An introductory psychology, with some educational applications

Preface

It has long been the behef of the writer that the main truths of the science of psychology could be presented in a very simple, straightforward, and interesting fashion, and this book attempts to be such a presentation. Many elementary works on psychology are so technical, and apparently conceived so little from the student's point of view, that the begmner is repelled rather than attracted. Such books give the impression that they deal with something abstruse and far away from one's ordinary concerns, rather than with one's own intimate experience.

It is not necessary to state that in this book no attempt has been made to add to the body of scientific knowledge on the subject. The material presented is for the most part the common property of psychologists. The work of the author has been, rather, one of selection, emphasis, and presentation. Selection has been made of the more important features of the structure and functioning of the mind considered as a part of a psychophysical organism adjustmg itself to the conditions of its life. The book attempts to lay the greater emphasis on those parts of the matters selected for treatment which will be most serviceable to the student in his early efforts to understand the mental or personal side of life's adjustments. The presentation tries to make clear what has thus been selected and emphasized, and to brmg these matters into close relation with the reader's experience. It is the student's own experience which it is hoped iv AN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY

the book will better enable him to understand. The writer has assumed a reader intelligently interested in such matters.

Practical applications are now made much of in teachmg every science, because they are useful in life and most helpful in clearing up a subject and fixing it in the mind of the student. The greatest field for the practical application of psychology is in the learning and teaching processes, and this book makes free use of these applications wliich are valuable for every student of psychology and directly available for the prospective teacher.

The writer is of the belief that at the beginning of the study there is little value in the differentiation of psychology into such types as functional and structural, for both aspects of the description and explanation of mental life seem natural and harmoiiious to the beginner if the differentiation is ignored. This book, accordingly, attempts to tell its "plain tale" regardless of such distinctions, yet makes use of the contributions of both types of psychological treatment. It aims to give in due measure the results of laboratory experimentation, and of introspection and observation not of the laboratory type. But the book is based frankly on experienced mental events, and the generalizations are in accord with the results of actual observation. Considerable space is given to the physiological aspects of the subject, and the results of investigation in cliild psychology and other differentiated branches are not neglected.

The author is under especial obligation to Professors

Hough and Sedgwick for permission to use cuts from their

book, " The Human Mechanism."

M. S. K.

Hamilton, N.Y.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introduction . . . ^^ 1

The nature of mental facts 1

Chapter I Introduction

Every science has an especial class of facts which it sets out to examine. The science of botany, for instance, takes for its subject matter plant life and development, and physiology, the life of the human body. The business of any science is to further and to make exact and systematic our ordinary knowledge about the facts of experience with which that science deals. Now, what is the set of facts with which psychology deals, and concerning which it seeks to make our knowledge more exact, more extensive, and more systematic ?

The name itself, "psychology," may in part answer the question, for it comes from two Greek words meaning " systematic knowledge about the mind." The facts must then be mental facts, or facts of the mind's workings. Accordingly, we may provisionally define psychology as the science of the happenings of the mind.

The nature of mental facts. Let us notice some of these mental facts. I remember a day's outing, and my memory of it is very pleasant. This pleasant memory is a fact. I have it, and have it in my mind. It is a mental fact. I fear that some one is coming, whom I do not care to see. I picture him approaching, even though he may be a long distance off or perhaps not coming at all. You tell me I am imagining it. Well, so I am; but that unpleasant image is actually in my mind, or is, in other words, a mental fact. The noise of the thunderclap, though having an outside cause, is in my mind, and so is the unpleasantness of the loud sound, and the hope that it is the last of the storm. The noise, the unpleasant feeling, and the hope are all mental facts. In fact, all our feelings and emotions, pains, hopes, and fears, all memories and imaginings, all one's thoughts and determinations, are mental facts, or facts of the workings of the mind, — in short, mental occurrences or processes.

Let us ask a little further something about the nature of these familiar facts. How do they compare with the facts of botany, or of physiology, or of chemistry ? Plants and muscles and the metals occupy space and can be weighed and measured. We call them physical things. We cannot speak, however, of a surprise as occupying so much room, nor of a memory as weighing so many pounds, nor of a determination as being a foot square. It would seem absurd to speak of mental occurrences in this way. The mental facts do not seem to be like the physical ones, in that they do not occupy space and cannot be weighed and measured. This is their first characteristic, — a negative one.

