IV. THE FORMATION OF HABITS

Habit in its simplest form is the tendency to do, think, or act as one

has done, thought, or acted in the past. t is the tendency to repeat

activities of all kinds. t is the tendency which makes one inclined to

do the familiar action rather than a new one. n a broader sense, habit

formation means learning. t is a statement of the fact that conduct

_is_ modifiable and that such modifications may become permanent.



The fact of learning depends physiologically on the plasticity of the

nervous system. The neurones, particularly those concerned with

intellectual life, are not only sensitive to nerve currents but are

modified by them. The point where the greatest change seems to take

place is at the synapses, but what this modification is, no one knows.

There are several theories offered as explanations of what happens, but

no one of them has been generally accepted, although the theory of

chemical change seems to be receiving the strongest support at present.

There can be no disagreement, however, as to the effects of this change,

whatever it may be. Currents originally passing with difficulty over a

certain conduction unit later pass with greater and greater ease. The

resistance which seems at first to be present gradually disappears, and

to that extent is the conduct modified. This same element of plasticity

accounts for the breaking of habits. n this case the action is double,

for it implies the disuse of certain connections which have been made

and the forming of others; for the breaking of a bad habit means the

beginning of a good one.



The plasticity of neurone groups seems to vary in two respects--as to

modifiability and as to power to hold modifications. The neurone groups

controlling the reflex and physiological operations are least easily

modified, while those controlling the higher mental processes are most

easily modified. The neurone groups controlling the instincts hold a

middle place. So far as permanence goes, connections between

sensorimotor neurone groups seem to hold modifications longer than do

connections between either associative-motor or associative-association.



t is probably because of this fact that habit in the minds of so many

people refers to some physical activity. Of course this is a

misconception. Wherever the nervous system is employed, habits are

formed. There are intellectual, moral, emotional, temperamental habits,

just as truly as physical habits. n the intellectual field every

operation that involves association or memory also involves habits. Good

temper, or the reverse, truthfulness, patriotism, thoughtfulness for

others, open-mindedness, are as much matters of learning and of habit as

talking or skating or sewing. Habit is found in all three lines of

mental development: intellect, character, and skill.



Not only does the law of habit operate in all fields of mental activity,

but the characteristics which mark its operation are the same. Two of

these are important. n the first place, habit formation results in a

lessening of attention to the process. Any process that is habitual can

be taken care of by a minimum of attention. n other words, it need no

longer be in the focal point, but can be relegated to the fringe. At the

beginning of the modification of the neurone tract focal attention is

often necessary, but as it progresses less and less attention is needed

until the activity becomes automatic, apparently running by itself. Not

all habits reach this stage of perfection, but this is the general

tendency. This lessening of the need for attention means that less

energy is used by the activity, and the individual doing the work is

less likely to be fatigued. n the second place, habit tends to make the

process more and more sure in its results. As the resistance is removed

from the synapses, and the one particular series of units come to act

more and more as a unit, the current shoots along the path with no

sidetracking, and the act is performed or the thought reached

unwaveringly with very little chance of error. f the habit being formed

is that of writing, the appropriate movements are made with no

hesitation, and the chances that certain ones will be made the first

time increase in probability. This means a saving of time and an

increase in confidence as to the results.



A consideration of these characteristics of habits makes clear its

dangers as well as its values. The fact that habit is based on actual

changes which take place in the nervous system, that its foundation is

physical, emphasizes its binding power. Most people in talking and

thinking of habit regard it as something primarily mental in nature and

therefore believe all that is necessary to break any habit is the

sufficient exercise of will power. But will power, however strong,

cannot break actual physical connections, and it is such connections

that bind us to a certain line of activity instead of any other, when

once the habit is formed. t is just as logical to expect a car which is

started on its own track to suddenly go off on to another track where

there is no switch, as to expect a nerve current traveling along its

habitual conduction unit to run off on some other line of nervous

discharge. Habit once formed binds that particular line of thought to

action, either good or bad. Of course habits may be broken, but it is a

work of time and must result from definite physical changes. Every habit

formed lessens the likelihood of any other response coming in that

particular situation. Every interest formed, every act of skill

perfected, every method of work adopted, every principle or ideal

accepted, limits the recognition of any other possible line of action in

that situation. Habit binds to one particular response and at the same

time blinds the individual to any other alternative. The danger of this

is obvious. f the habits formed are bad or wasteful ones, the

individual is handicapped in his growth until new ones can be formed. On

the other hand, habit makes for limitation.



