File:Adventures with animals and plants (1948) (17936832002).jpg

Title: Adventures with animals and plants
Identifier: adventureswithan00kroe (find matches)
Year: 1948 (1940s)
Authors: Kroeber, Elsbeth, 1882-; Wolff, Walter Harold, 1901-
Subjects: Biology
Publisher: Boston : D. C. Heath
Contributing Library: MBLWHOI Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MBLWHOI Library

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PROBLEM V Behavior in Complex Aimnals 293
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Fig. 275 Has this boy learned bow to thread a needle? Has it become habitual? What makes you think so? (38TH annual report, supt. of schools, new york city) those of its sisters and brothers; the hab- its, which are learned during the hfetime of the animal, will depend, of course, on the particular surroundings in which the animal lives. It is impossible and useless for you to try to label each automatic act as either a reflex or a habit. Very frequently when an act is a complicated one a part of it may be learned and another part may be reflex. One overlaps the other. Habits are of help to you. In the first years of your life you were so busy ac- quiring habits that you have never been as busy since. You learned to move one leg after the other without holding on and without even so much as thinking about legs. There were many random motions and many unsuccessful attempts before you completely learned to walk with ease. There was trial and error and after many repetitions there was suc- cess. You learned to use a spoon, even a fork, without having the food fall off. You learned to move certain muscles in your tongue and in your jaws, in a par- ticular way, so that you could say hun- dreds of difl"erent words. If you had been left in the jungle, away from other hu- mans, you would no doubt have learned to make many strange noises but you would never have uttered a real word. Speech is not inborn. Speech is learned by imitation through frequent trials and repetitions until it becomes automatic. You learned to grasp a pencil and draw pictures which no one but you could recognize. At last you learned to form letters so easily that now there are no false motions and you can think about what ought to be put down next while your fingers go right on moving. All of

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