d whole, in which seemingly disconnected states blend
into one continuous flow of conscious life. For this reason,
consciousness is frequently compared to a stream, or river, moving
onward in an unbroken course. This stream of consciousness appears as
disjointed mental states, simply because the attention discriminates
within this stream, and thus in a sense detaches different portions one
from the other, or, as sometimes figuratively put, it creates successive
waves on the stream of consciousness. A mental state, or experience,
so-called, is such a discriminated portion of this stream of
consciousness, and is, therefore, itself a process, the different
processes blending in a continuous succession or relation to make up the
unbroken flow of conscious life. For this reason psychology is
frequently described as a study of conscious processes.

VALUE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Within the school the child secures a control of experience only by
passing through a process of mental reconstruction, or of changes in
consciousness. Moreover, to bring about these mental changes, it is
found necessary for the teacher's effort to conform as far as possible
to the interests and tendencies of the child. So far, therefore, as the
teacher's office is to direct and control the children's effort during
the learning process, he must approach them primarily as mental, or
conscious, beings. For this reason the educator should at least not
violate the general principles governing all mental activity. By giving
him an insight into the general principles underlying conscious
processes, psychology should aid the teacher to control the learning
process in the child.

LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

=Psychology Cannot Give: A. Knowledge of Subject-matter.=--It must not
be assumed, however, that knowledge of psychology will necessarily imply
a corresponding ability to teach. Psychology, for instance, cannot
decide what should be taught to the child. This, as we have seen, is a
problem of social experience, and must be decided by considering the
types of experience which will add to the social efficiency of the
individual, or which will enable him best to do his duty to himself and
to others. All, therefore, that psychology can do here is to explain the
process by which experience is acquired, leaving to social ethics the
problem of deciding what knowledge is of most worth.

=B. Love for Children.=--Again, psychology will not neces