Despite these dangers, habit is of inestimable value in the development

of both the individual and the human race. t is through it that all

learning is possible. t makes possible the preservation of our social

inheritance. As James says, "Habit is the enormous fly-wheel of society,

its most precious conservative agent." Because of its power of

limitation it is sometimes considered the foe of independence and

originality, but in reality it is the only road to progress. Other

things being equal, the more good habits a person has, the greater the

probability of his doing original work. The genius in science or in art

or in statesmanship is the man who has made habitual many of the

activities demanded by his particular field and who therefore has time

and energy left for the kind of work that demands thinking. Habit won't

make a genius, but all men of exceptional ability excel others in the

number and quality of their habits in the field in which they show

power. As the little child differs from the adult in the number and

quality of his habits, so the ordinary layman differs from the expert.

t is scarcity, not abundance, of habits that forces a man into a rut

and keeps him mediocre. Just as the three year old, having taken four or

five times as long as the adult to dress himself, is tired out at the

end of the task, so the amateur in literature or music or morals as

compared with the expert. The more habits any one has in any line, the

better for him, both from the standpoint of efficiency and productivity,

provided that the habits are good and that among them is found the habit

of breaking habits.



The two great laws of habit formation are the laws of exercise and

effect. These laws apply in all cases of habit formation, whether they

be the purposeless habits of children or the purposive habits of

maturity. The law of exercise says that the oftener and the more

emphatically a certain response is connected with a certain situation,

the more likely is it to be made to that situation. The two factors of

repetition and intensity are involved. t is a common observance that

the oftener one does a thing, other things being equal, the better he

does it, whether it be good or bad. Drill is the usual method adopted by

all classes of people for habit formation. t is because of the

recognition of the value of repetition that the old maxim of "Practice

makes Perfect" has been so blindly adhered to. Practice may make

perfect, but it also may make imperfect. All that practice can do is to

make more sure and automatic the activity, whatever it is. t cannot

alone make for improvement. A child becomes more and more proficient in

bad writing or posture, in incorrect work in arithmetic and spelling,

with practice just as truly as under other conditions he improves in the

same activities. Evidence from school experiments, which shows that as

many as 40 per cent of the children examined did poorer work along such

lines in a second test than in the first which had been given several

months earlier, bears witness to the inability of mere repetition to get

"perfect" results. To get such results the repetition must be only of

the improvements. There must be a constant variation towards the ideal,

and a selection of just those variations for practice, if perfect as

well as invariable results are to be obtained.



The amount of repetition necessary in the formation of any given habit

is not known. t will, of course, vary with the habit and with the

individual, but experimental psychology will some day have something to

offer along this line. We could make a great saving if we knew, even

approximately, the amount of practice necessary under the best

conditions to form some of the more simple and elementary habits, such

as learning the facts of multiplication.



One other fact in connection with repetition should be noted, namely,

that the exercise given any connection by the learner, freely, of his

own initiative counts more than that given under purposive learning.

This method of learning is valuable in that it is incidental and often

saves energy and possible imitation on the part of the child, but it has

certain drawbacks. Habits formed this way are ingrained to such an

extent that they are very difficult to modify. They were not consciously

attended to when they were formed, and hence it is difficult later to

raise them to the focal point. Hence it is best whenever habits are

partial and will need to be modified later, or when the habits must

later be rationalized, or when bad habits must be broken, to have the

process focalized in attention. The methods of gaining attention have

already been discussed.



n the second place, if the habit being formed is connected with an

instinct, the element of intensity is added. This, of course, means that

a connection already made and one which is strongly ready to act is made

to give its support to the new connection being formed. Of course the

instinct chosen for this purpose must be in accord with the particular

habit and with the nature of the learner. They may vary from the purely

personal and physical up to those which have to do with groups and

intellectual reactions. The added impetus of the instinct hastens the

speed of the direction or supervision. The psychology of the value of

self-activity is operative. t should be borne in mind, however, that

the two kinds of exercise must be of the same degree of accuracy if this

better result in self-initiated practice is to be obtained.



Not only is it true that repetition makes for automaticity, but

intensity is also an aid. Connections which are made emphatically as

well as often tend to become permanent. This is particularly true of

mental habits. There are two factors of importance which make for

intensity in habit formation. First, the focalization of attention on

the connections being made adds intensity. Bagley in his discussion of

this topic makes "focalization in attention" a necessity in all habits.

