the response and its situation, and vice versa. Thus amended the law becomes :-Any mental state or act which in a given situation does not produce discomfort becomes associated with that situation, so that when the situation recurs the mental state or act is more likely than before to recur also; the greater the satisfaction produced by it, the stronger the association. Conversely, any mental state or act which in a given situation does produce discomfort becomes disconnected from that situation, so that when the situation recurs the mental state or act is less likely than before to recur also; the greater the discomfort produced by it, the weaker the association becomes.

From another point of view the law may be stated as: In any situation the mental state or act will take place L which has resulted from that situation oftenest and with the most satisfaction.

The law of habit formation and the law of instinctive connection may be combined into one as follows: The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any situation is in proportion to the closeness of its inborn connection therewith, to the frequency of its connection therewith, and to the amount of satisfaction resulting. This may be called the Law of Least Resistance in Mental Life.

The Real Situation May Be More or Less Than the Apparent Situation.-The word situation in the law of instinct and the law of association must be taken broadly. The connection made is not necessarily with one particular circumstance or thing, but often is with the total state of affairs felt. Thus the chicken in the pen whose behavior was described in § 34, did not make connection with the situation, 'sight of confining walls,' but rather with the situation, 'sight of confining walls plus

feelings of hunger plus absence of sight of companions plus sound of companions at a distance plus absence of food.' The same particular circumstance may in one set of surrounding circumstances,-in one mental context,connect with one act and in a different mental context, with another. Had the chick been put into a pen with other chicks and food, it would have played about and pecked at the food and only occasionally jumped at the confining walls. The sight of the figures below (Fig. 75) would call up in a school-boy's mind the thoughts of a cube and a sphere if felt in connection with the surround

ings of his school room and geometry class, while if felt in connection with the ordinary sights of street or playroom they would call up the thought of a box and a ball.

The situation may then be the whole state of mind, the circumstance or thing in its context, the entire 'attitude' or 'set' of mental life, as well as the particular fact in its focus.

On the other hand the connection made may be with some very small element of the apparent situation. In learning to swim the connections are not made with the color, temperature, taste and smell of the water, but only with the feelings of non-solidity, of suspension and of

sinking. In learning to play a piece on the piano the connections are not made with the color of the instrument, the quality of the room's atmosphere and the size of the music book, but with the position of the notes on the scale, the form of the notes, the feelings of one's arms and fingers and the sounds produced.

The facts that the connection may be made not only with the apparent situation but also with it plus the cooperating attitude of the mind as a whole or with it minus many or all but one of its elements may be stated as the laws (1) of the Mind's Set and (2) of Partial Activity. These are:

(1) The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any apparent situation is in proportion to the closeness of its connection with the total set of the mind at the time as well as with the apparent situation itself.

(2) The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any apparent situation is in proportion to the closeness of its connection with the apparent situation or some element or part thereof.

Recency and Intensity of Connections.-Other factors besides the results of a connection and its frequency determine the likelihood of its operation, namely, recency and intensity. For the sake of simplicity these factors may remain undescribed until later chapters. An adequate statement of the entire Law of Association would be: THE LIKELIHOOD THAT ANY MENTAL STATE OR ACT WILL OCCUR IN RESPONSE TO ANY SITUATION IS IN PROPORTION TO THE FREQUENCY, RECENCY, INTENSITY AND RESULTING SATISFACTION OF ITS CONNECTION WITH THAT SITUATION OR SOME PART OF IT AND WITH THE TOTAL FRAME OF MIND IN WHICH THE SITUATION IS FELT..

The Varieties of Connections.-The law of associa

tion applies not only to the growth of connections between sensory situations and responses to them, but also to the growth of all the forms of connections described in Chapter I.

Connections between (1) physical stimuli and mental states, between (2) one mental state and another, between (3) ideas and acts-all are formed in accordance with the law of association. Illustrations of (1) need some preliminary explanation and will be reserved for another chapter (Chapter XV). Illustrations of (2) are found in almost every process of memory or thought. We think of 36 when we think of 9X4 because with the situation, 'thinking of 9X4' the thought of 36 has gone oftenest and with most satisfaction. Illustrations of (3) are found in almost every hour of daily life. We start for the class-room when the clock strikes the hour because we have done so; when we feel a desire to read, we buy a magazine because we have done so and with pleasurable results.

In cases where the connection involves a bodily act, it will be found that the satisfaction or discomfort resulting plays a large part in the formation or breaking of the connection. In cases where the connection involves only thoughts and feelings, the mere frequency of the response will be found to play the leading rôle. This is due to the fact that (1) the satisfaction resulting from responding to a situation by a successful idea so often comes much later. The boy in school who thinks of the correct answer to a question does not feel much satisfaction at the time. Often he does not know that his idea is right and so feels none. It is later when he is asked to recite and wins approval, or when his examination paper is returned and he finds it marked high, that the satisfaction comes. Moreover (2) the results of many of our mental

responses produce almost no satisfaction. It makes little difference whether the sight of a watch arouses the thought of a clock or the thought of time or the thought of wheels; whether the thought of John arouses the thought of Smith or of Jones or of Anderson.

§ 36. The Control of the Formation of Connections

Three Essentials in Efficient Learning.-The applications of the law of association to the control of mental life by school education and general training are clear. In briefest terms they are as follows::

The first necessity of mental progress is fertility in response. Unless the baby does something, it can learn nothing; there is nothing for selection to work upon. Intellect and character cannot be created from a void. Other things being equal, the capacity for varied responses, great activity, curiosity, and mental energy increase the probability of mental improvement.

The second means of training is the arrangement of instructive situations, of conditions the responses to which may form valuable associations. As civilization progresses, men try increasingly to provide in the home, in schools and in the world's affairs, situations fitted to induce profitable responses. The behavior and conversation of the people about us, the books, laboratories, museums and other school paraphernalia, sermons, newspapers, music, laws and the like-all aim to control the mind's acts by controlling the situations to which it responds. In the words of a sagacious trainer of animals, we "Arrange all the circumstances of the experiment so that the animal is compelled by the laws of its own nature to do the trick."

The third means is the arrangement of the results of