EDUCATION TO SUPPLY OPPORTUNITIES FOR STIMULUS AND RESPONSE.--The great
problem of education is, on the physical side, it would seem, then, to
provide for ourselves and those we seek to educate as rich an
environment of sensory and social stimuli as possible; one whose
impressions will be full of suggestions to response in motor activity
and the higher thought processes; and then to give opportunity for
thought and for expression in acts and deeds in the largest possible
number of lines. And added to this must be frequent and clear sensory
and motor recall, a living over again of the sights and sounds and odors
and the motor activities we have once experienced. There must also be
the opportunity for the forming of worthy plans and ideals. For in this
way the brain centers which were concerned in the original sensation or
thought or movement are again brought into exercise, and their
development continued. Through recall and imagination we are able not
only greatly to multiply the effects of the immediate sensory and motor
stimuli which come to us, but also to improve our power of thinking by
getting a fund of material upon which the mind can draw.