Mental facts are, we feel, inside, personal 'affairs. They are one's own, one is intimately conscious of them. I feel my own pleasures and pains. I have my own memories and imaginations, my own hopes and resolves. Yours may be like mine ; but yours are yours, and mine are mine. Each knows and feels, and is conscious of his own mental happenings. This, then, is its second characteristic, — each mental fact is a personally conscious affair.

But, though there is a great difference between mental facts and the facts of the material world, they seem to be connected m the closest ways. Let us notice how. For

INTEODUCTION 3

example, notice a person when angry. When people are angry they usually show it — some more, some less — by their looks and actions, and can hardly help doing so. There is the mental fact, the feeling, and there are the physical facts, the looks and actions. If my mind is very active and I am paying close attention, I set my head firmly, shut my jaws tight, and perhaps scowl. I have in mind the thought of going out for a walk ; I determine to do so : the walking, the physical occurrence, takes place. A bell is struck, the air waves vibrate, and I become aware of the sound ; that is, I have a sensation of noise, a perception of the ringing of the bell. Now what do these instances show ? They seem to show that each -mental fact is very closely connected, one way or another, with a physical occurrence in one's body, or in something which can influence the body, or which the body can influence.

Of these facts of mind we can say, then, first, that they are unlike physical facts in that they do not occupy space and cannot be weighed and measured ; second, each mental fact is a personally conscious affair ; third, each mental fact is connected in a very intimate way with a physical occurrence.

It will be well to notice another way of distinguishing mental experiences — the facts with which psychology deals — from the facts with which the physical sciences deal. Of course both psychology and the physical sciences deal with facts which we experience, and we do not ordinarily distinguish between them. Our experience of the facts of our daily life is two-sided. There are the objects, physical objects, which we see, hear, taste, and handle. These physical objects and their ways of behavior are what interest us ordinarily in our daily experience of them, and are the facts with which the physical scientist — the chemist, physicist, or botanist — deals. This is one aspect or side of the experience. The other side or aspect of the experience, the side which ordinarily calls for little interest and attention, is the way in which persons live these facts as their own mner experience. This aspect of the case may be suggested by the words which we commonly use in speakmg of our own inner experience with these physical objects. We say we see them, we hear them, we remember them, we are pleased or displeased with them, we use them for our purposes, or to satisfy our desires. Now, the seeing, the hearing, the remembering, the being pleased or displeased, the purposes, and the satisfaction of desire, — these all are the other side, the mner, personal side of the experience. The boy who is building a snow fort does not take the trouble to sort out his experiences for the benefit of various scientists. The snow, the work, the success, the cold, the fun, the plans, his bodily movements, — all these are mmgled for him in a direct, living way. But it does not take much reflection to distmguish the mathematical form of the fort from the boy's pride in his achievement, the snow from his feeling of cold, his bodily movements and exertion from his feeling of tiredness resulting, nor the threatening south wind from his hope that his snow fort will not melt down before it. Mathematics may treat of forms of forts, meteorology may treat of storms and temperature, physics, of forces engaged in the operations, physiology, of the blood coursmg through his veins and the reasons for the boy's strength ; but psychology treats of the fun of building the fort, the pride and the hope mentioned, the feeling of cold and of weariness and all the other personal aspects of the fort-building experience. All of our experience is, then, two-sided. It is our experience of the things, and it is our experience. The things and their

INTEODUCTIO^ 5

behavior, one side of our experience, are the facts with which the physical sciences deal. The inner, personal side of the very same experience consists of the mental facts, the facts with which psychology deals.

How mental facts are obtained. Let us next ask how we may obtain these mental facts in order* to study them carefully. I think we may say that they are to be obtamed by noticing what is going on in one's mind. When we have feelings, memories, etc., if we notice them carefully, we can surely have them before our thought for examination, just as we have plants and flowers before us for study. We can be aware of the inner, personal side of our experiences as truly, if not as easily, as we may be of the physical-object side. To pay attention to the happenings of our minds, to notice the mind's workings as they go on, — this is the way to obtain our facts. I can notice that one sound seems louder than another ; that whenever a certain event is called to mind, it is attended by a painful feeling ; that if I thmk of a certain house, I usually think of my friend who lives there. I can, by looking within, observe a great variety of mental occurrences, perceptions, memories, imagined pictures, emotions, sentiments, deliberations, determinations, pleasant and unpleasant feelmgs.

