dm WHWH m& ■i m : ■ MnBRBMMfHulttflllfil .♦'•■.it ■r iuHlt in w HUP H ■ Si Hi ■■ mi ■ ■ li li itss iMilfl ■ HH Dm mwnopuo Kiimj H fa m mm fgyrigW l°lOT COPYRIGHT DEPOSm A Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/elementsofpsycho05thor THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY H THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY BY EDWARD L. THORNDIKE Professor of Educational Psychology in Teachers College Columbia University (SECOND EDITION) New York A. G. SELLER 1907 € UBSARY of CONGRESS Twe Ooples Received FEB 28 ?.90r Capyrletrt Entry aw. / */r(<7c 7 AS3 f\ XXCmNo. COPY 3. ' m ]qo-1 Crtyright,. 1905, 190? By Edward L. Thorndike The MASON-HENRY Press SYRACUSE, NEW YORK INTRODUCTION I have been invited to -contribute a preface to this book, though when I ask myself, why any/book from Professor Thorndike's pen should need an introduction to the public by another hand, I find no answer. Both as an experimental investigator, as a critic of other in- vestigators, and as an expounder of results, he stands in the very forefront of American psychologists, and his references to my works in the text that follows will, I am sure, introduce me to more readers than I can intro- duce him to by my preface. In addition to the monographs which have been pour- ing from the press for twenty years past, we have by this time, both in English and in German, a very large num- ber of general text-books, some larger and some smaller, but all covering the ground in ways which, so far as stu- dents go, are practical equivalents for each other. The main subdivisions, principles, and features of descriptive psychology are at present well made out, and writers are agreed about them. If one has read earlier books, one need not read the very newest one in order to catch up with the progress of the science. The differences in them are largely of order and emphasis, or of fondness on the authors' parts for certain phrases, or for their own modes of approach to particular questions. It is one and the same body of facts with which they all make us acquainted. Some of these treatises indeed give much more promi- nence to the details of experimentation than others — vi Introduction artificial experimentation, I mean, with physical instru- ments, and measurements. A rapid glance at Professor Thorndike's table of contents might lead one to set him down as not belonging to the experimental class of psy- chologists. He ignores the various methods of proving Fechner's psycho-physic law, and makes no reference to chronoscopes, or to acoustical or optical technics. Yet in another and psychologically in a more vital sense his book is a laboratory manual of the most energetic and continuous kind. When I first looked at the proofs and saw each sec- tion followed by a set of neatly numbered exercises, problems, and questions in fine print, I confess that I shuddered for a moment. Can it be, I thought, that the author's long connection with the Teachers College is making even of him a high-priest of the American "text- book" Moloch, in whose belly living children's minds are turned to ashes, and whose ritual lies in text-books in which the science is pre-digested for the teacher by every expository artifice and for the pupil comminuted into small print and large print, and paragraph-headings, and cross-references and examination questions, and every other up-to-date device for frustrating the natural move- ment of the mind when reading, and preventing that irre- sponsible rumination of the material in one's own way which is the soul of culture? Can it be, I said, that Thorndike himself is sacrificing to machinery and dis- continuity ? But I had not read many of the galleys before I got the opposite impression. There are, it, is true, discon- tinuities in the book which might slightly disconcert a critic with a French turn of taste, but that is because of the intense concreteness with which the author feels his subject and wishes to make his reader feel it. The prob- Introduction vii lems and questions are uniquely to that end. They are laboratory work of the most continuous description, and the text is like unto them for concreteness. Professor Thorndike has more horror of vagueness, of scholastic phrases, of scientific humbug than any psychologist with whom I am acquainted. I defy any teacher or student to go through this book as it is written, and not to carry away an absolutely first-hand acquaintance with the work- ings of the human mind, and with the realities as distin- guished from the pedantries and artificialities of psy- chology. The author's superabounding fertility in famil- iar illustrations of what he is describing amounts to genius. I might enter into an exposition of some of the other peculiarities of his treatise, but this quality of ex- ceeding realism seems to cap the others and to give it eminence among the long list of psychology-books which readers now-a-days have to choose from. It is not a work for lazy readers, however; and lazy reading also has a sacred place in the universe of educa- tion. But I seem to foresee for it a powerful anti- pedantic influence, and I augur for it a very great suc- cess indeed in class-rooms. So, with no more pref- atory words, I heartily recommend it to all those who are interested in spreading the knowledge of our science. William James. Harvard University. PREFACE The aim of this book is to help students to learn the general principles of psychology. Those facts which can most profitably be made the subject matter of a course in general psychology are presented with an abundance of concrete illustrations, experiments, exer- cises and questions, by which the student may secure real rather than verbal conceptions and may test, apply and make permanent his knowledge. A good method of studying the book is probably ( I ) to read a section through quickly, then (2) to read it with care, jotting down in a note book every question that seems to be answered by the text. Next (3) without the book try to answer those questions; hunting out the answers when unable to give them from memory. (4) Do the printed exercises, writing down each answer or, if it is too long, its main point. (5) Do any experiments in connection with the section. (6) When the several sections of a chapter have all been thus studied, write down the general questions which the whole chapter has answered, and after an interval of several days try to give clear and reasonably adequate answers to these questions in writing. The references for further reading noted at the end of each chapter may best be read only after the text itself is mastered. The references marked A are for students in general, those marked B are for students especially desirous of increasing their knowledge of psychology and capable of studying difficult treatises. Additional read- Preface \x ings on special topics will be found at the end of the book. In the references Roman numerals refer to the chapters. § i, § 2, § 3, etc., refer to sections. Arabic numerals alone refer to pages. Titchener, Outline' re- fers to the third edition, that of 1899; 'Wundt, Physiolo- gische Psychologie/ refers to the fifth edition. The references to Wundt through Chapter VI are available in the English translation by Professor Titchener (Principles of Physiological Psychology, Vol. 1). Fur- ther volumes of this English version will appear in the near future. Through the great kindness of Professor L. F. Barker of Chicago University, Professor Dr. L. Edinger of Frankfurt-a.M., Professor A. von Kolliker of Wiirz- burg, Professor M. v. Lenhossek of Budapest, Professor M. Allen Starr, Dr. E. Learning and Dr. O. S. Strong of Columbia University, and Professor A. Van Gehuchten of Louvain, I am able to reproduce photographs and drawings of the finer structure of the nervous system such as are rarely seen in elementary books on either psychology or physiology. To Professor William James I owe the common debt of all psychologists due for the genius which has been our inspiration and the scholarship which has been our guide. The obligation is patent in every chapter. In- deed, the best service I wish for this book is that it may introduce its readers to that masterpiece of thought and expression, the Principles of Psychology. I owe also a personal debt for unfailing kindness and encourage- ment which can only be acknowledged, never repaid. PREFACE FOR TEACHERS This book is designed to serve as a text-book for stu- dents who have had no previous training in psychology, who will not in nine cases out of ten take any consider- able amount of advanced work in psychology, and who need psychological knowledge and insight to fit them to study, not the special theories of philosophy, but the gen- eral facts of human nature. For such students training in methods and technique alone is almost futile : they are not to be expert psychologists, but intelligent men and women. Training in the analysis of the process of thought is equally inadequate : they need more than an introduction to logic and philosophy. A course which re- duces psychology to a mass of technical words and defi- nitions is criminal : it hides realities from the student and either encourages him in verbal quibbling or destroys all interest in the study of mental facts. It is' the right and the duty of the psychologist as a thinker to specialize, to be an experimentalist, or analyst, or comparative psy- chologist. But it is the right of the student in a general course on psychology to demand a fair representation of the science as a whole. This book is therefore eclectic in subject matter and in method. Description, definition, analysis, experimentation, comparative and genetic studies— no one of these can wisely be omitted. This book represents no particular kind of psychology peculiar to the author, nor any radical departures from the general usage of modern text-books on psychology. Some of its features do, however, vary from those of the elementary text-books and so deserve comment. Preface for Teachers xi The description of the brain and sense organs follows the recent views instead of those current in the early eighties. By thus discarding the unprofitable geography of 'convolutions/ 'centers' and 'tracts' and utilizing the real facts of the constitution of the nervous system, we not only give the student knowledge of a truly explanatory sort which he can apply to psychologi- cal facts, but also supplant an incoherent mass of detail by a simple and clear hypothesis'. The length in pages of Part II is due to the photographs and drawings and represents a shortening rather than a lengthening of the student's time and effort. The descriptive or structural psychology has been sharply separated from the dynamic psychology. For instance, instead of taking up in one chapter both the nature of percepts and the laws of mental action in- volved in perception and illusion, I have put the latter in Part III along with such topics as instinct, habit and the association of ideas. The older custom is a relic of the 'faculty psychology' and inevitably disposes the student to believe that perception, memory, reasoning and the like are subtle dynamic forces acting on mental proces- ses. By the separation the real value of the terms, sensa- tions, percepts, images, memories, judgments, emotions and the like, — namely, thei|*\ value as terms describing qualitative differences, — is preserved. Needless to say, the newer arrangement is not only truer to the facts, but also more teachable. Dynamic psychology is given a place in this book more in accord with the^ place it holds in present psy- chological thought than is customary in elementary books. It is surely wise to give adequate space to the facts and laws of instinct, capacity, habit, discrimination, analysis, assimilation, pre-perception, the association of ideas, xii Preface for Teachers selective thinking, ideo-motor action and choice. They are the least technical but at the same time the best organized and most instructive topics in psychology. In one particular the author abandons the accepted doctrine of the psychology books. That images of the resident or remote sensations produced by a movement should be the usual excitant to the movement, he cannot believe and has never taught. In the view presented in the text he has the support of the opinions reached by Kirkpatrick, Woodworth and Bair in the course of actual investigations of voluntary action. The text states frankly that the majority of psychologists believe other- wise. The exercises and experiments are intended to serve the purpose, not of interesting puzzles or theses to be argued, but rather that served by the problems of the algebra or physics book, by the sentence-writing of a text-book in Latin or French, and by the experiments and demonstrations of a course in chemistry. They are to give the student some very definite thing to do, which he can do, and which can be definitely corrected or ap- proved by the instructor. It is difficult to get such defi- nite material for study and practice in the mental sciences other than logic, but it is a prime necessity for successful teaching, especially in large classes. The sharp division of' the book into descriptive psy- chology, physiological psychology and dynamic psychol- ogy makes some difficulty in the selection of reference readings. Strictly parallel readings are impossible in the case of many chapters. It is on the whole best to follow Professor Titchener's advice and have the class first mas- ter one coherent account of the subject and then read one or more other elementary text-books and later still, if there is time, parts of some general treatise. A list of Preface for Teachers xiii references for individual study of special topics is given at the end of the book. Teachers College, Columbia University, January, 1905. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION The changes from the first edition consist of altera- tions of form, especially in the case of the exercises, which the experience of teachers who have used the book recom- mends. The content remains practically identical with that of the first edition. The reference lists are improved by the utilization of the psychological literature of the past two years. Since an excellent English version of the fifth edition of Wundt's Physiologische Psychologie is now progressing toward completion, the references to it have been changed to fit the fifth, instead of the fourth, edition. Teachers College, Columbia University, December, 1906. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I The Subject Matter and Problems of Psychology § I. Mental Facts I § 2. A General View of Mental States 3 § 3. A General View of Human Action 10 § 4. A General View of the Connections of Mental Facts. . 12 PART I Descriptive Psychology CHAPTER II Feelings of Things and Qualities as Present : Sensations and Percepts § 5. The Nature of Sensations 19 § 6. The Classification of Sensations 24 § 7. Sensation and Stimulus ^8 § 8. Percepts 35 CHAPTER III Feelings of Things as Absent: Images and Memories § 9. Mental Images 43 § 10. Memories 50 CHAPTER IV Feelings of Facts : Feelings of Relationships, Meanings and Judgments § 1 1. Feelings of Relationship 58 § 12. Feelings of Meaning 65 § 13. Judgments 71 xvi # Contents CHAPTER V Feelings of Personal Conditions: Emotions § 14. The Nature of the Emotions 74 § 15. The Classification of the Emotions 75 § 16. The Attributes of Emotions 81 CHAPTER VI Mental States Concerned in the Direction of Conduct: Feelings of Willing § 17. Definitions and Descriptions 85 CHAPTER VII General Characteristics of Mental States § 18. Qualities Common to all Mental States 92 § 19. Attention 98 § 20. A New Classification of Mental States 108 CHAPTER VIII The Functions of Mental States § 21. The Function of Mental Life as a Whole in § 22. The Functions of Different Groups of Mental States. . 114 PART II The Physiological Basis of Mental Life: Physiological Psychology CHAPTER IX The Constitution of the Nervous System § 23. Gross Structure 120 § 24. Finer Structure 125 CHAPTER X The Action of the Nervous System §25. The Functions of the Neurones 144 §26. The Arrangement of the Neurones 147 § 27. The Laws of Brain Action 162 Contents xvii CHAPTER XI The Nervous System and Mental States § 28. In General 169 § 29. The Physiological Correlates of Particular Groups of Mental States 170 PART III Dynamic Psychology § 30. Introduction 184 CHAPTER XII Original Tendencies to Connections § 31. Instincts 187 § 32. Capacities 191 §33. Further Attributes of Original Tendencies 193 CHAPTER XIII The Law of Association § 34. The Growth of Instincts into Habits.*. 199 § 35- The Formation of Connections in General 203 § 36. The Control of the Formation of Connections 209 §37. Response by Analogy 211 CHAPTER XIV The Law of Dissociation or Analysis § 38. The Process of Analysis 215 § 39. The Influence of the Law of Analysis 217 § 40. The Control of the Process of Analysis 220 §41. Physiological Conditions of Human Nature 222 CHAPTER XV The Connections Between Sense Stimuli and Mental States: Connections of Impression § 42. Inborn and Acquired Connections of Impression. .. . 224 § 43. The Law of Association in the Case of Connections of Impression 227 § 44. The Control of Connections of Impression 230 xviii Contents CHAPTER XVI The Connections Between One Mental State and Another § 45. Associations of Ideas 238 § 46. Memory 255 §47. The Control of Purely Mental Connections 260 CHAPTER XVII The Connections Between One Mental State and Another (Continued) 48. Purposive Thinking 264 49. Reasoning 267 CHAPTER XVIII The Connections Between Mental States and Acts : Connections of Expression § 50. The General Laws of Human Action 274 §51. The Will: Spontaneous and Purposive Action 276 § 52. The Nature of the Mental States Which Precede Move- ments 281 § 53- Suggestion and Imitation 286 § 54. Individual Differences in the Life of Action 290 § 55- The Control of the Life of Action 293 CHAPTER XIX Movements § 56. Acts of Skill 298 § 57. The Connections between Sense Stimuli and Move- ments 302 § 58. Movements as Antecedents 306 CHAPTER XX Selective Processes § 59. Attention and Neglect 309 § 60. Satisfaction and Discomfort 314 § 61. Conclusion of Part III 316 Contents xix CONCLUSION CHAPTER XXI The Relations of Psychology § 62. The Science of Psychology as a Whole 319 § 63. The Relations of Psychology to Other Sciences 322 §64. The Relations of Psychology to the Arts 324 § 65. The Relations of Psychology to the Personal Conduct of Life 327 Topics for Special Study 336 Index of Illustrations 343 Index of Experiments 344 Index of Names and Subjects 345 The Elements of Psychology CHAPTER I The Subject Matter and Problems of Psychology § i. Mental Facts The world is made up of physical and mental facts. On the one hand there are solids, liquids and gases, plants, trees and the bodies of animals, the stars and planets and their movements, the winds and clouds, and so on through the list of physical things and their movements. On the other hand are the thoughts and feelings of men and of other animals; ideas, opinions, memories, hopes, fears, pleasures, pains, smells, tastes, and so on through the list of states of mind. Physics, chemistry, astronomy, botany, zoology, geology and the other physical sciences deal with the former group of facts. Psychology, the science of mental facts or of mind, deals with the latter. Human psychology deals with the thoughts and feelings of human beings and ^eeks to explain the facts of intellect, character and personal life. How do you remember where you were a year ago? Why do we attend to certain sights and sounds and neglect others? What is the difference between an intelligent pupil and an idiot? What decides how large one shall judge an ob- ject to be? What happens when a student reasons out a problem in geometry? Such are the questions which the science of psychology tries to answer. These questions center about four leading topics : (i) The nature of the different kinds of thoughts and feelings. 2 Introduction (2) The purposes which they serve in life. (3) The ways in which they are related to the action of the brain or nervous system. (4) The laws which govern their behavior and that of the bodily states and acts connected with them. E.g., psychology , should ' give information about : — (1) Just what attention is. (2) In what way fear or pain is useful in the conduct of life. (3) How softening of the brain produces idiocy or how fever produces mental confusion. (4) Why thinking of one thing' makes one think of a certain other thing,*or why practice makes perfect. Its task thus concerns the description of mental states or processes, their function in nature, their relation to the nervous system and the general explanation of the part played by the mind in human life. Exercises 1. Which of the following words refer to mental facts? Which refer to physical facts ? Which refer sometimes to mental and sometimes to physical facts? Gas, tree, sympathy, money, desire, wish, dog, stone, dreams, headache, inventiveness, inch, pound, taste, intelligence, heavy, sour, oxygen, electricity, fatigue, pleasure, loud, observe, remem- ber, image, teeth. 2. Under which topic, of (1), (2), (3) and (4) above, dees each of the following questions belong? a. Is the fact that a thing gives pleasure a sign that it is good for us? b. What good does dreaming do? - c. What is the difference between anger and hate? d. Why are certain people bad spellers in spite of much study? e. Why is it so much easier to say the alphabet forward than backward? 1 f. Why does great sorrow make one unconscious of what goes on about him? The Subject Matter of Psychology 3 g. What are the causes of exceptional musical ability? h. What are the causes of insanity? i. What feelings guide us to self-preservation? j. What feelings guide us to help other people to keep alive? k. In what respects are imagining and remembering alike? 3. Which of the four aspects of psychology does each of the definitions of psychology given below emphasize? a. "Psychology is the Science of Mental Life, both of its phenomena and their conditions." (W. James). b. . . . "We note their resemblances, differences and other relations [the author is speaking of thoughts and feelings] and can thus coordinate them, place under one head those that are alike, and give them a name by which to speak of them." (J. McCosh). j c. "What these phenomena [thoughts and feelings] actually are, as conscious states and how they come to exist and follow each other in the order which they in fact assume, forms the primary subject of the investigations of psychology." (G. T. Ladd). j d. The science of psychology attempts "(1) to analyze con- crete (actual) mental experience into its simplest components, (2) to discover how these elements combine, what are the laws which govern their combination, and (3) to bring them into con- nection with their physiological [bodily] conditions." (E. B. Titchener). e. "The business of psychology is to furnish a systematic and coherent account of the flow of psychical process in its various forms, phases, and stages, and of the conditions on which it depends." (G. F. Stout). r ; I % 2. A General View of Mental States The Classification of Mental States.— A list of all the different kinds of thoughts and feelings that human beings have would exceed in length a list of the hundreds of thousands of animals and plants. For convenience psychology divides this total group of mental conditions into a few great classes. For instance, the feelings of joy, grief, anger, fear, 4 Introduction sympathy and merriment, are alike among themselves in that each is a feeling, not of something in the outside world, but of some personal attitude or condition. All these and similar feelings are grouped together for study, the name used by psychologists in referring to the group being emotions. When you close your eyes and call up in imagination your father's face, or your room at home, when you call up the voice of a friend or the melody of a familiar song, you feel in each case some thing or con- dition, but as not present. All such feelings of things, qualities and conditions as not present are grouped to- gether for study under the name mental images. To take another instance, the sound of a bell that you hear in a dream, the faces which the fever-patient sees in his delir- ium, the ghosts which still exist for the mind's eye, may all be classed together since they are all feelings of things as present when really nothing of the sort is actually present. Such feelings are called hallucinations. Some of the chief groups into which thoughts and feelings are classified are : — 1. Sensations. 2. Percepts. 3. Mental Images, •4. Memories. 5. Feelings of Meaning. a. concepts or general notions. b. individual notions. c. abstractions. 6. Feelings of Relationships. 7. Judgments. 8. Emotions. 9. Feelings concerned in the direction of conduct ; states of will. Definitions of These Groups. — The exact nature of The Subject Matter of Psychology 5 these groups will be made clear in later sections. For the present it will be sufficient to get a rough general idea of them. This can be done easily by making actual observations as follows: — 1. Sit near a hot stove. Touch yourself with a pencil. Bend your finger. Prick yourself with a pin. Listen to the tap of a stick on the floor. Hold a book at arm's length for one minute. The feelings of warmth, touch, movement, pain, sound, strain or fatigue and others like them are called Sensations. Sensations are feelings of qualities or con- ditions either of things or of one's own body. 2. Look at a picture. Listen to a chord or melody. Take hold of a key. You feel in each case some 'thing' that is present. Such feelings of things present are called Percepts. 3. Imagine to yourself the tune of Yankee Doodle. Imagine the feeling of velvet. Imagine the sight of the moon. Imagine that your arm is swinging back and forth. The feelings you have of the sound, the velvet, the moon and the arm-motion are called Mental Images. A mental image is the feeling of a thing or quality or condi- tion when it is really not there and is felt not to be there. 4. Think what you were doing yesterday at one o'clock. Think of what you ate for dinner day before yesterday. Recall the feeling you have when you meet some one whom at first you do not remember but finally remember as having been with you at a certain place. These feelings are called Memories. 6 Introduction The term memories is also at times used to include mental images. Thus if any one calls to mind the way his father looks, he may be said either to have a mental image of his father or to remember his father. The words memory and remember and forget are also used for habits or matters of skill that are permanent. Thus we say that we remember how to dance, swim or play the piano. A better name here would be 'the permanence of habits.' 5. If you have such thoughts as, 'Eggs are nutritious.' 