 
 teachers. 
 
 fatigue: nature and causes 
 
 Every one knows what it is to feel tired, either all 
 over or in certain portions of the body, and in common 
 language this feeling of weariness is often called fatigue. 
 The scientist, however, pays little attention to thQ feeling 
 of weariness in investigating the subject. In studying 
 fatigue in another person, in animals, or in a single 
 muscle, there is no means of observing the feeling of 
 weariness. We can, however, observe the action of the 
 muscle, animal, or person, and note changes in the action 
 after it has continued for some time. The decrease in 
 power to do indicated by change in amount, rate, or 
 accuracy, which can be observed and measured, is what 
 is meant by fatigue. Hence fatigue is a condition of 
 decreased power produced by continued activity. 
 y 321 
 
322 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Not only is it more practicable to study fatigue in the 
 scientific than in the common meaning of the word, but 
 the feeling of weariness, and fatigue, in the scientific 
 meaning of the word, do not necessarily correspond. 
 A person may feel tired before his power to do shows 
 any decrease, and, on the other hand, an individual 
 often does not feel weary after his power to act has 
 been very much decreased. 
 
 Physiologically, fatigue may be of {a) muscles, {b) 
 nerve centres, or {c) sense organs, but probably never 
 of nerve fibres. Lombard's experiments show that when 
 a finger is so fatigued that it cannot be moved volun- 
 tarily, the muscles may be caused to contract by electri- 
 cal stimulation. This indicates that the nerve centres 
 controlling muscles may be completely fatigued, while 
 the muscles themselves are not. In nearly all action, 
 there is diffusion of impulses to muscles and nerve 
 centres not directly concerned in the act being per- 
 formed. Especially is this the case when considerable 
 effort is being made; hence parts concerned in these 
 associated acts may also become fatigued. The feeling 
 of weariness following acts of attention is probably 
 often due largely to the fatigue of the eye, and other 
 muscles that are unconsciously kept contracted. 
 
 The loss of power when fatigued is probably due to 
 three causes: (i) deficiency of oxygen necessary to 
 chemical activity in the working parts ; (2) the clogging 
 and perhaps poisonous effects of waste material thrown 
 into circulation by the parts that are active, and (3) de- 
 crease of nervous and muscular energy stored up in 
 the parts. The change that takes place in the chemical 
 reaction of an active muscle, in the size of an active 
 
ABNORMALITIES 323 
 
 nerve cell, and in the amount of waste material thrown 
 off by the organism when it becomes active, leaves little 
 room to doubt that there is a direct relation between 
 activity and chemical changes. The energy used in 
 physiological activity comes from the breaking up of 
 complex compounds as action proceeds, and recovery 
 from fatigue is the result of the carrying away of waste 
 and poisonous material, and the building up of fresh 
 complex compounds. While action is in progress it is 
 doubtful whether there is any building up of fresh 
 material, but there is probably continual use of the 
 oxygen carried by the blood, in the chemical action that 
 is taking place. The feeling of weariness and tempo- 
 rary fatigue are probably caused principally by the 
 decrease of oxygen in the blood, and by the clogging 
 and poisonous effects of waste material. This is evi- 
 denced by the fact that a dog, into whose veins the 
 blood of a fatigued dog was injected, showed all the 
 signs of weariness. Fatigue that requires a long inter- 
 val of rest is probably largely due to the loss of energy 
 which must then be renewed by building up new com- 
 pounds. 
 
 It is probable, also, that the molecules in most favor- 
 able condition for being broken down are used up in 
 slight fatigue, while others do not readily give out their 
 energy until an extra stimulus is received, or the waste 
 material removed. This is perhaps the reason why one 
 who receives a fresh or stronger stimulus may seem 
 to suddenly recover from fatigue, and work more vigor- 
 ously than before. Thus the news that the enemy is 
 coming seems to give the weary, marching soldiers fresh 
 energy, and the promise of a day's fishing stimulates the 
 
324 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 lagging boy to hoe quickly his row of corn. It is prob- 
 able, therefore, as Thorndike claims, that many experi- 
 ments upon fatigue have tested inclination to do, rather 
 than actual power. It should be remembered, however, 
 that inclination has a physical basis. 
 
 LAWS OF FATIGUE 
 
 The laws of fatigue, revealed by many and prolonged 
 investigations recently made upon both physical and 
 mental activities, are found to be very complex. 
 
 (i) Soon after activity begins, not fatigue, but its 
 opposite is shown in what is called in common lan- 
 guage *^ warming up to the work.'* The rate and accu- 
 racy are greater after a short period of activity than 
 at the beginning, and this is true in acts so perfectly 
 learned that there is no improvement through practice. 
 The cause of this is, in part at least, the increased flow 
 of blood that always goes to an active part. It may be 
 also that after chemical action is once set up in a centre, 
 it proceeds more rapidly than at first, just as a fire 
 burns better after it is started. 
 
 (2) Fatigue may be either general or local. Local 
 fatigue may be confined to a single muscle or to the 
 nerve centre controlling it, to a single sense organ or its 
 centre, or even to one or two peripheral elements of a 
 sense organ, as a single spot on the skin, a few retinal 
 elements of the eye, or to the elements concerned in the 
 perception of certain odors, tastes, or colors. 
 
 (3) Extrejne general fatigue produces local fatigue 
 of all parts, but apparently not in equal degrees, and 
 extre^ne local fatigue affects other and finally all parts , 
 the order probably depending upon diffusion of im- 
 
ABNORMALITIES 325 
 
 pulses, especially in lines of associated action. Any- 
 thing that lowers general vitality, as fasting, loss of sleep, 
 depressing weather, or sickness, produces a condition 
 similar to general fatigue. 
 
 (4) There are some facts favoring the idea that the 
 energy stored up in one part may be transferred to other 
 parts in case of need. There is undoubtedly indirect 
 transference of energy in cases where starving men or 
 animals " live on their own fat " for days, and not only 
 live, but expend energy in actions of all kinds. In such 
 cases the nutriment is probably absorbed by the blood 
 and supplied to the parts most needing it. In the phe- 
 nomena of rhythmical recovery or ** second breath," dis- 
 cussed below, the increase of energy, however, is so 
 sudden that it seems hardly likely that the blood is the 
 medium of transference (though perhaps not impossible, 
 for recovery from fatigue after fasting begins almost as 
 soon as food is taken, and is nearly complete, if the 
 fast has not been extreme, in half an hour), hence it is 
 thought that nervous energy may pass from surrounding 
 centres to a fatigued centre, in the same way that im- 
 pulses spread from one active centre to other centres. 
 
 (5) Fatigue usually increases and then decreases 
 rhythmically. It has long been a matter of common 
 observation among those who work or play vigorously 
 for a long time, that after becoming very tired so that 
 they are almost unable to do anything, continued effort 
 frequently results in a rather sudden return of power, so 
 that they are soon almost, if not quite, as fresh as at the 
 beginning. Laboratory investigations of this phenome- 
 non, known as " second breath," have been recently 
 made, and the results of common observation confirmed 
 
326 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 and made more exact. Lombard found that if he con- 
 tinued to try to contract his finger after it had become so 
 fatigued that he could not move it, he soon regained the 
 power almost completely, and that it was possible to 
 recover, after producing complete fatigue, again and 
 again, though not so perfectly as at first. By alternat- 
 ing electrical stimulation with voluntary contraction, it 
 was found that the periods of exhaustion and recovery 
 occurred in both nerve centre and in muscle, but not at 
 the same time. In some persons, complete exhaustion 
 and recovery cannot be produced, while in nearly all 
 cases continued effort results in variations indicating 
 partial renewal of energy or recovery from fatigue. 
 
 This phenomenon of sudden recovery after exhaustion 
 may be partially explained, where it is local fatigue only, 
 by the fact, easily observable, that as one makes great 
 effort to do a thing, there is a wider diffusion of im- 
 pulses in the act. In extreme fatigue of a muscle and 
 its centre, it is probable that a large part of the energy 
 is diffused to other parts, and possibly for a while these 
 only are active, thus drawing the blood away and giving 
 the exhausted portion time for the waste material to be 
 removed, and a sufficient amount of oxygen brought in, 
 to again set up active chemical action with Uberation 
 of energy. The other explanation now being received 
 favorably by many is, that nervous energy suddenly 
 flows in from surrounding centres as suggested in (4). 
 
 (6) There seems to be something in the nature of a 
 constant daily rhythm of available energy. Various ex- 
 periments show that not only does bodily vigor vary 
 with health and the amount of bodily or mental activity 
 just undergone, but that it varies at different times of 
 
ABNORMALITIES 327 
 
 the day, commonly being greatest in the morning just 
 after breakfast, and decreasing during the day, with the 
 exception of slight rises just after food has been taken 
 at noon and at night. That the daily rhythm is not 
 entirely the result of rest during the night, and of grad- 
 ual, general fatigue during the day, is indicated by the 
 fact that it is fairly constant and characteristic for each 
 individual, but quite different for different persons, a few 
 being at their best in the afternoon, and a good many in 
 the evening. Since more deaths occur at about four in 
 the morning than at any other hour, vitality is then prob- 
 ably lowest, owing partly to cosmic processes. There is 
 good reason to beheve, however, that the daily rhythm 
 in power depends to a considerable extent upon pre- 
 vious habits of working and resting. 
 
 (7) Extreme fatigue leads to exhaustion and loss of the 
 sense of weariness. Marked variations from the usual 
 daily rhythm, such as being at the best in the afternoon 
 or late at night, are occasionally found in vigorous per- 
 sons, but are sometimes evidence of extreme fatigue or 
 exhaustion. This is usually the case if the individual 
 feels tired in the morning. It seems that nature by the 
 feeling of weariness gives warning of fatigue soon after 
 it begins; but that later, as activity continues, and 
 perhaps as the resistance to the giving up of nervous 
 energy ceases, and the blood vessels of the active parts 
 lose their elasticity from continued enlargement, the 
 feeling of weariness disappears, and the work can be 
 done without discomfort or great effort. After a period 
 of rest there is just enough recovery from exhaustion 
 to put one into a condition of more normal fatigue, 
 which is felt as weariness and languor in the morning, 
 
328 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 but disappears with the activity of the day as fatigue 
 increases. This kind of fatigue is excessive, for it de- 
 pends upon an irritable condition of the centres, which 
 causes them to give up readily their scanty supply of 
 energy. If activity under these conditions is long con- 
 tinued, the centres often lose their power to absorb 
 nutriment from the blood, and there is a continual tear- 
 ing down without any building up ; though the tearing 
 down is perhaps shown in the illusive form of ability to 
 work mentally without sleep or rest, and without any 
 feeling of weariness. This is the condition usually 
 known as " nervous exhaustion," and a long time is 
 required for recovery from it. 
 
 (8) Moderate and regular activity produces less fa- 
 tigue for the amount of work done than spasmodic and 
 excessive effort. It is possible to lift a weight again 
 and again at such infrequent intervals that no fatigue will 
 appear, owing to the fact that the energy is renewed 
 before the weight is again Hfted. On the other hand, 
 if it is lifted again and again at very short intervals, 
 fatigue appears very soon; and if it is lifted and held 
 suspended, fatigue appears still more quickly, because 
 there is no chance for renewal of energy. If a moder- 
 ate weight is lifted a number of times at a moderate rate, 
 then a sufficient period of rest taken, more work can be 
 accompUshed with less fatigue than in any other way. 
 Doubling the weight or the rate, or prolonging it unduly, 
 more than doubles the difficulty of the task. What is 
 true of lifting weights is true of all forms of physical 
 and mental activity. Too rapid or too prolonged ex- 
 penditure of energy not only gives no chance for accu- 
 mulation of energy, but results in much waste in useless 
 
ABNORMALITIES 329 
 
 activity and effort. When fatigue is extreme, a long 
 time is required for recovery; hence one who works 
 when fatigued, always and inevitably wastes both energy 
 and time, to say nothing of the effect on health. 
 
 (9) Fatigue varies with age. Compared with adults 
 of middle age, all children fatigue quickly and recover 
 quickly. In general, the younger the child, the more 
 quickly he fatigues, especially as regards local fatigue, 
 and recovery is equally rapid when some other part 
 is called into action. According to good authorities, 
 children of school age cannot be expected to do one 
 thing without rest or change for more than ten minutes, 
 in the lowest grade, gradually increasing to forty or fifty 
 minutes in the higher grades. Friedrich found that 
 recesses always improved the power of school children, 
 and that two recesses in a three-hour session produced 
 more improvement for the latter part of the session 
 than one. 
 
 (10) The variations in fatigue phenomena for indi- 
 viduals of the same age are very great. Some fatigue 
 quickly and recover quickly, others fatigue slowly and 
 recover slowly; while those highly favored by nature 
 fatigue slowly and recover quickly, and some unfortu- 
 nates fatigue quickly and recover slowly. There is 
 a certain rate and intensity of working, and a certain 
 relation of work and rest periods during the day and 
 the year, and of the amount of one kind of activity as 
 compared with another, that would most effectually 
 economize the energy and health of each individual. 
 Every adult who wishes to accomplish as much as pos- 
 sible should, with far more care than he plans his expen- 
 diture of money, determine what are, for him, the most 
 
330 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 economical ways of expending energy. A programme 
 for a school should be adapted to the largest number 
 possible, then, if necessary, some individuals should be 
 allowed special programmes. 
 
