Experimental Study of Associative Processes 149 



To the interactionist I would say: "Do not any more 

 repeat in tiresome fashion that consciousness does alter 

 movement, but get to work and show when, where, in what 

 forms and to what degrees it does so. Then, even if it turns 

 out to have been a physical parallel that did the work, you 

 will, at least, have the credit of attaining the best knowledge 

 about the results and their conditions, even though you mis- 

 named the factor." 



Besides this contribution to general psychology, I think 

 we may safely offer one to pedagogical science. At least 

 some of our results possess considerable pedagogical inter- 

 est. The fundamental form of intellection, the association- 

 process in animals, is one, we decided, which requires the 

 personal experience of the animal in all its elements. The 

 association cannot be taught by putting the animal through 

 it or giving it a chance to imitate. Now every observant 

 teacher realizes how often the cleverest explanation and the 

 best models for imitation fail. Yet often, in such cases, a 

 pupil, if somehow enticed to do the thing, even without 

 comprehension of what it means, even without any real 

 knowledge of what he is doing, will finally get hold of it. 

 So, also, in very many kinds of knowledge, the pupil who 

 does anything from imitation, or who does anything from 

 being put through it, fails to get a real and permanent mas- 

 tery of the thing. I am sure that with a certain type of 

 mind the only way to teach fractions in algebra, for example, 

 is to get the pupil to do, do, do. I am inclined to think that 

 in many individuals certain things cannot be learned save by 

 actual performance. And I think it is often a fair question, 

 when explanation, imitation and actual performance are all 

 possible methods, which is the best. We are here alongside 

 the foundations of mental life, and this hitherto unsuspected 

 law of animal mind may prevail in human mind to an extent 



