The Mind of the Child, Part II: The Development of the Intellect, International Education; Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX.Preyer, William T.
Science
The Mind of the Child, Part II: The Development of the Intellect, International Education; Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX.
Preyer, William T.
Child development; Child psychology
To how small an extent, some time previous to this, perceptions were
made use of _to simplify his own exertions_, i. e., were combined and
had motor effect, appears from an observation in the sixteenth month.
Earlier than this, when I used to say, "Give the ring," I always laid an
ivory ring, that was tied to a thread, before the child, on the table. I
now said the same thing--after an interval of a week--while the same
ring was hanging near the chair by a red thread a foot long, so that the
child, as he sat on the chair, could just reach it, but only with much
pains. He made a grasp now, upon getting the sound-impression "ring,"
not at the thread, which would have made the seizure of the ring,
hanging freely, very easy for him, but directly at the ring hanging far
below him, and gave it to me. And when the command was repeated, it did
not occur to him to touch the thread.
It is likewise a sign of small understanding that the mouth is always
opened in smelling of a fragrant flower or perfume (Vol. I, p. 135).
Deficiencies of this kind are, indeed, quite logical from the standpoint
of childish experience. Because, at an earlier period the pleasant smell
(of milk) always came in connection with the pleasant taste, therefore,
thinks the child, in every case where there is a pleasant smell there
will also be something that tastes good. The common or collective
concept _taste-smell_ had not yet (in the seventeenth month) been
differentiated into the concepts taste and smell.
In the department of the sense of hearing the differentiation generally
makes its appearance earlier; memory, as a rule, later. Yet children
whose talent for music is developed early, retain _melodies_ even in
their first year of life. A girl to whom some of the Froebel songs were
sung, and who was taught appropriate movements of the hands and feet,
always performed the proper movement when one of the melodies was merely
hummed, or a verse was said (in the thirteenth month), without
confounding them at all. This early and firm association of sound-images
with motor-images is possible only when interest is attached to it--i. e.,
when the attention has been directed often, persistently, and with
concentration, upon the things to be combined. Thus, this very child (in
the nineteenth month), when her favorite song, "Who will go for a
Soldier?" ("Wer will unter die Soldaten?") was sung to her, could not
only join in the rhyme at the end of the verse, but, no matter where a
stop was made, she would go on, in a manner imperfect, indeed, but
easily intelligible (Frau Dr. Friedemann).
Here, however, in addition to memory and attention, heredity is to be
considered; since such a talent is wholly lacking in certain families,
but in others exists in all the brothers and sisters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account