The chief difficulty which we have in lookmg these facts squarely in the face is that they are so close to us, and therefore we overlook them. We are unused to it. We look at the outer side of the experience rather than the mner, personal side. Practice, however, will very soon enable one to take the inward look and to notice the mental facts distmctly. There is, too, a wonderful help which we have in this matter, the memory of a mental occurrence. This brings it back to us, in a partially different setting, it is true, but it is again clear in consciousness, and we may complete our first look. This careful noticing of what is going on in one's mind is called introspection. The etymology of the word shows its meaning. It is a looking within. This is by far the most important method of finding the facts of our science.

Another way to obtain mental facts is to notice what is gomg on m the minds of others. This is not as direct a method as the former, nor are its results as valuable. How can we tell what is going on in the mmds of those about us? By their actions, looks, manner, and words. These we have to translate into the mental states which we believe they represent. In other words, we have to understand them by what we know of our own thoughts and feelings in connection with our own words and acts, and judge the mental workings of others accordingly. This method is called that of observation.

In addition to these two chief ways of obtaining the facts of the mental life, the psychologist carries the method of observation further in several ways, of which the following are the most important.

First, observation of the mental life of children. This really constitutes a separate field of psychology, usually called child psychology. It is of considerable assistance to the general psychologist because m this way we can notice many habits, ideas, beliefs, etc., as they are being developed. We can notice the conditions and factors involved in the growth, and thus learn their inner nature more thoroughly.

Second, we may notice the thoughts, feelings, and ideals of the people whose mner lives are portrayed m biography, fiction, and the drama. Here, too, we may notice the growth of various phases of their inner experience, the play of motives, and their issuance in conduct. These writings by

INTRODUCTION 7

keen analysts of human nature are valuable descriptions of the workmgs of the inner or mental life.

Third, we may notice abnormal exhibitions of the mental life, such as cases of insanity, the dream life, and the interesting phenomena of hypnotism. These mental phenomena furnish facts for what may be regarded as a very special field of psychology; namely, psychology of the abnormal mind. Much light is thrown on the normal, regular working of the mind by a study of these irregular cases. The help derived from these sources by the psychologist is like that drawn by the physiologist from the pathological conditions of the bodily life, though it is not as great in extent nor of such importance.

Again, much has been done in recent years in the study of the behavior of animals, in order to understand the nature of their mental processes, and so we have a branch of psychology called animal psychology. All of these sources of help — child psychology, abnormal psychology, animal psychology, and descriptions and analyses of mental processes in literature — are but a further carrying out of the method of observation, the finding of additional facts of the mental life in an indirect way.

The mental scientist depends also, for the finding out of mental facts and the understanding of them, upon experimentation. This is a modern refinement of the methods of introspection and observation, supplementing them and making them more exact in their results. For example, in investigating the number of the degrees of brightness which one may see (white, black, and all the grays between), if language and ordinary observation were relied on, we should have black, dark gray, gray, light gray, and white, — five. Or we might realize that there are two or more blacks, for example that of velvet and of silk ; two or more whites, for example paint and writing paper ; very dark and moderately dark grays, etc. Under experimental conditions, however, by means of black and white revolving disks carefully graduated as the experiment progresses, and by careful comparison, one may detect over six hundred qualities of black, gray, and white. In experimenting, the conditions under which the introspection and the observation are carried on may be carefully controlled and made exact, and the results are in so far the more valuable. Experimental psychology is not to be regarded as a separate branch of psychology. It is a method for obtaining more exact results in general psychology, and in the various special branches of the general science, such as child psychology, animal psychology, etc.

Of these methods we may repeat that the method of introspection, especially when carried on by the aid of the memory, is the first in importance. Its results would, however, be meager, were it not for the further help rendered by the observation methods. And, finally, advances of the most far-reaching character have been made in recent years by the employment of the experimental methods, making observation exact and introspection significant.

