Psychology : the study of behaviour.

  • McDougall, William, 1871-1938.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Psychology : the study of behaviour. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    of the current terms (in so far as they are well chosen) enables us to observe more fully and accurately; for each name seiwes to fix our attention upon some particular feature or phase of the complex object of our observation, and thus, by fixing our attention in turn upon its several principal features, helps us to analyse the whole into its constituent parts. And the observations we make render our under- standing of the terms fuller, and our use of them more accurate. Thus, when on begin- ning the study of botany the student takes a flower in his hand, he can observe it and describe it in a rough way, distinguishing its most prominent features by the aid of ill- defined terms of popular speech. He then learns to apply to each of its parts its scientific name, petal, sepal, pistil, stamen, and so forth; and as he repeats this double process of observation and naming on a variety of flowers, his power of observation and his usage of the scientific terminology improve hand in hand; and both improvements are due to the fact that his thought of a flower, which at first was confused and vague, has become more definite and richer in meaning; he has learnt to know the parts in detail, and to know the whole as the sum of the parts related according to a definite plan.