How, according to James, did habits develop? What advice did he give for developing good habits?
According to the James the instincts are responsible to govern the behavior of the humans as well as the animals. Instinctive behavior was not invariable and blind as per the James. He always believed that the experiences play a major role in the modification of the human and animal behavior. According to him, organisms develop the behavioral pattern as per the new-instincts with in their life time. Learned patterns of the behaviors are considered as the habits by the James.
Repeated activity results in the generation of the habits. Repetitions of the activity cause the brain to follow the same neural path to become entrenched. Habits are functional in nature. They help in simplification of the movements to achieve a desired result. Five maxims were developed by the James for the development of the good habits.
Experience of the encouraging circumstances helps in the development of the good habits. Never try to act contrary for the new habit development. Never go for the slow attempt for developing the good habit. “Actual doing” will help in the development of the good habits as intentions are not enough. Forcing yourself towards the beneficial acts also helps in developing the good habits.