We get new acquisitions mainly, indeed, by strained attention.

So we have a contrast of possible interpretations in all cases of sharp and exclusive attention by the children: _does the attention represent a Habit in this particular action of the child_ ?--or, _does it represent the breaking up of a habit, an act of Accommodation_?
In each case these questions have to be intelligently considered.

The motor person, usually, when uninstructed and not held back, uses his attention under the lead of habit.

It is largely the teacher's business in his case, as we saw, to get him to hold, conserve, and direct his attention steadily to the novel and the complex.

The sensory person, on the other hand, shows the attention obstructed by details, hindered by novelties, unable to pass smoothly over its acquisitions, and in general lacking the regular influence of habit in leading him to summarize and utilize his mental store in general ways.
The third general aspect of the topic is this: the person of the sensory type is more likely to be the one in whom positive derangement occurs in the higher levels, and in response to the more refined social and personal influences.