HABIT FORMATION AND FEELING QUALITIES 257 



manipulating a telephonic switch-board. Along with and prior 

 to these researches considerable work had been done on inhibi- 

 tion, interference and transference, setting forth the mutual ef- 

 fects of such interaction. These investigations have ranged from 

 the determination of the conditions for inhibiting the croak in 

 the frog to those governing the inhibiting and facilitating func- 

 tions of associations, judgments and memories of the human 

 mind. 



These two groups of investigations, while recognizing the influ- 

 ence of feeling tone on the learning functions involved, attempt 

 nothing further than irregular and incomplete references to such 

 phenomena. Swift (37) observed that the feeling tone of confi- 

 dence and the bodily tone of "off days" affected the number of 

 catches in ball tossing; Cleveland (9) found that young and ar- 

 dent chess players, especially, testify that the elation of vic- 

 tory and the bitterness of defeat are factors to be considered in 

 learning the game. Acquiring skill in typewriting, according to 

 Book, shows " marked fluctuations in feeling and attitude 

 . from moment to moment of every test from day 

 to day and at different stages of practice." "A high degree of 

 spontaneous attention was always marked by a pleasureable 

 feeling-tone; a failure in it by feelings of displeasure or disgust." 

 "The role of feeling in successful learning is perhaps not so clear 

 and deserves a word of comment. Two questions naturally 

 arise. (1) What is the meaning of the perfect correlation between 

 the fluctuation in attention and effort .... and changes 

 in feeling and attitude? (2) What retroactive effect have these 

 fluctuations in attitude and feeling upon the variations in atten- 

 tion and effort that went with them?" and he further points out: 

 "It by no means follows that the relation between these changes 

 in feeling and attitude and the fluctuations in attention and effort 

 is casual because the parallelism is perfect. Whether the feelings 

 and mental attitude of the learners give rise to the fluctuations in 

 attention and effort and the consequent success or failure in writ- 

 ing, or whether the fluctuations in attention and effort cause the 

 changes in feeling, or whether both are joint effects of a still 

 more fundamental cause, is a matter with regard to which it is 

 impossible to make a general statement." 



