During the last decade I have given much thought to this question: Does the efficiency of one's thinking depend at all upon the clearness and distinctness of the mental image used
in the thinking? I settled the question in the negative. The formation of this principle (clear thinking does not depend upon clear visual image) was an act of reflective judgment. But now the application of this preformed judgment has developed into an expert judgment. Recently I was given the manuscript of a course in psychology and asked to appraise it. One of the chief points of the author was to advise all business men to develop clear visual images. In fact he asserted that clearness of thinking was in proportion to clearness of the visual image with which the thinking is carried on. Without again weighing the evidence for my principle, I applied my preformed judgment and by means of this expert judgment condemned the course.
A man is expert only in those fields in which he has developed the appropriate habits, the necessary, practical, and reflective judgments, and has had some practice in applying these judgments.
We find that four classes of experiences are valuable, _i.e_. such experiences as result in the
formation of habits; such as result in practical judgments, in reflective judgments, and in expert judgments. Our final task is to consider methods for increasing the probabilities that such experiences may be secured and utilized.
SECURING AND UTILIZING THESE MOST VALUABLE EXPERIENCES
The conditions best adapted for procuring and utilizing one class of these most valuable experiences may not be the best for the other three classes. Our final problem must therefore be subdivided into four parts corresponding to the four classes of valuable experience.
_Special Conditions Favorable to Habit Formation_
The essential condition for habit formation is repetition with intensity of application. The modern movement in the industrial world known as scientific management supplies this need for repetition by standardizing all activities so that they will be repeated over and
over in identical form; and it secures the intensity of application by means of the task and bonus system. By these means the most valuable experiences for habit formation are secured and utilized.
The working out of this fact is so admirably described in recent reports upon scientific management that further description here would be superfluous.
_Special Conditions Favorable to the Formation of Practical judgments_
In addition to the four general conditions discussed on pages 278 to 283@@@ the special conditions most favorable to the formation of practical judgments are the three following:--
1. The experiences most effective in arousing practical judgments are those that are most recent. A few days ago I purchased a piece of real estate and was asked how I wanted the property transferred. I replied immediately that I wanted a warranty deed and a guarantee policy. This was a practical judgment made upon the basis of a recent previous experience.
As a matter of fact there are three distinct methods of transferring real estate, but until after my judgment had been made I was perfectly oblivious of the other methods, although I had had experience with them some years before. Thus I utilized only my recent experience in making my practical judgment.
2. Other things being equal, those experiences are most valuable in arousing practical judgments that have been the most frequent. I have seen burns dressed many times and in many ways, but most often they have been dressed with soda and water. When I was called upon recently to dress a burn I recalled the method which I had seen most often and formed a practical judgment based thereupon and was helped out of my difficulty.
3. Our most vivid and intense experiences are the ones most likely to be recalled and to be utilized in the formation of practical judgments. The mistakes that I have to pay for and the deed that secured my promotion are the experiences most fertile in the formation of practical judgments.