Psychology : $b A study of mental lifeWoodworth, Robert Sessions
Science
Psychology : $b A study of mental life
Woodworth, Robert Sessions
Psychology
The process of reaching a substitute response thus includes three
stages: (a) original response found unsatisfactory, (b) new stimulus
found which gives a satisfactory substitute response, (c) attachment
of the substitute response to the original stimulus.
{409}
There are two main cases under the general head of substitute
response. In one case, the substitute response is essentially an old
response, not acquired during the process of substitution, but simply
substituted, as indicated just above, for the original response to the
situation. This represents the common trial and error learning of
animals. The second case is that where the substitute response has to
be built up by combination of old responses into a higher unit.
C. Substitute Response, but not in Itself a New Response
I. Trial and error.
Our much-discussed instance of the _cat in the cage_ need not be
described again, but may simply be illustrated by a diagram.
[Illustration: Fig. 60.--How the cat learns the trick of escaping from
the cage by unlatching the door. S is the situation of being shut up
in a cage, and T is the tendency to get out. R1 is the primary
response aroused by this tendency, which response meets with failure,
not leading to the end-result of the tendency. Responses are then made
to various particular stimuli about the cage, and one of these
stimuli, the door-latch, X, gives the response R2 which leads to the
end-result. Now the response R2 was in part aroused by T, and its
pre-existing weak linkage with T is so strengthened by exercise that
T, or we may say S, comes to give the correct response without
hesitation.]
{410}
2. Learning to balance on a bicycle.
When the beginner feels the bicycle tipping to the left, he naturally
responds by leaning to the right, and even by turning the wheel to the
right. Result unsatisfactory--strained position and further tipping to
the left. As the bicyclist is about to fall, he saves himself by a
response which he has previously learned in balancing on his feet; he
extends his foot to the left, which amounts to a response to the
ground on the left as a good base of support. Now let him sometime
respond to the ground on his left by turning his wheel that way, and,
to his surprise and gratification, he finds the tipping overcome, and
his balance well maintained. The response of turning to the left,
originally made to the ground on the left (but in part to the
tipping), becomes so linked with the tipping as to be the prompt
reaction whenever tipping is felt. The diagram of this process would
be the same as for the preceding instance.
D. Substitute Response, the Response Being a Higher Motor Unit
1. The brake and clutch combination in driving an automobile.
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