'Girls are better than boys/ 'Electricity is not a fluid/ 'All teachers should be paid/ 'Shakspere was a genius/ 'Virtue is its own reward/ 'Honesty is the best policy/ there may be images of sight or sound in connection with the thought but they vary with different people and are not the important thing in the thought. The important thing is the feeling of your Meaning. Thus, in the fourth thought, you feel that you mean all teachers, though you may have an image of some one teacher, or of the sound of the word 'teacher/ or of something different. These feelings of Meaning are very important in all higher sorts of thinking. When the feeling is that we mean every one of a class of things (e. g., 'all teachers', or 'girls') the feeling is called a general notion or concept. When we feel that we mean one particular thing (e. g., when we think 'Shakspere' or 'Napoleon' or 'this apple') the feel- ing is called an individual notion. When the feeling is that we mean some element or quality or characteristic apart from the thing or person possessing it, the feeling is called an abstract idea or abstraction. The Subject Matter of Psychology 7 6. We feel not only qualities, conditions, objects and meanings, but also the relations between them. E. g., look at two books, one of which is bigger than the other. You feel not only the books, but also their relation of in- equality. When you feel 'cats and dogs' you have not only two general notions, but also the feeling that the things they mean are to be taken together. 'Cats without dogs' would be felt to mean something quite different. Very important among such Feelings of Relationships are those of likeness and difference and of cause and effect. Try to observe in yourself the feelings you have when you think of or, nevertheless, above, below, like, unlike, equal, unequal, the same as, 7. The entire feelings which you had in thinking the sentences given to show feelings of meaning, would be called Judgments. They are feelings that such and such a state of affairs exists, feelings that may be expressed in declarative sentences. 8. The nature of the Emotions was briefly described in the second paragraph of § 2. The following list of sample emotions may serve further to define the group : — Admiration, amusement, anger, annoyance, anxiety, awe, envy, fear, gratitude, hatred, joy, love, pity, regret, relief, remorse, restraint, revenge, self-complacency, shame, shy- ness, sorrow, surprise, suspense, suspicion, sympathy, wonder. 9. Notice your feelings of desire, choice, decision, effort, conflict, impulses and intentions. These feelings and others concerned with action are commonly called States of Will; or Volitional States. A long list could be made of kinds of feelings which fall more or less outside of these chief groups. E.g., there are feelings of attention, inattention, ennui, interest, belief, uncertainty, inference, etc., etc. 8 Introduction Complex Mental States. — No absolute and sharp classification can be made. It is not necessary or even wise to make a cut-and-dried classification of all thoughts and feelings, since in the ordinary course of mental life mixtures of different kinds of mental states are the com- mon occurrences. E.g., one thinks of a man and at the same time has feelings of attention to the mental image and of aversion toward the man, and perhaps a judgment that he is dishonest. Memory image, attentiveness, emo- tion and judgment thus combine. Nearly all mental states are pervaded by a feeling of selfhood, by sensations of one's own bodily condition and by a general feeling- tone of well-being or ill-being. It is, however, profitable in studying human nature to analyze complex states of mind into their component parts, to study separately the simpler aspects or parts of the total thought or feeling. Intermediate Mental States. — It is also true that in the richness of an actual human mind's life there exist very many mental states which do not fall readily into one class rather than another. E. g., is the sound of a bell ringing a sensation or a percept, a feeling of a quality or of a thing? Is the feeling of impatience an emotion or a state of will? Shall the feeling of effort or strain that one has as one holds the mind to a disagreeable task be called a sensation or an emotion? Just as there are some things which may be called either animals or plants, just as there are some streams which are equally well classified as brooks or as rivers, — so there are in mental life intermediate, halfway stages between sensation and perception, perception and image, sensation and state of will, etc. It would be misleading to suppose that a man's mind was by nature divided up into a number of neat bundles, one of sensations, one of percepts, and the like, and that each bundle was quite distinct and separate from The Subject Matter of Psychology 9 all the rest. The division is not absolute, but is like that made when a city is divided into a Chinese quarter, Italian quarter, Jewish quarter, and the like. The divisions grade into each other imperceptibly. Exercises i. In studying which of the following studies does one make the most use of (a) the emotions, (b) feelings of meaning, (c) percepts, (d) states of will? — Botany, Music, Grammar, Literature? 2. What kind of a mental fact is referred to by each sentence, except (h), in the following passages? — (a) "An unaccountable dread seized him. (b) He heard only the rustle of the wind in the trees, (c) Before his mind's eye came a vision of the man whom he had been compelled to forsake, (d) Halting between the choice from two apparently equal evils, he could make up his mind neither to go forward nor to return, (e) 'I shall lose in any case,' he mused." - (f) "In utter amazement, Silas fell on his knees and bent his head low to examine the marvel : (g) it was a sleeping child — a round, fair thing, with soft yellow rings all over its head. (h) Could this be his little sister come back to him in a dream — his little sister whom he had carried about in his arms for a year before she died, when he was a small boy without shoes or stockings? (i) But along with that question, and almost thrusting it away, there was a vision of the old home and the old streets leading to Lantern Yard — and within that vision another, of the thoughts which had been present with him in those far- off scenes." (Silas Marner.) 3. Which sort of mental fact is usually expressed by a proper noun? By an interjection? By a preposition? 4. What varieties of mental states may verbs express? Give an illustration in each case. 5. Give illustrations of a noun expressing a percept, as when a baby says 'Man, Man'; of a noun expressing a general notion, as when one says, 'Men are mortal' ; of a noun expressing an emotion, as when one says, 'Man alive!' io Introduction § 3. A General View of Human Action Since the majority of human actions are directly con- nected with thoughts or feelings, psychology deals with not only the mental states, but also the acts or conduct of men. Conduct Equals Movements and Their Connec- tions.— All acts are reducible to movements of the body brought about by the contraction and relaxation of mus- cles. The common notion of an act, however, includes, besides the mere act itself, the thoughts and feelings leading to it and the circumstances under which it occurs. Thus we commonly regard Caesar's crossing the Rubicon as an act of unique importance, although the act itself was really only a series of alternate muscular contractions identical with the act of going to breakfast. The mere act of saying 'Yes' is the same whether it be a slice of bread or a husband that is accepted. The million things a man does from birth to death are at bottom only some thousands of muscular contractions. A comparatively small number of movements make up the infinite variety of human conduct by being combined in different ways, caused by different feelings and employed in different circumstances. Thus the movements of speech are only varied enough to produce some hundreds of sounds, degrees of loudness and qualities of pitch and timbre, but these few elementary movements combine to produce hundreds of languages, each with thousands of words, capable of making millions of statements and questions, each of which may be an act of many differing meanings according to the intentions and circumstances of its utter- ance. Human conduct is then made up of (1) acts proper, or movements, and (2) the connections between these movements and the various circumstances of life. The Subject Matter of Psychology 1 1 The Classification of Movements. — The common classifications of acts, as right and wrong, conscious and unconscious, normal and abnormal, and the like, are classifications not of acts proper, but of the circumstances under which they occur. The same movement — e. g., winking, — may of course be now right, now wrong, now conscious, now unconscious. Acts proper or movements may be classified in three ways: — (i) according to their composition, (2) accord- ing to their location, and (3) according to their function or use. The last is the classification of importance to psychology. 1. Movements are simple or complex. A complex movement is one that is made up of simpler movements. A simple movement is one that is not. 2. Movements are hand-movements, ^-movements, c/2 ^-movements, etc. 3. Movements are physiological, expressive and effec- tive. Movements of physiological function, such as those involved in swallowing, in the contrac- tion of the heart, in the peristalis of the intes- tines, or in the expansion of the lungs, have as their chief direct function to keep the body alive. Movements of expression, such as those in- volved in laughing, crying, staring and groan- ing, have as their chief direct function to reveal inner conditions, — states of mind. Movements of effect, such as those involved in running, striking, grasping and dropping, have as their chief direct function to bring about results in things or persons. 12 Introduction Exercises 1. Describe cases in which the same movement results from several different mental cases. 2. Describe cases in which the same mental state results in several different movements. 3. Describe cases in which four or five movements result in ten or twelve different actions (in the common meaning of the word) according to the ways in which the movements are con- nected. 4. Classify the following acts into acts of physiological func- tion, acts of expression and acts of effect: (a) wrinkling the forehead, (b) lifting the arm, (c) curling the fingers in, (d) sneezing, (e) coughing, (f) walking, (g) pushing, (h) raising the eye-brows. 5. Into which of the three classes mentioned in the fourth question would (a) movements of the arms generally fall? (b) Movements caused by facial muscles? (c) Movements of the stomach ? § 4. A General 'View of the Connections of Mental Facts The Classification of Mental Connections.— -The stuff out of which a human life is made is mental states and movements. What sort of a life it shall be depends upon : first, what mental states* and movements compose it, and second, how these are connected. To understand a man's intellect we must know not only what thoughts and feelings he has, but also in what circumstances, that is, in what connections, he has them : to understand his char- acter we must know not only what are his acts, but also in what connection he performs them. All men feel love : the question is what they love. All men drink : the differ- ence between the total abstainer and the drunkard lies in the stimulus that provokes the act of drinking. Psy- chology, to study human life fully, must study not only mental states and bodily acts, but also their connections. And since both thoughts and movements are aroused by The Subject Matter of Psychology 13 events in the physical world 1 which stimulate the organs of sense, psychology must study also the connections between (1) processes in the sense organs and (2) men- tal states or movements. The connections to be studied are then: — (1) Connections between processes in the sense organs and a thought or feeling, (ia) Connections between processes in the sense or- gans and a movement. (2) Connections between one thought or feeling and another. (3) Connections between a thought or feeling and a movement. E- g., feeling hot when one goes near the fire is a case of (1) : for it is a connection between the outside event, rapid molecular motion, and our sensation of heat. The contractions of the stomach when it contains food illus- trate (ia). Thinking of C when one thinks of A B is a case of (2). Going to get food when one becomes hun- gry is a case of (3). Connections between Movements and Mental States. — One might expect to study also connections between a movement and a mental state and between one movement and another, but as a matter of fact, movements do not arouse mental states or other movements directly, but only by first connecting with some happening in a sense organ. The (ia) group of connections (between a stimulation of a sense organ and a movement) are more properly a part of physiology- than of psychology, since they do not involve any mental fact. I shall therefore not discuss them further. 1 Thus pressure on the body makes one feel pain ; rapid molec- ular motion makes one feel warm ; certain chemical conditions in the body make one feel hungry. 14 Introduction Unlearned and Learned Connections. — Each of these three divisions may be subdivided into: — A. Unlearned or original or native connections. B. Learned or acquired connections. The former are called instincts; the latter, habits. The connection between a blow and a pain is already made in us apart from experience or training (iA), while the connection between the presence of the letters dog on a page and the thought of the familiar domestic animal has to be acquired by experience, has to be learned (iB). So also for the connections between a sweet taste and the act of sucking (3A), and the thought T have only two minutes to catch the train' and the act of running (3B). The second group of connections are in nearly all, if not in all, cases acquired. That between the thought of the discovery of America and the thought of Columbus is a sample. Classes (1), (2), and (3) may be called connections of Impression, Association and Expression respectively. There are then : — (iA) Native or unlearned connections of impression. (iB) Acquired or learned connections of impression. (?) (2 A) Native or unlearned connections of association. (2B) Acquired or learned connections of association. (3A) Native or unlearned connections of expression. (3B) Acquired or learned connections of expression. Each of the six classes so far made could be subdivided again to almost any extent according -to the kind of out- side events, mental states and bodily movements involved. Thus (2B), acquired habits of association, could be divided into associations between sensations and concepts, images and emotions, images and images, emotions and impulses, judgments and judgments, etc. The Subject Matter of Psychology 15 In the case of class (3) it is useful to subdivide also according to the extent to which the connection of the bodily act with the feeling is modified and controllable. Some connections (e. g., the contraction of the pupil of the eye in response to the brightness of the light) cannot be altered. Others, forming the great majority, can (e- g., grasping certain objects in response to seeing them). Further Classification. — The following names used in psychology books for certain kinds of connections need explanation either because they are technical terms or are common words used with a special meaning: — Reflexes, Instincts, Habits, Powers, Capacities, Associations of Ideas, Inferences, Reasonings. \\ Reflexes include those connections of events in the body, — sometimes felt in sensation, sometimes not, — with movements, in which the act follows the impression auto- matically, without either intention or control on our part (e. g. } turning in the toes when the sole of the foot is tickled, the contraction of the pupil of the eye in response to light, or sneezing when the membrane of the nose is irritated). Instincts, as now commonly defined, include reflexes and all other connections or tendencies to connections amongst thoughts, feelings and acts which are unlearned, — are in us apart from training or experience. Anything that we do without having to learn to do it, in brief, is an instinct. Thus, crying when pain is felt, starting at a sud- den noise, feeling fear at large, strange, moving objects seen in the dark, feeling anger when food is snatched away from one and laughing when tickled, are instincts of babyhood ; to feel jealousy when rivalled by one of the same sex and to act conspicuously when attracted by one of the opposite sex, are instincts of youth. The common 16 Introduction usage of the words instinct and instinctive differs from the psychologist's usage. People commonly say that they do or feel certain things instinctively when they act or feel without deliberation or forethought or clear con- sciousness of what or why ; e. g., "He instinctively lifted the glass to his lips."/ "By instinct I realized that the only way of escape " was directly through the fire." Neither of these cases would be called instinctive by the psychologist. For to him an instinct means an act that is the result of mere inner growth, not of training or experience. Habits. — Tendencies to respond which are created in whole or in part by experience, practice or training are called Habits. The instinctive tendencies become habits as soon as experience alters them. Practically all of human behavior is a series of illustrations of habits. In common talk the word is used only of tendencies to re- spond which have become very frequent and very habitual, such as eating three meals a day, taking off our clothes when we go to bed, bowing to acquaintances, thinking four when we see 2+2, and the like. But the essential nature of the behavior is the same whether the habit is partially formed and rarely used or fully formed and always used. Indeed, for psychology every tendency for anything to go with anything else is either a case of a pure instinct or of habit. Powers. — Habits not in action and possibilities of forming habits are called Powers. For instance, that man has the power to avoid theft who would be habitually honest, though tempted, or who will habitually, when tempted, not thieve. Capacities. — The inborn qualities which are the partial basis for the development of mental powers might be called instincts of possibility rather than of fact, they The Subject Matter of Psychology ly being qualities which will result in the presence of the powers or habits corresponding to them when the proper circumstances arise. The common word for these in- stincts of possibility is Capacities. Thus the capacity for composing music means the qualities which, though them- selves unknown, will, when the proper opportunity comes, blossom out into the power to compose music and the habit of doing so. Associations of Ideas. — Those habits of thought by which any one state of mind tends to call up another state of mind are called Associations of Ideas. Thus we should say that the thought of AB calling up the thought of C, or the thought of 90 degrees calling up the thought of heat or of a right angle, were cases of the association of ideas, or, more clearly, of habits in the realm of ideas. Inferences. — When one thought or judgment calls up another leading on to some related conclusion the process is called an Inference. Thus, whereas we would call the sequence, 'J onn is- sick. I like John/ a mere association of ideas, we should regard as an inference the sequence, 'John has the measles. ^ Fred has been playing with him. Fred will probably have the measles.' A series of such directed thoughts or inferences is called Reasoning or Rational Thinking. In general the term Situation is used for any total set of circumstances in the outside world and in one's body by which the mind is influenced ; Stimidus is used for any particular part of a situation ; Reaction and Response are used for the act, and sometimes for the mental state, that occurs as a result of the stimulus. Exercises 1. Classify the following cases of connection as (iA), (iB), (2A), (2B), (3A) or (3B), or at least as (1), (2) or (3). 2 18 Introduction a. Shutting the eyes when a bright light is flashed into them. b. Bowing to an acquaintance seen. c. Hearing ten times eight and thinking eighty. d. Seeing a pin and picking it up. . e. Feeling pain at a severe blow. , \,„ f. Thinking of an engagement at a distance and taking one's hat and coat and starting. iS g. Thinking of 'I cannot tell a lie' and then of George Washington. h. Feeling disbelief at seeing, "England has voted to do away with the King and the House of Lords." I. Seeing red when light waves of 460 billion vibrations per second strike the retina of the eye, and violet when the waves have a vibration rate of 790 bil- lions per second, j j. Thinking of 8 after thinking 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 2. Which of the cases above are reflexes? Which are associations of ideas? 3. Why might ideo-motor connections or ideo-motor ac- tions be a suitable name for d and f ? 4. Name two connections between a mental state and a bod^ ily act which are acquired. Two that are unlearned or native. 5. What are some common connections between thoughts that are acquired in the study of arithmetic? In the study of Latin? Of what sort are the connections formed in learning to play the piano? 6. Give cases illustrating the difference between mere as- sociation of ideas and inference. 7. Name two or three beneficial instincts. Two or three undesirable ones. References A. James, Briefer Course, I., XXIII. Stout, Manual, 1-14, 56-70. Titchener, Outline, §§ 1-4, 61. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 1/2, 3, 12. James, Principles, I., XXIII. Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, Einleitung (or, Principles of Physiological Psychology, Introduction). PARTI DESCRIPTIVE PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER II Feelings of Qualities and Things as Present: Sensations and Percepts The topic of this and of the next five chapters will be the nature of the different groups of mental states. These six chapters may be grouped together under the general title, Descriptive Psychology. § 5. The Nature of Sensations Definitions. — The word ^Sensations is used by writ- ers of psychology with several different meanings. Sometimes they include under this term only feelings of brightness, color, size, pitch, loudness, timbre or tone- quality, taste, smell, touch, pressure, resistance, move- ment, heat, cold, pain, position, rotation, hunger, thirst and other feelings of definite qualities of things and well known conditions of the body. But often they include also the feelings of fatigue of different sorts, of effort or strain, of suspense or expectancy, of shock, shuddering, trembling, well-being, malaise, dizziness and other feel- ings of vague and little understood bodily conditions. Ordinarily they include only the simple, bare, uncom- bined feelings under the term sensation and treat the actual complex feelings (e.g., of the taste of a mouthful 19 20 Dynamic Psychology of acid, the smell of the woods or the touch of a pin, as mixtures or combinations of simpler elementary feelings. But they also use the word more vaguely for all direct feelings of the qualities of things or of conditions of the body which are not the definite feelings of things classed as percepts or the rich combinations of feelings classed as emotions. This being the usage, the complex sound of a city street, the taste of coffee or the shock of a cold plunge would be called a sensation. Sensations are sometimes defined as the primitive, bare elements of mental life, the first things in consciousness. From this point of view only the original appearance of any feeling may be called sensation; after that the mental state equals sensation plus association or experience. The fact of importance that appears from these va- rious definitions, is that they and all others are arbitrary, that in fact we cannot draw clear lines of distinction between sensations of qualities of things and sensations of bodily conditions, — between sensations from special, well-known stimuli like sounds and from vague, jll- known stimuli like the condition of the blood or the gnawings of dyspepsia, — between atomic, indivisible bits or brightness or pain or bitter and complex masses of color, toothache or tones, — between the first sensation of any sort and the subsequent ones modified by it. Nor can we draw a clear line around sensations (taken in the broad sense shown by the group of samples above) so as to infallibly separate sensations from percepts or from emotions or from certain feelings of relationships. It is indeed as important to know that these mental states shade off the one into the other as to know the general features of difference which lead us to separate them into groups. Realizing then that definitions must be rough, one Feelings of Things as Present 21 may say that sensations are direct feelings of qualities of things or of conditions of the body. Pure sensations are such feelings when uninfluenced by previous experiences. Elementary sensations are such feelings so simple or minute as to be unanalysable into simpler ones. Pure Sensations. — Except in the first experiences of early infancy, pure sensations are not found. The ways in which the outside world and our own bodily states are felt are the result of original tendencies combined with practice. Thus artists who wish to get back to the bare, immediate sizes and colors of things, apart from the influence of our habitual interpretations of them, have to undergo special training to free themselves from the, for their purposes, disadvantageous tendencies of experience. Although in actual mental life pure sensations are not found, it is possible in thought to regard any sensation as a pure sensation plus the modifications in it dfte to experi- ence, and to argue about the pure sensation's factor or share or aspect by itself. Elementary Sensations. — Elementary sensations are not real fragments of our mental states, but abstrac- tions invented to aid our understanding of mental life. They exist in the sense that lines without breadth or thick- ness exist. Just as an actual boundary wall is not a sum of such lines, so the sensations we have are not sums or collections of tiny atomic sensations. An intense salt taste is not the sum of a thousand slightly salt tastes, any more than the thought of a chair is the thought of c plus the thought of h plus the thought of a and so on. Our feelings of the outside world can in thought be analyzed into elements of colors, sounds, pressures and the like, but in actual experience they are felt as complex total feelings. Nor does the mind in its sense life grow from a start- ing-point of elementary sensations by the addition of more 22 Descriptive Psychology and more of them and by building them into complex wholes. On the contrary, the first sensations are ex- tremely vague, rich, complicated feelings of comfort, discomfort, bodily disturbances and such appearances of external things as are well characterized by Professor James' phrase 'a big, blooming, buzzing confusion.