The Science of Human Nature: A Psychology for BeginnersPyle, William Henry
Science
The Science of Human Nature: A Psychology for Beginners
Pyle, William Henry
Educational psychology; Psychology
So it is always. The biologically important situations in life bring
about, through hereditary connections in the nervous system, certain
typical reactions. These reactions are largely the same for the same
type of situation, and they give the particular coloring to each
emotion. It is evident that the emotions are closely related to the
instincts. The reflexes that take place in emotions are of the same
nature as the instincts. Each instinctive act has its characteristic
emotion. There are fear instincts and fear emotions. Fear is unpleasant.
In addition to its unpleasantness there is a multitude of sensations
that come from the body. The hair stands on end, the heart throbs, the
circulation is hastened, breathing is interrupted, the muscles are
tense. This peculiar mass of sensations, blended with the
unpleasantness, gives the characteristic emotion of fear. But we need
not go into an analysis of the various emotions of love, hate, envy,
grief, jealousy, etc. The reader can do this for himself.[3]
[3] See James' _Psychology, Briefer Course_, Chapter XXIV.
Nearly every organ of the body plays its part in the emotions: the
digestive organs, the liver, the kidneys, the throat and mouth, the
salivary glands, the eyes and tear glands, the skin muscles, the facial
muscles, etc. And every emotion is made up of pleasantness or
unpleasantness and the sensations produced by some combination of bodily
reactions.
It is well for us to remember the part that bodily conditions and states
play in the emotional life. The emotional state of a man depends upon
whether he has had his dinner or is hungry, whether the liver is working
normally, and upon the condition of the various secreting and excreting
organs and glands. In a word, it is evident that our emotions fall
within a world of cause and effect. _Our feeling states are caused._
=Importance in Life.= Our feelings and emotions are the fountains from
which nearly all our volitional actions flow. Feeling is the
_mainspring_ of life. Nearly everything we do is prompted by love, or
hate, or fear, or jealousy, or rivalry, or anger, or grief. If the
feelings have such close relation to action, then the schools must take
them into account, for by education we seek to control action. If the
feelings control action, then we must try to control the feelings. We
must get the child into a right state of mind toward the school, toward
his teacher, and toward his work. The child must like the school, like
the teacher, and _want_ to learn.
Moreover, we must create the right state of mind in connection with
each study, each task. The child must come to feel the need and
importance of each individual task as well as of each subject. The task
is then desirable, it is to be sought for and worked at, it is important
for life.
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