The mind and body are so intimately connected
that the value of an experience is seriously
affected by depletion or exhaustion of
the body. The experiences acquired when one
is fresh and vigorous are remembered; those
acquired when one is tired are forgotten. Most
college students find that lessons gotten in the
morning are better remembered and are more
readily applied than those learned after a day
of exhaustive work. We get most out of those
experiences secured when we are feeling the
most vigorous, whether the vigor be dependent
upon age, rest, or general health.
2. Experience is valuable proportionately as
we apply ourselves to the task on hand. By
intensity of application we not only accomplish
<p 279>
more, but each unit of work contributes more
to our development. Under the stress of voluntary
and spontaneous attention, under the
stimulus of personal efficiency-ideals, and under
such social demands as competition and imitation
we develop new methods of thought and
action which are thereupon adopted as the
methods for future action.
3. The value of an experience depends upon
what has been called the ``personal attitude''
sustained during the experience. Three forms
of ``personal attitudes'' have been distinguished
and are designated as follows:--
(_a_) The submissive or suggestible attitude.
(_b_) The self-attentive attitude.
(_c_) The objective or the problem attitude.
(_a_) One is likely to be thrown into the submissive
attitude when a new situation arises
(a business problem), if one knows that he is
in the presence of others who could solve the
problem with relative ease or accuracy. In
such a situation the individual is hampered
in his thinking by the presence of those who
are more expert than he. His thinking is
<p 280>
therefore futile for the present difficulty and is
devoid of educative value.
(_b_) The self-attentive attitude is similar
to the submissive attitude, but is not to be
confused with it. If when confronted with a
difficult problem my attack upon it is weakened
by the expectation of assistance from others, I
am in a submissive attitude. If, however, my
attack is weakened by my realization that I
am on trial,--that what I do with the problem
will be observed by others,--then I become
self-conscious and am thrown into the self-
attentive attitude. If I am conscious that I
am being watched, it is quite difficult for me to
hit a golf ball, to add a column of figures, or
to deliver a lecture on psychology. So long
as I am self-attentive my efficiency is reduced;
I hit on no improved methods of thought or
action, and my experience therefore has no
permanent value.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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