Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... 3. Composition Of An Act Of Thought The Steps in Thinking.--The problematic procedure with which we have just dealt is that in which the pupil acquires information, either by hearing it, reading it, or observing. It is essentially a problem of knowing. On a higher intellectual plane, and involving a far more difficult task, is the problem which involves thinking out. It may be the derivation of a general principle from given concrete data, or it may be application of a general principle in the solution of a particular situation. In logical terms, the problem may be either inductive or deductive, or indeed may involve both logical processes. * In all problematic procedure, a complete act of thought involves four fairly distinct steps. These are, first, the recognition and formulation of the problem;1 second, a tentative solution or hypothesis; third, reasoning out the implications of the solution, and, fourth, the verification. Stated in terms of the principle of association, we find that the problematic learning of the thought type involves a complex system of both association and dissociation, of analysis and synthesis. In the first of the four steps, the student encounters the situation as a unity, and proceeds to analyze out its problematic elements. In the formulation of the hypothesis, he associates tentatively these problematic elements with others. The next step, the reasoning out of the implications, is essentially an analytic one, in which the synthesis thus formed is subjected to a further analysis. In the verification, the synthesis of the second step is reformed with new subordinate elements included. Thus, the questions the student asks are these: 1. What is the problematic feature of this situation, and what is there...