Or suppose a child endeavouring, in the crudest fashion, to put a rubber on the end of a pencil, after seeing some one else do it--just the sort of thing a year-old child loves to imitate.

What a chaos of ineffective movements! But with repeated effort he gets nearer and nearer to it, and finally succeeds.
On the side of action, two general principles have been formulated in child psychology, both illustrated in the cases and experiments now given: The one, Motor Suggestion, is, as we saw, a principle of general psychology.

Its importance to the child is that by it he forms Habits, useful responses to his environment, and so saves himself many sad blunders.

The other principle is that of Imitation; by it the child learns new things directly in the teeth of his habits.

By exercising in an excessive way what he has already learned through his experimental imitations, he is continually modifying his habits and making new adaptations.