utilized at the proper
time, will perish for want of exercise. Even in the case of animals,
natural instincts will not develop unless the opportunity for exercise
is provided at the time. Birds shut up in a cage lose the instinct to
fly; while ducks, after being kept a certain time from water, will not
readily acquire the habit of swimming. In the same way, the child who
is not given opportunity to associate with others will likely grow up a
recluse. All work for a few years, and it will be impossible for Jack to
learn later how to play. The girl who during her childhood has no
opportunity to display any pride through neatness in dress will grow up
untidy and careless as to her personal appearance. In like manner, it is
only the child whose constructive tendency is early given an opportunity
to express itself who is likely to develop into an expert workman; while
one who has no opportunity to give expression to his aesthetic instinct
in early life will not later develop into an artist.

CURIOSITY

=Curiosity as Motive.=--An important bearing of instinct upon the work
of education is found in the fact that an instinctive tendency may add
much to the force of the motive, or end, in any educative process. This
is especially true in the case of such adaptive instincts as curiosity,
imitation, and play. Curiosity is the inquisitive attitude, or appetite,
of the mind which causes it to seek out what is strange in its
surroundings and make it an object of attention. As an instinctive
tendency, its significance consists in the fact that it leads the
individual to interpret his surroundings. A creature devoid of
curiosity, therefore, would not discover either the benefits to be
derived from his surroundings or the dangers to be avoided. In addition
to its direct practical value in leading the individual to study his
environment in order to meet actual needs, curiosity often seeks a more
theoretic end, appearing merely as a feeling of wonder or a thirst for
knowledge.

=Use and Abuse of Curiosity.=--While curiosity is needful for the
welfare of the individual, an inordinate development of this instinct is
both intellectually and morally undesirable. Since curiosity directs
attention to the novel in our surroundings, over-curiosity is likely to
keep the mind wandering from one novelty to another, and thus interfere
with the fixing of attention for a sufficient time to give definiteness
to particular impressions. The virtue o