 (ii) The effects of different kinds of activity and of 
 change of activity upon general and local fatigue are 
 great, but not well known, because the results of experi- 
 ments differ. The problem is much the same as that of 
 general and special training, because it depends upon the 
 effects of activity of one part upon that of other parts 
 connected with it. Some investigators find muscular 
 strength, as indicated by the amount gripped with the 
 hand, increased after mental exertion and others de- 
 creased, and the same of mental activity after muscular 
 exertion. One of the causes of these differences is 
 probably a difference in degree of fatigue. Just enough 
 activity to get " well warmed up " naturally has upon 
 other activities an effect just the opposite of fatigue 
 almost to exhaustion. The change in circulation in- 
 volved in change of activity may also be slow or quick 
 in taking place, and hence the results may be either 
 favorable or unfavorable at once, or after a short inter- 
 val. Again, if activities are so related that one is in- 
 volved in or connected with the other, a change from 
 one to the other will not be favorable either to good 
 work or to recovery from fatigue. The fact, therefore, 
 that some have found the mental power of school chil- 
 dren decreased after a period of gymnastics, does not 
 prove that an interval of gymnastics miist decrease the 
 power of children to do mental work afterward, but 
 merely that it may do so. If it is excessive, or if it is of 
 such a nature that close attention and exact movement 
 
ABNORMALITIES 3 3 1 
 
 are required, it is almost sure to do so ; but if it is slight 
 and so free as to require little or no attention, and the 
 air breathed during the exercise is good, the respite 
 from mental activity and the quickening of the circula- 
 tion, increase of oxygen, and the change of blood supply 
 to different parts, can scarcely fail to increase the men- 
 tal ability of the children during the next period. This, 
 at least, is very certain : children fatigue very quickly 
 unless changes in kind or mode of activity are frequent. 
 
 TESTS AND SIGNS OF FATIGUE 
 
 Tests that would be of value to the ordinary teacher 
 in determining the adaptability of her daily programme 
 to her children, and in discovering exceptional instances 
 of fatigue in the school or in individual pupils, have been 
 sought for several years. It may be safely said, how- 
 ever, that no method of discovering fatigue, that can 
 be mechanically applied by a teacher, has been found. 
 Such tests cannot take the place of intelligent common 
 sense and good judgment on her part. She must not 
 only be able to note the decrease in rate or accuracy 
 of working, but must also learn to read the signs of on- 
 coming fatigue, in the pupil's attitudes and movements. 
 
 The signs that appear first are variation and wan- 
 dering of attention or increase in effort to attend, or in 
 movements of a fidgety or restless character. The first 
 is an indication of mental fatigue, and the last, of fatigue 
 of muscles that have been contracted during the period 
 of attention. Sometimes the increase of movement, 
 especially when the fatigue is considerable, is the result 
 of increased irritability of the nerve centres, resulting in 
 
332 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 continual outflow of energy and many rather nervous 
 responses to sudden auditory and other stimuli. 
 
 Other more or less common and significant signs of 
 fatigue and exhaustion that the teacher may observe or 
 learn by inquiry are as follows : jaded expression of face, 
 drooping attitude, paleness or redness of cheeks or tips 
 of ears ; dazed, weary, fixed, or lack-lustre appearance of 
 the eyes ; sudden movements, grimaces, frowning, com- 
 pression of lips, twitching of the fingers, face, eyes, or 
 eyelids ; unsteadiness as shown in bad handwriting, mis- 
 pronunciation and miscalling of words in talking and 
 reading; headache, cold feet, sleeplessness, dreaming, 
 teeth grinding, or talking in sleep ; irritable, cross, or 
 peevish disposition or moods ; poor hearing and imperfect 
 discrimination of words, sometimes with extreme sensi- 
 tiveness to disturbing sounds ; blurring of vision, color 
 blindness, and double images ; temporary loss of memory 
 of familiar or recently stated names or facts ; and failure 
 of mental grasp, as indicated by inability to follow a 
 chain of reasoning and a tendency to forget what one 
 is going to say. 
 
 The test that is of greatest value to a teacher is one 
 that shows the curve of fatigue in different children, be- 
 cause this throws much light on their individuality. One 
 who fatigues very rapidly and recovers with equal sud- 
 denness requires quite different treatment from one who 
 fatigues very slowly and gradually. 
 
 SOME ABNORMAL BRAIN STATES 
 
 The brain is in such intimate connection with all 
 parts of the body, and is influenced so much by every 
 physiological process, that healthy development of 
 
ABNORMALITIES 333 
 
 brain and body are closely correlated. Impulses are 
 continually going from the brain to every muscle, organ, 
 and gland, as well as from each part of the body to the 
 brain. Imperfect activity of the brain may, therefore, 
 be shown in paleness of the face, slow growth of the 
 body, and imperfect development of parts, as well as in 
 attitude, and expression of face and movements ; while, 
 conversely, a defect or disturbance in any part of the 
 body may affect brain activity unfavorably. It is well, 
 therefore, to notice not only the height and weight of a 
 child for his age, and the color of the skin, but also the 
 signs of imperfect development of organs, such as ir- 
 regularities in shape of the head, narrow palate, broad 
 bridge of the nose with small openings in nostrils, and 
 imperfectly developed external ear; for, as Dr. Warner 
 has shown, these are often associated with poor nutri- 
 tive condition and mental dulness. 
 
 Even more important are what he calls '^ nerve signs y' 
 which indicate the amount of nervous energy being sent 
 to the different muscles of the body, and hence the 
 amount and regularity of the activity in different parts 
 of the brain. Wrinkling of the forehead is always in- 
 dicative of some brain disturbance, as are also irregular 
 and meaningless movements of any part of the body, 
 while a normal brain condition is shown by good 
 attitude and well-balanced and coordinated movements, 
 because this means that all parts of the brain are func- 
 tioning vigorously, regularly, and harmoniously. Some 
 of the more important "nerve signs" to be observed 
 are : degree of erectness of body and head in standing or 
 sitting ; ability to hold hands straight out and evenly, 
 palms down, without throwing the shoulders back and 
 
334 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 bending the spine forward; and to keep fingers and 
 thumb straight without allowing them to droop or to 
 bend back too much. 
 
 The effects of poor nutrition are much the same as of 
 general fatigue, as far as the power to do the work 
 of the school is concerned. The common signs are 
 paleness, fulness under the eyes, fewness or irregularity 
 of spontaneous movements, and lack of steadiness of 
 control, or power of continued application. Poor nutri- 
 tion may be the result : of lack of sleep ; of lack of 
 nutritious food; of indigestion, due to irregular eating 
 of indigestible food ; or to a diseased condition otherwise 
 produced. In all such cases the teacher may try to 
 secure a change in home conditions and habits, which 
 will make it possible for the child to do the work and 
 conform to the discipline of the school, or this failing, 
 she may modify the requirements for the child so that 
 he will not be over-fatigued, and his condition made 
 worse rather than better by attendance at school. 
 
 Nervousness is a common result of fatigue, either 
 general or local, and of poor nutrition. Even when the 
 nervousness is hereditary, it is always increased by these 
 conditions. Nervousness is a condition of increased 
 irritability of nerve centres, and is shown by excessive 
 movement in response to stimuli, especially sudden 
 sounds, and in lack of steady and perfect control of 
 movement. Restlessness, or a strong tendency to move 
 about a great deal, is sometimes mistaken for nervous- 
 ness, though one is due to excess of nervous energy and 
 the other to irritability of nerve centres. Either ner- 
 vousness or restlessness may be produced by trying to 
 keep still in a certain position, or by engaging in fine 
 
ABNORMALITIES 335 
 
 work that necessitates holding the larger muscles steady, 
 and moving accurately a group of smaller ones. 
 
 The strong, restless child may be benefited greatly, 
 so far as ability to behave and study is concerned, by 
 an interval of vigorous exercise ; while the nervous child 
 would be exhausted and quite unfitted for the next work 
 by such vigorous activity. He should have instead mild 
 exercise, or a chance for quiet rest. It is especially 
 important that the nervous child should not be scolded, 
 found fault with, or in any way induced to work hard 
 or worry about his work. A teacher who is loud of 
 voice, unattractive in dress, and sudden and variable in 
 manner is especially irritating to a nervous child, and 
 may be the chief occasion of the nervousness. Although 
 a teacher should be quick to note signs of nervousness, 
 she should avoid making the child conscious of his con- 
 dition. The establishment of regular habits of work 
 and of rest or amusement are of great value in decreas- 
 ing nervousness. 
 
 Chorea or St. Vitus' s dance is somewhat allied, in ap- 
 pearance and cause, to nervousness ; yet it is a disease 
 rather than a temporary condition. It is not, like ner- 
 vousness, due to general irritability of the nerve centres 
 as shown by increased response to stimuli, but to a 
 more or less spontaneous and abnormal action of cer- 
 tain nerve centres and muscle groups, which give rise 
 to useless and meaningless movements of certain por- 
 tions of the body, and produce partial or total inability 
 to perform comparatively simple acts, such as writing, 
 buttoning clothes, touching a point with a finger, walk- 
 ing, or talking. It may be manifested in the mild form 
 of occasional twitching or jerking of one hand, or in the 
 
336 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 severer form of jerking and twitching of muscles of one- 
 half or of all the body. In mild cases it may be de- 
 tected by holding the child's hand between the palms, 
 and noting the twitching, or by observing the move- 
 ments of the tongue. 
 
 It is preeminently a disease of childhood, for 34 per 
 cent of the cases occur between five and ten years of 
 age, and 45 per cent between the ages of ten and fifteen. 
 It is most common in the thirteenth year for girls, who 
 are about twice as liable to it as boys. The largest num- 
 ber of cases occur in the spring, and an attack usually 
 lasts from four to ten weeks. It is frequently associated 
 with rheumatism and heart disease; but its most fre- 
 quent cause is excitement, especially fright. Bright 
 children are more subject to it than dull ones. Worry, 
 fright, and fatigue make it worse, and often bring on 
 another attack after recovery. 
 
 The best remedy for it is as complete rest as possible 
 of mind and body, with nutritious and easily digested 
 food. If possible, the child should be kept in bed day 
 and night for some time, even though he is at first rest- 
 less. In any case he should not be allowed to continue 
 in school, unless the home conditions are extremely irri- 
 tating and unfavorable. He is likely to be made worse 
 by the effort to keep up with his class, and his presence 
 in school often affects unfavorably nervous and chore- 
 atic children, especially the latter. There is no doubt 
 that chorea may be produced in such children by force 
 of suggestion. When there are children in the school 
 liable to chorea, particular care should be taken to avoid 
 excessive fatigue, excitement, fright, or worry, caused 
 by reproofs or severe examinations. 
 
ABNORMALITIES 337 
 
 STUTTERING AND STAMMERING 
 
 Stuttering is sometimes very properly classified as a 
 form of chorea, for there is in reality a spasmodic con- 
 traction or twitching of some of the muscles concerned 
 in speech. Stammering is want of proper control of the 
 muscles of speech so that words are not readily pro- 
 nounced or the sounds given in the proper order because 
 of inhibition of action in certain centres. If, however, a 
 stammerer becomes embarrassed, this temporary condi- 
 tion of nervousness may lead to spasmodic activity 
 of the centres and consequent stuttering which may 
 become a habit, though there is no real chorea. 
 
 There are three principal groups of muscles concerned 
 in speech: (i) the muscles of breathing which control 
 the flow of air, (2) the muscles of phonation that con- 
 trol the vocal cords, and (3) the muscles of articulation 
 which are concerned in moulding the sounds in the 
 mouth. Correct pronunciation requires not only that 
 all of these muscles shall act perfectly, but that the 
 different groups shall act harmoniously and in the right 
 order. Stuttering and stammering are caused by lack 
 of proper harmony as to amount, time, or order of con- 
 traction of the different groups of muscles, while ordi- 
 nary defects in pronunciation are usually due to an 
 improper use of the muscles of articulation which mould 
 the sounds in the mouth. Stuttering and stammering, 
 therefore, call first for training in breathing, then in 
 phonation, and then in these processes combined with 
 articulation, rather than training in articulation alone. 
 
 A habitual stutterer or stammerer should not con- 
 tinue in school, because the embarrassment of trying to 
 
338 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 recite is likely to increase the difficulty, and his presence 
 in the school may develop, by imitation and suggestion, 
 a similar defect in other children who have the slightest 
 tendency in that direction. A specialist, rather than an 
 ordinary teacher, is needed to deal with such defects 
 when they have become habitual. Incipient cases may, 
 however, often be prevented from developing by the 
 wise teacher, though perhaps not without individual work 
 with the child when other pupils are not present. Some 
 drill in breathing and phonation is often needed ; but the 
 principal thing is to free the child from the embarrass- 
 ment of trying to say what he cannot, and to inspire 
 him with confidence in his ability to speak. Sometimes 
 concert drills in breathing, phonation, and articulation, 
 alternating with the same exercise by designated indi- 
 viduals, will be of advantage to the whole school and at 
 the same time completely cure the incipient stammerer 
 or stutterer. 
 
 ADENOID GROWTHS 
 
 All children who frequently or habitually breathe 
 through the mouth are likely to be found, upon examina- 
 tion, to be suffering from adenoid growth in the mouth 
 or nose. If the child is also subject to frequent colds, 
 and shows defects of pronunciation and of hearing, and 
 if he appears mentally dull or slow most of the time, 
 adenoids are almost surely present. These growths are 
 apt to fill with blood and enlarge when the child takes 
 cold. The mouth breathing, deafness, and mental dul- 
 ness then increase because of the obstruction and the 
 pressure on the nerves. In the less severe cases these 
 phenomena appear 07tly when the child has a cold, 
 
ABNORMALITIES 339 
 
 while in more severe and long-continued cases they are 
 chronic, and often result in catarrh and lung complaint. 
 Inquiry will often show that such children snore at 
 night, sleep with the mouth open, and have difficulty in 
 breathing. 
 
