OF THE INTELLIGENCE OF YOUNG CHILDREN 29 



example in the experiments on the association of ideas with 

 young children and defectives the subjects frequently simply 

 repeat the stimulus word. 



2. — Definition in terms of use only. — Examples : Horse, 

 it is to pull carriages, — it is to run, it is to sit on. The frequent 

 visits to the butcher shops where horse or mule meat is sold, 

 which are customary among the class of people to which our 

 children belong, explain the following response : "Horse, it is to 

 eat." We asked the child whether he ate the meat of the horse, 

 and he said, "Yes." Fork, it is to eat — to eat zvith. Table, it 

 is to eat on — or, a table is used to eat on; it is the table ivhere 

 the plates are put, — it is where zve eat. Chair, it is for ns to 

 sit on, — it is to sit on, — it is used to sit an, — it is that which zve 

 sit on. Mamma, she is to take care of little children, — she is to 

 kiss, — she sends on errands, — she cooks the food. 



All these answers are clearly infantile, not only in their 

 incorrect form, but also in their conciseness, and finally in 

 the state of mind which they reveal; scarcely any children 

 of seven years are exclusively utilitarian in their definitions. 



3. — Definition in terms superior to use. These are so 

 varied in form that it is impossible to cite all the varieties; 

 but this is unnecessary for the essential point is not the char- 

 acter of these definitions, but the fact that they diflfer from 

 the definitions in terms of use. The distinction is made diffi- 

 cult by certain responses in which the subject is chiefly con- 

 cerned about the use of the object but describes it in less 

 infantile terms than those quoted above. Examples : Table 

 ■ — It is an object used for eating, or it is an instrumemt for 

 eating; it is a utensil for eating; it is a piece of furniture for 

 eating. Horse — It is an animal zvhich pulls carriages. Mam- 

 ma — She is a woman zvho cooks the food; she is a woman 

 zvho takes care of the children. The use of the expressions: 

 It is an object, it is an animal, it is an instrument, it is a thing, 

 indicate that the definition is less infantile. Definitions 

 learned at school are also given, they are curious in their 



