The psychology of thinking

Front matter

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Preface

The theme of this book has its origin in the fact that the writer was once a teacher of mathematics in a New England Academy. In mathematics, perhaps more than in some other subjects, the teacher who would succeed is forced to get into very close touch with the actual mental processes involved in thinking as it goes on in specific concrete cases. It was the clinical interest in the thinking process, sharpened and further developed by the teaching of mathematics, which led the writer ultimately to specialize in the study of Psychology and Logic. This original clinical interest in the mental processes, I hope, has not been lost as the result of the greater perfection of theory incident to the university course.

The reader may find the mathematical interest protruding itself at times, particularly in the choice of illustrative material; but I hope that he will not find the references to mathematics offensively frequent as compared with the references to other subjects. Indeed, many of the illustrations have been drawn directly from the most common experiences of life, entirely apart from any reference to the school.

The dominant point of view for the discussion of thinking within these covers is frankly biological. But it is biological in the broad sense. Life is not thought of as reduced to its lowest physical terms, but as inclusive of everything that makes life worth living. The life process is thought of in terms of the satisfaction of needs in the case of man as we know him at his present level of evolution and civilization. The concrete life of the individual includes all that we regard as of value, or worth while, in the complex life of the

highly evolved, socialized, and civilized human being. The

• • vn viii i Preface

attempt has been made to show the actual working of the mind as it struggles with problems in the concrete life of the individual, the significance of the mental processes when they are brought to bear upon these problems, and particularly the growth in control over the forces of the world and of life that comes through the development and perfection of the higher psychical processes which we designate under the head of thinking. In this discussion the emphasis falls upon the psychological rather than the logical aspect. The dynamic aspect of the thinking process has been thrown into as bold relief as possible. Questions of function and significance are central in the discussion of all the various phases of the thinking process.

While the movement of thought is dominantly psychological, the whole book is written from a strong pedagogical bias. The significance for education, and also for the teaching process, of the psychological facts and principles is pointed out. This does not mean that educational theory has been worked out in detail, but rather that the educational bearing of the doctrines set forth has been indicated and, in many cases, illustrated to make it more intelligible. The writer has attempted to make the psychological doctrine herein presented stimulating and suggestive both to the parents and the teachers of children.

The first few chapters may prove to be a little harder reading than the others for those who are not specialists. I advise that they be read rapidly for the general movement of thought, without worrying too much about their perfect understanding. They are sure to clear up as the thought is further developed and applied in the more detailed and concrete discussions which follow. Afterwards, it may be well to reread the earlier chapters. They are introductory and fundamental in character; and, while they are elaborated rather fully for introductory chapters, yet they are necessarily condensed more than would be the case in a book devoted exclusively to general psychology. In other words,

Preface * ix

the writer has had to presuppose some familiarity with the simpler facts and principles of psychology.

References have been given only to a few books, those which are of most immediate value to the reader in amplifying, or helping to interpret, certain topics which fall within the limits of the discussion. These references are usually quite specific. It has not been my purpose to give a bibliography so much as it has been to give a few selections of the best and most relevant material. It has been presupposed that the general reader will not care for voluminous references, and that the specialist will easily help himself anyway. The selection of references has been made also with some regard to what is most probably easily accessible. For this reason, I have given no references to James' Principles of Psychology, but only to his Briefer Course and his Talks to Teachers, which are more widely in use. Likewise, while I acknowledge personal indebtedness to Dewey's Studies in Logical Theory, to Baldwin's Thought and Things, and to Hall's Adolescence, I give no references to these works.

The point of view of this discussion of Psychology in general and of Thinking in particular was formulated and the main features of the outline were sketched four or five years ago in connection with the teaching of courses in Psychology and Pedagogy in the Normal School. Most of the material has been actually used in some form in my own classes. The impetus to elaborate and publish this material was suddenly checked by the appearance in rapid succession of O'Shea's Education as Adjustment, Angell's Psychology, and Home's Philosophy of Education, all of which are written from a more or less explicitly biological point of view. My present discussion must, of course, be indebted to these works for much of suggestion and stimulus. Yet it seems as if there is still room for another psychological and educational discussion involving a similar point of view, but independent of these in its specific field. The essential x Preface

features of this presentation were given in lectures at the College of Education of the University of Chicago in the summer of 1907. The cordiality with which the class received these lectures has served as the inspiration and the excuse for putting them into a more permanent form and presenting them to a larger audience.

