4— THE PSYCHOLOGY 



tlic stii-Us be put to_i;-etIier jigain aiul tlu> whole process described. A similar 

 anaUsis aiul synthesis is necessary in all mental activil}', hut we must acknow- 

 ledge that in too many cases we have neg^lected one-half of the operation. 



And hiM-ein is the value of language. The teacher can never be sure that 

 the pupil iHM-forms the synthesis unless he is able to express himself in fairly 

 exact lanyfuage. At best, modelling, thawing, diagrams are limited, if not by 

 executive ability, then by stress of time and lack of equipment and space. Con- 

 sequently each step in analysis must be associated with descriptive terms of some 

 kind, technical or colloquial. If the pupil cannot make such a verbal s) nthesis, 

 the analysis is premature. On the other hand, the verbal synthesis may be 

 tested by demantling that it be put into the more concrete form of the drawing or 

 model. 



The Modes of Expression. 



Thought finds expression in the following ways : 



(i) Gesture (including facial expression). 



(2) Modelling, 



(•5) Drawing (including form, color or shade, and proportion), 



(-j) Diagranis (in whiih details are omitted). 



(5) Language (oral or written). 



(6) Singing, the social mode of expression. 



(7) Calisthenics, also social in natme. 



While it is true that all modes of expression have a social as well as an indi- 

 vidual side, singing and calisthenics are pre-eminently social, while the otljers 

 are pre-eminently individual ; that is, the first fiveare the expression ot individual 

 activity, while the last two are the expression of the social instinct. 



Gesture may be made a means of communicating thought, but it is usually 

 an accompaniment of oral speech. Facial expression and bodily movement are 

 the signs of emotion, /. c, the personal element, while the language used repie- 

 sents the universal element of knowledge. So long as these two elements enter 

 into thought, we shall have gesture and speech together. 



Gestui-e is perfect in the young and becomes less prominent ;is development 

 proceeds from real to ideal, because knowledge becomes more universal. At 

 least the individual recognizes the universal element more, whereas, at first he 

 recognizes only the personal element. The mechanical grind of learning by 

 rote will soon eliminate the personal element and will give rise to that vacant 

 stare and listless manner of the unfortunate spoon-fed pupil, who is taught not 

 to think, who takes no interest in the work of the class-room. Compare the 

 vivacity of that boy over a game of marbles with his listlessness in the school- 

 room and then think what the result in after life will be, when the fluctuations 

 of the stock market are more interesting than the beauty of nature and ot art. 



Modelling. 



Before a child learns to describe form and proportion, he can represent 

 these in models. There are all grades of representative ability in this, from the 

 model in crude clay to that of an intricate and complex machine There is 