Although habits may be formed without such concentration, still it is

true that if attention is given to the process, time is saved; for the

added intensity secured increases the speed of learning. n certain

types of habits, however, when incidental learning plays a large part,

much skill may be acquired without focalization of attention in the

process. Much of the learning of little children is of this type. Their

habits of language, ways of doing things, mannerisms, and emotional

attitudes often come as a result of suggestion and imitation rather than

as a result of definite formation of the new habit.



The second great law of habit formation is the law of effect. This law

says that any connection whose activity is accompanied by or followed by

satisfaction tends thereby to be strengthened. f the accompanying

emotional tone is annoyance, the connection is weakened. This law that

satisfaction stamps connections in, and annoyance inhibits connections,

is one of the greatest if not the greatest law of human life. Whatever

gives satisfaction, that mankind continues to do. He learns only that

which results in some kind of satisfaction. Because of the working of

this law animals learn to do their tricks, the baby learns to talk, the

child learns to tell the truth, the adult learns to work with the fourth

dimension. Repetition by itself is a wasteful method of habit formation.

The law of effect must work as well as the law of exercise, if the

results are to be satisfactory. As has already been pointed out, it is

not the practice alone that makes perfect, but the _stressing_ of

improvements, and that fixing is made possible only by satisfaction.

Pleasure, in the broad sense, must be the accompaniment or the result of

any connection that is to become habitual. This satisfaction may be of

many different sorts, physical, emotional, or intellectual. t may be

occasioned by a reward or recognition from without or by appreciation

arising from self-criticism. n some form or other it must be present.



Two further suggestions in habit formation which grow out of the above

laws should be borne in mind. The first is the effect of primacy. n

everyday language, "first impressions last longest." The character of

the first responses made in any given situation have great influence on

all succeeding responses. They make the strongest impression, they are

the hardest to eradicate. From a physiological point of view the

explanation is evident. A connection untraversed or used but a few times

is much more plastic than later when it has been used often. Hence the

first time the connection is used gives a greater set or bent than any

equal subsequent activity. This is true both of the nervous system as a

whole and of any particular conduction unit. Thus impressions made in

childhood count more than those of the same strength made later. The

first few attempts in pronouncing foreign words fixes the pronunciation.

The first few weeks in a subject or in dealing with any person

influences all subsequent responses to a marked degree.



The second suggestion has to do with the effect of exceptions. James

says, "Never allow an exception to occur" in the course of forming a

habit. Not only will the occurrence of one exception make more likely

its recurrence, but if the exception does not recur, at least the

response is less sure and less accurate than it otherwise would be. t

tends to destroy self-confidence or confidence in the one who allowed

the exception. Sometimes even one exception leads to disastrous

consequences and undoes the work of weeks and months. This is especially

true in breaking a bad habit or in forming a new one which has some

instinctive response working against it.



There has been a great deal of work done in experimental laboratories

and elsewhere in the study of the formation of particular habits. The

process of habit formation has been shown by learning curves. When these

learning curves are compared, it becomes clear that they have certain

characteristics in common. This is true whether the learning be directed

to such habits as the acquisition of vocabularies in a foreign language

or to skill in the use of a typewriter. Several of the most important

characteristics follow.



n the first place it is true of all learning that there is rapid

improvement at first. During the beginning of the formation of a habit

more rapid advance is made than at any other time. There are two

principal reasons for this fact. The adjustments required at the

beginning are comparatively simple and easily made and the particular

learning is new and therefore is undertaken with zest and interest.

After a time the work becomes more difficult, the novelty wears off,

therefore the progress becomes less marked and the curve shows

fluctuations.



