: _Fundamentals of Child Study_, Chapters IV-XIII.

MUeNSTERBERG: _Psychology, General and Applied_, pp. 184-187.

PILLSBURY: _Essentials of Psychology_, Chapter X.

PYLE: _The Outlines of Educational Psychology_, Chapters IV-IX.

TITCHENER: _A Beginner's Psychology_, Chapter VIII.

CHAPTER V

FEELING AND ATTENTION

=The Feelings.= Related to the instincts on one side and to habits on the
other are the feelings. In Chapter III we discussed sensation, and in
the preceding chapter, the instincts, but when we have described an act
in terms of instinct and sensation, we have not told all the facts.

For example, when a child sees a pretty red ball of yarn, he reaches out
to get it, then puts it into his mouth, or unwinds it, and plays with it
in various ways. It is all a matter of sensation and instinctive
responses. The perception of the ball--seeing the ball--brings about the
instinctive reaching out, grasping the ball, and bringing it to the
mouth. But to complete our account, we must say that the child is
_pleased_. We note a change in his facial expression. His eyes gleam
with pleasure. His face is all smiles, showing pleasant contentment.
Therefore we must say that the child not only sees, not only acts, but
the seeing and acting are _pleasant_. The child continues to look, he
continues to act, because the looking and acting bring joy.

This is typical of situations that bring pleasure. We want them
continued; we act in a way to make them continue. _We go out after the
pleasure-giving thing._

But let us consider a different kind of situation. A child sees on the
hearth a glowing coal. It instinctively reaches out and grasps it,
starts to draw the coal toward it, but instinctively drops it. This is
not, however, the whole story. Instead of the situation being pleasant,
it is decidedly unpleasant. The child fairly howls with pain. His face,
instead of being wreathed in smiles, is covered with tears. He did not
hold on to the coal. He did not try to continue the situation. On the
contrary, he dropped the coal, and withdrew the hand. The body
contracted and shrank away from the situation.

These two cases illustrate the two simple feelings, pleasantness and
unpleasantness. Most situations in life are either pleasant or
unpleasant. Situations may sometimes be neutral; that is, may arouse
neither the feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness. But usually a
conscious state is either pleasant or unpleasan