 The growths are readily removed by a surgeon, and 
 if they have not been present long enough to produce 
 more than local and functional disorder, recovery 
 usually occurs within a week or two. They rarely re- 
 turn. A complete change in disposition and mental 
 ability, as well as in appearance and hearing, sometimes 
 results within a few weeks, and cases are known of chil- 
 dren who had required several years for a grade, making 
 several grades in the first year after the operation. 
 Teachers of children who breathe through the mouth 
 should always advise parents to consult a competent 
 physician. 
 
 DEFECTS IN HEARING 
 
 Various investigators who have tested large numbers 
 of school children report from 1 3 to 30 per cent as defec- 
 tive in hearing in one or both ears. They also report 
 that the greater portion of these defects, including some 
 of the most serious, were unsuspected by the teacher. A 
 large proportion of the children classed as peculiar or in- 
 attentive by the teacher, especially if they have a dull or 
 heavy look, are usually found to be defective in hearing. 
 In a few cases, the brightest and most attentive and 
 alert pupils are found to be thus defective. Such chil- 
 dren interpret gestures, movements of lips and eyes, 
 expression of face, and the circumstances so readily, 
 that their lack of hearing is not observed and may not 
 
340 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 be discovered by special tests unless great care is exer- 
 cised. 
 
 Children with less quick and active minds have the 
 intellect dulled instead of sharpened by the defect. 
 Sounds are less loud to them than to normal children, 
 hence the sensory stimulus to attention is slighter, and 
 there must be, therefore, either less attention on their 
 part or more effort of attention than is required by a 
 normal child. If they do not hear all that is said, they 
 lose the connection between ideas and, as a conse- 
 quence, lose interest, which is the necessary stimulus to 
 attention. In subsequent lessons they not only labor 
 under these disadvantages, but they lack the appercep- 
 tive knowledge given in previous lessons ; hence it is not 
 strange that they become habitually inattentive and 
 apparently hopelessly dull. Even adults who are sit- 
 ting so far back in a hall that they cannot hear all that 
 a speaker says, or can hear only with effort, nearly 
 always soon cease trying and become inattentive ; hence 
 it is not strange that children, who, through defective 
 hearing, are in an analogous condition all the time, be- 
 come inattentive, and either troublesome or apathetic. 
 
 The moral effects are often worst when children are 
 defective in one ear only, or a part of the time only ; for 
 they are much more likely to be misunderstood by 
 teachers and unjustly blamed for not paying attention 
 or not doing as directed, since the teacher knows that 
 they have done better, and thinks they can do better now 
 if they will. 
 
 There are various causes of poor hearing, among 
 which are adenoid growths, scarlet fever, and measles. 
 When there is evidence of adenoid growths, the parents 
 
ABNORMALITIES 34I 
 
 should consult a physician ; while the teacher, after a 
 pupil has been out with scarlet fever or measles, should 
 be careful to notice if there is impairment of hearing or 
 sight. 
 
 DEFECTS OF SIGHT 
 
 The per cent of children with defective sight, espe- 
 cially in the higher grades, is much greater than with 
 defective hearing, at least so far as the tests show. It is 
 possible, however, to test the eye more accurately than 
 the ear, and few eyes are absolutely perfect. It is com- 
 mon in this country to find from one-sixth to one-fifth of 
 the children with eyes sufficiently defective to require 
 attention. 
 
 The trouble with children's eyes is not usually due 
 to loss of elasticity of the lens (though that sometimes 
 happens to children who look at near objects a great 
 deal), but to imperfect form of the eye. The most 
 common defects are: (i) too great length from front to 
 back of the eye ; (2) too short a distance from front to 
 back; (3) imperfect curvature of the eye. When the 
 distance is too great, the rays from distant objects are 
 brought to a focus in front of the retina, and conse- 
 quently distant objects cannot be seen plainly. In other 
 words, the owner of the eye is near-sighted, or myopic, 
 and can see plainly only near objects. When the dis- 
 tance from the front of the eye to the retina is too short, 
 the rays from all objects are brought to a focus behind 
 the retina, and none of them, especially the nearer ones, 
 can be seen plainly except by the action of the accommo- 
 dating muscle that allows the lens to become more 
 curved so as to refract the light more. It is often diffi- 
 
342 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 cult for this muscle to produce enough accommodation to 
 make near objects plainly visible. Such an eye is far- 
 sighted (properly speaking, hypermetrophic), and the 
 owner needs convex glasses, or those that are thicker in 
 the middle ; while the one who is near-sighted needs 
 concave glasses, or those that are thicker at the edges, 
 to correct his defect. 
 
 When the front part of the ball of the eye is not per- 
 fectly round, but is curved or flattened more in one part 
 than in another, some of the rays of light from an object 
 will be brought to a focus on the retina and some will 
 not ; hence, some parts of the object will be plainly seen 
 and other parts will not. Often the curvature of the 
 eye is such that when it is accommodated for the middle 
 portion and sides of the object, the top and the bottom 
 will not be plainly seen, and when it is accommodated 
 for the upper and lower parts, the sides are not clearly 
 seen. No matter how much the person may strain 
 his eye, he cannot see the whole of the object plainly 
 at once, or else if the whole is seen, it is distorted, 
 as you may have observed objects to be when seen 
 through a defective window glase. This defect of the 
 eye is called astigmatism and it may be corrected by 
 wearing glasses that are curved where the eyeball is 
 flattened, so that all the rays of light from an object 
 passing through the glass and the eye are bent equally, 
 and thus brought to a focus at the same point. 
 
 When the eyes are defective they are liable to become 
 worse the more they are used, for the muscles of accom- 
 modation and the optic nerve are subjected to an un- 
 usual strain, and are likely to be weakened. The optic 
 nerves are the largest in the body ; hence, if they are 
 
ABNORMALITIES 343 
 
 Strained, the whole nervous system is frequently affected. 
 Defective eyes are therefore the most common cause of 
 nervousness and headache. In school the nervousness 
 is frequently increased by inability to do the work prop- 
 erly, owing to poor sight, or because of fatigue caused 
 by the effort to see clearly. It is important, therefore, 
 that children should be observed and tested in school, 
 and parents notified of serious defects in sight. 
 
 Exercises for Students 
 
 1. As a means of demonstrating a number of truths regarding 
 fatigue, the following experiment should be tried and fully dis- 
 cussed. Place the hand on the table with the fingers and thumb 
 touching it, then tap with the forefinger as rapidly as possible for 
 three or four minutes. Make two such tests at different times : one 
 in which the hand is not moved, and there is no variation in direction 
 or height of movement, and no pause for rest ; and another in which 
 the hand may be moved, and the tapping varied at will. Notice the 
 difference in feeling of weariness and difference in total number of 
 taps made each time. Variation in rate of tapping may be deter- 
 mined objectively by having time called every ten seconds, while an 
 observer for each tapper counts the number of taps made in each 
 period. From these figures, individual fatigue curves may be con- 
 structed. 
 
 2. Illustrate from other experiences and observations any laws 
 of fatigue not clearly brought out in the above experiment and dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 3. Specific instances of defects of the kinds named in the text 
 should be observed and described if possible. 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 On the general subject of fatigue and conservation of mental energy, 
 see Lombard, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. Ill, pp. 24-42 ; Dressier, 
 Fed. Sein., Vol. II, pp. 102-106 ; Hodge, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. 
 II, pp. 376-402 ; S. W. Mitchell, l^Vear and Tear-, Thorndike, 
 
344 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Psych. Rev., Vol. VII, pp. 466-482, 547-579 ; Vol. VIII, pp. 
 384-395> 553-564; Squire, Psych. Rev., Vol. X, pp. 248-267; 
 Moore, Yale Studies, Vol. Ill, pp. 68-96 ; Lukens, Am. Phys. 
 Ed. Rev., Vol. IV, pp. 19-29, 121-135 ; O'Shea, Pop. Sci. Mo., 
 Vol. LV, pp. 511-524; Jr. Ped., Vol. XII, pp. 195-230; Burn- 
 ham, Scribner's Mag., Vol. V, pp. 306-314 ; Annie Payson Call, 
 Power through Repose. 
 
 On the fatigue of children, see Report Com. Ed., 1894-1895, Vol. I, 
 pp. 449-460 ; 1895-1896, Vol. II, pp. 1175-1198 ; O'Shea, Pop. 
 Set. Mo., Vol. LI, pp. 648-662 ; Patrick, Iowa Univ. Studies, 
 Vol. I, pp. 77-86; Barnes, Studies, Vol. I, pp. 163-170; Bellei, 
 Ed. Rev., Vol. XXV, pp. 364-386; Kratz, AT. E. A., 1899, pp. 
 1090-1096; Baker, Ed. Rev., Vol. XV, pp. 34-39. 
 
 On nervousness and other common defects of school children, see 
 Warner, The Study of Children ; Rowe, The Physical Nature 
 of the Child; Krohn, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. IV, pp. 201-214; Sud- 
 duth, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. Ill, pp. 540-543 ; Talbot, Trans. III. Ch. 
 S. Soc, Vol. Ill, pp. 75-90; Wolfe, N. W. Mo., Vol. VII, pp. 
 22,69, 157, 161, 274; Royce, Ed. Rev., Vol. VI, pp. 209-222, 
 322-331, 449-463 ; Meyer, Trans. III. Ch. S. Soc, Vol. I, No. 
 I, pp. 48-58 ; Campbell, Ch. S. Mo. and/r. Adoles., May, 1901, 
 pp. 433-440 ; Morey-Errant, Ch. S. Mo. and Jr. Adoles., May, 
 1901, pp. 441-448; Zirkle, "Medical Inspection in Schools," 
 Univ. of Colo. Studies, June, 1902, pp. 66. 
 
 On stuttering and other language defects, see Hartwell, N. E. A., 
 1893, pp. 739-749; Lukens, N. IV. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 39-44. 
 
 On defective hearing, Chrisman, Ped. Sem., Vol. II, pp. 397-441 ; 
 Percy, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. I, pp. 97-109 ; Krauskopf, Jr. Ch. and 
 Adoles., April, 1902, pp. 100-106; Macmillan, N. E. A., 1901, 
 pp. 880-888. 
 
 On defective vision, Allport, Ed. Rev., Vol. XIV, pp. 150-159; 
 Whitcomb, iV. W. Mo., Vol. IX, p. 237 ; Wolfe, N. W. Mo., 
 Vol. VIII, pp. 35-39 ; and reports, such as those of Christopher 
 and Smedley. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 
 
 PURPOSE OF CHILD STUDY BY TEACHERS 
 
 It should be understood at the outset, that teachers 
 cannot, and should not be expected to make investiga- 
 tions with the purpose of discovering new truths for the 
 science of psychology and child study. It is true that 
 a teacher may, and sometimes should, cooperate with a 
 specialist in gathering data for scientific purposes. She 
 may also profitably repeat the experiments of specialists, 
 not for the purpose of making or verifying generaliza- 
 tions concerning all children, but to learn to what extent 
 the children under her charge, with their peculiar heredi- 
 tary tendencies and local environing conditions, conform 
 to or vary from the usual type, and consequently to learn 
 how far the general principles indicated by the spe- 
 cialist may profitably be applied to those particular 
 children. 
 
 Such a study carefully made also gives a teacher a 
 more intimate and a broader knowledge of child nature, 
 and a much better comprehension and appreciation of 
 the results of scientific investigations. The self-culture 
 thus obtained might of itself be sufficient justification 
 for making such a study if the test is also a good exer- 
 cise for the children. Especially is this true of those 
 who are preparing to teach. The primary purpose of 
 
 346 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 347 
 
 a teacher, however, in studying children, whether as a 
 school or individually, should not be to promote the 
 science or her own self-culture, but to get facts that 
 will aid in the culture and training of the children under 
 her charge. 
 
 STUDYING AND MANAGING A SCHOOL AS A WHOLE 
 
 A teacher may in an indirect ^2c^ make a valuable 
 study of a school before she sees it. Knowing the 
 grade she is to teach, she can infer the age of the major- 
 ity of the children. From her knowledge of the princi- 
 ples of child study, she will know what characteristics 
 are likely to be prominent at that age. This will give 
 her some idea of the school, wherever it is located. The 
 next step will be to study about the children and their 
 surroundings. 
 
 If the children are nearly all of one or two nationali- 
 tieSy this will tell her something about them. Physical 
 and social heredity will inevitably endow them with the 
 principal characteristics of the nation to which they 
 belong. Any knowledge, therefore, the teacher may 
 acquire of these nationalities will be helpful to her in 
 understanding the children. 
 
 A knowledge of the occupations^ social organizations ^ 
 and amusements of the people of the school district will 
 also be helpful. The imitative instinct makes it abso- 
 tutely certain that the children will take into themselves 
 many phases of the social life by which they are sur- 
 rounded. It is almost equally sure that the children 
 will know much of the objects of nature and art by 
 which they are surrounded, and little of those of other 
 places unless they have travelled. The fundamental 
 
348 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 apperceptive knowledge possessed by the children may 
 therefore be determined by studying their natural as 
 well as their social surroundings. 
 
 To know something of the school knowledge and 
 training possessed by the children, the course of study 
 and methods of teaching in the city or district may be 
 studied. With some allowances for forgetting, pretty 
 shrewd guesses as to what the children will know can 
 then be made. 
 
 The schoolroom, with all its possibilities for heating, 
 lighting, ventilating, seating, illustrating, and decorating, 
 should be studied as an important factor in determining 
 what may be done with the school that is to inhabit it. 
 Books and apparatus should also be considered in this 
 connection. 
 
