ABSTRACT
Although the intensive study of the processes of learning has been left until now, earlier chapters were compelled to take some account of learning in order to do justice to their own special topics. It was impossible to trace the individual’s development without indicating how largely his abilities and personal traits depend on experience and learning. It was impossible to study unlearned motives alone without noticing the modifications due to experience and the new interests derived from acquaintance with the environment. And it was impossible to discuss observation without saying that through learning stimuli acquire meaning and become signs of objective facts. But while repeatedly emphasizing the importance of learning we have not yet made any serious study of the process of learning. This is one of the principal fields of psychological research and one in which the experi mental method, from about 1880 to the present time, has been employed with great success.