* The progress of the mind is by the differentiation of vague feelings into more and more definite and detailed feelings. The clean-cut reds and blues, A flats and C sharps, sweets and sours, hards and softs which we call elementary sen- sations are the result of slow growth. The world of sense comes not as a building constructed of small pieces of bricks and mortar and glass, but as a landscape grad- ually clearing up from the obscurity of a fog. The child comes to feel hot, cold, red and green as we come to dis- tinguish the constituents of a salad-dressing, the sounds of the different instruments in an orchestra, or the char- acteristic odors of a slum. It is nevertheless desirable to try to analyze any actual sensation into, or replace it in thought by such fictitious elements^ Fictitious in the sense of being elements of mental states which when put together give the sensation, they are real in the sense of corresponding to elementary processes in the brain which, when happening together, do produce in mental life the sensation. The sensation produced in the mind when one plunges the hand into cold water is not the equivalent of a thousand feelings of little cold spots plus a thousand feelings of little slipper- inesses and elasticities, but the brain process which produces the feeling of a cold and wet hand is the equiva- lent of thousands of component processes. The Attributes of Sensations. — Every sensation, and indeed every mental state of any sort, is in time, lasts so long, possesses Duration as an attribute. Feelings of Things as Present 23 Every sensation possesses Intensity, by which we mean that there is a certain amount of it which can be con- ceived to have possibly been more or less. That every sensation is felt as possessing Bigness or Extensity is held to be true by some psychologists. Others would limit the attribute of spatial quality more narrowly; e.g., to sensations from the eyes and skin and joints. Others even deny it to all sensations, arguing that by itself a sensation is felt as nowhere and of no size, that only in the connection of many sensations with one another does the feeling of 'thereness' and Voluminous- ness' appear. Those announcing this third view pre- sumably refer only to elementary sensations. Every sensation possesses Quality, which can be de- fined provisionally by examples : color, pitch and sweet- ness are qualities of sensations. If anyone examines his own sensations, he will find that they may differ from one another in these four ways : One may last a longer or shorter time than another ; may be more or less vigorous or intense; may be bigger or smaller; i.e., may fill more or less space; may be different in mental stuff, in its very nature. In all but the last case sensations may be ranged in a series according to the amount of some attribute they possess; they may be ranked by the quantity of time, or energy, or extent belonging to them. The fourth case of differences can- not be expressed as differences of quantity, but only as of the kind or quality of the feelings. When the differ- ences between sensations fail to resolve themselves into a series of amounts of any one thing they are therefore called differences of Quality; Thus with red and green, the touch of velvet and that of soft soap, the feeling of nausea and that of a toothache. The quality of a sensa- 24 Descriptive Psychology tion is thus the attribute of it which distinguishes it from any other sensation. § 6. The Classification of Sensations By Their Quality. — Sensations may be classified according to their degrees of difference in quality. All colors are more like each other in quality than they are like tastes. All reds are more like each other than they are like blues, but are more like blues than they are like tastes. Touches are more like pressures than they are like smells. We thus classify sensations according to the sense to which they belong. Within each sense we have further classification ; for instance, of sensations of vision into the different colors or of sensations of hearing into noises and tones. Al- though in the spectrum red shades off into orange, orange into yellow and yellow into green and so on, we feel the change to be more abrupt at certain places than at others and so group color-sensations into reds, oranges, yellows, greens and the like. So also sounds are grouped into noises and tones, though a tone that lasts but a very short time is indistinguishable from a noise and certain com- binations of noises, such as the sound of certain machines heard at a distance, take on the likeness of tones. By the Sense Organs Causing Them. — Sensations are also classified according to the sense organ the activity of which arouses them. Every educated person knows that his feelings of color are due to the influence of light rays upon the visual sense organ, the eye ; that his sensa- tions of sound are due to the influence of air vibrations upon the auditory sense organ, the ear. It is equally true that tastes, smells, heat, cold, pressures and other varieties of sensation correspond each to the activity of one kind Feelings of Things as Present 25 of sense organ or combination of sense organs. Some of these sense organs,— e.g., the eyes, ears, and nose, — are influenced by stimuli exterior to the body, such as ether vibrations and air vibrations. Some are influenced by stimuli within the body, such as the rubbing of the sur- faces of the joints, changes in the blood supply, inflam- mation of the tissues and the like. The large groups resulting from a classification on the basis of the sense organs concerned are: — A. Sensations from the periphery of the body : External Sensations. Sensations from the eyes. " " ears. " " nose. " " mouth. " " skin. B. Sensations from the internal organs of the body: Internal Sensations. Sensations from the semicircular canals in the inter- nal ear. Sensations from the muscles. " " tendons. " " surfaces of the joints. " " alimentary canal. " " circulatory system. " " lungs. " brain and nerves themselves. " " sex-organs. Within each of these groups a finer grouping can often be made out. The skin or cutaneous sensations, e.g., are apparently due to different sorts of nerve endings in the skin and may accordingly be divided into feelings of pressure, heat, cold, pain, and perhaps of traction (due to pulling the skin or hairs outward) touch, tickling and 26 Descriptive Psychology others. The mouth is perhaps furnished with four differ- ent sorts of nerve-endings, each the source of a special variety of taste (sweet, sour, salt and bitter). Finally each variety of sense organ may be capable of arousing many different sensations, according to the dif- ferent ways in which it may behave, — the differences in action of which it is capable. Thus in the retina of the eye the so-called 'rods' and 'cones/ which are the nerve- endings concerned in vision, are apparently each capable of arousing hundreds of different shades of color and degrees of brightness. In a classification resulting from perfect knowledge, the main classes will correspond to the kind of sense organ involved, the sub-classes to the kinds of activity of each kind of sense organ. The Two Types of Classification Compared.— With respect to the more obvious and more important groups of sensations the classification on the basis of felt resem- blances parallels that on the basis of the sense organ con- cerned. The differences between the two classifications are due first to the fact that common-sense judgments of qualities often put compound sensations into a single group although they involve very different sense organs. Thus when what common sense calls tastes are found to be due largely to stimulation, not of the gustatory nerve- endings in the mouth, but of the olfactory nerve-endings in the nose, 1 psychology changes popular usage and reserves the word tastes for the bare sweets, sours, salts, bitters (and possibly alkaline and metallic tastes) and classifies the rich savors of foods as smell sensations. 1 Hence the loss of 'taste' when one has a cold in the head. One can gain experimental evidence of the share of the nose in taste by testing some friend, who with eyes shut and nose carefully plugged, tries to distinguish raw potato from apple, maple syrup from molasses, soup from salt water. Feelings of Things as Present 27 Even expert analysis sees no difference between the sen- sations from the rods in the retina and those from the cones and has always made a single class, — visual sensa- tions. Yet it is perhaps true that the rods act only when the light is dim, and give no sensations at all for green. On the basis of the sense organ involved a classification into sensations in a dim light and sensations in a bright light would be, perhaps, more scientific and fundamental than one into colors and brightness. Classifications by felt quality and by known sense organ differ in the second place because clear and impor- tant differences can often be felt where no corresponding difference in the nerve-endings involved has been dis- covered. For example, sweets and sours and bitters deserve separate classes from their felt unlikeness, but no proof of different nerve-endings for each class has yet been offered. Two general cautions are necessary in connection with the classification of sensations. First, in trying to pick out the different kinds of sensations one should not forget that the actual stream of mental life rarely offers a single kind of sensation at a time. Our feelings of the outside world are feelings of complex things involving many different sensations, or of numerous qualities at the same time. The feeling of a lifted weight, for example, is a complex due to the action of sense organs in the skin, on the surfaces of the joints and in the muscles themselves. Second, the fact that only the more definite and frequent sensations, such as sights, sounds and tastes, are easily classified should not blind one to the existence and impor- tance of the vaguer sensations, such as fatigues, aches, hunger and the like. The condition of the body as a whole, the state of its muscular tension, circulation, digestion, and other obscurer activities, influences the 28 Descriptive Psychology little known internal sense organs, and so causes those mental states which verge from sensations toward emo- tions. These must not be neglected. § 7. Sensation and Stimulus Sensations correspond to and are due to physical causes and happenings without and within the body, which cause activity in the sense-organs. Such a physi- cal cause of activity in a sense-organ is called the; Stimulus to the sensation. The Threshold of sensibility for any variety of sensa- tion is the least possible stimulus that will cause it, i.e., the softest sound, the weakest light, the slightest touch. The Range of sensibility in any sense is the range of physical stimuli below and above which the stimulus causes no sensation. For instance, the range of pitch is from about 16 vibrations of the air per second to about 30,000 vibrations per second; 1 the range of color vision is from about 450 billion 2 to about 790 billion vibrations of the ether per second ; 3 i.e., from the extreme of red to the extreme of violet. It would be possible, though not in the present con- dition of knowledge especially useful, to classify sensa- tions by the physical facts which cause them, by the nature of their stimuli. We should then have as the two chief groups: A. Feelings caused by the qualities of outside objects. B. Feelings caused by qualities of the body itself. 1 These figures vary among different individuals, and different values have been assigned to them by different investigators. The low limit is almost certainly between 8 and "30. 2 A billion means here, following the European usage, a million millions. 3 Under favorable circumstances a red of only 412 billion vibra- tions can be distinguished and a color beyond the violet end of the spectrum of 912 billion vibrations. The range varies with indi- viduals as in the case of sound. Feelings of Things as Present 29 Under A we should have : A I. Feelings caused by light, i.e., by ether vibra- tions. A II. Feelings caused by molecular motions. A II 1. By tones, i.e., periodic wave motions. A II 2. By noises, 'i.e., non-periodic motions, A II 3. By temperature, i.e., inner molecular motions. A III. Feelings caused by gross mechanical forces. A III 1. By weight. A III 2. By elasticity. Etc. A VI. Feelings caused by chemical forces. A IV 1. In gaseous form (causing sensations of smell). A IV 2. In liquid form (causing sensations of of taste). Under B (feelings caused by qualities of the body itself) the movements of the ether and of sound waves would play a small if not a zero role while electrical forces might perhaps be found to influence feelings as they do not when acting through outside objects. To such clas- sifications on the basis of the nature of the physical stimulus are due the terms : the chemical senses, for taste and smell; the mechanical senses, for touch, pressure, etc. ; the distant senses, for vision and hearing. The richness of the contribution of sensations to men- tal life hardly requires comment. The number of quali- ties of things felt in vision or hearing or touch alone or the multitude of bodily conditions of which the organic senses, including pain, warn us, is certainly astounding. The loss of a single sense deprives a human life of a whole kingdom of facts. It is more necessary to call attention to the fact that although the number of the dif- 30 Descriptive Psychology ferent sensations that a human being feels seems almost infinite, they represent the influence on us of only a part of the world's forces. Sensations are aroused only by a selected few of the events about us and in our bodies. Sounds are due to air waves, but waves above thirty or forty thousand vibrations per second cause no sensations of sound in man, though they apparently do in some in- sects. The x-rays and the emanations from radio-active bodies cause no sensations directly. All about us there may be forces in nature to which our senses are not susceptible. What we feel are the comparatively few series of stimuli to which our senses are, so to speak, tuned. The growth of tissues, the action of certain glands, and the destruction of dangerous substances by the white blood corpuscles are samples of important events within the body which leave us unfeeling. To only a few of the multitudinous events of our bodily lives are we sensitive. Our sensations warn us of only a frac- tion of the happenings of the universe within and without. Exercises 1. Of the feelings referred to in the list of words, phrases or sentences given below which are most like emotions? 2. Which are most like feelings of relationships? 3. Which would be called sensations without any hesitation? 4. Which might possibly be called elementary sensations? 5. Which might possibly be called pure sensations? 6. Which are internal sensations? 7. Which are compounds caused by at least two different senses ? a. The child's feeling when it first burns itself. b. Hunger. c. The sound of a tuning fork. d. The general feeling of being well or ill. e. The faintest possible taste of bitter. f. Feelings of weight. Feelings of Things as Present 31 g. Nausea. h. Feelings of distance. i. The taste of coffee. j. An unrecognized smell. k. The ringing in the ears that results from a large dose of quinine. 1. Sleepiness. m. Hearing a note sung crescendo. n. Lassitude, o. Restlessness, p. The sight of a light by a four-weeks-old baby. 8. Show now the author of the following passage classifies sensations partly on the basis of felt likeness and partly on the basis of the sense organs concerned : "Different Classes of Sensation. — Passing now to the enumeration and comparison of the different classes of sensation we may begin with the following provisional list: Sensations of sight, of hearing, of contact and pressure ; those due to the vary- ing states of muscles, joints, and tendons as dependent on the po- sition and movement of the limbs; sensations of smell, of taste, of temperature, and finally organic sensations. The last head requires some explanation. Under the term 'organic sensation' are included sensations due to the state of the internal organs of the body, such as headache, thirst, muscular cramp, or fatigue, nausea, etc." (G. F. Stout, Groundwork of Psychology, p. 42.) 9. Which groups in this classification most need further sub- division. 10. What criticism may be made of a description of a group of feelings as "those due to the varying states of the muscles, joints and tendons as dependent on the position and movement of the limbs"? 11. Criticise the following classification: "Sensation. There are two classes of sensations, — General and Special. General Sensations include all those which do not belong to the "five senses," — those which constitute our bodily comfort or discomfort; they may be classed as follows: Muscular Sensations of injury, fatigue, and repose. Nervous Sensations arising from the state of the nervous system, as when we feel the exhilaration of perfect health or are weakened by care or suffering. 32 Descriptive Psychology Vital Sensations, depending on the condition of the vital organs, as those of hunger and thirst and their opposites, the pain of indigestion, the feeling of suffocation when breathing impure air. Special Sensations are of five kinds, namely, those of Touch (including those of the "Muscular Sense"), of Sight, of Hearing, of Taste, and of Smell." 12. No one has found a classification of smells that is either simple or comprehensive or scientific. It is interesting to try to classify the odors of the objects named below and compare the groups one makes with those made by others: alcohol apples bananas benzine cabbage (cooked) camphor canteloupes cheese chloroform cinnamon orange peel pine woods roast beef roses rubber sour milk strawberries sulphur (burning) sulphuretted hydrogen violets coffee ether fir balsam fish (cooked) fish (raw) Kay kerosene lemons maple sugar onions 13. Give the names of two things which seem to you to have somewhat the same kind of a smell that the thing named has, in the case of each of the following : ■ chloroform coffee tobacco camphor rancid butter decaying meat cinnamon roses new mown hay alcohol apples cheese benzine onions bananas 14. Make a list of senses which it is conceivable that human beings might have, though they do not. 15. Which one of the senses provides the greatest variety of different qualities? 16. Which sensations are aroused by distant objects? 17. Which sensations are least delusive, most reliable? Experiment 1. Pressure Spots. — On the back of the hand, say between the base of the thumb and the base of the forefinger, mark off an area about an inch long and a half inch wide. Have ready: (1) a pyramid of cork about a quarter inch square at the base, about one quarter inch high and cut to a point, with a long needle or a tooth pick stuck into its base for a handle; (2) two Feelings of Things as Present 33 small metal rods, such as knitting needles, or pieces of wire with rounded ends, or better two hollow metal cylinders drawn to a closed point at one end. Go over the surface of the skin with the point of the cork, touching each square millimeter lightly. Note the location of any spots where the touch of the cork arouses a much more pro- nounced feeling of pressure (of what is commonly called touch) than it does in general. Does the touch of the cork in some spots arouse a feeling of coolness? If so, locate these. Experiment 2. Cold Spots. — Go over the surface of the skin with one of the rods cooled to say 50 Fahrenheit (if the hollow rods are used, they need only to be filled with cold water) and note the location of any spots where the touch arouses a much more pronounced feeling of coolness than it does in general. Touch these spots with the cork. What sensation results? Touch them with the second rod warmed slightly above the temperature of the room. What sensation results? As an aid to remembering the location of the pressure spots and cold spots, it will be useful to draw on paper an enlarged outline of the area marked off on the hand, or to mark the hand itself with a tiny spot of ink or paint. Experiment 3. The Threshold for Pressure. — Make 5 cylin- ders of wood about 4 millimeters in diameter and 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 millimeters in height. Have each one smooth at top and bottom. Fasten to the center of the top of each by a bit of glue, a fine, flexible thread of silk. Tie the thread to one end of a small stick (tooth picks will serve), letting the length from the cylinder to the stick be about two inches. Holding the stick at the end removed from the thread, lower the cylinder gradually till it rests on some smooth surface, as a table-top. Each cylinder should, when thus lowered, have the plane of its bottom surface parallel with the table-top. Let a friend be seated with eyes closed, fore-arm resting on a table, and the palm of the hand upward. Say to him: "I shall give as a signal the word ready. Then at the end of two seconds I shall either put a very light weight on your hand or I shall do nothing. If you feel a weight, say 'Yes,' if you do not feel any, say nothing." Then say, 'Ready/ and lower a cylinder gently till it rests on the center of the palm. Note the answer given, and remove the cylinder slowly. Record the answer. Repeat with another and so on through the following series: the 16mm. cyl- 3 34 Descriptive Psychology inder, the 8, o (that is, none at all), 16, o, 2, 4, 2, 16, 0, 1, 8, 8, 2, 1, 4, 16, 1, 8, 1, 8, 1, 16, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, o, 2, 0, 16, 1, 1, 8, 0, 16, 16, 8, 2, 0, o, 4, 4, 16, 0, 8, 8, o, 16, 0, 4, o, 2, 16, o, 1, 1, 16, 1, 4, 2, 2, 8, 4, 0, 16, 4, 4, 4, 16, 16, 0, 0, 16. Record the answers by drawing a line under the figure denot- ing the cylinder used if the subject answers yes, and a line through it if he says nothing. This method of scoring serves also to keep track of which cylinder is the next to be used. Which weights are below the threshold? (Unless a cylinder was felt in eight cases out of ten it was probably not really sensed at all, for mere guessing would of course give fifty per cent, of correct answers.) Try the same experiment placing the weights on the back of the wrist or fore-arm. Which weights are below the threshold here? Experiment 4. The Mixture of Taste and Smell. — Arrange for a friend to give you a half hour of his time. Prepare 4 pieces (cubes about one quarter of an inch long) of each of the following: raw apple, raw onion, raw celery, cooked chicken, cooked beef, cooked lamb; and have ready a half spoonful each of honey, maple syrup, molasses, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, a medicine dropper (a plain glass rod will do) and a salt spoon or a visiting card cut lengthwise into six or seven strips. Let the subject of the experiment be seated, with eyes closed and nose carefully plugged with cotton. Say to him, "I shall put something in your mouth ; taste it and tell me what it is before you swallow it." Require the subject to answer at once before the odor can penetrate to the nose through the passage at the back of the mouth cavity. Then place a piece or drop or pinch of the food, say a pinch of cinnamon, on his tongue and record his answer. Give the different substances in a mixed-up order, using each two times, and recording the substance and the answer in each case. After these 24 trials have been made, remove the filling from the subject's nose and repeat the 24 trials. Compare the number of errors in the two cases. Why would it be desirable to repeat the experiment on another person, test- ing him first with nose open and later with nose plugged? Feelings of Things as Present 35 References A. James, Briefer Course, II. (9-16), III., IV., V., VI. Stout, Manual, 117-124, 141-198. Titchener, Outline, §§ 7-26. Angell, Psychology, V. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 13-36. James, Principles, XVII. (1-9). Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, VII., VIII., X. § 8. Percepts The Nature and Attributes of Percepts. — Our con- sciousness of the world is commonly not of confused blurs and masses of colors, sounds, tastes, and the like, but of unified wholes which we call 'things.' We can in thought analyze our feelings of the outside world into elements of colors, sounds, pressures, etc., but in reality they appear as complex total feelings. The feeling of a 'thing' as actually present is called a Percept if the thing is actually present ; an Illusion if it is not present but something else is which gives us the feeling; an Hal- lucination if nothing is actually present to cause the feel- ing. Thus my feelings of the page I see, the pen I hold, the chords being played on the piano or the puffing of an engine are percepts. My feelings, as I lie dozing, of a page seen, when really only a dirty blotter is seen, and of the puffing of an engine, when really only my own breathing is heard, are illusions. My feeling of music heard in a dream, when really no sound at all is audible, is an hallucination. Feelings of things are most commonly based on sight and touch, less commonly on hearing, still less commonly on taste, smell or pain, and almost never on the feelings of nausea, dizziness, muscle-strain and other inner bodily conditions. We rarely say or think, T have a sourness/ or 'There are four dizzinesses in this room.' 36 Descriptive Psychology Percept and Stimulus. — The same outside thing may arouse different percepts, different feelings of it, in dif- ferent people according to the amount and nature of their previous experiences of it. To the man without musical training the song sung by a chorus is a vague total of sounds, but to the trained musician it is a balanced harmony in which all the different parts are clearly felt. To the five year old a page of print is an in- definite smear of black specks on a white ground; to his teacher it is a definite series of letters and words ; to the printer it is not only that, but also 10 point type. To the baby all our 'things' are as yet a misty, chaotic mud- dle of feeling. We learn our feelings of the commonest things as truly as we learn the multiplication table or the Latin language. The differences are that we learn the former mainly in the earliest years of life, that the constant pres- ence of things and the need of getting on with them makes the acquaintance with them almost universal and brings to pass far greater similarities amongst men in their percepts than in the more elaborated connections between ideas. These similarities should not, however, blind us to the differences which do, as has been pointed out, exist, or to the fact that even by the age of entrance to school the feelings of things which adults have long taken for granted may be absent or only partially de- veloped. One of the results of experience is that less and less of the outside thing is required to arouse the feeling of it. Our eyes really see and our ears hear only a part of what we feel as visual and auditory percepts. In all prob- ability a number of readers of this book did not actually see the of in the first line of this paragraph or the the in the second line or the last e of outside. If the reader Feelings of Things as Present 37 will read very rapidly the passage printed on page 38 and then re-read it very slowly, looking at each word, he will probably discover that in the first reading his senses must have taken in only partial glimpses of the words and that his mind supplied their customary accompaniments out of whole cloth. In listening to a foreign language one is surprised at the small number of articulate sounds that he hears : the rest seem a mere jangle. Of conver- sation in our own language our ears really hear only a few sounds clearly, but these serve as a sufficient basis for a total series of clear percepts. Repeat to a group of people the lines below and you may be surprised to find the changes unnoticed. Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white is snow ; And every pair that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go. Percepts and Sensations Compared. — Between sen- sations and percepts, between feelings of the qualities of things and feelings of the things themselves, no sharp line can be drawn. E.g., is my feeling of the sound of the watch ticking to be called a sensation of the sound, a quality of the watch, or a percept of a thing, a ticking sound ? If by sensations are meant what were called pure sensations, the clear distinction can be drawn that every percept involves experience, that 'every perception is an acquired perception/ But since pure sensations exist only in the dawn of mental life, this distinction is as use- less as it is clear. Again between elementary sensations and percepts the clear distinction can be drawn that every percept is caused by a number of sensory stimulations, requires the co-operation of many brain processes, is divisible in analysis into parts. But since elementary 38 Descriptive Psychology We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves aud our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitntion for the United Stales of America. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of tho most nu- merous branch of the State legislature. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, ard been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhahitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct taxes shalt be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respoctive numbers, which shall be determimed by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. Feelings of Things as Present 39 sensations do not have real existence, it may be objected that there is no great advantage in distinguishing any- thing from them. The facts are that sensations and percepts are words that divide between them the work of naming our feelings of the outside world as present ; that in their general use the former refers to our feelings when they emphasize simple qualities such as of color, pitch, heat, cold, and the like, while the latter refers to our feelings when they emphasize things or groups of qualities that go together. The Classification of Percepts. — There is literally no end to the variety of the feelings of things possible to a human mind. In an hour's walk in a city one may have five thousand different percepts, each of a human face. In an evening at the opera one may add thousands of percepts of tones. A classification in any detail of the perceptual life of a mind would thus be. a long labor. There may be as many and as different percepts in the mind as there are things in the world, indeed more. For the same thing may arouse different feelings according as it is seen near or at a distance, in the light or in the dark, from one side or from the other, and so on through many possible changes. For purposes of study a classification according to which sense furnishes the main features of the percept is useful. Thus we have visual percepts, auditory percepts, etc. The word main must be emphasized in our thought, for in many percepts different senses combine. Another classification useful for purposes of study would be into extensive, temporal and merely qualitative. For many of our feelings are of things as in space, as so big, of such a shape, at such a distance, and the spatial or form-size character of things is highly important in the sciences and arts. So also the precepts of language 40 Descriptive Psychology and music in which elements successive in time become joined into unitary feelings of words or melodies well deserve separate study. The group left over — the feel- ing of things through taste, smell, pressure and the rest — is, however, a very mixed and unwieldy group. In discussions of the development of our knowledge of things or of the education of the senses, percepts may best be grouped according to their clearness, detail and number of connections with images and other percepts. Thus the vague, coarse and isolated percept of its mother's face which an infant has would be put in one group ; the percept of the same face which the child will feel in a year or two would be put in a second group; while the exact definition and complete detail of the per- cept of the same face felt by a friend who was painting the mother's portrait would be put in a third class. Percepts might also be classified as single or col- lective. The sight of a pencil or the sound of a tone are examples of the former ; the sight of a forest or an army or the sound of a melody or of a pattering of rain are examples of the latter. The Constitution of Percepts. — Elementary sensa- tions are said to combine to form percepts. When the combination is by the juxtaposition in space of the ele- ments, as when different bits of blue make a blue surface or different bits of pressure give the feeling of a hand pressed against the brow, the combination is called colligation. When the elements do not each exclude the other from occupying the same space, as when different tones combine to form a chord, or when tastes and smells and touch combine to form the total 'taste' of celery, the combination is called fusion. This combination is really a combination, not of feelings, but of the processes in the brain upon which they depend. Feelings of Things as Present 4i Exercises 1. Give illustrations of illusions and of hallucinations from your own and from your friends' experiences. 2. a. Which senses provide percepts of the form of objects? b. Which senses provide percepts of the texture of objects? c. Which senses provide percepts of the weight of ob- jects? 3. What terms in grammar refer respectively to single and collective percepts? 4. Give three illustrations of the influence of training in replacing vague and coarse percepts by definite and detailed per- cepts. Fig. 1 B 5. What paragraphs in the text bring out the facts stated in these qooTationiF For a. see § 6; for b. and c. see § 8. a. "Consciousness is never composed of a single sensa- tion." ( Titchener ) . b. "The consciousness of particular material things pres- ent to sense is nowadays called perception." (James). c. "Every perception is an acquired perception." (James). Experiment 5. Sensations and Percepts. — a. Look at Fig. 1 A. Find the two frogs. Notice the change from a vague blur of lines to a definite picture as the frogs spring into view. b. Look at a landscape with the head turned upside down ; then with the head in its usual position. c. Look through the pages of an illustrated magazine, held 42 Descriptive Psychology upside down or turned through an angle of 135 degrees from its usual position. When a picture appears as a mere chaos of sensations, turn the magazine to its usual position and note the difference in the picture's definiteness and 'thingness.' Experiment 6. ' Percept and Stimulus. — Look at Fig. 1 B. What is it? Continue looking until you find another animal shown. Show the figure to six or eight people, letting each one tell at once what it is. What sentence in the text (page 36) do the results illustrate? References A. James, Briefer Course, XX. (312-315). Stout, Manual,- 312-391. Titchener, Outline, §§ 43-51. Angell, Psychology, VI., VII. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 37-41. James, Principles, XIX. (76-82). Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, XII.-XV. *I am indebted to the publishers of St. Nicholas for permission to use Fig. i A, CHAPTER III ♦ Feelings of Things as Absent: Images and Memories § 9. Mental Images Definition and Classification. — The term Imagery or Images is often restricted to feelings of things as not present. A more useful meaning and one that prevails in recent books on psychology, is feelings of things, quali- ties and conditions of all sorts as not present. In this sense of the word there may be an image to correspond to every sensation, percept, impulse or emotion. There may be images of fatigue, fear, lonesomeness and tickling, as well as of faces or tunes. The most frequent images are however of sights, sounds and movements. Images are naturally classified according to the kind of sensation or percept or impulse or emotion to which they correspond. The most important groups are : Images of sights: — Visual Images. Images of sounds: — Auditory or Audile Images. Images of feelings of movement: — Motor or Mo- tile Images. Images of touches : — Tactile Images. Images of tastes : — Gustatory Images. Images of smells : — Olfactory Images. The readers may be unable to get images of all these different kinds. Images of tastes and of smells are com- paratively rare and some individuals can be found who apparently lack visual and auditory images. 43 44 Descriptive Psychology A group of images which is of much practical impor- tance is formed by images of words. More of human thinking, especially of that of educated men and women, is done by imaged words than by imaged objects. It should be noted that whereas for images of objects the order of frequency is visual, auditory, motor, the order of frequency for images of words is probably motor auditory, visual. Possibly auditory, motor, visual is the order, but common opinion often mistakes a motor for an auditory image. The more one observes his images of words, the more he will find motor factors and approach agreement with the following statement by Bain: 'When we recall the impression of a word or sentence, if we do not speak it out, we feel the twitter of the organs just about to come to that point. The articulating parts — the larynx, the tongue, the lips — are all sensibly excited ; a suppressed articulation is in fact the material of our recollection, the intellectual manifestation, the idea of speech.' 1 Generic Images. — In certain cases the conditions are especially favorable for the production of vague, hazy, incomplete images ; namely, when many things alike in certain features and unlike in others have been experienced. For instance, the many different percepts that have been associated with the word dog result in a tendency of the process of reproduction toward an image of a dog of indefinite and fleeting size, color and shape. In such cases the different percepts contribute elements which in some cases agree enough to reinforce each other, in others are so contradictory as to annihilate each other, and in all cases tend somewhat to give way in succession to each other. We may compare the process to that of making composite photographs in which each of a hun- 1 Quoted by James, Principles of Psychology, vol. II., p. 64. Feelings of Things as Not Present 45 dred or so faces has its share. Or the process may be likened to the clamor of a thousand men saying some- thing alike in part and different in other parts. Out of it all comes to the listener a vague feeling of the general thought of the assembly. A mental image which pos- sesses clearly only the commonest features of a class of objects, being incomplete and hazy and changing in all minor details, is called a Generic Image. "In dreams, one sees houses, trees and other objects, which are perfectly recognisable as such, but which re- mind one of the actual objects as seen 'out of the corner of the eye,' or of the pictures thrown by a badly-focused magic lantern. A man addresses us who is like a figure seen by twilight; or we travel through countries where every feature of the scenery is vague ; the outlines of the hills are ill-marked, and the rivers have no defined banks. They are, in short, generic ideas of many past impres- sions of men, hills, and rivers. An anatomist who oc- cupies himself intently with the examination of several specimens of some new kind of animal, in course of time acquires so vivid a conception of its form and structure, that the idea may take visible shape and become a sort of waking dream. But the figure which thus presents itself is generic, not specific. It is no copy of any one speci- men, but, more or less, a mean of the series. " 1 Variation in Images. — Images differ greatly in clearness, in fidelity and in susceptibility to control. One may have a perfect distinct image of his father's face, one which accurately corresponds detail for detail with the real percept and which can be gotten at any time and retained before the mind's eye at will; but his image of a certain house or of a regular polygon of twenty sides may be vague, rough and fleeting. Between individuals the difference is even more marked. One may be able at will to feel 'before his mind's nose' the odor of roast 1 Huxley's 'Hume/ p. 113. 46 Descriptive Psychology beef as a clear exact correspondent of the real sensa- tion. Another may be utterly unable to feel it at all unless it is there. The following cases illustrate extreme cases of imagery of various sorts : — (1) "This morning's breakfast-table is both dim and bright; it is dim if I try to think of it when my eyes are open upon any object; it is perfectly clear and bright if I think of it with my eyes closed All the objects are clear at once, yet when I confine my attention to any one object it becomes far more distinct I have more power to recall color than any other one thing; if, for example, I were to recall a plate decorated with flowers, I could reproduce in a drawing the exact tone, etc. The color of anything that was on the table was perfectly vivid. — There is very little limitation to the extent of my images: I can see all four sides of a room, I can see all four sides of two, three, four, even more rooms with such distinctness that if you should ask me what was in any particular place in any one, or ask me to count the chairs, etc., I could do it without the least hesitation. — The more I learn by heart, the more clearly do I see images of my pages. Even before I can recite the lines, I can see them so that I could give them very slowly word for word, but my mind is so occupied in looking at my print- ed image that I have no idea of what I am saying, of the sense of it, etc. When I first found myself doing this, I used to think it was merely because I knew the lines im- perfectly ; but I have quite convinced myself that I really do see an image. The strongest proof that such is really the fact is I think, the following : "I can look down the mentally seen page and see the words that commence all the lines, and from any one of these words I can continue the line. I find this much easier to do if the words begin in a straight line than if there are breaks." 1 (2) "I am unable to form in my mind's eye any visual likeness of the table whatever. After many trials I can only get a hazy surface, with nothing on it or about 1 James, Principles of Psychology, vol. II., p. 56. Feelings of Things as Not Present 47 it. I can see no variety in color, and no positive limita- tions in extent, while I cannot see what I see well enough to determine its position in respect to my eye, or to en- dow it with any quality of size. I am in the same posi- tion as to the word dog. I cannot see it in my mind's eye at all; and so cannot tell whether I should have to run my eye along it, if I did see it." 1 (3) "Imagination also takes the auditory form. 'When I write a scene/ said Legouve to Scribe, 'I hear; but you see. In each phrase which I write, the voice of the personage strikes my ear. Vous, qui etes le theatre meme, your actors walk, gesticulate before your eyes ; I am a listener, you a spectator' 'Nothing more true/ said Scribe. 'Do you know where I am when I write a piece? In the middle of the parterre/ 1 (4) "If I wish to imagine that I am walking, I have to combine feelings in the parts of the body concerned in walking. This feeling is in my case most vivid in the upper part of the thigh. For every step, which I wish to imagine, I have to revive expressly such a feeling in the upper part of the thigh, just as if I wished to really move it forward, to make a real step/' "If I try to call up in memory the walking move- ment of another person, say of a soldier marching, and in such wise as to imagine him first in one position (for instance with both legs on the ground and then as lifting his leg at the order March and putting it forward so as to take a step), I notice that I am thinking of the upper part of one of my own thighs. "If I wish to imagine him lifting his left leg, I am aware of something in the upper part of my left thigh; if I seek to imagine him as lifting his right leg, the feel- ing passes back to my right thigh/' "My memories of the movements of all inanimate objects are for the most part connected with feelings in the eye muscles. If I wish to represent to myself the motion of the clouds, I have to add the feeling of my eyes following the clouds. If I try to suppress this feel- 1 James, Principles of Psychology, vol. II., pp. 57-60. 48 Descriptive Psychology ing, the image of the movement is at once inhibited, the clouds seem unable to move. The case is the same with my images of the flight of a bird, of smoke rising, of a wagon passing by. "I cannot imagine the sound b without feelings in my lips. No more can I call up the feeling in my lips of b without thinking of the sound." 1 (5) ' 'Auditory Mental Imagery. I find the audi- tory mental imagery in my case to be almost as import- ant a factor in my mental life as is the visual, being a mental reproduction of the sounds I have heard — musi- cal or otherwise. They are comparable with real sounds, not so much in intensity, but perfectly in timbre, pitch and duration. I can estimate a minute with much greater exactness mentally if I listen to the auditory mental imagery of a piece of music which takes about a minute to perform. "The auditory mental imagery, I would say, includes all the actual word thinking that I do, which is almost always done by means of writing. . "Olfactory Mental Imagery. These are in my own case extremely numerous, probably because to me so many things have a smell, often a distinctive smell These mental images have to me, like those of the other senses, quite distinctive qualities. The mental image of the smell of new-mown hay is totally unlike, even as a purely mental occurrence, that of the aroma of forest leaf- mold. And the words 'tea' and 'coffee' are represented in my mind by two mental images, totally unlike." 2 Types of Imagination. — Individuals may often be classified under types according to the kind of imagery which predominates in their streams of thought. Thus Dr. Strieker, the author of the fourth quotation given above, would be put under the motor type, while the author of the first quotation would be called a visualizer. 1 S. Strieker, Bewegungsvorstellungen, pp. 12-14, an d Sprach- vorstellungen, pp. 9-10. a Wilfrid Lay, Mental Imagery, pp. 36-37. Feelings of Things as Not Present 49 So would Dr. Lay, who found that 2,500 recorded mental images of his own were distributed as follows: Per Cent. Per Cent Per Cent. Visual 574 Gustatory ... .6 Organic .... 1. 1 Auditory 28.8 Thermal 2.0 Motor 3 Olfactory .... 5.9 Tactile 3.8 Emotional ....I The majority of individuals do not, however, show so emphatic a predominance of one kind of imagery as to be put surely in any one class. They are mixed types. For instance the reader will probably find that he or she has visual images most frequently, auditory next and motor next, as do the majority ; that in his class or among his friends cases of the almost exclusive use of any one kind of imagery are rare. Image and Percept. — The image, as defined, is never the exact duplicate of the sensation or percept to which it corresponds. If it were, one would feel the thing as present and act as if it were. Indeed the most useful characteristic of an image is that it does not du- plicate the sensation or percept. Otherwise we should all be like sleep-walkers and madmen, confusing fact with fancy in the most absurd and dangerous ways. Images, like percepts, are the result of a process of acquisition. At the start of life we have neither, and for some time the two are confused, — at least in memory, as is witnessed by the innocent lies of three year olds who tell of lions running down the street and of dogs as big as houses or as small as mice. Productive Imagination. — So far only those images have been described which at least roughly correspond to real things and conditions. There also occur images which correspond to nothing real, but are new combina- tions. One can picture a beast with an elephant's head, 4 50 Descriptive Psychology* a lion's body and a giraffe's legs. There is in these cases a correspondence not of the total image with some real thing, but only of parts of the image with parts or ele- ments of real things. In our fancies and dreams we thus make the most extraordinary and elaborate com- binations of the old familiar elements. The names (i) Reproductive Imagination and (2) Productive Imagina- tion are used for ( 1 ) the capacity of getting images that repeat whole things experienced and (2) the capacity of getting images of things never experienced on a basis of old elements and parts. The capacity to thus create a new world from the ruins of past experiences is one of the primary sources of human achievement. When directed by wise insight it becomes a part of the creative genius of poets, in- ventors and men of science. On the basis of the same experiences one man imagines the steam engine, another man nothing; out of the same stuff one man creates a tawdry play of revenge, another a Hamlet. § 10. Memories Definitions. — In the common usage of language the words memory and to remember refer to four distinct things : — ( 1 ) The presence of mental images ; e.g., 'Can you remember his face?' usually means, 'Can you call up a visual image of his face?' (2) The feeling of a thing as having been experi- enced ; e.g., T remember your face but I cannot place it.' Recognition is a better name for this sort of feeling. (3) The feeling of a thing or event as belonging to some definite experience of one's own in the past, or, in the words of Professor James, ''Knowledge of an event, or fact, of which meantime we have not been thinking, Feelings of Things as Not Present 51 with the additional consciousness that we have thought or experienced it before;" e.g., 'Do you remember how you fell from your horse here last summer?' means, 'Can you call to mind the event, and feel that you experienced it?' (4) The continued existence of connections that have been formed between ideas or feelings and acts or acts and acts; e.g., 'Do you remember your Latin?', 'Do you remember how to write shorthand?', and 'Do you remember how to throw an out curve?' refer to the presence not of feelings of things past but of connections made in the past. Permanence of connections or as- sociations is a better name for these facts. Memory Proper. — The word memory, or rather memories, may best be kept rather strictly for the feelings of class (3) of the above. Such feelings are evidently complex. They involve far more than the mere repe- tition of a feeling. Like images they are feelings of a thing or event as not present. They also involve the perception of time, since they are feelings of things or events as having been present in the past The conscious- ness of self enters, also, since they are feelings of a thing or event as having been in one's own past ex- perience. Like judgments they imply an affirmation that such a state of affairs is (here was) the case. It would indeed not be unfair to define memories (mean- ing by the word class (3) above) as judgments con- cerning one's own past experience. The facts about the permanence of connections will be presented in Part III, since they are explainable by the laws of the mind's action, — belong, that is, to dy- namic psychology. Why different individuals possess different degrees of ability in retaining connections once formed, what decides whether one shall be able to call 52 Descriptive Psychology up a given fact or not, how connections may most readily be made permanent, — are samples of the ques- tions that will arise. Exercises 1. Study carefully the picture your mind calls up of your breakfast-table of this morning as Galton directs in his 'Questions on Visualizing' and then write down your answers to the first three questions of his list. Where would you class yourself in visual imagery and in color representation, using Galton's scale (printed on page 55 f.) ? 2. Make the observations and answer the questions as directed by Galton, so far as you have time. What kinds of images do you lack entirely? What kinds are little developed? What kinds are most prominent? Compare your answers with those of three or four of your friends. In answering the questions one must beware of : — (1) Confusing the image of the name of a thing with the image of the thing itself. That I can call up the word bitter does not mean that I can have an image of a bitter taste. (2) Confusing the fact that one can act as if a feeling were present in his mind with the fact of the real presence of the feel- ing. The same act may have various antecedents. That I can draw my finger around an oblong space in the air does not imply that I can have a visual image of an oblong. That I shiver when someone is hurt does not imply that I feel an image of pain. (3) Confusing the knowledge that something happened with an image of its happening. That I can now feel that I was angry does not mean that I feel a mental image of the emotion, anger. (4) Confusing the process of arousing certain conditions and so having a certain real feeling, with the process of arousing an image of that feeling. That I can, by thinking of certain events, get a feeling of anger, does not mean that I can get an image of the feeling of anger. That by calling up thoughts of the country I can arouse a feeling of desire does not mean that I can feel an image of the feeling of desire. Feelings of Things as Not Present 53 Galton's 'Questions on Visualizing and Other Allied Faculties' *The object of these Questions is to elicit the degree in which different persons possess the power of seeing images in their mind's eye, and of reviving past sensations. From inquiries I have already made, it appears that remark- able variations exist both in the strength and in the quality of these faculties, and it is highly probable that a statistical inquiry into them will throw light upon more than one psychological problem. Before addressing yourself to any of the Questions .... think of some definite object — suppose it is your breakfast-table as you sat down to it this morning — and consider carefully the picture that rises before your mind's eye. 1. Illumination. — Is the image dim or fairly clear? Is its brightness comparable to that of the actual scene? 