 When the children appear and begin their work, the 
 teacher may study them in a direct way by tests and ob- 
 servations, and thus supplement and perfect her previous 
 conclusions. The majority of the children may prove 
 to be either young or old for their grade, and their 
 development may be greater or less than that usual for 
 their ages, though the teacher's knowledge of their 
 social surroundings should have prepared her for such 
 variations as the latter. Their knowledge of natural 
 surroundings and of school studies, when tested by 
 reviews and questions, may also prove greater or less 
 than was anticipated. 
 
 While studying the characteristics of the school to 
 determine what kind of regulations to make, the teacher 
 should notice how the children are affected by various 
 forms of praise, reproof, or suggestion, in order that she 
 may know how to best carry out these regulations. In 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 349 
 
 the case of a young teacher it will usually be safer at 
 first to be a little too strict rather than too lenient. 
 
 She should not only observe the children during school 
 hours, but seek to know how they spend their time when 
 not in school, especially what they do in the way of work, 
 play, or reading. Language exercises calHng for infor- 
 mation along these lines may be made very interesting to 
 the children and valuable to the teacher who wishes her 
 teaching to correct and supplement the incidental edu- 
 cation given by the community. Such topics as the fol- 
 lowing, assigned at not too frequent intervals, will give 
 the teacher a good idea of the activities and influences 
 affecting the children when not in school. " What I Hke 
 best to read, and why," "What I did last Saturday" 
 (written on Monday), "What I did during vacation" 
 (written just after vacation), "What I am going to do this 
 vacation " (just before vacation), " What I do on school 
 days outside of school hours," " The games that I Hke to 
 play best, and why," " The best time I ever had," " What 
 I am going to do when grown, and why," " Five things 
 that are bad and wrong, and why," "Five things that 
 are good and right, and why," " Some good acts and 
 some bad acts that I have seen this week," " My 
 experience in getting, keeping, and spending money," 
 "What I would do with it if I received fifty cents 
 a day for a month," "Which I would rather have, five 
 dollars to-day, fifty dollars a year from to-day, or five 
 hundred dollars in ten years, and why," " The kind of 
 a playmate or chum I Hke best," " Pets that I have 
 had and that I wish to have." 
 
 When a teacher first begins her work in a school, the 
 children are slow in understanding her questions and 
 
350 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 directions, and it is generally recognized that it takes 
 time for teacher and pupils to get used to each 
 other. This "getting used to each other" means not 
 merely greater familiarity, but the formation of habits 
 by the pupils, in accordance with the teacher's habits 
 of doing things and of expecting them to be done. 
 Many of these are very obvious, such as signals for 
 leaving the room, asking questions, position assumed in 
 reading, writing, and putting away or getting books and 
 material, answering questions, etc., and it probably is 
 well for the teacher to consciously direct the formation 
 of such of these formal school habits as she thinks 
 necessary, in order that they may be quickly estab- 
 lished and require little subsequent attention. Direc- 
 tion in forming these habits should consist not so much 
 in description of the thing to be done as of practice in 
 doing it at the proper time. 
 
 The pupils' modes of observing and thinking will be 
 affected by the way in which she questions, analyzes, 
 and outlines, their feelings and sentiments influenced 
 by those she holds and expresses consciously and uncon- 
 sciously, and their attentiveness, carefulness, and per- 
 sistency, by her example and her requirements. Every 
 teacher should note the habits of thinking, feeling, and 
 working, common to the school, that have been formed 
 by the social environment and by previous school 
 experiences and conditions, and should consciously 
 strive to correct the undesirable ones and develop the 
 good ones. 
 
 In attempting to break habits already formed, the 
 teacher should remember that a habit is a tendency to 
 do a certain thing tinder certain conditions^ and hence that 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 35 1 
 
 a change in the conditions giving rise to a habit will 
 often change the habit. It is also much easier to learn 
 to do something else under the conditions calling forth 
 a habit than to refrain from doing anything, or, in other 
 words, it is easier to change a habit than to break it. 
 It is therefore often wisest to say nothing about unde- 
 sirable habits, but to change the conditions under which 
 they are performed, or to set the children to doing some- 
 thing that will erelong take the place of the undesir- 
 able habit. For example, children who are led to become 
 interested in hearing or doing something do not need 
 to be told not to gaze around the room or out of doors ; 
 and those who are learning to observe or care for 
 animals, will not long continue to practise cruelty 
 toward them. 
 
 A teacher should be careful that the children do not 
 get into the habit of holding her, instead of themselves, 
 responsible for order. Very often they wait for a look 
 or a word that has become a customary signal for them 
 as individuals to do certain things. They are like a 
 little three-year-old girl, who, after being reminded 
 many times to stop before drinking her milk all up, 
 said, when not so reminded, " Mamma, why don't you 
 tell me to stop } " 
 
 In directing the formation of habits in which improve- 
 ment with practice is desired, as in learning to write 
 and draw, the teacher should be satisfied with the work 
 as long as it shows improvement, but should be very 
 careful when improvement stops, because one of two 
 undesirable results is likely to appear ; either the habit 
 with its imperfect execution becomes fixed by repetition, 
 so that after a time it is almost impossible to change 
 
352 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 it; or else when the volitional effort to do good 
 work decreases, the execution begins to revert back 
 to a less developed stage at which it may then be- 
 come fixed. It should also be remembered that doing 
 a thing well under one set of conditions does not 
 necessarily mean that it will be done equally well under 
 others ; hence a pupil who writes well when writing in 
 a copy book, may write very poorly when trying to 
 express his ideas in a language lesson. The teacher 
 should, therefore, see that habits are perfected under 
 the conditions likely to exist when they are to be used. 
 
 After a teacher becomes quite familiar with her 
 school, she still needs to study it to know what to do 
 in special circumstances. She must be quick to dis- 
 cover signs of nervousness, restlessness, fatigue, or 
 loss of interest; thorough in searching for the causes, 
 whether they be in the physical conditions of the room 
 or in something that has been done either in or out of 
 school ; and fertile in expedients for removing or counter- 
 acting undesirable influences. 
 
 If the cause of the difficulty should be in herself, she 
 should be no less persistent in removing it. It is more 
 important to the school that the teacher shall keep her- 
 self in good health and free from fatigue, nervousness, 
 and worry than it is that she shall correct papers or 
 even teach in the best possible manner. 
 
 If she is careless and unsystematic in her work, no 
 amount of talking about neatness and order will make 
 the children careful and orderly. If she calls, in a loud 
 and irritated manner, for them to be quiet, she is really 
 giving them a suggestion to become more noisy. If she 
 is afraid the children will not obey her, the idea of dis- 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 353 
 
 obeying is at once suggested to them by her voice and 
 manner. Since natural signs have greater suggestive 
 force for children than words, it is not strange that 
 they are more influenced by the actions, manner, and 
 tone of voice of the teacher than by what she says. 
 
 The effects upon the school of suggestion and imita- 
 tion among the pupils themselves are also frequently 
 very marked. 
 
 The teacher should, therefore, study closely the 
 social relations of her pupils, observing who seem to 
 be leaders in the^public sentiment of the school, and 
 who are merely imitators and followers, then she should 
 make a special effort to understand the leaders so 
 as to influence them, and in that way to direct the 
 sentiment and actions of the school. She should ar- 
 range the seating of pupils also, so that there will be as 
 little temptation as possible to visiting or other disturb- 
 ance. All cases of chumming and rivalry in individuals 
 or of groups should be noted. In many schools it will 
 be found that there are one or more societies formed by 
 the children themselves, which not infrequently have 
 special badges or passwords, and sometimes an extensive 
 secret language. The teacher will find it interesting 
 and profitable to become familiar with all these social 
 relations of the little society of which she is the leader, 
 and to note how the children are being influenced by 
 them. She should seek to use, rather than to suppress, 
 such social activities. Individual rivalries may not be 
 ignored, but should not be encouraged; while rivalry 
 between groups may be profitably encouraged when it 
 leads to better cooperation of the members of each 
 group, and is good-natured. 
 
354 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 STUDY AND TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN 
 
 After the teacher has become so well acquainted with 
 her school that she knows how to regulate it, and con- 
 duct the classes to the best advantage of the majority of 
 the children, she should seek to know more of the ex- 
 ceptional and peculiar children whose needs are not 
 being fully met, and to find ways of meeting their needs 
 without interfering with the general school and class 
 work. In doing this, she should never assent for one 
 moment to the idea that all the children must be treated 
 exactly alike. Everything she does should be for the 
 good of each child, whether it be the assignment of a 
 long or a short lesson, or the giving of a punishment or 
 a reward. What will be the best training or the most 
 effective corrective for one may not be for another; 
 hence it is her duty to treat each pupil in the way that 
 will cause him to improve most. 
 
 In her study of the school as a whole, the teacher will 
 have noticed children who show marked variations from 
 the average in many ways. There are undoubtedly 
 causes for each peculiarity, and the teacher should at 
 once seek to discover them. She should inquire into 
 the past history and present conditions and surround- 
 ings to discover how far the child's peculiarities may be 
 accounted for by heredity, sickness, accidents, previous 
 school training, special home conditions, Ufe outside of 
 school, or present defects. Where the peculiarities are 
 undesirable, their causes should be removed or counter- 
 acted as far as possible. Where they are in the nature 
 of special interests or powers, the teacher should favor 
 their development so far as may be without interfering 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 355 
 
 with the development of other phases of the child's 
 nature. 
 
 Much ingenuity is required to keep all the members of 
 an average class interested and actively employed all of 
 the time, because of difference in rate and accuracy 
 of working ; yet, if this is not done successfully, some 
 children are confused, others waste their time, and dis- 
 order is almost sure to appear. 
 
 When, in addition to what may be called, for want of 
 a better term, " average pupils," the teacher has many 
 who are peculiar, defective, abnormal, or exceptional 
 in some way, her difficulties are greatly increased. In 
 almost every school there are children who can get little 
 or nothing from the regular class work. Teachers, with 
 the large number of pupils they usually have, cannot 
 possibly meet fully the needs of such children without 
 sacrificing the rest of the school. 
 
 It is therefore desirable that, in every city, ungraded 
 rooms for individual instruction should be provided. 
 About one room in every ten should be of this kind. 
 Two types of ungraded schools are desirable : one for 
 primary children, who are so defective or peculiar that 
 they cannot get started to learning readily in an ordi- 
 nary class ; and one for grammar-grade children who are 
 exceptional, principally in their rate of working or knowl- 
 edge of special subjects, and who, therefore, need special 
 training in one or more lines in order to be fitted for the 
 next grade. With such provision many peculiar and back- 
 ward children soon show themselves capable of great 
 improvement, and children who have in some way got 
 behind in one or more subjects are enabled to pass 
 from grade to grade without unnecessary loss of time. 
 
356 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Where such schools are not provided, some children 
 are sure to suffer, and some of the best teachers to 
 worry, because of the impossibility of meeting both 
 class and individual needs. 
 
 OUTLINES FOR OBSERVATION 
 
 Countless outlines and directions for the study of chil- 
 dren may be made, and have been made. Though many 
 are so complete as to be cumbersome, none of them are 
 exactly suited to indicate the special pecuHarity of every 
 child. Minute analysis of the characteristics of individ- 
 uals is interesting to a certain extent, and has some value 
 as training for the teacher, but she gains little from fre- 
 quent attempts to analyze minutely the characteristics of 
 all her pupils. Usually, she has only a few exceptional 
 pupils that need much special study and treatment. Ex- 
 cept in the case of a few pupils, who are all-round puz- 
 zles, the teacher generally needs to study only the causes 
 and effects of one or two fundamental peculiarities as a 
 means of knowing what to do for a child. The signifi- 
 cance of any pecuUarity depends not so much upon 
 its prominence, as compared with that characteristic in 
 other children, as upon its prominence as compared 
 with other qualities possessed by the same individual. 
 Even exact physical data, such as the lung capacity of 
 a ten-year-old boy, have no significance until you know 
 whether the boy is large or small for his age. The 
 teacher, therefore, needs to compare the child's charac- 
 teristics with the others that he possesses to determine 
 their harmony and unity rather than simply to compare 
 them with those of his companions. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 357 
 
 The outlines given below are not intended to be in any- 
 way complete, but merely to be suggestive of what is 
 likely to be most significant regarding a school, reci- 
 tation, or individual. 
 
 The following questions prepared for normal students 
 about to enter the practice schools are good ones for any 
 teacher to ask soon after taking charge of a new school. 
 
 I. OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF A NEW SCHOOL 
 
 1. Should there be any change in the light or ventilation of the 
 room, or in the seats of the pupils? What portions of the black- 
 board are clearly visible from the different parts of the room ? 
 
 2. Is the school as a whole about the average for schools of this 
 grade in age, size, ability, and advancement ? 
 
 3. Are there any pupils who are much behind or ahead in any of 
 these respects, and if so, what explanation of such variations can you 
 give? 
 
 4. Are there any pupils who show signs of poor health, nervous- 
 ness, defects of eye and ear, and if so, what are the signs you have 
 noticed? What can the teacher do for such pupils? 
 
 5. What do you notice in the habits and disposition of the school 
 as a whole that is good, and what that needs improvement? What 
 improvement do you expect to try to make? 
 
 6. Answer the same question as in 5 for individual children who 
 have habits and dispositions different from the rest of the school. 
 
 7. What subjects are the pupils most interested in and what 
 least ? 
 
 8. The same questions as in 7 for individual pupils differing from 
 the rest. 
 
 9. Make a special study of any child who seems to be a leader of 
 a part or all the school, trying to determine how he leads his com- 
 panions, and how he can best be led by the teacher. 
 
 The following outlines are intended to be used by 
 normal students who are preparing to teach, but more 
 experienced teachers may find them of some value. 
 
358 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 IL SUGGESTIONS FOR OBSERVING INDIVIDUAL PUPILS 
 
 In getting acquainted with children it will be of advantage to note 
 facts and form judgments in regard to the following points so far as 
 you have opportunity to do so. 
 
