Dewey’s Analysis of Behavior in Terms of Reflexes
Dewey’s primary argument was that dividing the elements of a reflex into sensory pro- cesses, brain processes, and motor responses for analysis was artificial and misleading. According to Dewey, dividing behavior into elements was no more justifiable than dividing consciousness into elements. Showing the influence of James’s Principles, Dewey claimed that there is a stream of behavior just as there is a stream of consciousness. The three elements of a reflex, said Dewey, must be viewed as a coordinated system directed toward a goal, and this goal is usually related to the survival of the organism. Dewey took a child touching a
it could be influenced positively by proper plans of action. Dewey was very influential in creating what came to be called “progressive” education in the United States. He believed that educa- tion should be student-oriented rather than sub- ject-or iented, and that the best way to learn something was to do it—thus his famous state- ment that students learn by doing. Dewey was very much opposed to rote memorization, drills, and the view that the purpose of education is to trans- mit traditional knowledge. Material should never be presented as something final or complete. It should be presented in such a way that stimulates personal interest in learning and the development of problem-solving skills:
Material should be supplied by way of stimulus, not with dogmatic finality and rigidity. When pupils get the notion that any field of study has been definitely sur- veyed, that knowledge about it is exhaus- tive and final, they may continue docile pupils, but they cease to be students. (Dewey, 1910/1997)