2. Definition. — Are all the objects pretty well defined at the same time, or is the place of sharpest definition at any one moment more contracted than it is in a real scene? 3. Colouring. — Are the colours of the china, of the toast, bread crust, mustard, meat, parsley, or whatever may have been on the table, quite distinct and natural? 4. Extent of field of view. — Call up the image of some pano- ramic view (the walls of your room might suffice). Can you force yourself to see mentally a wider range of it than could be taken in by any single glance of the eyes? Can you mentally see more than three faces of a die, or more than one hemisphere of a globe at the same instant of time? 5. Distance of images. — Where do mental images appear to be situated? Within the head, within the eye-tall, just in front of the eyes, or at a distance corresponding to reality? Can you project an image upon a piece of paper? 6. Command over images. — Can you retain a mental picture steadily before the eyes ? When you do so, does it grow brighter or dimmer ? When the act of retaining it becomes wearisome, in what part of the head or eye-ball is the fatigue felt? 7. Persons. — Can you recall with distinctness the features of all near relations and many other persons? Can you at will cause your mental image of any or most of them to sit, stand, or turn slowly round? Can you deliberately seat the image of a well-known person in a chair and see it with enough distinctness 54 Descriptive Psychology to enable you to sketch it leisurely (supposing yourself able to draw) ? 8. Scenery. — Do you preserve the recollection of scenery with much precision of detail, and do you find pleasure in dwell- ing on it? Can you easily form mental pictures from the descriptions of scenery that are so frequently met with in novels and books of travel? 9. Comparison with reality. — What difference do you per- ceive between a very vivid mental picture called up in the dark, and a real scene? Have you ever mistaken a mental image for a reality when in health and wide awake? 10. Numerals and dates. — Are these invariably associated in your mind with any peculiar mental imagery, whether of written or printed figures, diagrams, or colours? If so, explain fully, and say if you can account for the association. 11. Specialties. — If you happen to have special aptitudes for mechanics, mathematics (either geometry of three dimensions or pure analysis), mental arithmetic, or chess-playing blindfold, please explain fully how far your processes depend on the use of visual images, and how far otherwise? 12. Call up before your imagination the objects specified in the six following paragraphs, numbered A to F, and consider carefully whether your mental representation of them generally, is in each group very faint, faint, fair, good, or vivid and com- parable to the actual sensation : — A. Light and colour. — An evenly clouded sky (omitting all landscape), first bright, then gloomy. A thick surrounding haze, first white, then successively blue, yellow, green, and red. B. Sound. — The beat of rain against the window panes, the crack of a whip, a church bell, the hum of bees, the whistle of a railway, the clinking of tea-spoons and saucers, the slam of a door. C. Smells. — Tar, roses, an oil-lamp blown out, hay, violets, a fur coat, gas, tobacco. D. Tastes. — Salt, sugar, lemon juice, raisins, chocolate, cur- rant jelly. E. Touch. — Velvet, silk, soap, gum, sand, dough, a crisp dead leaf, the prick of a pin. F. Other sensations. — Heat, hunger, cold, thirst, fatigue, fever, drowsiness, a bad cold. Feelings of Things as Not Present 55 13. Music. — 'Have you any aptitude for mentally recalling music, or for imagining it? 14. At different ages. — Do you recollect what your powers of visualizing, etc., were in childhood? Have they varied much within your recollection?" (F. Galton, Inquiries Into Human Faculty, pp. 378-380.) Galton's Scale of Vividness and Fidelity in Visual Imagery "Highest. — Brilliant, distinct, never blotchy. First Suboctile. — The image once seen is perfectly clear and bright. First Octile.— I can see my breakfast-table or any equally familiar thing with my mind's eye quite as well in all particulars as I can do if the reality is before me. First Quartile. — Fairly clear; illumination of actual scene is fairly represented. Well denned. Parts do not cbtrude them- selves, but attention has to be directed to different points in suc- cession to call up the whole. Middlemost. — Fairly clear. Brightness probably at least from one-half to two-thirds of the original. Definition varies very much, one or two objects being much more distinct than the others, but the latter come out clearly if attention be paid to them. Last Quartile. — Dim, certainly not comparable to the actual scene. I have to think separately of the several things on the table to bring them clearly before the mind's eye, and when I think of some things the others fade away in confusion. Last Octile. — Dim and not comparable in brightness to the real scene. Badly defined with blotches of light; very incom- plete; very little of one object is seen at one time. Last Suboctile. — I am very rarely able to recall any object whatever with any sort of distinctness. Very occasionally an object or image will recall itself, but even then it is more like a generalised image than an individual one. I seem to be almost destitute of visualising power as under control. Lowest. — My powers are zero. To my consciousness there is almost no association of memory with objective visual impres- sions. I recollect the table, but do not see it. 56 Descriptive Psychology IN COLOUR REPRESENTATION Highest.— Perfectly distinct, bright and natural. First Suboctile. — White cloth, blue china, argand coffee-pot, buff stand with sienna drawing, toast — all clear. First Octile. — All details seen perfectly. First Quartile. — Colours distinct and natural till I begin to puzzle over them. Middlemost. — Fairly distinct, though not certain that they are accurately recalled. Last Quartile. — Natural, but very indistinct. Last Octile. — Faint; can only recall colours by a special effort for each. Last Suboctile. — Power is nil. Lowest. — Power is nil." (Inquiries Into Human Faculty, pp. 93-94.) First suboctile means the ability exceeded by one sixteenth of people; first octile means the ability exceeded by one eighth; first quartile means the ability exceeded by one fourth; last quar- tile means the ability exceeded by three fourths ; last octile means the ability exceeded by seven eighths, last suboctile means the ability exceeded by fifteen sixteenths. 3. Compare the imagery of the author of the following statement with that of the individuals quoted in § 9. "When I seek to represent a row of soldiers marching, all I catch is a view of stationary legs first in one phase of move- ment and then in another, and these views are extremely im- perfect and momentary. Occasionally (especially when I try to stimulate my imagination as by repeating Victor Hugo's lines about the regiment, 'Leur pas est si correct, sans tarder ni courir, Qu'on croit voir des ciseaux se fermer et s'ouvrir,') I seem to get an instantaneous glimpse of an actual movement, but it is to the last degree dim and uncertain. All these images seem at first to be purely retinal. I think, however, that rapid eye-movements accompany them, though these latter give rise to such slight feelings that they are almost impossible of detection. Absolutely no leg-movements of my own are there; in fact, to call such up arrests my imagination of the soldiers. My optical images are in general very dim, dark, fugitive and contracted. It would be utterly impossible to draw from them, and yet I Feelings of Things as Not Present 57 perfectly well distinguish one from the other. My auditory images are excessively inadequate reproductions of their origi- nals. I have no images of taste or smell. Touch-imagination is fairly distinct, but comes very little into play with most objects thought of. Neither is all my thought verbalized; for I have shadowy schemes of relation, as apt to terminate in a nod of the head or an expulsion of the breath as in a definite word. On the whole, vague images or sensations of movement inside of my head towards the various parts of space in which the terms I am thinking of either lie or are momentarily symbolized to lie together with movements of the breath through my pharynx and nostrils, form a by no means inconsiderable part of my thought- stuff." (James, Principles of Psychology, vol. II., p. 65.) Experiment 7. After Images and Recalled Images. — Cut out of a sheet of black paper, say 10 inches square, a cross with arms each an inch wide and two inches long. Fasten the sheet against the glass of a window so that a bright light comes through the cross shaped opening. Sitting at a distance of six or eight feet, look steadily at the center of the cross for a minute and a half or longer. Then look at a white screen (for instance a sheet or towel hung against the wall). A duplicate of the cross, but dark with a light background will be seen. How does this so-called after image differ from the visual image you call up in memory of a dark cross on a light background : — (a) in persistence, (b) in seeming a real object, (c) in location, (d) in modification by your will, (e) in intensity? References A. James, Briefer Course, XVIII. (287-288), XIX. Stout, Manual, 393-417, 435-446. Titchener, Outline, §§ 70-80. Angell, Psychology, VIII, IX. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 48-50. James, Principles, XVI. (643-652), XVIII. Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, XVIII. (§ 3), XIX. (§6). CHAPTER IV Feelings of Facts: Feelings of Relationships, Meanings and Judgments § ii. Feelings of Relationships Contrasted with Feelings of Things and Quali- ties. — As you look at this page you are conscious not only of the words, 'Feelings of Relationships/ but also of the fact that these words are at the top of this page ; you feel, that is, the 'abovenestf of these words. As you think of this chapter you are aware also that it is a part of the whole book; you feel, that is, its relation- ship to the whole. You feel, too, the unlikeness of the black letters to the white page. As you read in the first sentence the not only, you feel the incompleteness of the idea immediately to come; and as you read the but also, you feel the belonging-together-ness or to-be- added-to-ness of the next coming idea with the idea, 'percepts of words/ We may thus feel things and qualities and conditions, not as mere bare existences, but as related in space and time, — as more than, less than, equal to, part of, whole containing, like, unlike, opposite to, derived from/super- ior to or inferior to some other fact. Amongst parts of speech, prepositions and conjunctions express feelings, not of things or qualities, but of relationships. There are feelings of in-ness, beside-ness, beyond-ness, with- ness, if-ness, but-ness and although-ness as truly as of the sun or moon, of black or white, of fatigue or pleasure. 58 Feelings of Facts 59 These feelings are among the commonest features of mental life. Witness how much disappears from any statement, — e.g., the preamble to the United States Con- stitution, — when words expressing feelings of relation- ship are omitted from the text. "We the people the States form perfect, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, the defense, the wel- fare, the blessings liberty ourselves posterity do ordain establish this Constitution States America." 1 Their Attributes. — It is hard to describe feelings of relationships. Anyone knows that when he thinks, 'He is sick : nevertheless/ he feels a different expectation toward the coming thought than if he heard or thought, 'He is sick, therefore.' But it would be impossible to describe the feeling to one who had not felt it himself and it would take rather long statement to describe it to oneself. Two characteristics feelings of relation- ships almost invariably possess. In the first place they are fleeting, evanescent, intangible mental states. No sooner does one try to examine them than they are gone. One can keep the same percept in mind for some time; can hold the same image constant for at least a number of seconds. But one rarely thinks nevertheless- ness or but-ness or above-ness for any appreciable time. Feelings of relationship are among those transitory states of mind which Professor James calls the fringes of thought; they are the almost unseen web of con- nections in which are set the obvious percepts and images and the somewhat less obvious feelings of mean- ing. In the second place they almost invariably occur, not by themselves alone but in a context either as ele- 1 Some of the words retained are relational if we consider their real meaning. Form and establish, ordain and secure may thus be held to express a feeling of causing; domestic and posterity to ex- press feelings of unlikeness. 60 Descriptive Psychology ments of complex mental states, — 'fringes' or 'tenden- cies' of percepts and images, or as transitive, inter- mediate feelings, joining two mental states. We feel, not more alone but more than some given thing; not merely and but John and James. We feel things as relative or as related rather than things and relations. 1 To supplement this account of the nature of these elusive feelings, I quote from Professor William James, who first emphasized their importance. - "If there be such things as feelings at all, then so surely as relations between objects exist in rerum natura, so surely, and more surely, do feelings exist to which these relations are known. There is not a conjunction or a preposition, and hardly an adverbial phrase, syn- tactic form, or inflection of voice, in human speech, that does not express some shading or other of relation which we at some moment actually feel to exist between the larger objects of our thought We ought to say a feeling of and, a feeling of if, a feeling of but and a feeling of by, quite as readily as we say a feeling of blue or a feeling of cold." "When we read such phrases as 'naught but,' 'either one or the other,' 'a is b,' 'but,' 'although it is, neverthe- less,' 'it is an excluded middle, there is no tertium quid/ and a host of other verbal skeletons of logical relation, is it true that there is nothing more in our minds than the words themselves as they pass ? What then is the mean- ing of the words which we think we understand as we read ? What makes that meaning different in one phrase from what it is in the other ? 'Who ?' 'When ?' 'Where ?' Is the difference of felt meaning in these interrogatives nothing more than their difference of sound? And is it Occasionally perhaps the pure feeling of a relationship holds the field by itself. The mere feeling of unity or of difference seems to enthrall us without our being able to say what is thus unified or similar. The following sentence, e. g., seems to repre- sent nothing more than jumbled feelings of relationship. "There are no differences but differences of degree between different de- grees of difference and no difference." Feelings of Facts 61 not (just like the difference of a sound itself) known and understood in an affection of consciousness correla- tive to it, though so impalpable to direct examination? Is not the same true of such negatives as 'no,' 'never/ 'not yet?' The truth is that large tracts of human speech are nothing but signs of direction in thought, of which direc- tion we nevertheless have an acutely discriminative sense, though no definite sensorial image plays any part in it whatsoever. Sensorial images are stable psychic facts; we can hold them still and look at them as long as we like. These bare images of logical movement, on the contrary, are psychic transitions, always on the wing, so to speak, and not to be glimpsed except in flight. Their function is to lead from one set of images to another. As they pass, we feel both the waxing and the waning images in a way altogether peculiar and a way quite different from the way of their full presence.' , "Every definite image in the mind is steeped and dyed in the free water that flows around it. With it goes the sense of its relations, near and remote, the dying echo of whence it came to us, the dawning sense of whither it is to lead. The significance, the value, of the image is all in this halo or penumbra that surrounds and escorts it, — or rather that is fused into one with it and has become bone of its bone and flesh of its flesh; leav- ing it, it is true, an image of the same thing it was be- fore, but making it an image of that thing newly taken and freshly understood." 1 Classification. — The more important feelings of relationship may be classified as follows : — Feelings of Objective Relationships — Of Relationships of Space. " Time. " Substance and Quality. Feelings of Logical or Intellectual or Subjective Re- lationships — 1 James, Principles of Psychology, vol. I., pp. 245-255 passim. 62 Descriptive Psychology Of Relationships of Identity. " Equality. " Likeness. " Unlikeness. " Opposition. B Part and Whole. " Cause and Effect. " Condition and Result. " Concession. Feelings of Relationships and Logical Thought. — Feelings of Relationships are essential features of logi- cal thinking. Especially important for it are feelings of the intellectual relationships, such as likeness and difference, and cause and effect. Compare, for instance, the paragraph A, which requires no thought and which leads mainly to a series of images in a scholar's mind, with the paragraph B, which involves thought and leads to real comprehension. Count the number of words standing for relationships in each. .The Nile overflows annually. The land in Egypt is fertile. The soil of the hills to the south is rich. The river deposits the soil. The land produces great crops of wheat. The river plains of China produce large crops of rice. Egypt used to be called the granary of Rome, Tlje method of cultivation in Egypt is by hand labor. The people are uninventive. The people are uneducated. B. Because of the annual overflow of the Nile the land in Egypt is fertilized by a deposit of rich soil brought down from the hills to the south. The lanxl thus produces great crops of wheat for the same reason that the river plains of China produce large crops of rice. Hence Egypt used to be called the granary of Rome. The in- ferior methods of cultivation, largely by hard labor, are Feelings of Facts 63 'due to the lack of inventiveness and of education among the population who sow by hand. The dependence of logical thinking or reasoning upon feelings of relationships is shown also by a comparison of studies like grammar or geometry, which are conspic- uously rational, with one like spelling, ability in which is consistent with almost all degrees of reasoning power. Grammar bristles with relationships of subject, object, modifier and modified, dependent and independent, actor and acted upon, condition, concession and the like. Geometry is practically a series of propositions based on the relationships of identity, equality, greater than and less than. Spelling, however, is chiefly a matter of clear, accurate percepts of words and permanent associations of their images with the sounds and meanings of the words. Only occasionally are there words whose spell- ing is to be inferred from their likeness to others or from their being wholes, the parts of which are known. The Development of Feelings of Relationships. — Feelings of relationships develop later in childhood than feelings of things and qualities ; e.g., conjunctions are among the latest words learned, and complex sentences involving the expression, in clauses, of feelings of condi- tion, cause, opposition, and the like, appear much later than simple sentences. Children asked to give the word meaning the opposite of a given word, to give the word meaning just what the given word does not mean, will answer correctly and quickly in the case of words like day, work, rich, empty, or to hate, at an age when they would answer only partially and slowly in the case of with, different, more or part, and would in most cases fail utterly with and, because or if. The feelings of space- and time-relationships are felt much earlier than 64 Descriptive Psychology the so-called logical relationships such as cause, condi- tion or concession. The ease with which feelings of relationships, espe- cially of relationships other than those of space and time, are acquired and the extent to which they are used by any individual, is in direct ratio to his intellectual capacity. The brighter the child, the more they will be in evidence. Very weak minded children never come to feel them. Exercises 1. Make a list of ten or more words expressing feelings of relationships other than those of time and space. 2. Give instances of other parts of speech than conjunctions and prepositions which may express feelings of relationships. 3. Of the following, which depends the more on feelings of relationship : (a) ability in computation or (b) ability in doing arithmetical problems ? 4. Answer the same question in the case of (a) knowledge of syntax and (b) knowledge of vocabularies. 5. Name parts of speech that never express feelings of re- lationships. 6. Pick out the words or phrases expressing feelings of relationship contained in the two quotations below. Which quo- tation has the more words expressing intellectual relationships? "At the helm A seeming mermaid steers : the silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands, That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthroned i' the market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to the air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too. And made a gap in nature." Antony and Cleopatra; Act II, Scene II. "What is the task which philosophers set themselves to per- form ; and why do they philosophize at all ? Almost every one will immediately reply: They desire to attain a conception of the Feelings of Facts 65 frame of things which shall on the whole be more rational than that somewhat chaotic view which every one by nature carries about with him under his hat. But suppose this rational concep- tion attained, how is the philosopher to recognize it for what it is, and not let it slip through ignorance? The only answer can be that he will recognize its rationality as he recognizes every- thing else, by certain subjective marks with which it affects him. When he gets the marks, he may know that he has got the rationality." (W. James, The Will to Believe, p. 63.) 7. Copy the first page of this text book omitting all words that express and arouse feelings of relationships. Observe the result. 8. Make up intelligible sentences which, like the example below, shall be composed in the main of words expressing feel- ings of neither things nor emotions nor sensible qualities nor feelings meaning such, but only of relationships. "Although is not a product and cannot be equal to a derivative still the addition on the one hand and the subtraction on the other of necessity counteract each other. The total result therefore may be just the same as it was in the previous process." The only words here which in order to make sense need be the names of things are the two to be supplied in the blank spaces. 9. Try to express the law of gravitation or any theorem in geometry, or to explain the change of the seasons, without using words that express and arouse feelings of relationships. Try to express, subject to the same limitation, the experiences of an hour in a storm. Why is the second task easy of accomplishment and the first so hard? § 12. Feelings of Meaning Their Nature and Attributes. — Sensations, percepts, images and emotions are direct feelings of things, qualities and conditions. The feeling appears to be the thing. But we can feel that we mean or refer to a thing without directly feeling it. Thus one can think of or mean or refer in thought to his father without at the time seeing him or having a mental image of his appearance. That this power of meaning objects, in addition to and apart 5 66 Descriptive Psychology from feeling them as present or as absent, exists, can be proved by examining one's thoughts and also by the fact that we can mean or refer to objects, perceptions or images of which are impossible. For instance you can think of, though you cannot see or imagine, ten million pine trees growing in one row, or a line one millionth of an inch long, or a thousand angels all standing on one pin head, or Romulus and Remus, or King Alfred of Eng- land, or a flying machine without wings or balloons. Furthermore a dozen men may each have a similar feel- ing of meaning although the sensed and imaged parts of their thoughts are to the last degree dissimilar. Thus though one man hears 'Cinq et cinq font dix,' another 'Fiinf und fiinf sind zehn,' and a third, 'Five and five are ten;' though the first man has a visual image of 5+5=10, the second a motor image of the incipient movements of saying 'Fiinf und fiinf sind zehn,' and the third no image at all, yet the feeling of the meaning may be the same in each case. The bulk of our thinking is in fact not concerned with direct feelings of things, but with mere references to them. We can do hundreds of examples about dollars and cents and hours, about feet of carpet and pounds of sugar, with never a percept of real money or carpets and with few or no mental pictures of the sight of coins or the taste of sugar. We can argue about the climate of a country with few or no mental pictures of black skies, drenched skins, or muddy soil. It is sufficient for our purposes if we feel that the words or other symbols in which we think stand for or represent or refer to the real things. The sound or sight or articulation, felt or imagined, of a word, — i.e., the percept or image of it, — is the least important thing about it. The word or symbol need not Feelings of Facts 6j be in the least like the real thing. What it refers to or stands for is the essential. Eleven dollars has a smoother, pleasanter sound than sixty-six buckets of gold shekels; the word victuals is as a word more painful than the word pain ; H, S0 4 is a rather bland and agreeable sound. Any symbol will do for any real thing. In fact the whole body of language and of scientific and mathematical sym- bols has for one of its chief ends to furnish us a way to mean and think of things (and also of qualities, condi- tions, emotions and relationships) without directly feeling or imagining them. The chief office of percepts and images of words is to be carriers of meanings. So far I have described only feelings meaning things, but we can mean qualities, conditions, emotions, impulses or relationships as well. The reader can think, 'Red is a bright color/ without any red in his actual field of vision. He can think, 'Great fatigue overcame the mind of the general,' or, Tn his anger he smote him to the ground,' without feeling in the least tired or angry in fact or fancy. He can think, 'A strong impulse to sneeze nearly betrayed the servant's presence,' without himself being tempted to sneeze. He can think, 'The relation of condition con- trary to the fact is expressed in Latin by the subjunctive,' without feeling any unfulfilled condition. Anything that we have ever felt in fact or fancy can later be meant or referred to. We can not only have or, one might say, be our feelings, but can at our convenience think of them through symbols devised for the purpose. Classification. — Chief among our feelings of mean- ing are: — I. Feelings that mean single facts or feelings of individual reference. Such feelings we call Individual Notions. Examples are our feelings of the meanings of the italicized words in the following: — 68 Descriptive Psychology Julius Caesar is dead. His anger was terrible to witness. My dog is lost. 2. Feelings that mean groups or classes of facts or any one or some part of a group or class of facts. They are called General Notions, Class Ideas, Concepts or feelings of general reference. Examples are: — A. Meaning a group or class. Men are mortal. Hospitals are useful. Sponges are animals. Teachers should possess tact. B. Meaning anyone of a group or class. Any man is sure to die. A hospital benefits the community. A sponge is not a plant. A teacher needs tact. C. Meaning some part of a group or class. Many men die before they are forty years old. Some hospitals are better managed than others. Certain varieties of sponges are commercially valuable. 