AND PERSONALITY 



At the time of birth few of the offspring of animals are 

 equipped to adapt themselves to environment; the simpler 

 the reaction of a species the earlier is its mechanism for 

 adaptation completed. 



For the young of each species we find that the methods as 

 well as the intervals necessary for completing the adapta- 

 tion for adult life differ, varying from the simple adaptations 

 of the fish that never know their parents to the birds, 

 whose parents protect, feed, and give them their simple 

 training; of the beaver, whose offspring are taught to 

 play at making dams; of the gregarious animals, whose 

 young remain with the flock or herd and are taught by 

 example; of the Carnivora, which train their young to kill; 

 and of the young monkeys, who receive from their parents 

 a training in strategy. 



From the periods of training and education received by 

 the young of anthropoids we pass to the progressively 

 longer periods required for the training of the Bushman, the 

 cave man, the semicivilized man, and, finally, civilized man. 



The brain of a human being may be likened to a moving- 

 picture film that runs from birth to death. Among the 

 vast number of images thrown upon the film, only a few 

 obtain possession of the final common path of action. These 

 become patterns of action. The action-pattern equipment 

 of an individual produces the only acts he can perform. 

 Training, therefore, consists in making action patterns. 

 Action patterns make conduct. Training, not education, is 

 the creator of behavior. 



Man's action patterns reflect his environment as in a 

 mirror. If a colt grows up in the wild it becomes a wild 

 horse; if it is trained by man its action patterns and its 

 behavior are domestic. The young of all animals are plastic, 

 but the child is most plastic. If the child lives in a savage 

 web, he becomes a savage; if he lives in a civilized web, he 

 becomes a civilized man. Thus the action patterns formed 

 in the plastic brain constitute the personality of the indi- 



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