 1. Physical Characteristics. 
 Size of child for his age. 
 Health. 
 
 Evidence of, or freedom from, nervousness. 
 Characteristics of attitudes and movements. 
 Condition of eyes and ears. 
 
 2. School Work. 
 
 Work as compared with the average of his class. 
 Success in different subjects. 
 Chief merits or defects as a pupil. 
 
 3. Life outside of School. 
 Character of his home. 
 
 Occupations outside of school in the way of studying, reading, 
 
 working, or playing. 
 Characteristics shown outside of school different from those in 
 
 school. 
 
 4. Mental Characteristics. 
 
 Ability, quickness, and accuracy in perceiving, imaging, remember- 
 ing, and reasoning. 
 
 Emotional characteristics as manifested in fear, anger, jealousy, 
 bashfulness, pride, and interests. 
 
 Effect of praise and blame. 
 
 Character of attention^ reflex or voluntary, continuous or inter- 
 mittent, intense or slight. 
 
 Actions, impulsive or deliberate. 
 
 Persistency or lack of it in working. How best appealed to 
 What is needed most, stimulation, repression, or direction? 
 
 Evidence of his tendency to lead or to follow and imitate. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 359 
 
 III. SUGGESTIONS FOR OBSERVING A RECITATION 
 
 Is the lesson (a) a review and drill lesson, or {d) the presentation 
 
 of new truths? 
 If (a) J is the chief aim to fix in memory or to gain speed and 
 
 accuracy in what is already known ? 
 Does the teacher rely upon many repetitions for her results, or 
 
 does she depend more upon intensity of interest ? 
 To what extent does interest and success depend upon the rate 
 
 of working, devices used, and variety introduced into the drill? 
 
 Are all the children kept busy all the time during the lesson? 
 If (^), what is the aim of the lesson? 
 
 1. Subject-matter. 
 
 What is given the children? What can you say as to the amount 
 and arrangement of this subject-matter and its connection 
 with preceding lessons and those that are to follow ? 
 
 2. The Teaching. 
 
 Is the subject-matter presented by means of objects, representa- 
 tions of objects (pictures, diagrams, models, maps), or by means 
 of words (printed or oral), or by a combination of two or 
 more of these? 
 
 Notice what means (questioning or other) the teacher uses to 
 connect truths taught with each other and to lead to general 
 conclusions and their applications. 
 
 3. The Class. 
 
 Are they attentive and interested? 
 
 What in subject-matter or mode of representation is or is not 
 suited to the age, knowledge, and ability of the children ? 
 
 What mental powers are they using principally, perceptive, rep- 
 resentative, or thinking? 
 
 What kinds of apperceptive knowledge are they recalling: 
 (i) previous knowledge of the same or other subjects studied, 
 or (2) knowledge gotten outside of school by hearsay, obser- 
 vation, and experience? To what extent do they relate the 
 old knowledge to the new, with or without suggestion ? 
 
36o FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Notice if correct general conclusions are reached, and if they are 
 
 applied to particular cases correctly. 
 What habits of the class do you notice? 
 
 4. Individual Children. 
 
 Report all individual peculiarities that you note during the recita- 
 tion. 
 
 A good way of promoting child study among teachers 
 is to call for reports regarding all pupils having a cer- 
 tain characteristic in a marked degree ; as, quick tem- 
 per, perseverance, poor sight, restlessness; or regarding 
 those who are good in reading or spelling or arithmetic, 
 or those remarkable for size, quickness, or lack of 
 energy. Let each teacher describe one or two of her 
 pupils who have in a marked degree the characteristic 
 selected, telling how they are in other respects, and 
 what she finds to be the best mode of dealing with 
 them. Such comparison and discussion of similar 
 experiences will be very helpful and lead to further 
 observations. 
 
 REPORTS, TESTS, AND RECORDS 
 
 There has unquestionably been much vexation of 
 spirit and waste of time in making child-study reports, 
 as well as in the reports required by the old-time mark- 
 ing system. Such reports, therefore, should be as brief 
 and from the standpoint of the teacher as significant as 
 possible. One like the following may be made two or 
 three times a year with profit to all concerned. 
 
 Name of pupil Grade Sex Date of Birth — . 
 
 Particularly good or poor in what subjects, if any. 
 Character of conduct. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 36 1 
 
 Remarks? regarding characteristics important to recognize in deal- 
 ing with the child (as sensitiveness, stubbornness, slowness, lack of 
 persistence, special interests, special physical or home conditions, 
 etc.). 
 
 Evidence of a change for better or worse in work or conduct. 
 
 Date Teacher — 
 
 Children are so variable in their conduct, and show 
 forth such different characteristics to different persons, 
 that often reports are of little permanent value. The 
 best pupil under one teacher may be the worst under 
 another teacher, and the child least interesting to his 
 teacher at the beginning of the year may be the most 
 attractive at the close. 
 
 The same actions may also be interpreted by one 
 teacher as shyness and by another as stubbornness, or 
 as sensitiveness by one and as lack of feeling by 
 another. For these reasons it is often better for a 
 teacher to get acquainted with her pupils before she 
 reads the reports another teacher has made regarding 
 them. 
 
 With data obtained by tests, and from inquiry regard- 
 ing the home life and past history of the child, the 
 case is different. Such facts if not more reliable, are at 
 least more permanently significant. The number of such 
 facts that may be of value is almost infinite, but the 
 number that it will be found practicable to obtain and 
 keep on record, is very limited in most schools, where 
 so many other things demand the immediate attention 
 of teachers and superintendent. The admission card 
 should state at least these facts : date of birth, resi- 
 dence, nationality of parents, occupation of father, and 
 the last school attended. The most important tests to 
 
362 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 be made and kept on file are those of hearing and sight 
 If it is not practicable to have all the children tested, 
 teachers should themselves closely observe all signs of 
 defects in hearing and sight, and test pupils who show 
 any signs whatever of such defects. 
 
 Defects of hearing are to be found in every schoolroom. 
 Any pupil who is habitually inattentive or apparently 
 careless, or who watches a teacher's mouth very closely 
 when speaking, or who looks to see what other pupils 
 are doing before beginning to follow directions, should 
 be observed, and, if necessary, tested, to discover whether 
 his hearing is defective. The teacher should notice 
 if it makes any difference whether she stands close in 
 front of, behind, or on the right or left of the child when 
 she speaks to him, and whether he shows that he hears 
 when there is no possible chance for him to guess what 
 is said. 
 
 The detection of po6r hearing is difficult for (i) the 
 defect may be in one ear only, (2) may be greater at 
 some times than at others, especially when the child has 
 a cold, (3) if the attention is first secured, hearing is 
 often surprisingly improved, (4) nearly all children with 
 poor hearing have learned to make shrewd guesses at 
 what is being said. (5) Few buildings are sufficiently 
 quiet for accurate tests to be made. 
 
 In all doubtful cases, at least, the teacher should test 
 the children with the watch or other convenient means. 
 Several persons should be tested with the watch to find 
 out how far it can be heard by normal ears, for watches 
 vary greatly in loudness. The child should look straight 
 ahead and hold a card against his face so as to conceal 
 from his view the movements of the one testing him. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 363 
 
 Often a child thinks he hears a watch when he does not, 
 hence it may be necessary to occasionally cover it 
 tightly with the hands in such a way as to muffle 
 the sound, in order to determine positively whether or 
 not the child hears. If the distance in a quiet room 
 at which a child can hear a watch is less than three feet, 
 his hearing is almost surely defective, and it may be if 
 the distance is greater. 
 
 When a child is known to have poor hearing nothing 
 should be said about it, but he should be placed in as 
 favorable a position as possible for hearing what the 
 teacher and also his classmates say, and the teacher 
 should take special pains to see that he does hear all 
 directions that he is expected to follow. Children with 
 defective hearing frequently form habits of inattention, 
 and sometimes, when they are aware of their deficiency, 
 try to excuse themselves for failure to do things they 
 have been told to do, on the ground that they did not 
 understand. The teacher should take the greatest pains 
 to make this excuse an impossible one, and to break up 
 habits of inattention. Under no circumstances should 
 the teacher assume that the child heard, or could have 
 heard if he had tried, and blame him for not doing so ; 
 but she should have tested him thoroughly so that she 
 knows, both from the conditions and from his expression 
 of face or oral acknowledgment that he has heard, and 
 then she should hold him responsible for remembering 
 and doing what he is told. To manage a child with 
 poor hearing without either doing him an injustice, or 
 " babying " and unwisely excusing him for non-perform- 
 ance or imperfect performance of tasks, often requires 
 great tact and wisdom. 
 
364 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Defects of the eye are more common, but somewhat 
 less subject to serious misunderstanding than those of 
 the ear. Pupils who hold books in unusual positions, 
 who wink or rub their eyes a good deal, who frequently 
 fail to do perfectly work placed on the board, or whose 
 eyes look red, weak, or tired, or who have frequent head- 
 aches, or who wrinkle the brows, or show other signs of 
 nervousness, should be tested. 
 
 One of the best cards for testing, and the only kind 
 that can be successfully used with first-grade children, is 
 one in which it is not necessary to name the letters, but 
 merely to tell which way a series of E's of different 
 sizes points. In order that there may be no misunder- 
 standing, it will be well, with small children, to first test 
 them close enough to the card to be sure that they 
 know which way the letters point, and how to indi- 
 cate the direction of the letters by pointing or by 
 words. The child should then be placed with his back 
 to a window, holding a stiff card over (not against) one 
 eye, and asked to tell which way the letters, indicated 
 with a pencil, point. The distance should be that for 
 the smallest or next to the smallest letters on the card, 
 and, of course, the largest letters should be pointed to 
 first. In pointing it is well to hold the pencil vertically 
 under the letter, that the letter may not be partly 
 covered, or shadowed, by the pencil, and that there may 
 be no doubt as to which one is meant. The record of 
 the test is made by taking the distance at which the 
 card is held as the numerator, and the number of the 
 last line of letters read as the denominator of the frac- 
 tion. Thus, if the distance is 5 metres, and the num- 
 ber of the line last read is 10, the record will be -j^. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 365 
 
 This means that the child can read at 5 metres what 
 a normal child can read at 10 metres. 
 
 The above test will usually, though not always, be 
 sufficient to detect serious defects of vision, but in 
 doubtful cases should be supplemented by tests for 
 near vision and for astigmatism. As soon as a teacher 
 is fully convinced that a pupil's eyes are seriously defec- 
 tive, she should advise the parents to have them exam- 
 ined by a specialist. In the meantime, she should place 
 the child where he will have the best conditions possible 
 for seeing. 
 
 If physical and mental measurements and tests are 
 practicable in a school, the following ones, carefully 
 selected for use in the Model and Practice Schools of 
 the Fitchburg Normal School, will be found significant 
 and helpful. The measurements are made and the 
 vital capacity calculated according to tables and direc- 
 tions given in Hastings's Manual for Physical Measure- 
 ments, the tests of memory according to the methods 
 used in the Child Study Laboratory of the Chicago 
 Public Schools, and the tests of sight and hearing ac- 
 cording to the directions given above. The "rate of 
 movement" is really an elementary test of both physical 
 and mental ability in which pupils make marks in 
 squares as rapidly as possible, putting one, two, or three 
 marks in each square, in accordance with the figure at 
 the top of each square. The time required for making 
 the hundred marks is recorded in seconds. 
 
 In the first column are placed numerical records of 
 the tests, and in the second, letters, indicating the rank 
 of the child as compared with the average. 
 
366 
 
 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 Front of Card 
 
 Name 
 
 Date of birth: Yr Mo. 
 
 -Day. 
 
 Dates of Tests 
 
 Weight 
 
 Height standing 
 Height sitting 
 Breadth of head 
 Breadth of chest 
 Breadth of waist 
 Girth of head 
 Depth of chest 
 Chest expansion 
 Lung capacity 
 Vital capacity 
 Grip, right hand 
 Grip, left hand 
 Rate of movement 
 Memory, auditory 
 Memory, visual 
 Vision acuteness, R. 
 Vision acuteness, L. 
 Astigmatism ? 
 Hearing, R. 
 Hearing, L. 
 
 Test 
 
 Rank 
 
 Test 
 
 Rank 
 
 Test 
 
 Rank 
 
 Test 
 
 Rank 
 
 Note: m,=medium, h.=high, v. h,= very high, l.=low, v.l.=very low. 
 
CHILD STUDY APPLIED IN SCHOOLS 367 
 
 Back of Card 
 To Parents: — 
 
 Body and mind are closely related. Teachers may be aided in deal- 
 ing with children by information regarding the health of their pupils and 
 what they do outside of school. We therefore ask you to kindly under- 
 score the diseases to which your child is subject, and the occupations in 
 which he is much engaged outside of school and to add any other facts 
 that may be helpful. 
 
 DISEASES : Biliousness, constipation, indigestion, headache, sleepless- 
 ness, nervousness, heart, lung, or throat troubles. 
 OCCUPATIONS : Outdoor work, indoor work, indoor gymnastics, out- 
 door plays and sports, indoor games, reading, studying, music practice. 
 
 Remarks: 
 
 Signed 
 
 Suggestions for Reading 
 
 The books of most general value on the subject of studying children 
 in school are those of Warner, Rowe, Hastings, and Groszmann, 
 and the reports of Christopher and Smedley to the Chicago Board 
 of Education, while various educational journals and reports of 
 child-study societies, especially of Illinois and Minnesota, con- 
 tain numerous outlines and suggestions, and also some reports 
 of school superintendents such as Spaulding of Passaic, N J. 
 
