ABSTRACT
The formation of the different habits will depend on differences of structure and biological function, or on differences of the environment in which the species or the individual lives; or they may result from experience, either racial or individual. In most cases, of course, all the causes combine in the formation of habits, but in many instances one or other factor is predominant. The formation of habits is thus an extension of the same principle by which the primal compulsions of life have been embodied in specific instincts. In the earlier stages of psychological growth all such formation of habits must be regarded as unconscious. The formation of habits, by constantly liberating it for other purposes, is thus of great importance for the development of fresh powers. Thus the habitual actions acquired in learning a game or using a tool are most easily dealt with—when they are wrong and have to be unlearnt—before they become entirely automatic.
