220 



NERVOUS REACTIONS 



occur that injury will result in case it is too hot ; a consideration 

 of the fact that cold water will not cleanse may be involved. 

 Finally a decision is made. Then a connection is made with a 

 motor neuron. The impulse goes down the efferent axon to the 

 muscles in the hand and the arm, which are the effectors of the 

 activity and the hand is withdrawn from the water. In many 

 instances, the learning of facts such as rules of grammar is im- 

 possible without attention. Attention is partly dependent upon 

 inborn tendencies and partly upon acquired habits. The more 

 closely the activity is related to the child's life and the more 

 associations he can make, the easier it will be for him to remember 

 the facts. For instance, if a child lives in a city, it will be easier 

 for him to understand the problems of city government and traffic 

 conditions, than for the child who has always lived in a rural 



community. 



Acquired automatic ac- 

 tivities. Activities which 

 are learned in a person's 

 lifetime, but have become 

 automatic through repe- 

 tition, are acquired auto- 

 matic activities. For ex- 

 ample, brushing the teeth 

 is an act that had to 

 be learned. By directing 

 attention and thought on 

 the action the first few 

 times the teeth were 



brushed, definite tech- 

 . . 



tions are dependent upon connection established in the niQUe and SKlll Were SOOn 

 brain level. ? 



gained. The receptor 



was the gums of the mouth. When the toothbrush was placed 

 in the mouth, a sensory axon took the impulse into a sensory 



A third-level response uses neural connections in 

 the brain. Psychologists think that all learned reac- 



