298 Why Living Things Behave As They Do unit v 



be better able to meet new situations and up only a small part of your behavior, 

 new people calmly. Growing up means Most of your responses are learned re- 

 development of emotional balance as well spouses which involve thought and rea- 

 as increase in ability to think straight. soning and emotions. It is such behavior 

 ' Behavior in man. Your behavior in- M-hich makes it possible for men to con- 

 cludes a large variety of responses. Some quer disease, to design buildings and 

 of these are inborn responses or reflexes, bridges, and to build up a United Na- 

 largely internal reflexes, on which life tions organization. 



depends. Some are habits, the acts that This makes a complex story in which 



you have learned to perform quickly all but the simplest acts are hard to de- 



and efficiently through long practice scribe and almost impossible to explain 



and repetition. Somewhat like them, but biologically. Psychology is a recent and 



far fewer in number, are your condi- one of the most fascinating fields of bio- 



tioned responses; these are changed re- logical study which attempts to explain 



flexes, in which new stimuli call forth our behavior. Much progress is now be- 



old responses. But these responses make ing made in the science of psychology. 



Questions 



1. How does man's behavior compare with that of a fish? Why? 



2. Give an idea of the complexity of your behavior at the present mo- 

 ment. List some of the stimuli \\'hich might cause a response such as 

 opening the window. 



3. Show how learning means much more than memorizing a lesson. 



4. Give an example of a conditioned response in a baby. Why is the 

 name "conditioned response" better than "conditioned reflex"? 



5. State two ways in which a conditioned response differs from a reflex. 

 Whose name do you associate with conditioned responses? 



6. Explain how conditioned responses are made use of in training animals. 



7. Name some responses, other than conditioned responses, \\ hich have 

 been learned by you. 



8. Ho\\' does a fish learn by trial and error? 



9. Give two other examples of trial and error learning in animals, ("ite 

 fissures to show that there was learningr in these acts. 



10. Define the term habit. Give an example of a habit acquired by some 

 animal. 



11. In what respect does a habit resemble a reflex? How docs it dift"cr 

 from a reflex? 



12. Name five habits that all of us have acquired. Give three reasons why 

 it is a help to us to make certain acts habitual. 



13. Name four conditions that are necessary for acquiring habits. 



14. What is the best \\<\\ to break a habit? Why is it so diflicult? 



15. Tell how your behavior in a puzzle box would differ from that of a 

 cat. 



