Frequently teachers follow this method in the conduct of their classes.
The tendency to self-assertion and verbal combat, natural to youth, is
smothered by an unwillingness on the part of the teacher to indulge
questions and debate or by a marked inclination to do all the talking.
It is clear that this method of disuse has its place in the training of
children, though grave dangers attend its too frequent indulgence.
Children and others of immature judgment need the protection of
withheld stimuli. But clearly this is not a method to be recommended for
general application. The boy who is never allowed to quarrel or fight
may very possibly grow up to be a man afraid to meet the battles of
life; the girl, if her natural emotions are checked, may lose those very
qualities that make for the highest type of womanhood and motherhood.
Fortunately, in these days, it is pretty nearly impossible to bring boys
and girls up in "glass houses." Doubly fortunate, for they are made
happy in their bringing up and are fitted for a world not particularly
devoted to the fondling of humankind.
2. THE METHOD OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS
This method is clearly illustrated in the training of "trick" animals.
These creatures through innumerable repetitions are made to do
phenomenal "stunts.
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