The Story of the Mind | Page 2

predicted." If the universe be pregnant with purpose, as we all wish to
believe, why should not this purpose work itself out by an evolution
process under law?--and if under law, why not the law of Probabilities?
We who have our lives insured provide for our children through our
knowledge and use of this law; and our plans for their welfare, in most
of the affairs of life, are based upon the recognition of it. Who will
deny to the Great Purpose a similar resource in producing the universe
and in providing for us all?
I add in a concluding section on Literature some references to various
books in English, classified under the headings of the chapters of the
text. These works will further enlighten the reader, and, if he persevere,
possibly make a psychologist of him.
J. MARK BALDWIN.
PRINCETON, April, 1898.
* * * * *

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.

THE SCIENCE OF THE MIND--PSYCHOLOGY
II. WHAT OUR MINDS HAVE IN COMMON--INTROSPECTIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
III. THE MIND OF THE ANIMAL--COMPARATIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
IV. THE MIND OF THE CHILD--CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
V. THE CONNECTION OF BODY WITH
MIND--PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY--MENTAL DISEASES
VI. HOW WE EXPERIMENT ON THE MIND--EXPERIMENTAL
PSYCHOLOGY
VII. SUGGESTION AND HYPNOTISM
VIII. THE TRAINING OF THE MIND--EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
IX. THE INDIVIDUAL MIND AND SOCIETY--SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
X. THE GENIUS AND HIS ENVIRONMENT
XI. LITERATURE
* * * * *

LIST OF DIAGRAMS.
FIGURE
1. Origin of instinct by organic selection
2. Reflex and voluntary circuits

3. Outer surface of the left hemisphere of the brain
4. Inner surface or the right hemisphere of the brain
5. The speech zone (after Collins)
6. Mouth-key
7. Apparatus for optical experiment
8. Memory curves
* * * * *

THE STORY OF THE MIND
CHAPTER I.
THE SCIENCE OF THE MIND--PSYCHOLOGY,
Psychology is the science of the mind. It aims to find out all about the
mind--the whole story--just as the other sciences aim to find out all
about the subjects of which they treat--astronomy, of the stars; geology,
of the earth; physiology, of the body. And when we wish to trace out
the story of the mind, as psychology has done it, we find that there are
certain general truths with which we should first acquaint ourselves;
truths which the science has been a very long time finding out, but
which we can now realize without a great deal of explanation. These
general truths, we may say, are preliminary to the story itself; they deal
rather with the need of defining, first of all, the subject or topic of
which the story is to be told.
1. The first such truth is that the mind is not the possession of man
alone. Other creatures have minds. Psychology no longer confines itself,
as it formerly did, to the human soul, denying to the animals a place in
this highest of all the sciences. It finds itself unable to require any test
or evidence of the presence of mind which the animals do not meet, nor

does it find any place at which the story of the mind can begin higher
up than the very beginnings of life. For as soon as we ask, "How much
mind is necessary to start with?" we have to answer, "Any mind at all";
and all the animals are possessed of some of the actions which we
associate with mind. Of course, the ascertainment of the truth of this
belongs--as the ascertainment of all the truths of nature belongs--to
scientific investigation itself. It is the scientific man's rule not to
assume anything except as he finds facts to support the assumption. So
we find a great department of psychology devoted to just this
question--i.e., of tracing mind in the animals and in the child, and
noting the stages of what is called its "evolution" in the ascending scale
of animal life, and its "development" in the rapid growth which every
child goes through in the nursery. This gives us two chapters of the
story of the mind. Together they are called "Genetic Psychology,"
having two divisions, "Animal or Comparative Psychology" and "Child
Psychology."
2. Another general truth to note at the outset is this: that we are able to
get real knowledge about the mind. This may seem at first sight a
useless question to raise, seeing that our minds are, in the thought of
many, about the only things we are really sure of. But that sort of
sureness is not what science seeks. Every science requires some means
of investigation, some method of procedure, which is more exact than
the mere say-so of common sense; and which can be used over and
again by different investigators and under different conditions. This
gives a high degree of verification and control to the results once
obtained. The chemist has his acids,