Another characteristic of the learning curve is the presence of the

so-called "plateaus." Plateaus show in the curve as flat, level

stretches during which there has apparently been no progress. The

meaning of these level stretches, and whether or not they can be

entirely done away with in any curve, is a matter of dispute. These

pauses may be necessary for some of the habits to reach a certain degree

of perfection before further progress can be made. However this may be,

there are several minor causes which tend to increase the number of

plateaus and to lengthen the time spent in any one. n the first place

an insecure or an inaccurate foundation must result in an increase of

plateaus. f at the beginning, during the initial spurt, for instance,

the learner is allowed to go so fast that what he learns is not

thoroughly learned, or if he is pushed at a pace that for him makes

thoroughness impossible, plateaus must soon occur in his learning curve.

n the second place a fruitful cause of plateaus is loss of

interest,--monotony. f the learner is not interested, he will not put

forth the energy necessary for continued improvement, and a time of no

progress is the result. The attitude of the learner toward the work is

extremely important, not only in the matter of interest, but in the

further attitude of self-confidence. Discouragement usually results in

hindering progress, whereas confidence tends to increase it. The

psychological explanation of this is very evident. Both lack of interest

in the learning and the presence of discouragement are likely to result

in divided attention and that, as has already been shown, results in

unsatisfactory work. A third cause for plateaus is physiological. Not

only must the learner be in the right attitude towards the work, but he

must feel physically "fit." There seem to be certain physiological

rhythms that may disturb the learning process whose cause cannot be

directly determined, but generally the feeling of unfitness can be

traced to a simple cause,--such as physical illness, loss of sleep,

exercise, or food, or undue emotional strain.



The older psychology has left an impression that improvement in any

function is limited both as to amount and as to the period during which

it must be attained. The physiological limit of improvement has been

thought of as one which was rather easily reached. The loss of

plasticity of the nervous system has been supposed to be rather rapid,

so that marked improvement in a habit after one has passed well into the

twenties was considered improbable. Recent experiments, however, seem to

show that no such condition of affairs exists. There is very great

probability that any function whatsoever is improvable with practice,

and in most cases to a very marked degree. To find a function which has

reached the physiological limit has been very rare, even in experimental

research, and even with extended practice series it has been unusual to

reach a stage of zero improvement even with adults. Thorndike says, "Let

the reader consider that if he should now spend seven hours, well

distributed, in mental multiplication with three place numbers, he would

thereby much more than double his speed and also reduce his errors; or

that, by forty hours of practice, he could come to typewrite (supposing

him to now have had zero practice) approximately as fast as he can write

by hand; or that, starting from zero knowledge, he could learn to copy

English into German script at a rate of fifty letters per minute, in

three hours or a little more."[3] t is probably true that the majority

of adults are much below their limit of efficiency in most of the habits

required by their profession, and that in school habits the same thing

is true of children. Spurious levels of accomplishment have been held up

as worthy goals, and efficiency accepted as ultimate which was only two

thirds, and often less than that, of what was possible. Of course it may

not be worth the time and energy necessary to obtain improvement in

certain lines,--that must be determined by the particular case,--but the

point is, that improvement; is possible with both children and adults in

almost every habit they possess with comparatively little practice.

Neither the physiological limit of a function nor the age limit of the

individual is reached as easily or as soon as has been believed.



There are certain aids to improvement which must be used in order that

the best results may be obtained. Some of them have already been

discussed and others will be discussed at a later time, so they need

only be listed here, the right physiological conditions, the proper

distribution of the practice periods, interest in the work, interest in

improvement, problem attitude, attention, and absence of both excitement

and worry.



Habits have been treated in psychology as wholes, just as if each habit

was a unit. This has been true, whether the habits being discussed were

moral habits, such as sharing toys with a younger brother; intellectual

habits, such as reading and understanding the meaning of the word "and";

or motor habits, such as sitting straight. The slightest consideration

of these habits makes obvious that they differ tremendously in

complexity. The moral habit quoted involves both intellectual and motor

habits--and not one, but several. From a physiological point of view,

this difference in the complexity of habits is made clear by an

examination of the number of neural bonds used in getting the habit

response to a given situation. n some cases they are comparatively

few--in others the number necessary is astonishing. n no case of habit

will the bonds used involve but a single connection.



Just what bonds are needed in order that a child may learn to add, or to

spell, to appreciate music, or to be industrious, is a question that

only experiment and investigation can answer. At present but little is

known as to just what happens, just what connections are formed, when

from the original tendency towards vocalization the child just learns to

say the word "milk," later reads it, and still later writes it. One

thing is certain, the process is not a unitary one, nor is it a simple

one. Just so long as habit is discussed in general terms, without any

recognition of the complexity of the process or to the specific bonds

involved, just so long will the process of habit formation be wasteful

and inefficient.