 On the school conditions, works on school hygiene, such as Kotel- 
 mann, Shaw, or Burrage and Bailey, should be consulted if 
 necessary, and also the following articles : Mosher, " Habitual 
 Postures of School Children," Ed. Rev.., Vol. IV. pp. 339-349 ; 
 McKenzie, N. E. A.., 1898, pp. 939-948; Parnell, "Medical 
 Inspection in School," N. E. A.., 1898, pp. 454-462; Lemon, 
 " Psychic Effect of the Weather," Am. Jr. Psych.., Vol. VI, pp. 
 2J7-2y() ; Dexter, Ped. Sem., Vol. V, pp. 512-522, Ed. Rev., Vol. 
 XIX, pp. 160-168 ; or Monograph Suppl., Psych. Rev.^Yol. II, No. 6. 
 
 On children's movements, the studies of Curtis, Ped. Sem., Vol. VI, 
 pp. 90-106, and Lindley, Am. Jr. Psych., Vol. VII, pp. 491-517, 
 while various tests are described by Seashore, Ed. Rev., Vol. 
 XXII, pp. 69-82, and Hancock, Ped. Sem., Vol. VIII, pp. 291-340. 
 
368 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 On the practical value of child study in school and the relations of 
 teacher, pupils, and the home, see Luckey, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. I 
 pp. 230-247 ; Educ.y Vol. IV, pp. 271-275 ; Ed. Rev.^ Vol. XIV 
 pp. 340-347; Van Liew, N. E. A., 1896, pp. 864-872, 1897, pp 
 294-296; Galbreath, /r. Ped., Vol. XI, pp. 237-252; Patrick 
 N. E. A., 1895, pp. 906-914; Whitney, Educ, Vol. XV, pp 
 466-473 ; Thayer, Educ, Vol. XIV, pp. 68-75, 142-148 ; Kratz, 
 Fed. Se?n., Vol. Ill, pp. 413-418 ; Bell, Fed. Sem., Vol. VII, pp 
 492-525 ; Baker, Educ, Vol. XIV, pp. 264-268 ; Skinner, Trans 
 III. Ch. S. Soc, Vol. II, No. 2, pp. 28-39; Russell, Fed. Sem. 
 
 Vol. II, pp. 343-357. 
 
 On child study in the kindergarten, see Payne, N. E. A., 1897, pp 
 586-593; Mackenzie, N, E. A., 1893, pp. 285-292; Nicholson 
 Ch. S. Mo., Vol. II, pp. 675-684; Bailey, N. E. A., 1899, PP 
 541-546. 
 
 On child study in secondary schools, see Atkinson, School Review^ 
 Vol. V, pp. 642-683, 461-466; Scudder, School Review, Vol 
 VII, pp. 197-214 ; Austin, N. IV. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 487-490, 
 
 On the graded system and individual instruction, see F. Burke 
 N. W. Mo., Vol. VIII, pp. 481-484; C. Frear Burk, Ed. Rev. 
 Vol. XIX, pp. 296-302 ; Powell, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. I, pp. 290-305 
 Search, Ed. Rev., Vol. VII, pp. 154-170; Barnard, N. E. A.y 
 1899, pp. 163-170; Kennedy, AF. E. A., 1901, pp. 295-300, and 
 the N. E. A. discussion, 1898, pp. 422-448. 
 
 On secretiveness of children, read C. Frear Burk, Ch. S. Mo., Vol. 
 V, p- 355, and for interesting individual studies, see Russell, 
 Ed. Rev., Vol. VI, pp. 431-442; Stabfeton, Diary of a West- 
 ern Schoolmaster, and Ch. S. Mo., Vol. IV, pp. 451-448. See 
 also Triplett on "Faults of Children," Fed. Sem., Vol. X, 
 pp. 200-238. 
 
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BOOKS NAMED 
 IN THE SUGGESTIONS FOR READING 
 
 Adler, Felix. Moral Instruction of Children. Appleton, 1895, 
 
 pp. 270. 
 Aiken, Catherine. Methods of Mind Training. Harpers, 1899^ 
 
 pp. 122. 
 Baldwin, J. M. Mental Development. Vol. I, Methods and Pro- 
 cesses, pp. 488 ; Vol. II, Social and Ethical Interpretations, 
 
 pp. 514. 
 Blow, Susan. Symbolic Education. Appleton, 1894, pp. 251. 
 Bradford, A. H. Heredity and Education. Ed. Rev., Vol. I, pp. 
 
 147-159. 
 Brooks, W. K. Heredity. Baltimore, 1883. The Foundations 
 
 of Zoology. Macmillan, New York and London, 1899, pp. viii 
 
 and 339. 
 Brown, E. E. Notes on Children's Drawings. University of Cali- 
 fornia Studies, 1897, pp. 75. 
 Buck, Winifred. Boys' Self-Governing Clubs. Macmillan, 1903, 
 
 pp. 218. 
 Burrage and Bailey. School Sanitation and Decoration. D. C. 
 
 Heath & Co., 1899, pp. 191. 
 Butler, N. M. Meaning of Education. Macmillan, 1898, pp. 230. 
 Call, Annie Payson. Power Through Repose. Little, Brown & Co., 
 
 1902, pp. 201. 
 Chadbourne, P. A. Instinct, pp. 323. Putnams, 1883. 
 Chamberlain, Alex. The Child ; A Study in the Evolution of Man. 
 
 Scribners, 1900, pp. 498. 
 Chesley, A. M. Indoor and Outdoor Gymnastic Games. American 
 
 Sports Publishing Co., July, 1902, pp. 79. 
 Christopher and Smedley. Reports on Child Study. Investigations, 
 
 Reprints from Reports. Chicago Board of Education foi 
 
 1898-1899, 1 899-1900, 1900-1901. 
 371 
 
372 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Clark, E. H. Sex in Education. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1873, 
 
 pp. 181. 
 Coe. The Spiritual Life. Eaton & Mains, New York, 1900, 
 
 pp. 279. 
 Colgrove, F. W. Memory; An Inductive Study. H. Holt & Co., 
 
 1901, pp. 369. 7 
 
 Compayre, G. Intellectual and Moral Development of the Child. ^ 
 
 Part I, pp. 298 ; Part II, Later Infancy, pp. 300. Appleton. 
 Dewey, John. Interest as Related to Will. Second supplement to 
 
 the Herbart Year Book. 
 The School and Society. University of Chicago Press, pp. 129. 
 Donaldson. Growth of the Brain. Scribners, 1895, pp. 374. 
 Drummond. Ascent of Man. James Pott & Co., New York, 1895, 
 
 pp. 346. 
 Du Bois, Patterson. The Point of Contact. 1898, pp. 88. 
 
 Beckoning of Little Hands. J. D. Wattles, Philadelphia, 1895, 
 
 pp. 166. 
 Dugdale. The Jukes. New York, 1887. 
 Eldridge-Green, F. W. Memory and its Cultivation. Appleton, 
 
 1897, pp. 311. 
 Ellis, Havelock. Man and Woman. Scribners, 1896, pp. 409. 
 Fiske. Excursions of an Evolutionist, pp.379. 
 
 Destiny of Man. pp. 121. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Forbush, W. B. The Boy Problem. Pilgrim Press, Chicago, 1902, 
 
 pp. 206. 
 Gale, Harlow. Psychological Studies. The Author, Minneapolis, 
 
 Minn. 
 Gallon, Francis. Hereditary Genius. Appleton, 1891, pp. 390. In- 
 quiry into Human Faculty. Macmillan. 
 Geddes and Thomson. The Evolution of Sex. Scribners, 1895, 
 
 pp. 322. 
 Greenwood, J. M. Principles of Education practically applied. Ap- 
 pleton, 1898, pp. 192. 
 Groos, Karl. The Play of Animals. Appleton, 1898, pp. 341, 
 
 The Play of Man. Appleton, 1 901, pp. 412. 
 Groszmann, M. P. E. A Working System of Child Study for the 
 
 Schools. C. W. Bardeen, 1897, pp. 70. 
 Guyau. Education and Heredity. Scribners, 1897, pp. 306. 
 
LIST OF BOOKS FOR READING 373 
 
 Harrison, Elizabeth. A Study of Child Nature. Chicago Kinder- / 
 garten College, 1900, pp. 207. 
 
 Haskell, Ellen M. Child Observations. Imitations and Allied 
 Activities. D. C. Heath & Co., 1896, pp. 267. 
 
 Hastings, Wm. A Manual of Physical Measurements. The Author, 
 Springfield, Mass., 1902, pp. 112. 
 
 Hinsdale, B. A. Teaching the Language Arts. Appleton, 1898, pp. 213. 
 Studies in Education. Werner, Chicago, 1896, pp. 384. 
 
 Hoefding. OutHnes of Psychology. Macmillan, 1893, pp. 365. 
 
 Jacobi, Mary P. Psychological Notes on Primary Education and 
 the Study of Language. Putnams, 1889, pp. 120. 
 
 James. Varieties of Religious Experiences. Longmans, Green 
 & Co., 1902, pp. 534. 
 Psychology. Briefer course. H. Holt & Co., 1893, pp. 478. 
 
 Jastrow, J. J. Fact and Fable in Psychology. Houghton, Mifflin 
 &Co., 1900, pp. 375. 
 
 Jordan, David Starr. Foot-notes to Evolution. Appleton, 1 898, pp. 392. 
 
 Jordan and Kellogg. Animal Life. Appleton, 1901, pp. 329. 
 
 Judd, Chas. H. Genetic Psychology. Appleton, 1903, pp. 328. 
 
 Kay, David. Memory, what it is and how to improve it. Apple- 
 ton, 1895, pp. 340. 
 
 Koons, Rev. W. G. The Child's Religious Life. Eaton & Mains, 
 New York, 1903, pp. 270. . 
 
 Kotelmann, Ludwig. School Hygiene. Translated by J. A. Berg- 
 strom. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N.Y., 1899, pp. 391. 
 
 Ladd. Physiological Psychology. Scribners. 
 
 Lindsay. Mind in the Lower Animals. Vol. I, In Health. Apple- 
 ton, 1880, pp. 543. 
 
 Loeb, Jacques. Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Com- 
 parative Psychology. Putnams, 1902, pp. 309. 
 
 Lubbock, Sir John. On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence of 
 Animals. Appleton, 1897, pp. 292. 
 
 Lucas, E. V. and E. What shall we do now ? Frederick Stokes 
 Co., New York, 1901, pp. 390. 
 
 Malleson, Mrs. F. Notes on the Early Training of Children. D. ^ 
 C. Heath & Co., Boston, 1892, pp. 127. 
 
 Marshall, H. R. Instinct and Reason. Macmillan, 1898, pp. 
 573- 
 
N. 
 
 374 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Marwedel, E. Conscious Motherhood. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, J 
 
 1889, pp. 560. 
 Mills, W. Nature and Development of Animal Intelligence. Mac- 
 
 millan, 1898, pp. 307. 
 Mitchell, S. Weir. Wear and Tear or Hints for the Overworked. 
 
 Lippincott, 1897, pp. 76. 
 Monroe, W. S. Bibliography of Education. Appleton, 1897, pp. 
 
 202. Reference on Child Study, pp. 1 25-131. 
 Moore, Katherine. The Mental Development of the Child. Mono- •/ 
 
 graph supple. Psych. Rev. Macmillan, 1896, pp. 150. 
 Morgan, C. L. Introduction to Comparative Psychology. Scrib- 
 
 ners, 1896, pp. 382. 
 Animal Life and Intelligence. Ginn & Co., 1895, pp. 512. 
 Psychology for Teachers. Scribners, 1898, pp. 240. 
 Morley, Margaret W. A Song of Life. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 
 
 1896, pp. 155. 
 Life and Love. pp. 214. 
 Morrison, W. D. Juvenile Offenders. Appleton, 1897, pp. 317. 
 Miiller, F. Max. Three Introductory Lectures on the Science of 
 
 Thoughts. Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, pp. 125. 
 Newell, Wm. W. Games and Songs of American Children. Har- 
 pers, 1884, pp. 242. 
 Oppenheim, Nathan. The Development of the Child. Macmillan, 
 
 1898, pp. 296. 
 Mental Growth and Control. 1902, pp. 296. 
 Orr, H. B. Theory of Development and Heredity. Macmillan, 1895, 
 
 pp. ix and 225. 
 Preyer, W. The Mind of the Child. Part I, Senses and Will, 
 
 PP- 353 ; P^rt II, Development of the Intellect, pp. 317. Ap- 
 pleton, 1895. 
 Proudfoot, A. Hofer. Mothers' Ideals. The Author, Chicago, 1897, 
 
 pp. 270. 
 Ribot, Th. The Psychology of the Emotions. Scribners, 1897, pp. 455. 
 
 Heredity. Appleton, 1893, pp. 393. 
 Riis, Jacob. The Children of the Poor. Scribners, 1892, pp. 
 
 300. 
 Romanes, Geo. J. Darwin and after Darwin. Vol. II, Heredity and 
 
 Utility. Open Court Publishing Co., 1897, pp. 344. 
 
LIST OF BOOKS FOR READING 375 
 
 An Examination of Weismannism. Open Court Publishing Co., 
 pp. 221. 
 
 Animal Intelligence. Appleton, 1897, pp. 520. 
 
 Mental Evolution in Animals. Appleton, 1898, pp. 411. 
 
 Mental Evolution in Man. Appleton, 1893, pp. 452. 
 Rowe, S. H. The Physical Nature of the Child. Macmillan, 1899, 
 
 pp. 207. 
 Search, P. W. An Ideal School. Appleton, 1901, pp. 357. 
 Shaw. School Hygiene. Macmillan, 1901, pp. 260. 
 Shinn, Milicent W. Notes on the Development of a Child, pp. 424. 
 Sidis. Psychology of Suggestion. Appleton, 1898, pp. 386. 
 Smith, W. H. The Evolution of Dodd. McNally, Chicago, 1891, 
 
 PP- 153- 
 Spencer, Herbert. Education — Intellectual, Moral, and Physical. 
 