3. Feelings that mean some part or quality or aspect independently of the thing of which it is a part or quality or aspect. Such feelings are called Abstract Ideas or Abstractions, or feelings of reference to a quality or at- tribute. Examples are: — All bodies possess weight. The heat is intolerable. All is lost save honor. Feelings of Meaning and Images. — An individual notion may be and often is accompanied by an image more or less exact of the fact for which it stands, but in Feelings of Facts 69 the nature of the case there can be no exact image of the fact referred to by an abstract or general notion. Of courage that is no particular act of courage, but is mere courage ; of velocity which is neither fast nor slow, neither of a cannon-ball nor of a feather falling, but is mere velocity ; of men that are not old or young, sick or well, white or black, with legs or without, intelligent or idiotic, but all are men ; of animals that include a hundred thousand different species, — no image can be formed. Often a vague, hazy, mixed and changing image of some of the facts meant, — that is to say, a generic image, — accompanies a feeling of absolute or general meaning, but still oftener the image is not of the fact meant at all. [ The commonest image present is that of the word that is '* used for the fact, not of anything like the fact. Feelings of Meaning and Reasoning. — It is largely by means of these feelings of meaning or reference that the life of real thought is carried on. Individual notions allow one to think of a fact conveniently without waiting for a percept or image of it and to keep in mind the same- ness of a thing in spite of its changes. General notions present in a sort of short-hand the results of many ex- periences and refer to thousands of possible percepts, images and individual actions in a single word. By ab- stract ideas a man can break up the endless complexities of the world's objects into a comparatively small number of elements and can think the one quality which is the important subject of thought at the time without being bothered by its concrete accompaniments — can argue about courage, or industry, or subtraction, or velocity without having the mind clouded by hundreds of images of brave deeds or sums from arithmetic books, or the like. From a comparison of individual facts he can derive a general notion. From finding that an individual fact jo Descriptive Psychology belongs to a general class about which something is true, he can assert that that thing is true of the individual fact. Man thus comes to work over the world of actual experiences into a world of objects and relations, thought of, classified and broken up into elements. And through this world of thought he acquires new knowledge of, and enlarged control over, the world of experience. In this world of thought are the highest activities of mental life ; by it are won the greatest triumphs of man over his environment. Exercises 1. Classify the feelings of meaning aroused by reading the italicized words in the following sentences into individual notions, general notions and abstractions: — O, what a rogue and peasant slave am /. He would drown the stage with tears And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty and appall the free. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns, That patient merit of the unworthy takes. Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice And could of men distinguish, her election Hath sealed thee for herself. 2. Of the following studies, which two are most concerned with individual notions? Which two are- most concerned with abstractions? Latin Grammar, History, Manual Training, Algebra, Chemistry. 3. Name two studies which do not deal with individual notions at all. Feelings of Facts yi § 13. Judgments Definition. — In an early chapter it was stated that thoughts were rarely strings of isolated sensations, per- cepts, images or feelings of meaning; in the present chapter the relating, transitional, connecting feelings which help to make the complex whole thoughts of real life have been described. One important group of these complex whole thoughts comprises those which are called Judgments, They are feelings that a certain state of affairs is or is not the case, that a certain relationship does or does not exist between certain things. They are feel- ings that affirm or deny something about something, — such feelings as are ordinarily expressed in declarative sentences. 1 According to many logic books the judgment feeling is always one that relates two terms, and such statements as, The dog runs,' and 'The snow falls,' really mean, 'The dog is a running thing,' and 'The snow is a falling object.' This explanation may do no harm in logic, but it is psychologically false. One may have a judgment feeling with one term as well as with two, on the basis of a percept as well as of a comparison. The thought, 'The snow falls,' is a judgment, not that the snow is in the class a falling object, but that a certain state of affairs, 'snow falling,' is the case. Judgments and Thought. — It is as combined in judgments that our feelings of things, conditions, quali- ties and relations are most influential in the intellectual life. Conversation is largely the expression of judg- ments. Still more so is the reading-matter of newspapers, 1 Interrogative sentences also may express judgments plus an attitude of inquiry concerning their correspondence with reality. Thus 'Is John a tall man?' equals 'John a tall man. Is it so?' The interrogative state of mind in turn is often expressed as an outright judgment plus a query, as in the German, ( Er ist ein grosser Mann. Nicht wahr?' *J2 Descriptive Psychology magazines and books. Every scientific formula, every mathematical equation, every philosophical principle — each is an expressed judgment. In childhood intellec- tual progress is marked by the transformation of mere percepts and images and vaguely felt relationships into judgments. Throughout life the thoughtful, as opposed to the sensuous or dreamy or scatter-brained, man or woman, is one whose mental states consist largely of well-defined judgments. Classification. — Judgments may be Individual or General or Abstract according as they affirm or deny something about a thing or about a group of things or about an abstract quality. Judgments are called Analytic when they affirm or deny something about an object which was implicit in the thought of the object; e.g., The light is bright :' 'His breathing is regular ;' 'A is A.' They are called Synthetic when they affirm or deny some- thing about an object which is a new contribution to the thought of the object; e.g., 'The square root of 2 is 1.41421356;' 'Malaria is caused by the bite of a mosquito;' 'The most frequent age of graduation from American colleges is about 22 years and 10 months.' It should be noted that what is an analytic judgment in one case may be synthetic in another. Thus for someone who had noticed merely breathing but had not noticed varieties of breath- ing, 'His breathing is regular' would be a synthetic judg- ment. Such a person could have thought of the breath- ing without having its regularity implicit in the thought. 'A is A' might be a synthetic judgment in the case of a very young child. Further classifications may be found in text books on logic. The student unacquainted with the elements of logic will do well to read Chapters I, III, VI and VIII Feelings of Facts 73 of Aikins' Principles of Logic, or equivalent chapters in some similar book. No more time need be spent with the descriptive psychology of judgments. In Part III the conditions of their development and action will concern us for many pages. Exercises 1. Give illustrations of: — (a) Individual judgments. (b) General judgments. (c) Abstract judgments. 2. State also, in the case of each illustration given, whether it is an analytic or a synthetic judgment. 3. What kind of sentence does not express judgments? 4. Which arouses the more judgments, a story read or music heard? 5. With which are judgments most associated, learning a science like physics or learning an art like painting? References A. James, Briefer Course, XI. (160-167), XIV. Stout, Manual, 447-489. Titchener, Outline, §§ 82-83. Angell, Psychology, X. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 42-43. James, Principles, IX. (245-259), XII. CHAPTER V Feelings of Personal Conditions: Emotions § 14. The Nature of the Emotions Emotions Contrasted with Thoughts. — Sensations, percepts and images, and feelings of meaning, relation- ship and judgment agree in being connected with what in common usage is called the life of thought. They would all be put by psychologists under the head of intellection or cognition. The emotions form in a sense a radically different group of mental facts. Love, hate, fear, jealousy, anger, joy, sorrow and the like, are feelings, not of or about things or bodily conditions recognized as such, but of one's own conditions, unreferred to bodily facts. They have, that is, a subjective or personal as opposed to an objective, reference. The emotional state of mind, in which one's own mental condition is paramount, is opposed to the intellectual state of mind, in which some object of thought is paramount. Besides possessing this subjective quality, the emotions are less subject to elaboration and manip- ulation than are sensations, percepts and images. They do not connect with one another so as to form any system or order as do the feelings of things, meanings and rela- tionships. They are essentially isolated and incoherent. In the third place, we do not master them and use them at will for intellectual and practical ends as we do our ideas and judgments; rather they master us. For the time being one is the emotion. 74 Feelings of Personal Condition 75 Emotions and Sensations. — It is however true that between certain emotions and certain sensations no clear line of distinction can be drawn. The distinctions just made approach a vanishing point in the case of such sensations as dizziness, fatigue or nausea, and such emo- tions as ennui, interest, zeal, stage-fright, and the animal types of jealousy and love. Stage-fright is a feeling of as definite a thing as nausea. One can master zeal and use it to intellectual advantage rather better than nausea. The emotions are in fact closely allied to, and perhaps are one division of, the internal sensations. Whether we shall say that the feeling of well-being is a sensation or an emotion depends upon whether we do or do not recognize it as a feeling of bodily condition, refer it to the body as we do hunger or leave it as an unref erred subjective feel- ing as we do ambition. One person will feel it in the one way, another in another ; one person will feel it at. one time as an unreferred feeling, but at another time, say after taking a medical course, will refer it definitely to his body. Indeed one theory of the nature of the emo- tions is that they are made up of the same stuff as sensa- tions plus greater or less amounts of the feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness. § 15. The Classification of the Emotions Classifications are Arbitrary. — In our present igno- rance of the differences in physiological basis of the different emotions, any method of classifying them must be largely arbitrary. Different students of the subjects consequently have widely different opinions, and in no classification can the groups be sharply separated from one another. A classification does however serve the useful purpose of displaying the variety of the emotional life. If the j6 Descriptive Psychology physiological basis for each kind of emotional feeling were known we might have a more satisfactory classifica- tion, comparable in definiteness to the classification of sensations. I shall not try to present the best possible classification, but will present the essentials of four differ- ent classifications, each arranged by an eminent psycholo- gist. The first to be given is that of Professor Baldwin. A description of the different classes may be found in his Elements of Psychology, pp. 241-298. Baldwin's Classification. — The Common Emotions A. Interest. B. Reality Feeling and Unreality Feeling. C. Belief. D. Doubt. The Special Emotions A. Of Activity. I. Of Adjustment. Distraction or confusion, ab- straction or clearness, contraction or effort, expansion or ease. II. Of Function. 1. Of Exaltation. Freshness, triumph, eager- ness, alertness, hope, courage, aspiration, elation. 2. Of Depression. Hesitation, indecision, anx- iety, timidity, melancholy, irritation, fear. B. Of Content. I. Presentative. 1. Self- Emotions. a. Emotions of Pride. b. Emotions of Humility. 2. Objective Emotions, a. Expressive. Feelings of Personal Condition JJ A. Of Attraction. 1 Admiration, veneration, awe, attachment, affection, confidence, patience, security, etc. B. Of Repulsion. 1 Unattractiveness, objectionableness, disdain, distrust, distaste, scorn, rebellion, hatred, abhorrence, contempt, disgust, etc. b. Sympathetic. Congratulation, fellow-suffering, pity, jealousy, sensitiveness, and many others. II. Relational. i. Logical. Feelings of reasonableness and un- reasonableness, anticipation, distance, co-ex- istence, quality, identity, fitness, objective power, etc. 2. Conceptional. a. For System in Mental Construction. b. Ethical Feelings. Moral sympathy, moral obligation, remorse, etc. c. Aesthetic Feelings. (a) Lower or sensuous. (b) Higher or representative. Wundt's Classification. — It is possible also to clas- sify emotions according to the prominence in them of pleasantness or unpleasantness, of excitement or depres- sion (sthenic and asthenic emotions), and of tension or relief. We can, that is, rate an emotion according to these three scales and group together those which have similar ratings. By excitement and depression are meant the qualities that stimulate or lower general bodily activi- ties. By tension is meant the quality that stimulates the voluntary muscles to over-action and constrained action, by relief the quality that predisposes to free and relaxed 1 With reference to future and past we have under B2 a A, hope and joy, and under B2 a B, dread and sorrow. 78 Descriptive Psychology action. Glee would be distinguished from joy as being more exciting though not necessarily more pleasant. Both joy and glee would be mediocre with respect to the tension-relief quality. Horror would imply much un- pleasantness and tension and some depression. Grief would imply more depression but less tension. The quality of relief is per se pleasant and is ordi- narily associated with still more pleasantness. The reverse holds of tension. Both excitement and depres- sion may be accompanied by pleasantness or by un- pleasantness. Joy is exciting and pleasant. Anger is exciting, but often unpleasant. Melancholy (in the poet's sense) is depressing but pleasant. Of depressing and painful mental states the number is of course legion. Royce's Classification. — Another grouping (that of Professor Royce) is according to the pleasantness or un- pleasantness and the restlessness or quiescence of the feeling. This latter scale is perhaps a composite of the excitement-depression and tension-relief scales. Titchener's Classification. — Finally, a still different view is given in the following quotation (for a fuller account see, An Outline of Psychology, by E. B. Titchener, pp. 224-234) : "The Forms of Emotion. — Just as there are two kinds or classes of feelings, so there are two of emotion ; the pleasurable and the unpleasurable. Within each kind or class there are a large number of special emotive forms, as there are a large number of special 'feelings.' Can we name these forms, and so classify emotions, as we classi- fied sensations and ideas ? Or must- we be content with the general distinction of the two classes, as we were compelled to be in the case of feeling? All emotions are coloured by the organic sensations set up during the adjustment of the physical organism to the situation. If, Feelings of Personal Condition 79 then, we could find typical groups of organic sensations — lung, heart, bladder sensations — appearing in the various emotions, we could, again, determine the fundamental emotive forms. Our 'physical' would be supplemented by a truly psychological classification. Although there is no reason to suppose that the problem is insoluble, it has not yet been solved.'' Emotions Concerned with the Manner of Think- ing. — The feelings which Professor Baldwin describes under the heading, Relational, are worthy of special at- tention. It may be a question whether such feelings of the tendency, direction and attitude of thought should be called emotions, but at all events they exist. We feel in our thinking, not only objects and their relation- ships and meanings, but also feelings of their comings and goings, of their fitness to our purposes, and of our attitudes toward them. Like the feelings of relation- ships described in § 11, these feelings of tendency and intellectual attitude are commonly transitive, evanes- cent, intangible feelings that color rather than compose our mental life. Examine, for instance, the feelings of expectancy, of a mental gap to be filled, and of familiarity. "Suppose three successive persons say to us : 'Wait !' 'Hark !' 'Look !' Our consciousness is thrown into three quite different attitudes of expectancy, although no defi- nite object is before it in any one of the three cases. Suppose we try to recall a forgotten name. The state of our consciousness is peculiar. There is a gap there- in ; but no mere gap. It is a gap that is intensely active. A sort of wraith of the name is in it, beckoning us in a % given direction, making us at moments tingle with the sense of our closeness, and then letting us sink back without the longed-for term. If wrong names are pro- 80 Descriptive Psychology posed to us, this singularly definite gap acts immediately so as to negate them. They do not fit into its mould. Again, what is the strange difference between an ex- perience tasted for the first time and the same experi- ence recognized as familiar, as having been enjoyed before, though we cannot name it or say where or when? A tune, an odor, a flavor, sometimes carry this inarticu- late feeling of their familiarity so deep into our con- sciousness that we are fairly shaken by its mysterious emotional power." 1 The Aesthetic Emotions. — The so-called aesthetic emotions also deserve additional comment. The common classification of them is merely into feelings of the beau- tiful, of the sublime and of the comic. It is obvious that without great straining these three types of feeling fail to include the feelings one has say in seeing an ordinary play or reading an ordinary story. The plays, Sherlock Holmes and Uncle Tom's Cabin, are hardly beautiful, are certainly not sublime and are comic only in spots if at all. Robinson Crusoe is certainly neither beautiful nor sublime nor comic. A more exact divi- sion of the aesthetic emotions is evidently needed. The two main classes of feelings which are meant by the term aesthetic emotions, as it is used in critical studies of art and literature and music, are Sen- sory Pleasures and certain Pseudo-Emotions. These sensory pleasures are distinguished from the non- aesthetic, first in that they are unselfish, not proprietary, do not imply the possession of, or exclusion of others from, the object causing the pleasure but only its presence; and second, in that they arise from intrinsic qualities of the object, not from its derived values. The pleasures of taste are thus not called aesthetic because one cannot eat his cake and leave it for others to eat too. 1 W. James, Principles of Psychology, vol. I, pp. 250-252. Feelings of Personal Condition 81 The pleasure one has in seeing a coin because of its form and chasing is called aesthetic, while the pleasure in its money value is not. The pseudo-emotions 1 are distinguished from their real correspondents in that they do not arouse the same bodily reactions and impulses and are free from excessive pain or pleasure. Thus the sorrow felt for the suffering hero in the story is unlike real sorrow (i) in that one does not rush around wringing his hands and seeking to offer help nor feel like doing so, and (2) in that, whereas real sorrow is very uncomfortable, the pseudo-sorrow of the reader of the story is more or less enjoyable. In place of both the violent pangs and delights of real jealousy and affection, the reader of a novel has only a rather mild excitement, which is commonly pleasant regardless of the quality of the corresponding real emotion. § 16. The Attributes of Emotions Their Bodily Expression. — Omitting from con- sideration the feelings of tendency and the aesthetic feel- ings, one finds that emotions as a class are characterized by emphatic bodily expression; e.g., fear expresses itself far more than does a feeling of seventeen. It is usually not difficult to tell whether a person is frightened, happy, angry or eager by his facial expression and bodily move- ments, whereas it is impossible to tell whether he is thinking of seventeen or of seventy, of a cat or of a mat. Other mental states do, of course, influence the bodily organs, the facial muscles especially, but not to such an extent as do the emotions. Doing arithmetic does raise 1 It is conceivable, and has, I believe, been by some literary- critics suggested, that these pseudo-emotions occupy the same po- sition with respect to real emotions that mental images do with respect to percepts. They are on the whole rather a mystery. 6 8a Descriptive Psychology the pulse, but it cannot make the heart go pit-a-pat as fear does. Attention leads to a frown, but not to the tremendous wrinkles of the man in a rage. Their Impulsive Power. — Emotions, especially the coarser ones, cause not only these expressive movements, but also further movements of effect They tend to arouse some emphatic acts, running, jumping, seizing, biting or the like. Our ideas and judgments more often guide and restrain, while the emotions more often arouse, action. The more intellectual feelings also, in so far as they do arouse action, lead to the more orderly and re- strained movements of face, eyes and throat; while the emotional states impel to more gross and violent movements. Their Early Development. — The emotions are older in the individual and in the race than images, feelings of meaning and relationships, or judgments. They come along with vague sensations, as early steps in the growth of the infant's mind. During the first year anger, joy, impatience and other emotions are evident. They appear in animals below man in the scale of development. Birds and mammals that give few signs of the possession of images and almost certainly lack feelings of meaning, relationships or judgments, manifest many of the coarser emotions of the human mind. It is when we are absorbed in emotional feelings that we act more or less as the lower animals do. In general the progress of development involves a weakening of the coarser animal-like emotions and their transformation into sentiments by the mixture of ideas with them. The Infrequency of Reproduced Emotions. — Emo- tions are less often and less easily imaged than are percepts. One can easily remember that he did feel angry; but he then has not a real image of the anger Feelings of Personal Condition 83 feeling, but only a judgment that at such and such a time he was angry. Occasionally individuals do have, or at least report that they have, a feeling of anger as not present comparable to the image of a sight or a sound. But such cases are surely rare and may really be cases where the individual by recalling certain circumstances gets a real but lesser emotion of anger, not a true image of it. It may be, as was hinted in the note on page 81, that the revival of an emotion in imagination takes the form of the pseudo or aesthetic emotions. Exercises 1. Name one or two emotions characterized by much ex- citement. 2. Name one or two emotions characterized by much de- pression. 3. Name one or two emotions characterized by much tension. 4. Name one or two emotions characterized by much relief. 5. Name one or two emotions characterized by much rest- lessness. 6. Name one or two emotions characterized by much definite bodily feeling. 7. Name one or two emotions characterized by little definite bodily feeling. 8. Name one or two emotions characterized by much out- ward expression. 9. Name one or two emotions characterized by little out- ward expression. 10. Name one or two emotions which are common to man and the lower animals. n. Name one or two emotions which are primarily individ- ual, that is concern chiefly oneself. 12. Name one or two emotions which are primarily social, that is concern chiefly others. 13. What is the bodily expression of rage? 14. " " " " " " fear? 15. " " " " " " grief? 16. " " * " " " joy? 84 Descriptive Psychology 17. (a) What part of speech almost invariably expresses an emotional state ? (b) What parts of speech almost never do? 18. What kind of sentence almost always expresses an emo- tion? 19. Which can animals express to us most clearly, their sensations or their emotions? Why? References A. James, Briefer Course, XXIV. Stout, Manual, 276-311, 562-580. Titchener, Outline, §§ 31-34, 56-60, 86-91. Angell, Psychology, XVIII. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 51-54. James, Principles, XXV. Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, XVI. CHAPTER VI Mental States Concerned in the Direction of Con- duct: Feelings of Willing § 17. Definitions and Descriptions In General. — Books on psychology commonly an- nounce three divisions of mental life, cognition, emotion and volition, or, in the older phraseology, the intellect, the feelings and the will, but give nine-tenths or more of their space to cognition and the emotions. In so far as psychology attempts merely to describe states of con- sciousness, this subordination is not unfair. For, al- though the will in a broad sense deserves as much study as the intellect, states of volitional consciousness, that is to say, feelings of willing, do not require lengthy explanation. For their description this one section will suffice. The will, in the broad sense of the entire basis of human action, will receive due attention in Part III. The important mental states concerned primarily in the direction of conduct are usually stated to be feelings of impulse, wishing or desire, deliberation, motiv.es, de- cision and choice, will, effort, consent, and of the so- called c Hat! It is, of course, true that mental states of all sorts may appear in intimate connection with the life of action. But it will be best to follow the custom that singles out for treatment under one head the men- tal states named. Impulses. — One is tempted to desire a special name 85 86 Descriptive Psychology for the class of feelings which in the round-about phrases of common thought and speech are called 'an impulse to sneeze/ 'an impulse to laugh,' 'an impulse to run/ and the like. Many mental states are so intimately connected with acts that the only names for them are names of the acts to which they lead. E.g., the feelings that lead us to yawn and to cough appear almost never save as im- pulses to these acts ; are not felt by themselves ; do not reappear as images ; and play but a slight part in the development of the fabric of ideas and judgments as a whole. Yet strictly speaking these two feelings are sen- sations, are feelings of bodily condition comparable to the sensations of tickling, heat, cold, pain, and the like. And in a strict classification there need be no separate heading for impulses. The feelings that are commonly called impulses are those sensations and emotions which are vague, obscure and little emphasized in the mind in comparison with the acts to which they lead. It is further true that any mental state whatever may be an impulse, — may take on the aspect of impeller to an act. Feelings of relationships and feelings of meaning do so but infrequently and slightly ; images and memories do so somewhat more; percepts, sensations and emotions do so most of all. Those among the last that do so pre- eminently are commonly called impulses. Although we must abandon the notion of impulses as a group of feelings distinct from all others, we might have a right to speak of an impulse-quality which could add itself to any feeling, but was itself a new kind of mental stuff. But the psychologists of to-day deny that one has that right. By the impulsive quality of a mental state is meant, they say, not any peculiar aspect of it as felt, but only its quality of being connected directly with an act. The description of this impulse quality comes Feelings of Willing 87 then under the description of the connections between mental states and bodily acts. Desires and Wishes. — Desire and wishing are emo- tions, and have been so classified in the previous chapter. When we feel, 'I wish I had that picture/ the feeling includes the thought of the object and an emotional atti- tude toward it. The particular sort of emotion is, it is true, somewhat more frequently and emphatically con- nected with conduct than are emotions of other sorts, but the difference is only one of degree. The 'I wish' repre- sents a state of mind not in general character different from T hate' or 'I pity' or T fear.' It represents a special activity of the mind no more and no less than do they. Deliberation. — The word deliberation is used in ordinary speech to mean any state of mind in which some topic is considered attentively. It then means little more than a state of attention. In the more restricted use of the word to describe a state of will, psychologists mean by it the consideration of a topic calling for mental choice or bodily action. In such cases the state of mind is likely to include different and more or less opposed motives. We think over the alternatives, have ideas favoring this, that or the other, and swing suspended between them. The presence of percepts, images and feelings of meaning plus an emotion of doubt or uncertainty describes delib- eration from the inside. From the outside, it is a state of hesitation before action. Decision and Choice. — The termination of this hesi- tation, suspension or conflict of ideas is sometimes marked by a feeling of decision or choice. We must not confuse here the fact of decision with the feeling of decision. The fact of decision or choice, which means simply that one motive has conquered, — that one idea or act has pre- vailed in the mind, — may have much or little or no feeling 88 Descriptive Psychology of choice accompanying it. Thus, in writing the last sentence, I thought first of writing 'little or nothing' and then of writing 'little or no.' The latter was chosen, but there was no feeling of choice or decision, — no conscious- ness of anything but the two phrases and the grammati- cal superiority of the second. On the other hand we often have an intense feeling of acceptance of the one course and of rejection of the other, a feeling of 'yes to this, and no to that.' Such feelings are akin to, if not identical with, the feelings of belief and disbelief and of attraction and repulsion and belong properly among the emotions. The Fiat. — The term, the fiat of will, is applied to a feeling which may perhaps be analyzed ont in some cases from the feeling of acceptance, a feeling of 'Go ahead,' 'Let the act occur/ 'Let the consequences of my decision become real.' Willing. — The verb to will is used as a general term to express the fact of decision in favor of or consent to any course of action which has been the topic of thought. The word is used especially of cases where the decision is accompanied by a feeling of effort, where we decide against natural tendencies. We do not say that we willed to breathe because no decision was involved. We do not say that we willed to eat our breakfast this morning because the action was not the topic of thought. We do not often say that we willed to stay in bed this morning because, though the issue may have been the topic of thought and a decision may have been involved, the action accepted was easy and natural, We do say, 'I got up this morning by sheer will/ because thought, decision and effort were markedly present. In all this there is no description of any special feeling of willing or volition, but only of a general experience involving cer- Feelings of Willing 89 tain feelings and tendencies to action. The feelings present when, one wills to do or think something are in fact those already described. The Will. — The phrase the will is used most often to mean the source of all purposive action. In this sense it equals the general fact of connections between mental states and acts. Thus we say, To educate the will is more important than to educate the intellect.' It is used at times to mean the power to inhibit attractive in favor of less attractive ideas and acts. Thus we say, Tt re- quired will to do that.' It is used at times by psycholo- gists as a class name for all those feelings which are closely associated with acts. Thus we say that mental states comprise states of thought, states of feeling and states of will, or are divided among cognition, emotion and volition or will. The terms effort and motive have been used without description. The feeling of effort needs no description, for anyone who has ever attended to an uninteresting piece of mental or bodily work, or chosen the disagreeable, repulsive duty, or willed to do and done the painful task, has had direct experience of the feeling. The term mo- tive is used for any sensation, percept, image, feeling of meaning, judgment or emotion which shares in swaying one's decisions. In so far as it influences our willing, any idea is called a motive. On the whole the feelings concerned in the life of conduct are in the main, perhaps entirely, made up of in- tellectual and emotional stuff. Action itself is not thought nor emotion, but it is felt in and guided by thought and emotion. The special psychology of the will is chiefly not a descriptive account of the feelings connected with conduct, but an account of capacities for and habits of action and of the connections between thoughts and acts. This will be found in Part III. 90 Descriptive Psychology Exercises Notice your feelings as you follow the directions given in this paragraph. Follow them without question, a. Choose a certain number between ioo and 200. b. Will to turn to that page (i. e., the page of the chosen number) or not to do so. c. It is left to you whether you will take the trouble to write to the author 1 of this book a description of how you feel (a) when you decide to go to church rather than to stay at home, and (b) when you will to continue studying, though bored and sleepy. The information is seriously and earnestly requested by him. Decide whether you promise to do so or not. 1. Did you or did you not in choosing the number have any feeling of decision or of indecision? 2. In case you willed to turn to that page, what was your feeling of willing to do so? (*. e., describe the feeling). 3. In case you willed not to turn to the page, what was your feeling of willing not to do so? (i e., describe the feeling). 4. In case you decided to promise to write to the author, describe your feeling of deciding to. 5. In case you decided not to do so, describe your feeling of deciding not to. As before, follow the directions, noticing your feelings. d. Take a pencil and write your name. e. Make up your mind to buy ten cents worth of stamps to-morrow. 6. Did you, before taking the pencil and writing your name, (I) feel nothing but the words read; or did you (II) have an image of the movements to be made; or did you (III) have a visual image of the name as written? If you had any other feelings as components of the 'willing,' what were they? 7. Did you, in resolving to buy the stamps, (I) feel nothing but acquiescence to the words read; or did you (II) feel 'All right,' or 'Yes,' or T will'; or did you (III) feel also an image of yourself handling out money; or did you (IV) feel also yourself going to the purchasing place, taking out money and handing it over to the clerk ; or did you (V) feel, in place of III and IV or 1 The author will indeed be very glad if some of the students of this book are willing to send him descriptions of their feelings of willing. He has already many such records. Feelings of Willing 91 in addition to III and IV, an image of the stamps as in your possession? 8. In view of your answers to questions 1-7, would you agree with the theory that an anticipatory image of the move- ment to be made or of the result of the movement was a neces- sary^ feature of willing? Would you, for instance, say that the following account was true of all people? "My volition to sign a letter is either an image of my hand moving the pen or an image of my signature already written, and my volition to purchase something is an image of myself in the act of handing out money or an image of my completed purchase — golf stick or Barbedienne bronze." M. W. Calkins, Introduc- tion to Psychology, p. 299. References A. Titchener, Outline, §§ 36-37. Angell, Psychology, XVII. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, § 55. Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, XVII. CHAPTER VII General Characteristics of Mental States § i 8. Qualities Common to all Mental States Complexity. — The fact that one's mental state at any moment is usually a complex mixture has already been emphasized. As the reader sees this page, he feels the temperature of the room and the well or ill-being of his body, thinks of the meanings of the words in this paragraph, has flitting images of this or that called up by them and is mildly interested or bored or satisfied or disgusted with it all. Even if we take but a momentary bit of his mental state it may contain many of these dif- ferent elements. Although, to study the body of thought and feeling of a human life, we dissect it out into this, that and the other specially named kinds of mental facts, we must not forget that in reality a mental life is a series of confused mixtures of thought-stuff, a rich blending of various elements, and that often all the names so far given to denote different sorts of mental facts would be needed to describe the mental state of a man for a single minute. Mental life is not like a series of solos, now sen- sations, now memories, now decisions ; but is like the performance of an orchestra in which many sounds fuse into a total. One instrument may predominate for a while, but only very rarely is it active alone. Personal Feeling. — Again, although for convenience we study images, concepts and all mental facts as if one 92 General Characteristics of Mental States 93 image of a tiger was like another of the same tiger, one feeling of eight like another feeling of eight, it must be borne in mind that what we call the same thought or feel- ing in two men is, after all, never the same. John in imagining a tiger feels it as a tiger not present and so does James, but John feels the feeling as Ms, as belonging with the rest of his inner life, as a part of his stream of thought. James could feel the feeling just as John does only by being John. If a hundred scholars are asked to add four and four, the hundred thoughts of eight are never absolutely alike. Each eight is felt with a fringe or halo of personal possession, — as someone's own ob- ject of thought, — with a tag which says, 'This is my thought or my emotion.' To quote Professor James : "In this room. . . .there are a multitude of thoughts, yours and mine, some of which cohere mutually, and some not "They are as little each-for-itself and reciprocally independent as they are all-belonging-together. They are neither : no one of them is separate, but each belongs with certain others and with none beside. My thought belongs with my other thoughts, and your thought with your other thoughts. Whether anywhere in the room there be a mere thought, which is nobody's thought, we have no means of ascertaining, for we have no experience of its like. The only states of consciousness that we naturally deal with are found in personal consciousnesses, minds, selves, concrete particular I's and you's." 1 This personal element varies in amount in the same individual at different times and amongst individuals. When one is playing with interest a game of skill or absorbed in the effort of landing a fish or stalking a deer the personal element is almost absent. It is far less in young children than in developed minds. There is 1 W. James, Principles of Psychology, vol. I, p. 225 f. 94 Descriptive Psychology less and less evidence of it as we progress down through the animal kingdom to the lower forms. Social Implications. — That in human beings gen- erally thoughts and feelings are always some one's own should not be taken to mean that one man's thought is incomparable with and uninfluenced by those of other men. The likeness of the hundred feelings of eight is far greater than the difference. The isolation of my stream of thought from others is only such that I can- not be them, not such that I cannot be incessantly and to the utmost extent influenced by them. 'Individual' would be a very unfit adjective to apply to human thoughts and feelings if it were to mean more than 'felt always by someone as his own.' So far they are indi- vidual, but they are also in an important sense social. If we leave out any solitary from birth whom chance or miracle may have preserved, the thoughts and feel- ings of any man at any time are in part the result of the thoughts and feelings of others. What we feel, how we think, what we enjoy, depend on the existence and action upon us of the thoughts and feelings of other people. When the attempt is made to explain the actual mental life of men so as to show how they come to be what they are, the social aspect of mental facts, — the impor- tance of the fact that anyone's thoughts and feelings are members of a great community of mental states, — is abundantly evident. Mental States are Parts of a Continuum. — Any mental state is felt as a part of a total stream of feeling, as in a context, as with what has been and is to be. The first thought of the morning is thus bound to the life of yesterday, feels at home with the memories of the past and already half-acquainted with the life of the future. Are, More or Less, Focal. — Thoughts and feelings General Characteristics of Mental States 95 may be ranked in a scale according to the degree to which they are absorbing, exclusive of others, impressive charac- ters in one's mental history. A thought may be so promi- nent, so in the focus that for the time being it practically is the mental life, or it may be just a shadowy, almost unnoticed hoverer in the background of the mind. Within any mental state also some parts are more emphatic, more in relief, gain greater possession of us, count more, are attended to more than others. Psycholo- gists make use of the fitting epithets focal and marginal to express this unevenness in the emphasis of different parts of a mental state. In the reader's mind the thought, 'more emphatic, more in relief, gain greater possession of us, count more,' should just now have been the chief, focal, absorbing part of his total state of mind ; the sight of the rest of the page and the feeling of the book in his fingers less so ; while the feelings or noises about him, of the time of day or of the floor beneath his feet should be out in the margin of thought, a shadowy background, half lost in the darkness of the border-land between consciousness and unconsciousness. If a mental state is pictured as an elevation above the level of unconsciousness, it must be pictured not as a cube or cylinder but as a mountain, the peak representing the focal or attended to part of the thought, the slopes the marginal part merging gradually into the flat plain of unconsciousness. If we picture it as an illuminated area in darkness, the light should be unequally diffused, strong at one point but melting off gradually into darkness. This general characteristic of thinking by which one thought prevails over others or some one element of a total thought outweighs all the rest is of tremendous practical importance. Not what we think but what is focal in our thoughts, becomes thus the matter of conse- g6 Descriptive Psychology quaice in mental life. This focalizing of thought, com- monly referred to by the word attention, will be the subject of a special section. Other Qualities. — (i) Thoughts and feelings may also usually be ranked in a scale of intensity. Some have an extreme amount of a striking, incisive, piercing quality; others are mild, flat, weak, lukewarm. (2) It may perhaps be possible to rank all thoughts and feelings on a scale of desirability and intolerability ranging from the feeling one most shrinks from to the feeling one most welcomes. This scale, desirability to intolerability, is not identical with pleasure to pain. Certain pleasures may be intolerable and certain pains welcomed. (3) No one could build a pile of feelings over which one could not jump, or fill a bucket with ideas; they do not occupy space. (4) They do take time ; as quick as thought is no truer than as slow as thought. So much for the general inner qualities of mental .facts. They have also two general outside relationships. They are intimately connected with conditions of the brain which precede, accompany and, in the common sense use of the word, cause them! They are also inti- mately connected with acts of the body which, in the common sense use of the word, are caused by them. These two general facts that all mental life is con- nected with the activity of the brain and always expresses itself in bodily action will be discussed in Parts II. and III. Exercises Experiment 8. The Duration of Mental Processes. — With the proper apparatus for making delicate measurements of time and for eliminating the influence of other processes than those which we wish to measure, the time required to notice a difference, or to call up an image, the time that an idea or an emotion lasts, and the like, may be measured. General Characteristics of Mental States 97 Even with the crudest means the differences in duration of the following processes may be at least roughly measured: — To feel a stimulus and make a movement in response to it. To feel a stimulus, distinguish it from other possible ones, and make a movement in response to it. To feel a stimulus, feel its meaning, call up an idea in response to it and make a movement in response to this idea. Arrange for ten or more individuals to act as subjects: have ready a stop watch measuring fifths of a second. Let the subjects be seated in a circle, the observer among them. A. Say, "We are to measure roughly the time it takes to hear a sound and make a sound in response. I shall say, 'Be' and as soon as I say it, the person at my right will reply by making the same sound 'Be'; as soon as he says it, the person on his right will make the same sound, and so on around the circle as fast as we can until I say 'Stop'. Be careful not to say 'Be' un- til you hear the person just at your left say it." Give one round of practice. Then say 'Attention', and then say 'Be', starting the watch simultaneously. After the word has been passed around the circle three times, that is, when you hear 'Be' the fourth time, stop the watch instead of saying 'Be' a fourth time, and then say 'Stop'. If there are ten people the total time taken divided by 30 will be the average time taken to hear the sound and to make the sound and for the sound wave to pass from one person's mouth to the next person's ear. B. Say, "We will now measure the time it takes to hear a sound, distinguish it from others and make a sound in response to it. I shall start counting, say, with two ; as soon as I say two, the person on my right will say three; as soon as he says three, the person on his right will say four; as soon as he says four, the person on his right will say one, and so on, one calling for two as its reply, two for three, three for four, and four for one. Continue until I say stop." Give one round of practice. Then say 'Attention', and say 'Two' or 'Three', starting the watch sim- ultaneously. Stop after three rounds of the circle as before. Compute the average time as before. It will be well to have some one outside the circle watch for erroneous responses. C. Say, "We will now measure the time it takes to hear a word, distinguish it, think what thing it means, think of some thing connected with this and respond. I, the first person, will 7 98 Descriptive Psychology say the name of something; the person at my right will reply by saying the first word called to his mind by the word I say, the person at his right will reply by saying the first word called to his mind by the word the second person said, and so on. Be careful to listen only for the word spoken by the person at your left and to reply with the word it calls up." Give one or two rounds of practice and then after the 'Attention' say 'House' and start the watch simultaneously. Stop after three rounds of the circle as before. Compute the average time as before. Experiments A, B, and C may be repeated as many times as is convenient. References A. James, Briefer Course, XI. Stout, Manual, 71-76. Titchener, Outline, §§ 92-98. B. James, Principles, IX. § 19. Attention The Fact of Attention and the Feelings of Atten- tion. — The words and phrases 'attend,' 'attentive,' 'ab- sorbed in,' 'give one's mind to,' and their synonyms, like most common words, have many shades of meaning. They refer at times to what I shall call the fact of atten- tion and at other times to what I shall call the feelings of attention. In the first case they mean (1) the fact that some part of one's state of mind is focal, prominent, pre- potent over the rest or (2) that some one possible idea is noticed and felt to the exclusion of others. Thus (1) 'He attended chiefly to the color of the rose he was observing,' and (2) 'He attended to the rose, not noticing what was said or how awkward he appeared.' In the second case they mean (3) the feeling of effort which so often accompanies the prevalence of one part over other parts of a feeling or of one feeling over others if the General Characteristics of Mental States 99 natural impulse is to attend otherwise, or (4) the feeling of interest which so often accompanies such prevalence if it is in accord with natural impulse or (5) the feeling of activity, — of oneself being a helper in making the part or idea prevail. Thus (3) 'He resolutely attended,' The power of attention;' (4) 'He was absorbed in play,' 'It attracted my attention,' 'I could not help feeling atten- tive;' (5) 'I was thinking hard. Every sense in me was on the qui vive.' Separate words should be used for each of these five meanings if we are to be clear, at least in all cases where the context does not show in which sense the word atten- tion is used. Let us use Focalness of Mental States for the fact that each mental state is not throughout equally prominent, but that parts are in greater relief than others, and S elect edness of Mental States for the fact that out of many feelings felt by no means all are noticed, dwelt upon, allowed to play leading part:. For the three chief feelings that accompany such focal and selective thinking, let us use the terms : The Feeling of Effort or Strain, the Feeling of Interest or Attraction, and the Feeling of Activity or of Mental Life. (1) and (2) are the most alike. They represent the results of the same mental law acting (A) within one mental state and (B) among a number of mental states. Together they represent the fact of attention as opposed to the feelings going with it. When in this or later chap- ters the word attention is used alone it will mean this fact of attention. Cases of attention may be classified : — (A) According to the kind of feeling accompanying them, into voluntary and involuntary. (B) According to the reason why the chief thought LOFC. ioo Descriptive Psychology or feeling is chief, into native and acquired, and also into immediate and derived. (C) According to the nature of the chief or pre- potent or 'attended to' object, into intellectual and sen- sorial. Voluntary and Involuntary Attention. — In certain cases the special emphasis on some part of our total thought or possible thought is accompanied by a feeling of effort or strain, a feeling of holding ourselves down to that part and resisting other temptations. If in the mind of a schoolboy, in spite of tired eyes and a strong desire to be outdoors, the xs and ys of the algebra book before him hold the field against the shouts and laughter of play- mates outside and impulses to look at the clock, to leave the examples till next day and the like, the case is pre- sumably one of voluntary attention. The boy probably has a feeling of effort. Such cases of attention with a feeling of effort are called Voluntary Attention, The name is perhaps ill chosen ; for in a sense these are