As a sample of the kind of work being done in connection with special

habits, investigation seems to give evidence that in the habit of simple

column addition eight or nine distinct functions are involved, each of

which involves the use of several bonds. Besides these positive

connections, a child in learning must inhibit other connections which

are incorrect, and these must often outnumber the correct ones. And yet

column addition has always been treated as a simple habit--with perhaps

one element of complexity, when carrying was involved. t is evident

that, if the habit concerned does involve eight or nine different

functions, a child might go astray in any one. His difficulty in forming

the habit might be in connection with one or several of the processes

involved. Knowledge on the part of the teacher of these different steps

in the habit, and appreciation by him of the possibilities of making

errors, are the prerequisites of efficient teaching of habits.



n each one of the subjects there is much need of definite experimental

work, in order that the specific bonds necessary in forming the habits

peculiar to the subject be determined. The psychology of arithmetic, or

of physics, or of spelling should involve such information. Meanwhile

every teacher can do much if she will carefully stop and think just what

she is requiring in the given response. An analysis of the particular

situation and response will make clear at least some of the largest

elements involved, some of the most important connections to be made. t

is the specific nature of the connections to be made and the number of

those connections that need emphasis in the teaching of habits. Not only

must the specific nature of the bonds involved in individual habits be

stressed, but also the specific nature of the entire complex which is

called the habit. There is no such thing as a general curve of learning

that will apply equally well, no matter what the habit. The kind of

curve, the rate of improvement, the possibilities of plateaus, the

permanence of the improvement, all these facts and others vary with the

particular habit.



n habit formation, as is the case in other types of activity, we get

the most satisfactory results only when we secure a maximum of interest

in the work to be done. The teacher who thinks that she can get

satisfactory results merely by compelling children to repeat over and

over again the particular form to be mastered is doomed to

disappointment. ndeed, it is not infrequently true that the dislike

which children get for the dreary exercises which have little or no

meaning for them interferes to such a degree with the formation of the

habit we hope to secure as to develop a maximum of inaccuracies rather

than any considerable improvement. The teacher who makes a game out of

her word drill in beginning reading may confidently expect to have

children recognize more words the next day than one who has used the

same amount of time, without introducing the motive which has made

children enjoy their work. Children who compare their handwriting with a

scale, which enables them to tell what degree of improvement they have

made over a given period, are much more apt to improve than are children

who are merely asked to fill up sheets of paper with practice writing. A

vocabulary in a modern language will be built up more certainly if

students seek to make a record in the mastery of some hundreds or

thousands of words during a given period, rather than merely to do the

work which is assigned from day to day. A group of boys in a

continuation school have little difficulty in mastering the habits which

are required in order to handle the formal processes in arithmetic, or

to apply the formula of algebra or trigonometry, if the application of

these habitual responses to their everyday work has been made clear.

Wherever we seek to secure an habitual response we should attempt to

have children understand the use to which the given response is to be

put, or, if this is not possible, to introduce some extraneous motive

which will give satisfaction.



We cannot be too careful in the habits which we seek to have children

form to see to it that the first response is correct. t is well on many

occasions, if we have any doubt as to the knowledge of children, to

anticipate the response which they should give, and to make them

acquainted with it, rather than to allow them to engage in random

guessing. The boy who in writing his composition wishes to use a word

which he does not know how to spell, should feel entirely free to ask

the teacher for the correct spelling, unless there is a dictionary at

hand which he knows how to use. t is very much better for a boy to ask

for a particular form in a foreign language, or to refer to his grammar,

than it is for him to use in his oral or written composition a form

concerning which he is not certain. A mistake made in a formula in

algebra, or in physics, may persist, even after many repetitions might

seem to have rendered the correct form entirely automatic.



n matters of habit it does not pay to take it for granted that all have

mastered the particular forms which have supposedly been taught, and it

never pays to attempt to present too much at any one time. More

satisfactory work in habit formation would commonly be done were we to

_teach_ fewer words in any one spelling lesson, or attempt to fix fewer

combinations in any particular drill lesson in arithmetic, or assign a

part of a declension or conjugation in a foreign language, or to be

absolutely certain that one or two formulas were fixed in algebra or in

chemistry, rather than in attempting to master several on the same day.

Teachers ought constantly to ask themselves whether every member of the

class is absolutely sure and absolutely accurate in his response before

attempting new work. t is of the utmost importance that particular

difficulties be analyzed, and that attention be fixed upon that which is

new, or that which presents some unusual difficulty.



