All students of the psychology of childhood agree that not until the dawn of adolescence does reasoning as such begin to show itself in the child mind; that judgment and foresight and self-control, such as enable a person to counteract his natural impulses and make himself fit into the conventions of society, are practically unknown previous to this age. It is true that many children are taught to say what the adult alone can feel in connection with such matters. But as for having the real feeling and the understanding of the situation, we seem to have no right to expect it before the beginning of this adolescent period, from twelve to fifteen years of age. Everything points to the correctness of the conclusion that during this early period of pre-adolescence the child is a creature of impulse and instinct and is controlled largely by counteracting one instinct by another. For example, the instinct to love and obey a parent impels the child to do what that parent says, when he tells him not to yield to some impulse which would lead him into trouble according to the canons of modern society. Without going further into a discussion of the point, which would necessarily lead to many philosophical considerations, the writer may express his conviction, born of a study both of normal children and also of mental defectives of twelve years and under in mentality, that persons of this mentality do not know much about right and wrong. They act upon impulse and upon instinct, without very much thought. Even the child of the best opportunity and the most elaborate training in a good home may quite likely not know the wrongfulness of an act of homicide in the sense of having a real feeling of that wrong. He can doubtless, as already stated, _say_ that the thing is wrong, because he has learned that this is the right thing to say.