CEREBRUM AND THE LIFE OF THIO INDIVIDUAL 155 



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of new association paths in the cerebrum. When, after 

 an interval, the child finds a name for the mother we have 

 evidence of an additional evolution of such bonds. 



All of education, from infancy to the fulness of develop- 

 ment, is of this same type. "Reaction to stimulation" is 

 the term which covers almost all which the organism does, 

 but the capacity to react is always qualified by the entire 

 past history of the individual. Every incident in the 

 course of life has left its impression. The formation of 

 habits is the symbol of the channeling which is proceeding 

 in the cortex. This fact has been alluded to in the chapter 

 on Reflexes and it may now be enlarged upon. In infancy 

 a very few repetitions of a reaction may make it a matter 

 of regular recurrence or, in other words, a habit. This is 

 partly due, we may suppose, to the plastic nature of the 

 tissue involved and partly to the absence of paths of prior 

 .formation. 



When the word "habit" is used, the connotation is likely 

 to be a disagreeable one. But this ought not to be so, for 

 it is the power to form habits which is the basis of human 

 progress and efficiency. If it were not possible to acquire 

 the ability to perform many acts as though they were 

 reflexes, making no demand upon the attention, we should 

 never advance far in our individual development. If the 

 task of dressing one's self remained as laborious and con- 

 tinued to require the same thoughtful planning in later 

 life as in the days of childhood, when it was first accom- 

 plished, one would lose just so much time and strength 

 which is actually available for fresh lines of thinking. As 

 each necessary act becomes, as we say, second nature, the 

 mind is released for new conquests. 



The late William James 1 wrote most wisely of the ad- 

 vantages and the dangers incident to our habit-forming 

 propensity. It was his suggestion that habits can be 

 placed in three classes: those which are clearly the best 

 possible, those which are plainly undesirable, and a great 



1 ''Psychology, Briefer Course," Henry Holt & Co., New York, 

 1892, chapter on Habit. 