 Appleton, 1862. 
 Stableton, Diary of a Western Schoolmaster. Ainsworth & Co., 
 
 Chicago, 1900, pp. 140. 
 Starbuck, E. D. The Psychology of Religion. Scribners, 1900, 
 
 pp. 423. 
 Stoneroad, Rebecca. Gymnastic Stories and Plays for Primary 
 
 Schools. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, pp. 86. 
 Stout. Manual of Psychology. Hinds & Noble, New York. 
 Sully, James. Studies in Childhood. Appleton, 1895, pp. 527. 
 Thorndike, Edward E. Notes on Child Study. Macmillan, 1901, 
 
 pp. 157. 
 Animal Intelligence. Monograph supplement. Psych. Rev., No. 
 
 8, 1898, pp. 109. 
 Human Nature Club. Longmans, Green & Co., 1902, pp. 235. 
 Tracy, Frederick. Psychology of Childhood. D. C. Heath & Co., 
 
 1897, pp. 170. 
 Vincent, Geo. E. The Social Mind and Education. Macmillan, 
 
 1897, pp. 155. 
 Waldstein, Lewis. The Sub-Conscious Self. Scribners, 1897, pp. 171. 
 Warner, Francis. The Study of Children and their School Training. 
 
 Macmillan, 1897, pp. 264. 
 Weismann, A. The Germ Plasm. Scribners, 1893, pp. 477. 
 White, E. E. School Management. American Book Co., 1894. 
 Whitney, Life and Growth of Language. Appleton, 1893, pp. 396. 
 
376 FUNDAMENTALS OF CHILD STUDY 
 
 Wiggin, K. D. Children's Rights. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1896, 
 
 pp. 235. 
 Winship. The Jukes — Edwards. New England Pub. Co. 
 Winterburn, Florence H. Nursery Ethics. Baker & Taylor Co., New 
 
 York, 1899, pp. 241. 
 From the Child's Standpoint, pp. 278. 
 Wilson, E. B. The Cell in Development and Inheritance. Mac- 
 
 millan, 1897, pp. 377. 
 Wundt, W. Lectures on Human and Animal Psychology. Swan 
 
 Sonnenschein & Co., 1894, pp. 454. 
 
 Journals and Proceedings referred to frequently 
 
 Addresses and Proceedings of the National Educational Association 
 (N. E. A.), Irwin Shepard, Secretary, Winona, Minn. Con- 
 tains all addresses given in Child Study Section from 1893 to 
 the present. 
 
 American Journal of Psychology (Am. Jr. Psych.), Worcester, Mass. 
 Mostly psychological, but contains a number of valuable 
 articles on Child Study. 
 
 Child Study Monthly (Ch. S. Mo.), A. W. Mumford, publisher, 
 Chicago, 111. Devoted wholly to Child Study from 1894 to 
 1900, then changed and finally merged in Journal of Child- 
 hood and Adolescence, Seattle, Wash. 
 
 Education (Ed.), Boston, Mass. Occasional Child Study articles 
 of value. 
 
 Educational Review (Ed. Rev.), New York City. 
 
 Journal of Child Study and Adolescence (Jr. Ch. S. and Adoles.), 
 Seattle, Wash. 
 
 Journal of Pedagogy (Jr. Ped.), Syracuse, N. Y. Some very good 
 articles on Child Study. 
 
 Monograph Supplement to the Psychological Review (Monograph 
 Supple. Psych. Rev.), Macmillan. 
 
 Northwestern Monthly (N. W. Mo.), Lincoln, Neb. (Not now 
 published.) The Child Study Department of this Journal, 
 edited by G. W. A. Luckey, 1896- 1899, ^^^ very valuable. 
 
 Paidologist (Paid.), Cheltenham, England. Organ of the British 
 Child Study Association. 
 
 / 
 
LIST OF BOOKS FOR READli^G 377 
 
 Pedagogical Seminary (abbreviation, Fed. Sem.), Worcester, 
 Mass. Devoted almost wholly to Child Study. Contains 
 all the principal studies made at Clark University. Very 
 valuable. 
 
 Popular Science Monthly (Pop. Sci. Mo.) contains many articles 
 on topics related to Child Study. 
 
 Psychological Review (Psych. Rev.), Macmillan, New York City. 
 Mostly psychological, but a few articles on Child Study are 
 found in it. 
 
 Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory (Yale Studies), 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Transactions 'Of the Illinois Child Study Society (Trans. 111. Ch. S. 
 Soc), Chicago University Press, Chicago, 111. Much of 
 interest in the early stage of the Child Study movement, 
 and some articles of permanent value, 1894-1900. 
 
 University of Iowa Studies (Iowa Univ. Studies), Iowa City, Iowa. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHIES 
 
 Wilson. Bibliography of Child Study. Clark University, Worces- 
 ter, Mass. Very valuable. 
 
 McDonald. Experimental Study of Children. Chapters xxi and 
 XXV from the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 
 1 897-1 898. Contains a very extensive bibliography. See 
 also the Psychological Index, issued in connection with the 
 Psychological Review each year since 1895. 
 
 Chamberlain. The Child. A large bibliography at the close. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abnormalities, in rate of growth, 21 ; 
 sexual, 1 16; defined and described, 
 321. 
 
 Adaptation, to changes in environ- 
 ment, 5. 
 
 Adaptive instincts, described, 56; de- 
 velopment of, 129-179; ranked 
 morally, 167. 
 
 Adenoid growths, 338. 
 
 Adolescence, a transition period, 3 ; a 
 period of rapid growth, 17, 20; 
 strength of sex feeling, 116; relation 
 to altruism or selfishness, 124; re- 
 ligious awakening at, 200; a time of 
 great individuality, 309. 
 
 Esthetic instinct, mentioned, 62; re- 
 lation to sexual impulse, 112; dis- 
 cussed, 209 ; in drawing, 242. 
 
 Altruism, as a form of the social in- 
 stinct, 119; development of, 123. 
 
 Amusements, nature and value, 150 ; 
 of children outside of school, 347. 
 
 Anger, relation to fighting and mode 
 of treatment, 105; as an instinctive 
 emotion, 215. 
 
 Approbation, love of, by children, 95 ; 
 as a form of the social instinct, 119; 
 development of, 121. 
 
 Arrest of development, 23. 
 
 Astigmatism, 342. 
 
 Atavism, 293. 
 
 Attention, relation to curiosity and in- 
 terest, 168 ; in constructive imagina- 
 tion, 264. 
 
 Barnes, on interests of children, 173. 
 Bentley, experiments of, 253. 
 Bergstrom, on card sorting, 250. 
 Bolton, experiments on memory, 254. 
 
 Brain, always being modified, 8; 
 growth of, 19 ; development of cells 
 in, 24 ; some abnormal states of, 332. 
 
 Bridgman, Laura, 25. 
 
 Bryan, experiments of, 27, 253. 
 
 Cells, increase in number and size, 15 ; 
 effects of exercise on, 23 ; union of, in 
 heredity, 289; germ, in heredity, 294. 
 
 Child study, nature of, i ; origin, 2; 
 period covered by, 3; problem of, 
 10; distinct from psychology and 
 physiology, 2 ; basis of education, 3 ; 
 subject-matter of, as a science, 11 ; 
 as applied to the problem of interest, 
 171; emphasizes individuality, 310; 
 applied in school, 346 ; purpose of, 
 by teachers, 346. 
 
 Chorea, 335. 
 
 Chums, 120. 
 
 Circular reaction, 57. 
 
 Coeducation, 114. 
 
 Collecting instinct, mentioned, 62; 
 discussed, 205. 
 
 Companions, importance in childhood, 
 119 ; influence of, in moral develop- 
 ment, 196; imaginary, 138, 261. 
 
 Competition, prominence and value, 
 III ; in plays and games, 157, 162. 
 
 Concepts, as guides in idealistic imita- 
 tion, 133 ; development of, 271. 
 
 Consciousness, instincts and, 35 ; use- 
 fulness of, 38 ; of the young infant, 
 70 ; as a help in learning, 85. 
 
 Constructive instinct, mentioned, 62; 
 discussed, ;::o7. 
 
 Contrariness, see Suggestion. 
 
 Curiosity, as an adaptive instinct, 59; 
 excited by attempts to suppress, 117; 
 
 379 
 
38o INDEX 
 
 in learning new things, i6o; devel- 
 opment of, 166 ; attention and inter- 
 est, 168; changes in, 171; and 
 education, 174. 
 Curtis, experiments of, 253. 
 
 Davis, on individuality in learning, 316. 
 Defects, in hearing, 339, 362 ; in sight, 
 
 341. 364- 
 
 Development, inner and outer factors 
 in, 7; of each instinct at a definite 
 time, 8 ; generality of inner forces of, 
 II ; child study concerned with the 
 laws of, 11; growth and, 22; arrest 
 and acceleration of, 23 ; natural order 
 in relation to exercise, 24 ; effects of 
 specialization on, 26; native motor 
 activities and general order of, 32; 
 general principles determining the 
 order of, 44; of individual and of 
 race, 45; natural order difficult to 
 determine, 48 ; of the human infant, 
 65 ; of voluntary control, 72 ; of in- 
 dividualistic instincts, 91 ; individual- 
 ism, the basis of higher, 96 ; of pa- 
 rental instinct, 109 ; of social instinct, 
 119; of imitation, 129; of play, 142; of 
 regulative instincts, 205 ; of expressive 
 instincts, 221 ; of intellect, 247. 
 
 Discrimination, development of, 251 ; 
 in perception, 257, 258; individual 
 differences in, 311. 
 
 Dramatic imitation, 131, 136. 
 
 Dramatic play, 157, 162. 
 
 Drawing, 240. 
 
 Education, child study the basis of, 3 ; 
 function, to develop adaptive ability, 
 7 ; play as a factor in, 158 ; necessity 
 as a means of, 158; curiosity and, 
 174 ; aim of, as a science, 177. 
 
 Egoism, of young child, 96. 
 
 Embarrassment, as related to the social 
 instinct, 55. 
 
 Embryo, growth by increase of cells, 
 15; of a frog, development when 
 divided, 16, 294 ; stages of develop- 
 ment, 45 ; characteristics of, in hered- 
 ity, 293 ; efifects of food on, 094. 
 
 Emotions, relation to their expression, 
 87; changes at adolescence, 123; 
 connected with various instincts, 
 215; of anger, 105, 215; of embar- 
 rassment, 55 ; of fear, 43, 53, 66. 
 
 Environment, variations in, 5 ; influ- 
 ence of, 10 ; in relation to usefulness 
 of instincts, 38; helpful in racial 
 advancement, 298. 
 
 Equilibrium, of function, 25; infants* 
 attempts at, 66, 68. 
 
 Exercise, natural order of development 
 in relation to, 24 ; injurious when ex- 
 cessive, 26. 
 
 Exercises for Students, see Table of 
 Contents. 
 
 Expressive instinct, mentioned, 62; 
 shown early in crying, 66 ; develop- 
 ment of, 221. 
 
 Fatigue, nature and causes, 321 ; laws 
 of, 324 ; tests and signs of, 331. 
 
 Fear, specialized by experience, 43 ; a 
 form of the individualistic instincts, 
 53 ; of falling, 66, 100 ; development 
 of, 99 ; of the dark, loi. 
 
 Feeding instinct, specialized by expe- 
 rience, 47 ; a form of the individual- 
 istic instinct, 53 ; development of, 99. 
 
 Feelings, connection with instincts, 62 ; 
 relation to instinctive actions, 215; 
 relation to fundamental stimuli, 217. 
 
 Fetichism, iii. 
 
 Fighting, a form of the individualistic 
 instinct, 52; discussion of, 104; re- 
 lated to parental instinct, iii ; rela- 
 tion to anger, 215. 
 
 Frear, on imitation, 135. 
 
 Friedrich, experiments on fetigue, 329. 
 
 Games, intermediate between work 
 and play, 150 ; use of, in education, 
 161. 
 
 Gilbert, experiments of, 252, 253. 
 
 Gregariousness, a form of the social 
 instinct, 119; development of, 119. 
 
 Groos, on theory of play, 147. 
 
 Growth, and development, 15; gen- 
 eral phenomena of, 15 ; factors de- 
 
INDEX 
 
 381 
 
 termining, 17; of parts, 19; and 
 health, 20 ; rate of, and health, 21; 
 and development, 22; arrest and 
 acceleration of, 23 ; , individuality in, 
 3"- 
 
 Habits, in moral training, 186; in re- 
 ligious training, 199; in intellectual 
 development, 248 ; formation of, in 
 school, 350; of inattention by chil- 
 dren vi^ith defective hearing, 363. 
 
 Hale, theory of the origin of language, 
 222. 
 
 Hall, G. S., as the father of child study, 
 vi; theory regarding doll play, iii; 
 as a collector of data regarding ideas 
 of natural phenomena, 217 ; on con- 
 tents of children's minds, 273. 
 
 Hall, Superintendent I. F., description 
 of how his little girl learned to walk, 
 80. 
 
 Hancock, experiments of, 27, 253. 
 
 Hastings, on relation of size and intel- 
 ligence, 311. 
 
 Hearing, defects of, 339 ; treatment of 
 pupils with defects of, 362. 
 
 Heredity, as an inner force of develop- 
 ment, 11; meaning, 289; laws, 290; 
 general theory, 293 ; social, 297 ; re- 
 lation to individuality, 307. 
 
