vin PRACTICAL JUDGMENT 171 



and to contrast it with the work of the lower stage of 

 Assimilation. 



As to scope, the first or lower stage is concerned with 

 the correlation of sense stimuli and resulting feelings, and 

 its function is to define and regulate instinctive and 

 random action. The second or higher stage deals with 

 concrete objects, and the adjustment of action to make or 

 meet changes in the physical surroundings. Its relation 

 to instinct will be discussed later. 



As to method, we have found that the basis of the 

 whole process is a perceived relation in itself a corre- 

 lation of distinct experiences. The terminus of the pro- 

 cess is again what we have called a practical relation : an 

 adjustment of means to ends ; once more an act of 

 correlation. Further, the second act of correlation is, as 

 we have seen, based upon the first ; and there is thus a 

 wider kind of correlation, including the two constituent 

 relations which form the starting point and the conclusion. 

 We have expressed this by describing this stage as a 

 correlation of articulate complexes. 



If for the word correlation we substitute inference, the 

 process described shows a clear analogy to one familiar to 

 logicians. It resembles, in short, the inference from 

 particulars to particulars in which the implied universal is 

 not made explicit. That is to say, a particular relation 

 AJ B! is perceived ; and where in a second case A 2 is given, 

 the correlate B 2 is inferred. 



This inference is equivalent to the passage in the 

 syllogism from the minor premiss (this is A 2 ) to the con- 

 clusion (it will be B 2 ). What is called the inference from 

 particulars to particulars then may also be described as an 

 argument from minor to conclusion, founded on observed 

 parallels. 



We must try to understand clearly how far inference at 

 this stage differs from the corresponding process in the 

 lower stage. 



Consider the case of the chick which learns to peck at 

 yolk of egg. We may explain this as acquired habit 

 or as acquired knowledge. In the former case, a series of 

 experiences gradually remodels action. In the latter, an ex- 



