ABSTRACT
THE PRECEDING CHAPTER points out that handwriting is a skill which is not transmitted by physical inheritance. It is acquired by individuals only after arduous practice in the course of which new neural patterns of organization are developed. The motives which prompt individuals to acquire this and certain other skills that make for successful life are social. The models which individuals imitate in learning to write are products of long ages of human co-operative effort. The pressure on individuals impelling them to acquire the art of writing is social. The school as an institution which guides the training of individuals while they are learning to write is organized and maintained by society for the purpose of helping individuals to acquire social modes of behavior and thus become acceptable members of the community. Writing is transmitted by social inheritance rather than by physical inheritance.
