color is a factor. The necessity for sense-elements out of which to construct the new picture is well illustrated in the case of Sir Walter Scott, a writer of the most vivid imagination. In a visit to Mr. Morritt, Scott said to his host with reference to some facts which he had given to Scott: "You have given me materials for romance: now I want a good robber's cave, and an old church of the right sort." "We rode out," says Mr. Morritt, "and he found what he wanted in the ancient slate quarries of Brignal and the ruined abbey of Eggleston. I observed him noting down even the peculiar little wild flowers and herbs that accidentally grew round and on the side of a bold crag near his intended cave of Guy Denzil; and could not help saying that, as he was not to be on oath in his work, daisies, violets, and primroses would be as poetical as any of the humbler plants he was examining. I laughed, in short, at his scrupulousness; but I understood him when he replied, that in nature herself no two scenes were exactly alike, and that whoever copied truly what was before his eyes, would possess the same variety in his descriptions, and exhibit apparently an imagination as boundless as the range of nature in the scenes he recorded; whereas whoever trusted to [constructive and not accurate, reproductive] imagination would soon find his own mind circumscribed, and contracted to a few favorite images, and the repetition of these would sooner or later produce that very monotony and barrenness, which had always haunted descriptive poetry in the hands of any but the patient worshippers of truth." 1 The foregoing also illustrates the fact that in the best imaginative literature, the finest descriptions contain more of truth than of fiction. The salient characteristics which have been selected for the scene characterized must be true to life. It is said that Scott's characters "are felt by those who are well acquainted with the Scottish life of the past to be so intensely natural that every one of them might have been a real character. And the same is true of the best of Dickens's and of Thackeray's imaginary constructions, in which these great humorists have so 1 Carpenter, Mental Physiology, p. 492. completely identified themselves, as it were, with the several types they delineated, as to make each of them speak and act as he (or she) would have done in actual life. It is certain, indeed, that most of these (as in Walter Scott's case) are developments of actual types; while those which are purely idealthe work of the creative rather than of the constructive imagination-lack 'flesh and blood' reality." Burroughs wrote of Tennyson: "A lady told me that she was once walking with him in the fields when they came to a spring that bubbled up through shifting sands in a very pretty manner, and Tennyson, in order to see exactly how the spring behaved, got down on his hands and knees and peered a long time into the water. The incident is worth repeating, as showing how intently a great poet studies nature." After knowing these habits of the great poet we can readily understand why he could pen such an exact simile in the lines: . . arms on which the standing muscle sloped, As slopes a wild brook o'er a little stone, Running too vehemently to break upon it." Individual Differences in Imagination.-There are manifestly very great individual differences in the power of imaging. Some persons possess a good imagination for all classes of sensepercepts, others possess remarkable powers in a certain class, as sight, and still others are almost devoid of any powers of vivid imagery. The classic investigations of Sir Francis Galton for the first time revealed these striking individual differences in mental processes. The fact that people are incredulous about such differences is a strange thing. That such mental differences exist is no more strange than that some people are tall, some short, or some red-haired and some black-haired. But the popular mind is slow to recognize that mind is the greatest variable in existence. Galton asked a very large number of persons to study their imagery by the following test: "Think of some definite object-suppose it is your breakfast-table as Carpenter, op. cit., p. 502. 1 you sat down to it this morning-and consider carefully the picture that rises before your mind's eye. “(1) Illumination.-Is the image dim or fairly clear? Is its brightness comparable to that of the actual scene? “(2) Definition.—Are all the objects pretty well defined at the same time, or is the place of sharpest definition at any one moment more contracted than it is in a real scene? “(3) Coloring.—Are the colors of the china, of the toast, bread-crust, mustard, meat, parsley, or whatever may have been on the table, quite distinct and natural?" He says that the first results of his inquiry amazed him. Some protested that mental imagery was entirely unknown to them; others habitually possessed imagery full of distinctness, detail, and color. Scientific men seemed to have much less vivid and exact imagery than the unscholarly. Later researches have disclosed great differences among different individuals, and also that a given individual may have some type much better developed than others. It is probable that mature individuals and scholars have not lost their powers of imagination, but that they utilize higher modes of thinking than children and the untrained. The former could, if necessary, think by means of the more primitive method-through imagery.1 1 Galton, Inquiries into Human Faculty, pp. 83-114. The reader should also consult Bentley, "The Memory Image," American Journal of Psychology, vol. XI; Lay, Mental Imagery; Pillsbury, "Meaning and Image," Psychological Review, vol. XV; Betts and Woodworth, previously cited. These, with the special references cited throughout the text, will be a sufficient guide to the literature of the various phases of the subject. CHAPTER XIX IMAGINATION AND EDUCATION General Considerations.-A person with a well-developed imagination can repicture clearly, vividly, and accurately a great variety of perceptions which have been gained through personal experiences. He also has the ability to recombine his imagery so as to construct new pictures out of the elements of the reproductive images. A well-trained power of imagination enables the possessor in addition to hold voluntarily before the mind any selected images and to exclude others. Through voluntary selection the trained individual is able to reproduce his imagery for advantageous consideration and to recombine elements into logical, consistent trains of imagery and thus lead to the construction of new and original combinations. The child usually possesses vivid imagery, but the images lack accuracy. The child also lacks voluntary control of his images and trains of thought. Consequently, the child's fancy is flitting, incoherent, inconsistent, and ineffective. The child thinks out very fanciful stories, but they would hardly make a consistent piece of fiction. It is only with effort and through training that the adult is able to control thoroughly his imagination. It is erroneous to regard the child's imagination as being better or stronger than that of the adult. The unbridled play of fancy in the child causes his ideas to run riot, and as imagination is so frequently made identical with fancy, his imagination has come to be regarded as stronger than that of the adult. The great activity and vividness of the child's imagination coupled with the fact that every imagined product deepens impressions on the brain and the mind in precisely the same way that original perceptions do, suggests that this power should contribute much in the education of the child. Not only may intellectual lessons be reinforced, but we may emphasize if not actually create moral tendencies by stimulating the child's imagination in right directions. Just as bodily health or disease may be induced through the imagination, may we not induce mental health or disease by imaginative stimulation? Ideas held before the mind tend to result in the corresponding activities, hence the desirability of holding only correct ideas and ideals before the mind. Harboring immoral imaginations will tend to convert them into beliefs, and we are to a large extent what we believe. What Training Involves.-Training the imagination may concern itself with either increasing the power of vivid recall or with control of the train of imagery, directing it into desired channels and thus leading toward the creation of new and original combinations. From the discussion of the psychological meaning of the imagination it can readily be inferred that the key to its training lies in the proper development of sense-perception. To state it formally, there are requisite: (1) Opportunity for abundant sensory experiences; (2) Judicious guidance and direction along proper channels; (3) Sufficient exercise in reviving actual experiences; (4) Practice in building accurately imaginary pictures painted by another, as in literature, geographical descriptions, etc.; (5) Attempts at constructive imagination. Recognition of Individual Differences.-In view of the fact that there are great individual differences in the power of imagery, the question arises whether we should attempt to develop the special talents or supply deficiencies and try to secure equal powers in all directions? Three types of imagination undoubtedly have become of greatest importance in our lives. These are the visual, the auditory, and the tactile; and an attempt should be made to secure at least a medium degree of proficiency in reproducing each of these classes of images. The senses of taste and smell are not so absolutely essential, but, however, unless the sense organs are defective they should receive training, |