When you were very young youlearnedto write thecombinationof letters
thatisyourname, and ever since you havewrittenit in much the same way.
Writing your name has become ahabit, a good habit thatis time-saving
because it isautomatic.
Since writing a name backwardisnota habit,your companionshada
greatdeal of difficulty doing it quickly.
LEARNING BY TRIAL-AND-ERROR
Materials: A watch with a minute handor a stop watch, several shirt
cardboards,a ruler, a pencil, a pairofscissors. Althoughyou canperformthis
experimentby yourself, it's more fun when there are severalparticipants. Then
it becomes a game.
Follow this procedure: Cut eachcardboard in lengths measuring2 x 4
inches. Markeach 2 x 4-inch rectangle as shown in theillustrationbelow and
cut each into four pieces as indicated.
/1
/ I
1 / I
/ I
/ I
/ I
/ 2 I'" I
" I
'I
'J-----'" 4
3 "-,
-,Scramble the four pieces you cut from eachcardboard. At a given signal
(markedby your watch), each person shouldarrangethescrambledpieces to
form the letterL. Keep a record of eachcontestant'stime.