 Hertel, investigations of, 20. 
 
 Humor as an instinctive feeling, 216. 
 
 Ideals, in idealistic imitation, 133, 141 ; 
 in moral training, 188, 192, 195. 
 
 Images, in dramatic imitation, 131 ; 
 power of forming, 259 ; in construc- 
 tive imagination, 263. 
 
 Imagination, as related to fear, loi; in 
 dramatic imitation, 136 ; in play, 155, 
 161; growth of constructive, 263; 
 development of creative, 265. 
 
 Imaginary companions, common with 
 children, 138 ; of young children, 261. 
 
 Imitation, as one of the adaptive in- 
 stincts, 58 ; as a mode of learning, 
 83 ; when best used in learning, 85 ; 
 development of, 129; characteristics 
 of, in children, 129; classification, 
 
 131; reflex, defined, 131, discussed, 
 133; spontaneous, defined, 131, dis- 
 cussed, 134; dramatic, defined, 131, 
 discussed, 136; voluntary, defined, 
 132, discussed, 136; idealistic, de- 
 fined, 133, discussed, 141; in play, 
 157 ; as a cause of interest, 169 ; as a 
 factor in language learning, 223, 227. 
 
 In-breeding, effects of, 292. 
 
 Individualism, prominent in first school 
 years, 95 ; the basis of higher devel- 
 opment, 96. 
 
 Individualistic instinct, described, 52 ; 
 development of, 91 ; strength of, 91 ; 
 prominence in the young, 92; de- 
 velopment into motives, 94 ; opposed 
 to sympathy, 121; ranked morally, 
 187. 
 
 Individuality, asserted in contrary sug- 
 gestions, 135 ; developed by dramatic 
 imitation, 143 ; significance, 302 ; bio- 
 logical value, 303 ; commonality and, 
 305 ; factors producing it, 307 ; time 
 of greatest, 308 ; illustrations of, 310 ; 
 necessity of recognizing, 312; how 
 developed, 314; types of, 315; in 
 fatigue, 332. 
 
 Individuals, measurement of, 17; 
 growth peculiar to, 17; causes of 
 differences in, 46 ; treatment of, 354 ; 
 suggestions for observing, 358. 
 
 Infancy, significance of, 3 ; why long in 
 man, 4 ; plasticity of, 6. 
 
 Infant, early development of, 65. 
 
 Inheritance, in learning movements, 
 83 ; from both lines of ancestry, 290 ; 
 of acquired characteristics, 297. 
 
 Instincts, a definite time for develop- 
 ment, 8 ; in relation to structure, 34 ; 
 and consciousness, 35 ; always blind, 
 38; numerous in man, 39; condi- 
 tions affecting the usefulness of, 40 ; 
 fixed and indefinite, 42 ; continuous, 
 transient, and periodic, 44; general 
 principles determining order of de- 
 velopment of, 44 ; when plastic, 43 ; 
 classification of, 51 ; individualistic, 
 described, 52; parental, described, 
 53; social, described, 54; adaptive, 
 
382 
 
 INDEX 
 
 described, 56 ; regulative, described, 
 60; resultant and miscellaneous, 
 mentioned, 62 ; relation of, to mental 
 activities, 86 ; development of the in- 
 dividualistic, 91 ; development of the 
 parental, 109; development of the 
 social, 118 ; development of adaptive, 
 129 ; imitative, 129 ; of play, 147 ; of 
 curiosity, 166 ; development of regu- 
 lative, 181 ; development of resultant, 
 205 ; development of expressive, 221 ; 
 relation to intellect, 247; develop- 
 ment by natural selection, 296. 
 
 Instinctive movements defined, 33 ; re- 
 lation to feelings, 215 ; stage of lan- 
 guage, 226. 
 
 Intellect, development of, 247. 
 
 Intelligence, relation of movements to, 
 38, 87 ; functions of, 247 ; favored by 
 natural selection, 296. 
 
 Interest, relation to curiosity and atten- 
 tion, 168 ; empirical and speculative, 
 172; in language, 239; in drawing, 
 242. 
 
 Jacobs, experiments on memory, 254. 
 
 James, on instincts and emotions, 215. 
 
 Jastrow, experiments on memory, 254, 
 268. 
 
 Jealousy, as related to the social in- 
 stinct, 55; as an instinctive feeling, 
 
 215. 
 Jennings, experiments on paramecia, 
 
 36. 
 Judd, on unconscious^ modification of 
 
 illusions, 248. 
 Jukes family as illustration of heredity, 
 
 299. 
 
 Kohler, on interests of children, 173. 
 
 Lancaster, on appreciation of beauty 
 at puberty, 112; on early success of 
 great musicians, 212. 
 
 Language, of natural signs, 221 ; broad 
 meaning of, 222 ; auditory, 222 ; fac- 
 tors in its acquisition, 222; stages of 
 learning, 226; instinctive stage, 226; 
 playful and imitative stage, 227; 
 
 word-learning stage, 228 ; sentence- 
 making stage, 233; visual, 237; 
 stages of secret languages, 239; 
 stages compared with those of draw- 
 ing, 240 ; as a means of imaging, 259 ; 
 as an end in forming concepts, 271 ; 
 lessons as means of child study, 349. 
 
 Law, respect for, produced by games, 
 153 ; in obedience, 189 ; regard for, 
 in transition stage, 193. 
 
 Learning, to walk, 79; modes of, 81: 
 stages of, in language, 226; visual 
 language, 237. 
 
 Learoyd and Calkins, on continued 
 stories, 268. 
 
 Loeb, on analysis of instincts, 34, 37. 
 
 Lombard, experiments on fatigue, 326. 
 
 Memory, in voluntary imitations, 132 ; 
 in play, 162; development of, 268; 
 individual differences in, 311. 
 
 Mental activities, in infancy, 69; re- 
 lation to instincts, 86. 
 
 Mental development, similar to mus- 
 cular, 28. 
 
 Mental differences between children 
 and adults, 2. 
 
 Mental grasp, increase in, 254 ; in con- 
 structive imagination, 264. 
 
 Migratory instinct, 213. 
 
 Moore, Mrs., illustration of pronun- 
 ciation, 231. 
 
 Moral instinct, described, 61 ; develop- 
 fment of, 181 ; preparatory stage, 181 ; 
 
 /training during the preparatory 
 stage, 182; transition stage, 191; 
 training in the transition stage, 193. 
 
 Motives, development of individual- 
 istic instinct into, 94; appeal to the 
 highest, 186 ; rank of, 187. 
 
 Movements, kinds, 32 ; automatic, de- 
 fined, 32; reflex, defined, 33; in- 
 stinctive, defined, 33; sf>ontaneous, 
 56 ; of an infant, 65 ; reflex, at birth, 
 65 ; instinctive, 65 ; spontaneous, in 
 infants, 67, 82 ; increase in complex- 
 ity of, 67 ; development of voluntary 
 control of, 73; relation to mental 
 states, 87. 
 
INDEX 
 
 383 
 
 Natural selection, in heredity, 296 ; in- 
 dividuality necessary to effective ac- 
 tion of, 303. 
 
 Necessity, as a factor in education, 158 ; 
 compared with curiosity, 167 ; as a 
 factor in language learning, 224 ; in 
 perception, 256. 
 
 Nerve signs, 333. 
 
 Nervousness, 334. 
 
 Nutrition, as a factor in growth, 18; 
 influence on sex, 294; relation to 
 fatigue, 334. 
 
 Obedience, in moral training, 189. 
 
 Old age, a field for study, 3 ; effects of 
 exercise in, 24, 
 
 Optic nerve, experiments on, 9. 
 
 Outlines for observation, 356; for the 
 study of a new school, 357; for ob- 
 serving individual pupils, 358; for 
 observing a recitation, 359. 
 
 Paidology, 2. 
 
 Paramecia, experiments on, 36. 
 
 Parental instinct, described, 53; devel- 
 opment of, 109 ; relation to other in- 
 stincts, in; right development of, 
 113 ; ranked morally, 184. 
 
 Partridge, experiments of, 253. 
 
 Perception, tested in play, 156, 161; 
 development of, 256. 
 
 Phillips, on color and number associa- 
 tions, 262. 
 
 Plasticity, necessary in changes of en- 
 vironment, 5 ; in human infancy, 6 ; 
 less after puberty, 271. 
 
 Plato, on curiosity, 174. 
 
 Play, specialization in, 26 ; as a correc- 
 tive of special training, 28; as an 
 adaptive instinct, 58 ; of infant, 68 ; 
 relation to sexual impulse, in; 
 theory of, 147 ; compared with work 
 and amusement, 149; changes as 
 regards freedom, 151 ; changes as 
 regards powers used, 153; changes 
 as regards instincts involved, 156; 
 as a factor in education, 158 ; in re- 
 lation to interest, 169 ; as a factor in 
 language learning, 224, 227. 
 
 Porter, on relation of size and intelli- 
 gence, 311. 
 
 Pronunciation, in learning to talk, 229 ; 
 in relation to stuttering, 337. 
 
 Puberty, a critical period, 20; sexual 
 influences slight until, no ; apprecia- 
 tion of beauty at, 112; ambitions 
 stirred at, 122; impulse to act for 
 others, 271; vivid images at, 262; 
 brain less plastic at, 271. 
 
 Public sentiment, growth of regard for, 
 113 ; in moral development, 196. 
 
 Punishment, results of lack of, 98 ; 
 versus necessity and play, 160 ; should 
 be adapted to the individual, 354. 
 
 Reaction time, changes with age, 253. 
 
 Reasoning, in plays, 156 ; development 
 of, 274. 
 
 Records of reports and tests, 360. 
 
 Reflexes, defined, 33; and conscious- 
 ness, 35; instincts analyzed into, 
 
 37. 
 
 Regulative instinct, described, 60; 
 development of, 181. 
 
 Religious instinct, described, 61 ; de- 
 velopment, 197. 
 
 Reports of tests and records, 360. 
 
 Resultant instincts, described, 62; de- 
 velopment of, 205. 
 
 Reversion, defined and illustrated, 293. 
 
 Rhythm, in fatigue, 326. 
 
 Rhythmic instinct, 214. 
 
 Rivalry of individuals, 95; of group 
 with group, 125 ; treatment of, by 
 teachers, 353. 
 
 Rules, effects of, 98 ; in games, 151 ; 
 in moral training, 194. 
 
 St. Vitus's dance, 335. 
 
 Self-control, in moral development, 
 
 191, 194. 
 Selfness, extreme in children, 95 ; really 
 
 present at puberty, 124. 
 Sensations, as elements in perception, 
 
 256. 
 Sentences, of young children , . 33. 
 Sexual feelings, when experienced, 109 ; 
 
 relation to other impulses and feel- 
 
384 
 
 INDEX 
 
 ings, III ; avoidance of premature 
 development, 113; instruction, 114. 
 
 Shaw, on interest of children, 173 ; ex- 
 periments on memory, 269. 
 
 Sight, defects of, 341 ; treatment of 
 pupils with defects of, 364. 
 
 Small, on imitation of animals, 130 ; on 
 suggestibility of children, 257. 
 
 Smedley, experiments on memory, 254, 
 263. 
 
 Social instinct, described, 54 ; develop- 
 ment of, 118 ; ranked morally, 187. 
 
 Spaulding, experiments on chickens, 42. 
 
 Specialization, likely to interfere with 
 natural order of development, 26; 
 in the work of the school, 27 ; rela- 
 tion to play, 151. 
 
 Spencer, on theory of play, 147. 
 
 Stuttering and stammering, 337. 
 
 Suggestibility, of children, 257. 
 
 Suggestion, in the schoolroom, 353; 
 contrary, 135. 
 
 Suggestions for reading, see Table of 
 Contents. 
 
 Sympathy of child, of the reflex type, 
 95 ; based on regard for self, 98 ; a 
 form of the social instinct, 119; de- 
 velopment of, 120; as a factor in 
 language learning, 225. 
 
 Taste, when prominent, 99. 
 
 Teacher, needs to know both general 
 and individual instincts, 12; parental 
 instincts of, iii ; approval of, desired 
 by pupils, 122 ; should utilize public 
 sentiment, 123; should utilize play 
 instinct, 160 ; often identifies amuse- 
 ment with interest, 175 ; child study 
 
 by, 346 ; study of a school by, 348 ; 
 should observe habits of school, 350 ; 
 should keep herself in good health, 
 352 ; should study social relations in 
 school, 353 ; study and treatment of 
 individual children, 354; manage- 
 ment of partially deaf children, 362. 
 
 Tests, 360. 
 
 Thorndike, on imitation, 130; on prac- 
 tice in judging length of lines, 250 ; 
 on fatigue, 324. 
 
 Trial and success, as a mode of learn- 
 ing. 83 ; when best used, 85. 
 
 Understanding, as a mode of learning, 
 
 84 ; when best used, 85. 
 Ungraded rooms, need of, 355. 
 
 Vocabularies, of children, 233. 
 
 Volition, development of voluntary 
 control, 72 ; developed from instinc- 
 tive reactions, 87. 
 
 Voluntary imitations, 132, 134. 
 
 Vostrovsky, on interests of children, 174 
 
 Walk, learning to, 79, 232. 
 
 Warner, on defects of development, 333. 
 
 Weismann, theory of heredity, 295, 297. 
 
 Will, a new state of consciousness in 
 the infant, 73. 
 
 Wolfe, experiments on images, 262. 
 
 Words, stage of learning, 228 ; closely 
 associated with objects, 260; a 
 means of abstract thought, 27X 
 
 Work, relation to play, 148. 
 
 Writing, in relation to muscular de- 
 velopment, 27; in learning visual 
 language, 238. 
 
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