I cannot send this little book out without recognizing my obligation to Prof. John Dewey for the large number of "seed" thoughts which have come from his lectures on Logic, Ethics, and Education. But the particular applications, developments, and formulations of these ideas, as well as the underlying movement of thought, are my own ; and I alone must be subject to whatever criticism they may deserve on account of their defects. I am indebted for valuable suggestions to my colleagues, President Charles McKenny and Professor Herman C. Henderson, of the Milwaukee State Normal School, and also to Professor W. W. Charters, Ph.D., of the University of Missouri, who were kind enough to read my manuscript before its final revision.

Irving Elgar Miller.

State Normal School - Milwaukee, Wisconsin January, 1909

Chapter I The Biological Point Of View Page

i. General Meaning and Significance of Thinking i

(i) Thinking an active and constructive aspect of consciousness

(2) Thinking relevant to need

(3) Thinking has a life function

(4) Functional and biological interpretations of thinking

2. Present Tendency in Psychology 4

(1) Increasing prominence of the biological point of view

(2) Present view compared with Spencer's

3. Influence of the Theory of Evolution 5

(1) Nature of this influence

(2) Illustration from botany

(3) Illustrations from other sciences

(4) Application to psychology

CHAPTER II THE BIOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW— Continued

1. General Nature of an Organism 11

-2. Essential Characteristics of an Organism 11

(1) No part an end in itself

(2) A self-maintaining system

(3) Characterized by a law of determination from within

3. Adaptation between Organism and Environment 13

(1) Meaning of adaptation

a. Activity of external factors

b. Activity of internal factors

c. Interaction between external and internal factors

d. Further interpretation of organism and of adaptation

(2) Law of reaction

(3) Function of reactions

xi xii Contents

x • PAGE

4. The Biological View of Mind 17

(1) Consciousness not an end in itself

(2) Mental processes have adjustment value

(3) Law of human self-determination psychical as well as

physical

5. Conclusion 20

Chapter III The Sensori-motor Circuit

1. Need of more Detailed Study of the Reaction Process. .. 22

2. The Reaction Process in Terms of the Sensori-Motor

Circuit 22

3. Number of Types of Sensori-Motor Circuit 23

4. The Use of Diagrams 23

(1) Cautions against their misinterpretation

(2) The diagrams and their terminology

5. First Type of Sensori-Motor Circuit 24

(3) Significance, — mechanism for simple mechanical move-

ments

6. Second Type of Sensori-Motor Circuit 28

(3) Significance, — mechanism for complex, organized, me-

chanical reactions

7. The Third Type of Sensori-Motor Circuit 31

(3) Significance, — mechanism for variation and reconstruc-

tion of reactions

8. Recapitulation and Comparison of the Significance of

the Three Types of Sensori-Motor Circuit 34

9. Unity and Interdependence of the Three Types of

Circuit 34

Contents xiii

Chapter IV The Significance -and Function Of Consciousness

PAGE

i. The Functional View of Consciousness 37

2. Consciousness the Factor of Variation and Reconstruc-

tion of Reaction 37

3. Conditions of Consciousness 38

4. Special Application to the Human Being 39

(1) Man's special need of conscious processes

(2) Possibility of great delicacy of adjustment

5. Consciousness the Factor of Individual Control. 40

(1) The idea of control

a. Adjustment not involving control

b. Meaning of control

(2) Kinds of control

a. Racial control

b. Individual control

6. Summary of the Function of Consciousness 44

7. Conclusion 45

Chapter V Differentiation And Organization Of Consciousness

1. Nature of the First Consciousness 46

2. General Principle of Mental Development 46

(1) Statement of the principle

(3) Further interpretation

(4) Analogy of the industrial processes

3. Doctrine of the Organic Circuit 48

(1) The reflex arc concept

(2) The concept of the organic circuit

a. The idea developed through an illustration

b. The figure of the spiral

c. Significance of the organic circuit in the process of

adjustment

d. Consciousness a factor in self-determination xiv Contents

Chapter VI Organic Unity Of Mental And Motor Life Page

1. The Unity and Continuity of Sensory and Motor Pro-

cesses 54

2. The Unity and Continuity of Sense- Perception, Intel-

lect, and Motor Response 55

(1) Functional continuity of observation with motor pro-

cesses

(2) Functional continuity of observation with higher psy-

chical processes

(3) Observation processes absorbed in the higher psychical

(4) Observation and intellection in continuity with motor

processes

3. The Fallacy of Isolating Observation, Intellection, and

Motor Response in Training 58

(1) Isolation of observation processes

