2. The mind is said to compare the characteristics of the several particular cases, noting any likenesses and unlikenesses.
3. The mind is said to pick out, or abstract, any quality or quantities common to all the particular cases.
4. Finally the mind is supposed to synthesise these common characteristics into a general notion, or concept, in the conceptual process, and into a general truth if the process is inductive.
Thus the conceptual and inductive processes are both said to involve the same four steps of:
1. Analysis.—Interpreting a number of individual cases.
2. Comparison.—Noting likenesses and differences between the several individual examples.
3. Abstraction.—Selecting the common characteristics.
4. Generalization.—Synthesis of common characteristics into a general truth or a general notion, as the case may be.
Criticism.—Here again it will be found, however, that the steps of the logician do not fully represent what takes place in the pupil's mind as he goes through the learning process in a conceptual or inductive lesson. It is to be noted first that the above outline does not signify the presence of any problem to cause the child to proceed with the analysis of the several particular cases. Assuming the existence of the problem, unless this problem involves all the particular examples, the question arises whether the learner will suspend coming to any conclusion until he has analysed and compared all the particular cases before him. It is here that the actual learning process is found to vary somewhat from the outline of the psychologist and logician. As will be seen below, the child really finds his problem in the first particular case presented to him. Moreover, as he analyses out the characteristics of this case, he does not really suspend fully the generalizing process until he has examined a number of other cases, but, as the teacher is fully aware, is much more likely to jump at once to a more or less correct conclusion from the one example. It is true, of course, that it is only by going on to compare this with other cases that he assures himself that this first conclusion is correct. This slight variation of the actual learning process from the formal outline will become evident if one considers how a child builds up any general notion in ordinary life.