The process of forming, integrating and using concepts is not an automatic, but
a volitional process—i.e., a process which uses both new and automatized
material, but which is directed volitionally. It is not an innate, but an
acquired skill; it has to be learned—it is the most crucially
important part of learning—and all of man’s other capacities depend on
how well or how badly he learns it.
This skill does not pertain to the particular content of a man’s
knowledge at any given age, but to the method by which he acquires and
organizes knowledge—the method by which his mind deals with its
content. The method programs his subconscious computer, determining
how efficiently, lamely or disastrously his cognitive processes will
function.