(2) Isolation of the intellectual activities

(3) Isolation of motor activities

4. The Unity and Continuity of Intellect, Feeling, and

Will 62

(1) Their functional distinction

(2) Their essential unity

5. The Fallacy of Isolating Intellect, Feeling, and Will

in Training 65

(1) Isolation ot the intellectual aspect

(2) Isolation of the feeling aspect

(3) Isolation of the will aspect

6. The Unity and Continuity of Child Mind and Adult

Mind 68

(1) The principle of unity and continuity

(2) Difference within unity

Chapter VII Typical Modes Of Adjustment

1. Point of View and Purpose of this Chapter 72

2. Adjustment without the Intervention of Consciousness 73

(1) Automatic action

(2) Reflex action

Contents xv

PAGE

3. Adjustment on the Organic Level of Consciousness 74

(1) Instinctive action

a. General nature of instinctive action

b. Impulse and instinct

c. Instinct of man and of animals compared

d. Relation of consciousness to instinctive action

(a) Feeling involved

(b) Sense perception involved

(c) Organic memory involved

e. Instinctive action and the problem of control

(2) Non-instinctive adjustments on the organic level of

consciousness

4. Adjustment on the Intellectual Level of Consciousness 83

(1) Genetic basis

a. Conditions of intellectual adjustment

b. Development of the ideal aspect of experience

(2) Voluntary action of the ideo-motor type

a. Meaning of voluntary and ideo-motor action

b. Ideo-motor action on the perceptual level

c. Ideo-motor action on the level of memory and imag-

ination

d. Significance of ideo-motor action for control

e. Bearing of the discussion on the study of thinking

(3) Voluntary action of the deliberative type

a. Conditions of deliberative action

b. Illustration

c. Deliberative action the specific field of thinking

Chapter VIII Conditions And Function Of Thinking

1. Conditions of Thinking 91

2. Problem in the End 91

(1) Vagueness of the end

(2) Conflict of ends

3. Problem in the Means 93

4. Problem in Method, or Organization of Means 94

5. Restatement of the Conditions of Thinking 94

(1) Distinction between means and end a practical dis-

tinction only

(3) Summary and formulation xvi Contents

PAGE

6. Relation of Thinking to Other Conscious Processes... 97

7. General Significance of Thinking from Point of View

of Control 98

8. Relation between Functional and Structural Inter-

pretations of Thinking 100

Chapter IX Unity And Diversity In The Thinking Process

1. Unity and Continuity 101

2. The Principle of Difference 101

3. Identity of Function, with Difference in Technique... 102

(1) Importance of the idea

(2) Analogy from the industrial process

4. Reasoning viewed as involving Higher Technique 104

5. The Thinking of Children 105

(1) Fallacy of the doctrine of receptivity

(2) Origin and nature of the fallacious doctrine

(3) Reality of the child's thinking

6. Training in Thinking, — General Principles 107

(1) Principle of unity and continuity, — identity of function

a. Unity on the side of motivation, the feeling element

b. Unity on the side of intellectual activity, or problem

c. Further applications

(2) Principle of difference between thinking of the child

and that of the adult, — difference in technique

a. Application of the principle

b. Further interpretation through an analogy

Chapter X Training In Thinking,— Use Of Subject Matter

1. Purpose of this Chapter 115

2. Kindergarten Games and Occupations 116

(1) Opportunities for thinking

(2) Simplicity, yet reality, of the child's thinking

(3) The right kindergarten point of view

Contents xvii

PAGE

3. Manual Training 117

(1) Motor training and skill not its chief value

(2) Vital acquisition of knowledge, discipline, and culture

(3) Our problem that of discipline of the thinking process

(4) Opportunity for the natural functioning of thinking

(5) Appropriateness of manual training for early exercise

of thinking

(6) Criticism of dictation; fallacy of ideal of finished

product

(7) Increased motor efficiency from training in vital

4. Mathematics 123

(1) Recognized value of mathematics

(2) Danger of formalism and lack of motivation

(3) Vital training of thinking in mathematics

5. History 125

(1) Illustrations of its use

(2) Value of emphasis on the concrete problem

6. Geography 128

Chapter XI The Activity Of Imagination In Thinking

1. Thinking in Terms of its Content 130

(1) Distinction between imagination and thinking

(2) Constructive imagination and thinking

2. General Significance of Imagination in the Thinking

Process 131

(1) Necessity of imagination in conception of ends

(2) Necessity of imagination in conscious use of past

experience

(3) Necessity of imagination in determining modes of pro-

cedure

3. Restatement in Terms of Advantage of Imagination... 133

4. General Relation between Association and Imagination

in Thinking 134

