The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-08-19
His Second Lecture in the Uni
VerSity Extension Course.
IMAGINATION AND ASSOCIATION
The Natural InheritanCes of the
Child Finally Dominating His
Later Actions.

I Professor Dewey of the University
of Chicago gave the second lecture of
the University Extension course at the
High School last evening The sub
ject dealt with the play and imagina-
ton as developed in early childhood
ture man. He dwelt most interesting
ly on the phases of Imagination and
association which are the natural in
heritances Of the child, finally becom-
ing the dominating features control
ling his later actions. Professor Dew
ey is strong in the belief that far from
being unreal, the child's Imagination is
as strong reality as the reality which
out this line of thought he said: ''The
child forms an association with the
objects themselves, so that everything
which the child reacts is to it a bundle
a certain way. To give a familiar il
lustration: the ball is something to
throw, the door is something to be
opened and shut, the paper is some
through the motion of reading, and
thus the child forms an association
with the object itself which must be
reacted out. A slight depression from
the main subject is not altogether out
of the way, which is to notice what is
now recognized as one of the funda-
mental principles of action every
where; the tendency of every idea en-
tertained by the mind is to find some
outlet for it; we see a door, but it does
not occur to us adults to open or shut
it, simply by seeing it, and yet it is
safe to say there is a slight reaction
upon seeing something which we are
not accustomed to, and, being a new
idea, there is tendency in our mind
TO react it. There are persons who
cannot see certain things or go to GER
tain places without making certain
motions. In criminals this power, this
motive power comes out very strongly.
For instance, persons who shock the
community by numbering their own
children; the only explanation is, that
they have heard voices telling them to
do it; in some cases it is the Lord 5
voice, and in others, the DEVILS voice,
but it was some voice telling them to
commit the deed; to them they heard
the thing said; they have the idea in
their minds, and it has to get itself out;
it reacts. In hypnotizing people, or, as
it is sometimes called, animal magne-
tism, the same thing comes out. The
ordinary restrictions which are acting
within us all the time in our normal
condition are removed when this pow
er of animal magnetism or what is pop
ularly called the power of one persons
will over another is simply a
relapse of this condition of
ordinary restriction. 1t is suggested
to such a person under hypnotic power
that he is drowning, and he will throw
himself on the floor and go through all
the movements of swimming.
There is no such a thing as passive
ideas-an inert passiveness. This be-
comes very relevant to the subject of
child-imagination and play. There is
more helpful in giving an in
sight to a child'S mind than that Of
system of habitual customs and re-
straints; passive mobility is, in
large measure, due to the fact that his
play and imagination are controlled so
largely by his physical surroundings
and conditions, encroaching upon his
perceptions and observations. That
point, of course, makes a natural in
PRODUCTION of imagery in the childs
mind. The child simply does things
with objects that he is accustomed to
seeing done, and he does this with lit
eral objects themselves. The child sees
the door opened and shut, and he be-
gins to open and shut the door; he has
then passed the period of imagination.
saw a child once pick up a watch
chain which happened to fall to the