exclusion of alien ideas is accompanied by a sense of mental effort and volition whenever the topic under consideration is unattractive; otherwise it proceeds automatically, for if an intruding idea finds nothing to cling to, it is unable to hold its place in the antechamber, and slides back again. (12: 203-204) James and Dewey provide best discussions of reflective thinking. In recent years the writings of William James (1842-1910) and Professor John Dewey have tended to concentrate attention on the psychology of the thinking process itself as distinguished from the logical quality of the finished products of such thinking. Dewey's "How we Think" (1910) contains the best accounts of the results of this study. It takes up such topics as the following: What is thought? The need for training thought. The analysis of a complete act of thought. Language and the training of thought. The recitation and the training of thought, etc. The student who is interested in studying the process of reflective thought intensively should read Dewey's book carefully several times. Most of the recent books on methods of teaching exhibit results of Dewey's influence. Dewey's summary of characteristics of reflective thinking. -The following quotation summarizes Dewey's characterization of reflective thought. In reading it the student should have in mind some examples of reflective thinking which he has carried on, such as planning a vacation, in order to see whether Dewey's description is typical. The headlines are not in the original, and the paragraphing is slightly altered. Origin in some perplexity. We may recapitulate by saying that the origin of thinking is some perplexity, confusion, or doubt. Thinking is not a case of spontaneous combustion; it does not occur just on "general principles." There is something specific which occasions and evokes it. General appeals to a child (or to a grown-up) to think, irrespective of the existence in his own experience of some difficulty that troubles him and disturbs his equilibrium, are as futile as advice to lift himself by his boot-straps. Given a diffi the formation Form a tentative plan based on past experience. culty, the next step is suggestion of some way outof some tentative plan or project, the entertaining of some theory which will account for the peculiarities in question, the consideration of some solution for the problem. The data at hand cannot supply the solution; they can only suggest it. What, then, are the sources of the suggestion? Clearly past experience and prior knowledge. If the person has had some acquaintance with similar situations, if he has dealt with material of the same sort before, suggestions more or less apt or helpful are likely to arise. But unless there has been experience in some degree analogous, which may now be represented in imagination, confusion remains mere confusion. There is nothing upon which to draw in order to clarify it. Even when a child (or a grown-up) has a problem, to urge him to think when he has no prior experiences involving some of the same conditions is wholly futile. Plan not accepted until carefully examined and criticized. If the suggestion that occurs is at once accepted, we have uncritical thinking, the minimum of reflection. To turn the thing over in mind, to reflect, means to hunt for additional evidence, for new data, that will develop the suggestion and will either, as we say, bear it out or else make obvious its absurdity and irrelevance. Given a genuine difficulty and a reasonable amount of analogous experience to draw upon, the difference, par excellence, between good and bad thinking is found at this point. The easiest way is to accept any suggestion that seems plausible and thereby bring to an end the condition of mental uneasiness. Reflective thinking is always more or less troublesome, because it involves overcoming the inertia that inclines one to accept suggestions at their face value; it involves willingness to endure a condition of mental unrest. ... Reflective thinking, in short, means judgment suspended during inquiry, and suspense is likely to be somewhat painful. . . . The most important factor in the training of good mental habits consists in acquiring the attitude of suspended conclusion and in mastering the various methods of searching for new materials to corroborate or to refute the first suggestions that occur. To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on systematic and protracted inquiry- these are the essentials of thinking. (5: 12-13) Assisting pupils to solve problems. Such thinking as Dewey describes has various characteristics which are summarized in these quoted paragraphs. In order to bring out these characteristics more clearly, we shall take up several of them for detailed consideration. In each case we shall be interested primarily in two points; namely, (1) how is the given characteristic related to efficiency or skill in reflective thinking, and (2) how can the teacher assist pupils to acquire or exhibit this efficiency. The characteristics will be taken up under the following main headings. I. Defining the problem and keeping it clearly in mind. III. Critical evaluation of suggestions. IV. Methods of organizing the material of thinking. I. Defining the Problem Great differences between individuals in ability to define problems. The first essentials in efficient reflective thinking are (a) to get the problem or difficulty clearly in mind, that is, to get it clearly defined, and (b) to keep it clearly in mind. There are interesting individual differences in the ability to follow these rules. We may distinguish roughly three degrees of efficiency in locating and defining problems. For example, in what may be assumed to be a perplexing situation, at one extreme we shall find some persons who will not see any problem in it at all; they will not realize that there is anything wrong or that anything needs to be done. This complacent attitude is exhibited by people in all types of situations, in case a train is delayed or some one is ill, or if the tariff needs readjustment or a school curriculum needs revision. They simply "sit tight" mentally and are not disturbed. Somewhat more developed than this type are those persons who have a vague feeling that something is wrong and something ought to be done, but who are not clear as to the nature of the problem. They are likely simply to look worried and wring their hands or to jump to conclusions and do various things in random or impulsive ways. Thus, if a person has a headache, an observer may feel sorry but sit by in a helpless sort of way; or he may prescribe soda mints, pepsin, hot water, aspirin, salts, liver pills, and all the other remedies that he can recall as having been used in cases of headache, and may urge the sick one to take them all. Another good example is found in the activities of the automobile owner who begins to tinker in all sorts of random ways with his machine when trouble appears, instead of making some intellectual study of the problem presented. On the other hand, a skilled, reflective thinker, represented in the case of the headache by the physician, recognizes that the first essential is to define the problem more specifically by finding the probable cause of the headache. He keeps this problem of diagnosis in mind and works on it, asking questions which will define the trouble more and more clearly. Deliberative bodies have difficulty in keeping a problem in mind. The part played in reflective thinking by the two factors which we have been discussing, namely, (a) locating and defining a problem and (b) keeping it clearly in mind, are well illustrated by the thinking done in a deliberative body-for example, during a debate in a committee or before a legislative assembly. In the first place, it is very surprising how long it takes a body of well-educated persons to get the purport of a motion to understand what is the problem before the house. In the second place, it is wonderful with what ease they will wander from the topic of the discussion will fail to keep the problem clearly in mind. One of the chief attributes of a skilled presiding officer is his ability to keep the discussion to the problem before the house. Another excellent example of the mental activity involved in defining problems is the preliminary work done by debating teams in determining the exact wording of a question for debate. In this case many hours may be spent in getting the problem in mind with sufficient clearness to secure a satisfactory wording. Teacher should assist pupil by authority or suggestion.— Since the failure to define problems definitely and to keep them clearly in mind is such a common tendency, it is evident that training along these lines is one of the most important phases of training in thinking. In this connection the teacher serves the same purpose as the presiding officer of a deliberative body. He may act either authoritatively, however, or by suggestion; that is, he may either say directly that a student has not kept the problem in mind or he may by suggestion lead the student to realize this and thus begin the development of a habit of self-criticism and self-checking. II. Stimulating Fertility of Suggestion Various degrees of ability depend on knowledge and recall. The second aspect of efficient reflective thinking concerns methods of stimulating, systematizing, and controlling suggestions. Other things being equal, the person who thinks of a hundred matters related to the perplexity or difficulty or problem is more likely to find a helpful suggestion than the person who thinks of only ten. In other words, fertility in suggestion is a helpful factor in reflective thinking. This fertility depends upon two things: first, knowledge of related ideas, and, second, the ease and fullness with which these ideas are recalled when needed. In this connection we find striking differences between individuals when confronted with a problem in connection with which they should recall and use their knowledge. Various combinations of the two factors occur, such as (a) little knowledge and meager recall, (b) vast |