(1) Imagination and the laws of association

(2) Accidental and logical ties of connection

(3) Superiority of logical ties of connection

(4) Question of control over the associative mechanism in xviii Contents

PAGE

6. Further Discussion of the Control of Association in

(1) Limitations of control

(2) Relation of organized system of knowledge to control

(3) Conclusion as to control

7. Summary of the Thinking Process in Terms of the

Imagination 143

8. i adequacy for pedagogy of the older accounts of

(1) Psychology of formal thinking not vital

(2) Logical power not attained through formal training

alone

(3) An objection answered

9. Thinking Power not Separable from Possession of a

Fund of Knowledge 148

Chapter XII The Image As An Element Of Technique In

1. General Principle 152

2. Our Use of the Terms Concrete and Abstract Image. . . . 152

3. Nature and Genesis of Meaning 153

(1) Genesis of meaning

(2) Definition of meaning

(3) Cor relativity of meaning and symbol

(4) The functional nature of meaning

(5) The abstract image and meaning

4. Superiority of the Abstract Image as an Element of

Technique in Thinking 160

(1) Less irrelevancy of suggestion

(2) Greater rapidity of movement

(3) Superiority in making logical connections

(4) Increase of power

5. Functional Relation between Concrete and Abstract

Imagery l & 2

(1) Meaning of abstract image dependent upon translation

(2) Significance for thinking

Contents xix

Chapter XIII Educational Applications And Illustrations

x PAGE

i. The Principle of furnishing Adequate Background of

Concrete Experience 164

(1) The principle in general

(2) Concrete experience not to be in terms of one sense only

2. The Principle of Translation of the Abstract in Terms

of the Concrete 166

(1) Translation often the determining factor in thinking

(2) Necessity of practice in translation

(3) Increased efficiency of abstract images secured

3. The Principle of Transition from Concrete Images to

the Abstract 169

4. The Principle of testing Meanings 170

5. Danger of making Education a Process of juggling with

Symbols 170

(1) Value of learning dependent on grasp of meaning

(2) Application to reading

(3) Danger of loss of interest

(4) Danger of artificiality

(5) Extent of this danger

Chapter XIV Development Of The Imagination In Relation

TO THINKING

1. Stages of Development 174

2. First Period, — Early Infancy 175

3. Second Period, — Later Infancy 175

(1) General characteristics

(2) Activity of the imagination in play

(3) Significance of rapid development of imagination

(4) Enlargement of field of control

(5) Unification of experience through imagination

(6) Lack of reflective element

(7) Distinction between means and ends felt rather than

conceived

(8) Thinking not the characteristic type of consciousness xx Contents

PAGE

4. Third Period, — Childhood 181

(1) Development of conscious distinction between means

and ends

(2) Development of symbolism

(3) Distinction between means and ends practical rather

than theoretical

(4) Development of thinking power

5. Fourth Period, — Adolescence 185

(1) Striking characteristics

(2) Rapidly developing interest in generalizations

(3) Thinking becoming reasoning

Chapter XV The Concept As An Element Of Technique In

1. Genesis of the Concept 189

2. The Concept in Terms of Meaning 191

(1) Meaning and concept

(2) Definition of concept, — in terms of meaning

(3) Image and concept

(4) Meaning and thinking

3. The Concept as a Tool of Adjustment 194

(1) The concept and reaction

(2) The concept and mental construction

(3) Teleological nature of the concept as a mode of mental

construction

(4) Further definitions of the concept

a. In terms of reaction

b. In terms of mental construction

4. Growth of the Concept 199

(1) Vagueness of the child's first concepts

(2) General and individual notions

a. Their functional distinction

b. The question of their genetic order of precedence

(3) Development of concepts

(4) Acquisition of new concepts

(5) Change and fixity of concepts

Contents xxi

CHAPTER XVI THE CONCEPT AS AN ELEMENT OF TECHNIQUE IN THINKING— Continued

PAGE

i. Psychological and Logical Concepts 206

(1) The psychological concept

(2) The logical concept

2. Further Comparison of Psychological and Logical Con-

cepts 208

(1) As to accuracy

(2) As to adequacy

(3) As to relative prevalence

3. Functional Relation between Psychological and Logical

Concepts 210

(1) Psychological concepts the basis of the logical

(2) Conditions of the logical concept

a. Unreflective reconstruction, not leading to logical

concepts

b. Reflective reconstruction, leading to logical concepts

4. Process of attaining Logical Concepts 214

(1) General statement

(2) Outline of the process

(3) Criticism of the traditional account

a. Not a complete psychology of the concept

b. Ignores dynamic connection of "steps" in the process

