Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VI Associative Learning (ContimiecC) j. Economical Learning Economical learning is that sort of learning which attains its end in the most appropriate and advantageous fashion. The end usually consists in an ability to recite from memory and to retain permanently in memory; and the most advantageous method is the method which employs the least time, and which employs the simplest and most appropriate procedure. The aim of learning, however, is not always the same, as we have already seen. In school-work the act of learning aims to secure an ability to recite the material once from memory, and then to retain the "substance" of the acquired material either temporarily or permanently. In certain cases we endeavor to memorize word-for-word; in other cases our sole purpose is to learn the essential content of a coherent context or a mass of concrete material without regard to the author's wording. The concerns of practical life and the affairs of the school-room frequently impel us to learn material with a view to remembering it for only a short time. When a professor prepares for a lecture, a public speaker for an address, a preacher for a sermon, or an actor for a performance, permanent retention is a matter of but slight importance. Hence it is preferable to extend the significance of the term "economical learning" to include every sort of learning which reaches its goal with a least expenditure of time and of energy and by means of associations whose formation conforms with sound psychological principles. In practical life and in the school-room, significance attaches chiefly to three of the numerous conditions of learning: the expenditure of time, the expenditure of energy, and the method of forming the associations which are to...