Problems of psychology. We have now considered something of the nature of the facts with which the psychologist deals, and have answered the question as to how these facts may be obtained for examination. Our next question naturally is the following: How does the psychologist deal with these facts in order to understand them more fully; what are his main aims ; and indeed how, out of these facts, does he build up his science ? Perhaps the first feature of work in psychology is to recognize the practical sorting of the material as found in our everyday speech and usage. We have such terms denoting mental states as memory,

INTEODUCTION 9

emotion, reasoning, imagination, etc. Each of these aspects of mental hfe may be singled out and defined, and its own general characteristics noticed and described. To point out the more evident properties of a memory or an emotion, and to compare and contrast it with other mental states, would be our natural way of dealing with that particular state of mind as a result of our introspection. Our task is then, first, simply definition and description.

But this would hardly satisfy our desire for exact knowledge about these mental states. Our look must be a closer one. We carry further this work of scrutiny and seek for the parts out of which the concrete mental states are composed. This we usually call analysis, whether we are investigating a mental state, such as a fancy of the imagination, or a physical object, such as a flower or common salt. Of course such an analysis of a mental state or conscious process will be somewhat different from that of a physical object. It cannot be actually resolved into separate parts, or elements, so that each part may be experienced singly. And yet the most important purpose of the analytic process may be accomplished by directing the attention to the various features or components of the concrete state, and by reducing the complexity in an experimental way. Thus, one might analyze such a simple experience as the taste of lemonade : one can easily detect a sour taste, a sweet taste, a fragrance in smell, a certain temperature, and a sensation of cutaneous pricking in the mouth, — and all these in as simple an experience as what we call tasting lemonade. Nor have we included here the other parts of the whole mental state at the time one is tasting the lemonade, such as the pleasure, the memories aroused, and much else. When we have made our analysis as fine as we can, we may be said to have arrived at the elemental features of the conscious process. And then, at the same time, we are also curious to know just how the parts iit together, or somehow combine to make up the whole concrete conscious process. We want to know how the parts are related to the whole, in what the synthesis consists. The perception of an apple, imagination of a shipwreck, an emotion of fear, — to determine how any one of these mental states is made up of different elements is a most mteresting and indeed not difficult part of the psychologist's undertaking. Our second task is, then, one of analysis and synthesis.

Still our curiosity is not satisfied. In our study of happenmgs in the physical world about us, we want to know, for example, why the brook is so full of water to-day, rushing along like a torrent. And then we think of the heavy rains of yesterday and the day before. They are the cause of the high brook to-day. We are constantly asking what has happened before to make a certain thing behave as it is behaving. Just so we ask the question of our mental happenings. What has gone on just before to make them what they are ? What is the reason for the unusually happy frame of mind which my friend is in to-day? I find out that he has been told of a holiday and a trip which his father has promised him. He has good reason for his happy thoughts and feelings. My friend suggests that I accompany him, and I determine to arrange my work so that I can do so. My determination is, in a measure, explained. The pleasant mood is easily accounted for. Just as we account for the swollen current of the brook do we account for these states of mmd. Of course this is rough-andready finding of cause and effect in the physical world, and rough-and-ready psychologizing, but the general purpose is the same in more exact scientific work. The third task of the psychologist is, then, to find out the order of

INTEODUCTION 11

succession of mental states, in so far as they lend themselves to such determination, and the conditions of consciousness which determine the nature of new conscious states.

Whenever I hear a sound or smell an odor, I am likely to look for its source. When I determine to sit down and write a letter to my friend, my body and fingers obey my will. As we have already seen, one of the chief features of our mental facts, or conscious processes, is that they are closely connected with some physical happening in our bodies, or in our environment as that affects our bodies or is affected by them. The human organism which has the experience of which we have been speaking not only has this experience in the double way of physical occurrences and mental processes, but is itseK a mind-body affair. That the brain is the organ of the mind is now a commonplace. One of the most interesting phases of the science of psychology is to show the relation between our mental states and the physical things and events to which they refer, and also to show the intimate connection in the organism itself between the mental processes and the corresponding bodily processes. The fourth important feature of our problem, then, is to show the relation existmg between our mental states and those physical occurrences in the body itself and in the external world connected with them.

We may. say, then, that in examinmg its facts the task of psychology is fourfold. First, it attempts to mark off, define, and describe the general features of our mental processes ; second, to analyze them in order to find out their elemental parts, and to make a synthesis of conscious , elements so as to see how those parts fit in together and go to make up the whole concrete mental state ; third, to show the order, in some cases at least, of their succession as they occur ; and fourth, to show the relation between them and

12 AN INTEODUCTOKY PSYCHOLOGY

the physical occurrences, in the body and in the external world, connected with them.

