a thing from a sense
of duty is often a case of applying ourselves to a certain thing because
we are interested in avoiding the disapproval of others. The child also
often applies himself to his tasks, not so much because he takes a
direct interest in them, but because he wishes to gain the approval and
avoid the censure of teacher and parents.

=Native and Acquired Interest.=--Interest may also be distinguished on
the basis of its origin. As noted above, certain impressions seem to
demand a spontaneous interest from the individual. For this cause the
child finds his attention going out immediately to bright colours, to
objects which give pleasure, such as candy, etc., or to that which
causes personal pain. On the other hand, objects and occupations which
at first seem devoid of interest may, after a certain amount of
experience has been gained, become important centres of interest. A
young child may at first show no interest in insects unless it be a
feeling of revulsion. Through the visit of an entomologist to his home,
however, he may gain some knowledge of insects. This knowledge, by
arousing an apperceptive tendency in the direction of insect study,
gradually develops in him a new interest which lasts throughout his
whole life. It is in this way that the various school subjects widen the
narrow interests of the child. By giving him an insight into various
phases of his social environment, the school curriculum awakens in him
different centres of interest, and thus causes him to become in the
truest sense a part of the social life about him. This fact is one of
the strongest arguments, also, against a narrow public school course of
study in a society which is itself a complex of diversified interests.

=Interest versus Interests.=--On account of the evident connection of
interest and attention, the teacher may easily err in dealing with the
young pupil. It is allowable, as pointed out above, that the teacher
should take advantage of any native interest to secure the attention
and effort of the child in his school work. This does not mean, however,
that children are to be given only problems in which they are naturally
interested. It must be remembered, as seen in a former paragraph, that,
according to the interest of custom, any line of school work, when
intelligently followed, may soon build up a centre of interest for
itself. For this reason a proper study of arithmetic should develop an
interest in arithmetic; a