5. The Logical Concept not Final 218

6. Significance and Function of the Concept in the Think-

ing Process 220

(1) The concept central between problematic individuals

and individuals brought under control

(2) Another way of expressing the idea that the concept is

pivotal in the thinking process

(3) Increased efficiency of the logical concept

Chapter XVII The Concept And Instruction

1. The Concept not the Goal of Instruction 224

(1) The concept a tool, not an end

(2) Concepts to be acquired for use xxii Contents

PAGE

2. Concepts cannot be given to the Child ready made 225

3. Concept-Building to culminate in Logical Concepts 226

4. School to concern itself with Problem of building up

Background of Psychological Concepts 226

(1) Argument from their basic character

(2) The doctrine exemplified in school practice

(3) The doctrine applied to religious instruction

(4) The doctrine applied to moral instruction

5. The Test of Possession of Concept that of Function. . 229

6. Significance of Problems of Action in training to Think 229

Chapter XVIII Induction And Deduction Viewed As Technique Of Thinking

1. Purpose of this Chapter 231

2. Relation of Induction and Deduction to Each Other... 231

3. Definitions 232

(1) Their statement

a. Deduction

b. Induction a. Deduction

b. Induction

4. The Critical Point of Distinction between Deduction

and Induction 236

(1) Criticism of the formula, "Deduction is a process of

going from the general to particulars."

(2) Criticism of the formula, "Induction is a process of

going from particulars to the general."

(3) Deduction and induction to be distinguished in terms

of locus of problem

5. Thinking in its Relation to System of Knowledge 239

(1) General statement

(2) Relation of deduction to the system

(3) Relation of induction to the system

Contents xxiii

CHAPTER XIX INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION VIEWED AS TECHNIQUE OF THINKING— Continued

PAGE

i. Unreflective Induction 242

2. Reflective Induction 242

3. Inductive Method, — the Inductive "Steps" 243

(1) Observation

(2) Comparison

(3) Abstraction

(4) Generalization

4. Interrelations of the Formal "Steps". 249

5. Induction of Laws and Principles 251

6. Unreflective Deduction 251

7. Reflective Deduction, — Deductive Method 252

8. Pedagogical Importance of Deductive Method 254

9. Significance of Inductive and Deductive Method from

the Point of View of Control 255

CHAPTER XX INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION VIEWED AS TECHNIQUE OF THINKING— Continued

1. The Special Device of Deductive Method, — the Syllogism 256

(1) General relation of the syllogism to deduction

(2) Illustration

(3) Function of the syllogism

(4) Illustrations of functional nature of the syllogism

(5) Psychology of deduction inadequate in terms of analysis

of finished product

2. The Special Device of Inductive Method, — the Hy-

pothesis 260

(1) General relation of the hypothesis to induction

(3) Function of the hypothesis

(4) Problem of conceiving hypotheses

(5) Establishment of hypotheses

3. Complete Induction includes Deduction 267 xxiv Contents

PAGE

4. Applications to Teaching 267

(1) Training in thinking must recognize the dynamic aspect

of inductive and deductive processes

(2) We must recognize the child's system of already or-

ganized knowledge as a determining factor in his thinking

(3) Inductive method is not complete without deduction

(4) Type studies give the opportunity to provide in school

work for much of the dynamic aspect of the inductive process

Chapter XXI Judgment As An Element Of Technique In

1. Definition of Judgment 275

2. Illustration and Explanation 275

3. Conditions of Judgment 277

4. Further Development of the Nature of Judgment 277

(1) Judgment in the application of accepted concepts

(2) Judgment in the concept-building process

5. Judgment and Thinking 278

6. Judgment Implicit and Explicit 279

(1) Implicit judgment

(2) Explicit judgment

7. Judgment and Other Mental Functions 281

8. Judgment and Instruction 282

Chapter XXII Thinking As Reasoning

1. Point of View 284

2. Elements of Technique involved in Reasoning 285

3. Dependence of Reasoning upon Laws and Principles, —

Empirical Thinking and Reasoning Compared

(1) Illustrated in dealing with flickering gas flame

(2) Illustrated in procedure of medicine

(3) Illustrated in procedure of agriculture

Contents xxv

PAGE

4. Definition of Reasoning 291

5. Biological Significance of Reasoning 291

(1) Reasoning the highest factor of control

(2) Relation between reason and human freedom

6. The Question of the Reasoning of Animals 293

7. The Question of the Reasoning of Children 295

8. Training in Reasoning 296

(1) Reasoning the remote goal

(2) Stages of progress in attainment of the goal

(3) Relation between function and technique in training