We have now seen somethmg of the nature of mental facts, the kind of material with which the psychologist has to deal. We have indicated how these facts may be obtained. We have also outlined the nature of the problem which these facts suggest, the fourfold task of the psychologist. It may be well to add some considerations concerning the value of the study of psychology.

Practical applications of psychology. Without asking for a number of detailed values in the more practical sense, one can say that the study of psychology has the same intellectual value possessed by any other of the sciences into which the field of human inquiry is divided. At least it will tend to satisfy intellectual curiosity as concerned with its own set of facts. And if we learn in order to adjust ourselves the better to our total life, — physical, mental, moral, economic, social, aesthetic, spiritual, — certainly knowledge concerning the working of the normal processes of our own and others' minds is an essential feature.

More specifically it may be said that an intimate acquaintance, not mere book knowledge, with the ways in which mens' mmds work is of decided practical p-dvantage in business relations, in law (especially m connection with testimony of witnesses), in the practice of medicine, (the mental aspect of which is becoming so pronounced) in public speech, and in private mtercourse. As an introduction to other sciences, too, as well as in connection with these arts just mentioned, psychology occupies a most important place. We may mention logic, dealing with the principles and procedure of correct reasoning ; ethics, dealing with the principles of worthy conduct; aesthetics, dealing with the

INTEODUCTIOK 13

principles of human appreciation of beauty ; sociology, dealing with human beings in society ; economics and politics.

Psychology and the teacher. In a most direct sense is the science of psychology related to the process of education and the art of the teacher. This relation we may examine in some of its more general aspects, and as we proceed with the various topics in this book some more detailed applications will be made. Psychology will thus be seen to be a very practical science.

The relation may be made plain by an example. The art of the electrical engineer depends in great measure upon a thorough knowledge of the science of physics, or that division of it called electricity. The art of the physician depends upon a thorough knowledge of physiology and of chemistry. These arts may be practiced in a " quack " way without such scientific knowledge, but for genuine thoroughgomg success it is essential. We realize, too, that the engineer and the physician must have good judgment in applying their scientific knowledge, or they will fail in their work.

The art of teaching, in like manner, depends upon the science of psychology. The teacher must know the mind of the pupil, its ways of working and of getting knowledge, in order to teach the pupil and help to mold his character in the most intelligent and thoroughgomg way. It is with these workings of the pupils' minds that the teacher has constantly to deal. They are the material that he must use. With this knowledge for his guide, he will have reasons for what he does, and will not go about his work blindly. Of course, the teacher must have practical sense and good judgment in applying this scientific knowledge about the mind and its behavior to his problems, or he will not succeed.

In one other feature we may compare the method of learning the teachmg art with- the art of the engineer and that of the physician. In the scliools of engineering and of medicine a large part of the time is taken up with a study of the ways of applying the scientific principles to the main problems of the engineer and of the physician, and thus the learner profits by the knowledge and experience of the masters in these arts. It is the same way with learning the art of teaching. The teacher may become acquainted with the chief methods of applying the knowledge of the laws of the behavior of the mind to the various problems of the art of teaching. He, too, may profit by the knowledge and experience of others. Thus he may gain an insight into the principles of education and of management.

We find, then, that the art of teaching depends largely on a knowledge of the science of psychology, though this is not sufficient. The teacher must have practical sense and good judgment in applying this knowledge, and must become acquainted with the chief methods which study and experience have shown to be useful and well-founded in the practical work of teaching.

Although such knowledge of psychology and the methods of its application to teachmg are essential for genuine success on the part of the teacher, it cannot take the place of two other important thmgs with which the teacher should be thoroughly acquainted. The first is the subject which is to be taught. If one is to teach arithmetic, one must know arithmetic thoroughly; and so with any other subject, — botany, Latin, American history, etc. To try to teach any subject without this thorough knowledge is to invite failure from the start. And, of course, if any methods of instruction are particularly useful m the teaching of any one

INTRODUCTION 15

subject, then the one who is to teach that subject should be thoroughly familiar with such methods.