As has already been implied, it is important not simply to start with as

strong a motive as possible, but it is also necessary to keep attention

concentrated during the exercises which are supposed to result in habit

formation. However strong the motive for the particular work may have

been at the beginning, it is likely after a few minutes to lack power,

if the particular exercise is continued in exactly the same form. Much

is to be gained by varying the procedure. Oral work alternated with

written work, concert work alternated with individual testing, the

setting of one group over against another, the attempt to see how much

can be done in a given period of minutes,--indeed, any device which will

keep attention fixed is to be most eagerly sought for. n all practice

it is important that the pupil strive to do his very best. f the ideal

of accuracy or of perfection in form is once lost sight of, the

responses given may result in an actual loss rather than in gain in

fixing the habit. When a teacher is no longer able to secure attention

to the work in hand, it is better to stop rather than to continue in

order to provide for a given number of repetitions. Drill periods of

from five to fifteen minutes two or three times a day may almost always

be found to produce better results than the same amount of time used

consecutively. Systematic reviews are most essential in the process of

habit formation. The complaint of a fifth-grade teacher that the work in

long division was not properly taught in the fourth grade may be due in

considerable measure to the fact that she has neglected at the beginning

of the fifth grade's work to spend a week or two in careful or

systematic review of the work covered in the previous year. The

complaint of high school teachers that children are not properly taught

in the elementary school would often be obviated if in each of the

fields in question some systematic review were given from time to time,

especially at the beginning of the work undertaken, in any particular

subject which involves work previously done in the elementary school.

During any year's work that teacher will be most successful who reviews

each day the work of the day before, who reviews each third or fourth

day the particularly difficult parts of the work done during the

previous periods, who reviews each week and each month, and even each

two or three months, the work which has been covered up to that time.

When teachers understand that the intervals between repetitions which

seem to have fixed a habit may only be gradually lengthened, then will

the formation of habits upon the part of boys and girls become more

certain, and the difficulties arising from lapses and inaccuracies

become less frequent.



As has been suggested in previous discussions, it will be necessary in

habit formation to vary the requirements among the individuals who

compose a group. The motive which we seek to utilize may make a greater

appeal to one child than to another. Physiological differences may

account for the fact that a small number of repetitions will serve to

fix the response for one individual as over against a very much larger

number of repetitions required for another. t is of the utmost

importance that all children work up to the maximum of their capacity.

t is very much better, for example, to excuse a boy entirely from a

given drill exercise than to have him dawdle or loaf during the period.

n some fields a degree of efficiency may be reached which will permit

the most efficient children to be relieved entirely from certain

exercises in order that they may spend their time on other work. On the

other hand, those who are less capable may need to have special drill

exercises arranged which will help them to make up their deficiency. The

teacher who is acquainted with the psychology of habit formation should

secure from the pupils in her class a degree of efficiency which is not

commonly found in our schools.





QUESTONS





1. n what sense is it true that we have habits of thought?



2. What habits which may interfere with or aid in your school work are

formed before children enter school?



3. Why is it hard to break a habit of speech?



4. Distinguish among actions to which we attribute a moral significance

those which are based upon habit and those which are reasoned.



5. Professor James said, "Habits are the stuff of which behavior

consists." ndicate the extent to which this is true for the children in

your classes.



6. n how far is it advantageous to become a creature of habit?



7. Which of our actions should be the result of reason?



8. Should school children reason their responses in case of a fire

alarm, in passing pencils, in formal work in arithmetic? Name responses

which should be the result of reason; others which should be habitual.



9. Why do we sometimes become less efficient when we fix our attention

upon an action that is ordinarily habitual?



10. Why do children sometimes write more poorly, or make more mistakes

in addition, or in their conjugations or declensions, at the end of the

period than they do at the beginning?



11. How would you hope to correct habits of speech learned at home? What

particular difficulty is involved?



12. When, are repetitions most helpful in habit formation?



13. When may repetitions actually break down or eliminate habitual

responses?



14. How may the keeping of a record of one's improvement add in the

formation of a habit?



15. What motives have you found most usable in keeping attention

concentrated during the exercises in habit formation which you conduct?



16. The approval or disapproval of a group of boys and girls often

brings about a very rapid change in physical, moral, or mental habits on

the part of individual children. Why?



17. Why should drill work be discontinued when children grow tired and

cease to concentrate their attention?



18. Why should reviews be undertaken at the beginning of a year's work?

How can reviews be organized to best advantage during the year?



19. What provision do you make in your work to guard against lapses?



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