SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY 179 



The final stage — which is not properly a part of the act of 

 discovery in its most limited form — is one in which the idea 

 is tested and made precise. Though there is almost always 

 associated with the act of discovery an overwhelming con- 

 viction that the problem in question has been instantane- 

 ously solved, the actual justification for this feeling in the work- 

 ing out of a logical demonstration often requires great labor. 



R. S. Woodworth 1 emphasizes the part which is played in 

 the act by the factor of originality. The ordinary man, even 

 the animal, in his knowing response, is not purely passive. 

 "Ideas are not delivered to us ready-made by our teachers, 

 but are modes of response which we have to develop for 

 ourselves." 2 They are of the same general kind as the 

 acquisition of learned reactions in the more ordinary affairs 

 of life, such as in the conditioning of reflexes, and in the 

 compounding of responses. To be sure, the novel reactions 

 which eventuate in great acts of scientific discovery occur 

 only under conditions in which the necessity for a new ad- 

 justment furnishes the proper drive. But there is nothing 

 distinctive about the acts themselves; they are analogous to 

 the simple techniques of problem-solving in the more com- 

 monplace situations of life. Hence experiments conducted 

 with a view to ascertaining some of the factors involved in 

 these humble cases can be expected to throw light on the 

 more complicated problems. One cannot formulate rules 

 which eventuate inevitably in acts of discovery, but he can 

 offer guiding principles which contribute to effectiveness in 

 solving problems. For example, one should keep his mind 

 open to possibilities which have not yet suggested them- 

 selves, but one should also retain a certain rigidity in follow- 

 ing out a suggestion; generalization from past experience, 

 and keenness of observation, are also important; but in the 

 final analysis "to have the 'detective instinct' that fixes on 

 the right clue is the mark, in any given field, of the man who 

 has a real gift for original thinking in that field." 3 



1 Dynamic Psychology (New York: Columbia University, 1918), Chap. VI. 



2 Ibid., p. 136. 3 Ibid., p. 147. 