just the cases where we do not attend willingly. The word voluntary is used by psychologists to show that in these cases of attention with a feeling of effort there is a willful ruling out of other tempting ideas and an adherence to the point attended to. In other cases an idea is in the focus, — is selected, — v/ithout being accompanied by any feeling of effort. On the contrary the object seems to attract us, is more tempt- ing than any others, and is usually accompanied by a feeling of attraction. Such cases are called cases of Involuntary Attention. To say that a thing attracts us is simply another way of saying that it wins a place over other thoughts without any feeling of effort on our part. When the percepts of an exciting game hold the field in the school-boy's mind and keep down and out the thoughts General Characteristics of Mental States 101 of xs and ys, nouns and verbs, sitting still and looking at books, it is presumably a case of involuntary attention. He probably feels little effort in the process. The feeling of effort of voluntary attention is a feeling arising not so much from thinking of the one thing to which we feel we must attend as from checking or, in technical terms, inhibiting the tendencies to think of other things. The real task of the boy in school who with effort keeps the example uppermost in his mind is to keep down and out ideas of how long it is before school ends, of the base ball match in the afternoon, of how thirsty he is, and the like. Thinking and action are of themselves desirable, natural and involuntary; the effort is not to think the more attractive thought, not to do the more enjoyable acts. It is what we do not do that is hard. The fatigue which is in school the so common result of work demanding attention is due largely to the strain of suppressing attractive tendencies. In proportion as the work itself is attractive and absorbing, fatigue diminishes. Although voluntary and involuntary attention are diametrically opposite, the same object may at one time arouse voluntary attention and at another involuntary. The boy who in the primary school attended to the letters in a book only with effort comes later to read without effort. The song which a few months ago won our invol- untary attention has by repetition lost its attractiveness and we listen to it only with a decided feeling of strain. What interests one ceases to do so if no profit or pleasure to him results. What originally implied a feeling of effort becomes freed from it in porportion as profit or pleasure to the mind concerned results. Other names for Voluntary and Involuntary Attention are Forced and Free. Native and Acquired Attention. — Certain thoughts 102 Descriptive Psychology and feelings take a prominent place in the stream of thought apart from any experience on our part of their pleasurableness or utility. The inborn constitution of human beings is such that in young children a clear, bright light wins a place in the focus of the mind over filmy shadows, — that the sight of a puppy running about excludes the feelings of the clouds or trees. The fact of attention in such cases is called Native or Inborn Attention because it is caused by inborn qualities. In the majority of cases of attention in adult life, however, the tendency for the uppermost idea to be upper- most has been caused by our experiences of the different ideas concerned and of their consequences. The black and white of printed pages gains attention because of the pleasures that have come from reading, the utility of the information gained and the like. The dollars and cents, clothes and furniture, concerts and plays, the spoken and written words, which figure so largely among the promi- nent, focal, attended to ideas of civilized human beings do not owe their prominence to the inborn constitution of man, but to the circumstances of his life and training. Cases of native attention are always involuntary. There is no feeling of effort in doing what one's inborn make-up leads him to do. Cases of acquired attention may be voluntary or involuntary. Immediate and Derived Attention. — A less useful division is into Immediate and Derived Attention, imme- diate attention meaning those cases where the prominence of the object is due to some intrinsic quality of its own, and derived attention meaning those cases where it is due to some thing not in the object but indirectly associated with it. The attitudes of a baby and of an adult toward a twenty dollar gold-piece are cases in point. The first is immediate attention due to the glitter of the form itself ; General Characteristics of Mental States 103 the second is largely derived attention, due to the ideas connected with twenty dollars. The reason why this division into immediate or intrinsic and derived or ex- trinsic is less useful is that it is in many cases extremely hard to decide which occurs. For example, does the miser attend to the gold for itself or for its indirect properties? Certainly the attention was originally de- rived, but certainly it feels to him now immediate. Sensorial and Intellectual Attention. — Cases where the object that is prominent is a thing of sense are called cases of Sensorial Attention. Cases where it is an image, meaning, concept, or the like, are called cases of Intel- lectual Attention. Thus 'His mind was absorbed by the face before him/ gives an instance of the former, and 'His thoughts were firmly fixed on the idea of self sacri- fice/ gives an instance of the latter. Many other divisions could be made, according to the nature of the object of attention, into attention to thoughts and attention to acts, attention to feelings of external things and attention to feelings of the body, etc. In common use the word attention refers to physical facts as well as to mental facts. 'I attended to the lec- tures' means in common speech not only 'Percepts of the words spoken were predominant among my feelings and excluded other feelings,' but also, 'My eyes were directed toward the lecturer and followed his movements. They focussed upon him, not upon something in front of or behind him. My ears were held tense as in listening/ The connection between the mental fact attention, which this chapter has dealt with, and its physical or bodily expression, to which the word attention so often refers, will be discussed later in its proper place. Attributes of Attention. — Much has been written about the extent to which one idea in the focus of thought 104 Descriptive Psychology may shut out others. Even the most intense stimuli may- fail to influence one who is thus absorbed. Stock illus- trations are the soldier who, absorbed in the excitement of the battle, fights on unconscious of severe wounds, the child absorbed in his story book who fails to reply to the loudest call, and the preacher who, although so afflicted with weakness as to have to be carried to his pulpit, yet in the course of his discourse rose from the chair in which he had been seated and soon was speaking with full voice and vigorous gestures. Though such extreme cases of the victory of a possessing idea are rare, the same thing occurs to a less degree with everyone in every day's work. We can and do 'put things out of our mind' by attending to something else. Whether it ever happens that all parts of a state of mind are equally focal, equally attended to, is a doubtful question. At times, for instance when he lies idly dozing in a hammock, a person seems to feel one thing as much and no more than another, to be equally open to all parts of an impression, to care no more for one element of a thought than for another. But in such cases attention may not be really dispersed equally over the field, but may have run from one thing to another very rapidly. Each element may have been attended to in its turn somewhat exclusively. The question is not of much importance, since such cases are certainly rare in mental life. As an almost, if not quite, universal rule mental life is focalized. What common usage calls inattention is then very, very rarely real inattention, attention to nothing, but only attention to something else. We call him inattentive who does not attend to what we wish or expect him to. The reason is to be sought not in the non-focal quality of his mental life, but in the fact that it is focussed on some- thing else. The inattentive boy of the school is commonly General Characteristics of Mental States 105 extremely attentive to the bent pin he is preparing for his neighbor's sleep or to the dreams of out-of-school life which fill his mind. Analysis. — Closely allied to the fact of focalness of thinking is the fact of analysis, 1 the fact of breaking up a total fact into its elements, parts or aspects. It is only as a result of such a process of breaking up total facts into their qualities that the elements of color, size, shape, weight, pressure and the like are felt in place of a 'big, blooming, buzzing, confusion.' It is only as a result of such a process that many feelings of meanings and of in- tellectual relationships arise at all. In the fact of focal- ness of thinking lies the possibility of feeling one part or element of a fact and neglecting the rest. As now the color, now the size and now the shape, of, say, a plate is made focal in the infant's mind, he is able with aid from a law to be described in Chapter XIV to think of the color of the plate, the size of the plate and the shape of the plate each by itself, and to think of the total fact, the plate, as possessing or constituted by these elements. Exercises 1. Classify each of the following cases of attention as vol- untary or involuntary, as native or acquired and as intellectual or sensorial : — a. The baby's fixed glance at the bright light. b. The miser's absorption in contemplating his hoard of gold. c. The poet's attention to the composition of a poem. d. The school boy's attention to it in learning it by heart for to-morrow's lesson. 1 The word discrimination is used sometimes with this same meaning of coming to feel parts of facts, but as it is more often used to mean feeling differences between facts, the word analysis is preferable. io6 Descriptive Psychology e. The compositor's attention to the copy of it in setting it up in type. f. The child's attention to the piece of candy held be- fore him. g. His attention to the organ-grinder's monkey. h. His attention to the letters in the primer from which he puzzles out the words. i. The sailor's attention to the sail he can barely dis- cern in the distance. j. The young girl's attention to the memories of last night's party. 2. Illustrate from your own experience the power of inat- tention to temporarily banish pain and fatigue. 3. What are some of the things and qualities to which at- tention is naturally given as a result of inborn constitution re- gardless of our experience of their effects? Experiment 9. TT\e Fluctuations of Attention. — Paint a very light gray circle about a half inch in diameter on a square of white cardboard or heavy paper, the color of the circle to be barely distinguishable from white (about 2 drops of black writ- ing ink to a teaspoonful of water will do if painted in a thin coat). Place the square of cardboard far enough away so that the gray circle can just be made out. Look steadily and attentively at it for six or eight minutes. What happens to the gray circle? Experiment 10. The Relative Time of Focal and Marginal Thinking. — Read passage A not thinking of the words at all at- tentively: read it, that is, as one skims over an unimportant pas- sage or a perfunctory letter. Keep a record of the number of seconds which elapse. It will be convenient to start when th: second hand is at 60. Read passage B attentively, as one would read an interesting book or a notice of importance. Score the time as before. Compare the times. A. Passing down the street you come first to a tall, brick build- ing, then to the Presbyterian church, and next to the store of William Gunnison. Above the door hangs the sign, "Antiques Bought and Sold." If you go in you will see tables, chairs, bed- steads, and desks of mahogany, mirrors in gilded frames which Mr. Gunnison will assure you are genuine Chippendale, and an almost endless row of grandfather's clocks. The walls are covered with shelves and racks and hooks on which rest or to General Characteristics of Mental States 107 which are hung thousands of pieces of crockery of all sizes and shapes imagined and unimagined. Blue, brown and lavender figured plates jostle pewter, china and earthen tea-pots. B. Just across the river is situated a prosperous-looking farm- house with a red barn and a little beyond it a grove of pine trees. Near the gate stands a man with sword and pistol. In the house he has stored knives, guns, cutlasses and Indian tomahawks, and ninety Italian stilettos, each of which, he informs visitors, has killed a man. In spite of the murderous nature of Mr. Talbot's mania, he is kind to his horses, cattle and dogs. He simply en- joys collecting weapons as other people enjoy collecting more peaceful objects. He gathers straight, curved and pointed swords and daggers as you might gather pictures, books or oriental rugs. Experiment 11. The Influence of Attention on Memory. — Write what you remember of both passages, A and B. Compare the results. Experiment 12. The Aid of Attention in Analysis. — (a) Sound or, better still, have some one sound for you on a piano, a chord made up of the middle C and the note C, an octave above it. Do you hear the two components or is the sound apparently only one note? If the latter is the case, sound several times the ~C until you have it clearly in mind. Have the chord played again. Do you now hear the C as a component? If the chord was felt as a result of two component tones notes from, the start, experiment as follows : (b) Strike the middle C alone. Do you hear any com- ponent notes? Strike softly the C until you have it clearly in mind and then listen for it as you again strike the middle C. Do you hear the C now? The middle C does contain the C as one of its overtones and with enough practice and close attention it can be detected. References A. James, Briefer Course, XIII. Stout, Manual, 611-614. Titchener, Outline, §§ 38-42. Angell, Psychology, IV., 64-82. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, §§ 56-59. James, Principles, XL Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, XVIII. § I. io8 Descriptive Psychology § 20. A New Classification of Mental States The thoughtful and ingenious student may have observed already that human thoughts and feelings may be ranged in a scale according to the directness of their relationships to their 'objects/ that is the things which they stand for. Feelings Which are What They Stand For .—There are firstly feelings, such as of blue, length, suffocation, sleepiness, terror and rage, which simply are what they stand for. These may be called feelings of the first intention. They give us the stuff, the content, the ma- terial out of which the mind's world is shaped. They mean or refer to or know nothing unlike or beyond them- selves. The suffocation, as a feeling of the first inten- tion, stands for just the suffocation; the blue means just the blue. In adult life one rarely has feelings of the first intention pure and simple. Even the suffocation is felt as, T am strangling,' or 'What an intolerable atmosphere/ more frequently than in its bare, intrinsic self. To get adequate illustrations of them one must turn to such feel- ings as one has when, in close touch with nature, without thought of 'things' or 'self/ he feels impressions directly. Think for instance, of how one feels when half dozing in the summer sunshine or when swimming lazily, or when in the agony of whooping-cough or asthma, or when beside oneself with rage, or when absorbed in the smell of the woods. One is then swallowed up in the sensation, is lost in the feeling, for the time being is it. One does not 'think' or have 'ideas' or notice 'things.' One simply feels the warmth, the water and the sky and one's bodily movements, the pain, the rage, the odorous air. Feelings Which are Like What They Stand For.— There are, secondly, feelings such as percepts and images General Characteristics of Mental States 109 (and the pseudo-emotions), which have objects, more or less, but always somewhat, like themselves. The feeling of the blue which we call a feeling of 'the sky/ the feeling of a white rectangle which we call a percept of a sheet of paper, the image of the line an inch long — each of these refers to something which it is not exactly but only in part. They may be called feelings of the second intention. Feelings Which are Unlike What They Stand For. —There are in the third place feelings which may be utterly unlike the facts to which they refer. These feel- ings of the third intention or symbolic feelings include the feelings of intellectual relationships, of meanings, of judgments and the like. A single illustration will suffice. (a 2 — b 2 ) = (a-\-b) (a — b) is, in so far as it is a feeling merely of the straight and curved lines seen, a feeling of the first intention ; in so far as it is a feeling of letters and signs, that is, of certain things or images which the straight and curved lines call to mind, it is a feeling of the second intention : while, in so far as it is a feeling that one means, 'Any a squared minus any b squared equals the sum of these quantities times their difference/ it is a feel- ing of the third intention. It is in the third intention that feelings become the rational or strictly human kind of thinking. They can have as objects, things that are not, have not been and cannot be felt in the first or second intention. Millions of lengths that could be so felt only in the course of a lifetime can be felt in the third inten- tion as easily as can a single inch. Differences that are indistinguishable and elements that are indissoluble by direct feeling can be thought. What the eye has not seen nor the ear heard can thus enter the mind of man. Far and near, past and future can be joined in thought. Feel- ings of the third intention do thus in a sense transcend the limits of space and time and place thought sub specie no Descriptive Psychology aeternitatis. The universe can be and is destroyed and recreated in the mind. The Attributes of Each of These Classes. — Feelings of the first intention are common to many, if not all, of the members of the animal kingdom. Feelings of the second intention may appear here and there in a few of the higher vertebrates, but in general are lacking in the lower animals. Feelings of the third intention are the exclusive property of man, and fail to appear in the less developed minds of idiots. In the growth of any in- dividual's mind the second class appears only after some months of life, and the third only in proportion as the second becomes established. Feelings of the first intention are strongly impulsive to bodily acts. As a bone is to a dog's mind literally a 'to seize and gnaw ;' as a sunny dust pile is to the chick's intellect literally a 'to scuffle and squat in ;' so, to man as well, a feeling of cold is in its first intention a 'to shiver, crouch or get away from.' Whereas feelings of the first intention thus impel to immediate bodily action, those of the second are especially provocative of delayed action, of action only indirectly and after a time. Their direct consequence is more often another idea. The printed a, which in the chick arouses only an act, viz., 'to peck/ because the chick feels only the first intention, will in a man arouse the image of the sound of a or the ideas of b, c and d. Feelings of the third intention impel to imme- diate action still more rarely and arouse judgments rather than images. In the long run, however, they influence action more than do the others, for through them we can react once for all to a whole group of objects or to some quality in all the thousands of cases where it is found. In fact the less our thoughts resemble their objects the better they seem to serve us; the less their immediate expression, the greater their eventual influence. CHAPTER VIII The Functions of Mental States § 21. The Function of Mental Life as a Whole Thoughts and Feelings Influence Action. — The function of thoughts and feelings, — i.e., the work they do, the service they perform, their share in the business of life, — is to influence actions. In some wider, freer world than that of this present life, mental states may count of themselves directly. But as things are here, we help or harm our fellow men only by what we do. Only when a man's ideas and emotions issue in effects on his deeds, words, gestures, facial expression or other bodily acts, do they make any difference to anyone else. And in truth, though it would be a long task to explain why, it is only when they influence such acts of body or at least of brain, that they make any permanent difference to him. Unless mental states resulted in acts that altered the physical world of the bodies and minds of men they would be of no service, and would as well not be. In § 2J it will be shown that sooner or later, directly or indirectly, every mental state is expressed or worked off in causing or inhibiting bodily movements or brain changes. That we now see to be their reason for being. We feel the outside w6r\d in order that we may react to it. We remember / and learn and reason in order that we may modify our reactions to it. The great majority or our feelings have as their function to change our behavior. in H2 Descriptive Psychology The great majority of our actions are done in response to and under the guidance of mental states. Getting up, dressing, eating breakfast, the work of business or study, the play of games and social life, what we say, where we go, — the entire course of a day's doings minus the merely physiological activities of digestion, circulation and the like, — represent the stimulation to and control of conduct by thought. The history of a man's life of action as a whole is the history of the changes in his natural make-up which have been wrought by his mental life. The steel which always reacts uniformly to the magnet by approach, — the acid and metal which always react by combining to form hydrogen and a salt, — these give no sign that they possess feelings ; but in the animal kingdom in proportion as we find the power to change the individual's responses to conditions, to adapt behavior to circumstances, in the same proportion we find evidences of conscious life. Knowledge Is Not the Sole or Ultimate Purpose of Thought. — It is a common mistake to speak of mental states as a means to knowledge as if that were their final goal. Mental states are not in all cases means to knowl- edge. Many of our emotions and impulses furnish us only with tendencies to act. For instance, love and envy do not enlighten our minds with respect to their objects but only change our dispositions toward them. When mental states are means to knowledge the knowledge itself is really valuable chiefly as a means to action. It would be of little advantage to have sensations of cold or knowledge of the physiological effects of low temperature if one never was moved thereby to' put on a coat or build a fire. The reasoning of the mathematician is well nigh profitless until it is expressed in words or diagrams or some other form of expression so as to influence the world's behavior. We learn so as to do. Thought aims Functions of Mental States 113 at knowledge, but with the final aim of using the knowl- edge to guide action. Adaptation. — Intelligent behavior, — that is, reacting to the situations of life so as to adapt oneself to them, — involves three factors: (1) being sensitive, (2) acting or making movements, and (3) connecting with each of the different situations certain particular movements. We might give these three factors names as follows : — (1) Sensitiveness or Power of Impression or Re- ception. (2) Movement or Power of Expression or Action. (3) Connection or Power of Association or Ela- boration. We could then say that the function of mental life was to be impressed by the environment and to associate suita- ble acts with all impressions. The work of education is to make the impressions, acts and connections between them suitable not only in the sense of suiting the actual world but also in the higher sense of suiting the ideal de- mands which are to transform the imperfect world that is into some better world of the future. That mental life in general serves to adapt conduct to 'environment in useful ways does not imply that in each and every case it does so. Feet are useful in general but they sometimes trip us up ; the blood is useful in general but it serves at times as the medium for disease. So thought, though useful in general, at times leads men into blunders. That we can swallow food implies that we can also swallow poison, and that we can think wisely implies also that we can make mistakes. Moreover, just as the evolution of the body does not keep pace with the changes in the environment and manifests useless organs such as the vermiform appendix, so also the mind shows useless 8 114 Descriptive Psychology sensations such as those coming from tickling, useless emotions such as hysterical fear or joy. I shall not waste the reader's time in the following account of the special functions of different classes of feelings and connections between them by rehearsing under each head the cases of useless functioning. The reader should once for all understand that such excep- tions occur. In the text only the more general facts will be presented. § 22. The Functions of Different Groups of Mental States The Function of Sensations and Percepts. — The function of sensations and percepts is to serve as signals to warn us of the presence of some thing or quality or condition and so to arouse the appropriate thought or act or emotion. Sensations and percepts may be likened to the signals of an army or the steam-gauge of an engine. They report what occurs within and in the neighborhood of our bodies, that is they report more or less of the environment, and thus are the first step in our adapta- tions to it. This does not mean that a sensation or percept necessarily resembles or duplicates or mirrors the thing it stands for. The feeling of sweet no more needs to be like sugar than does the position of the indi- cator on a steam-gauge to be like an explosion. A tooth- ache is no more like a decayed tooth than it is like a green light; a sound is no more like air- vibrations than like ether-vibrations. The function of the sensations is not to give us a picture of the outside world but to lead us to act properly toward it. It is indeed literally true that we in any case sense not so much what is present, as what it is useful for us to feel. The different sensations give, of course, warnings of Functions of Mental States 115 the existence of different qualities or features of physical things or bodily conditions. Sights and sounds are specialized signals of distant objects; pains, of conditions dangerous to life and health ; and so on through the list. In general, sensations are warnings that emphasize the presence of qualities and conditions, while percepts are warnings of the presence of things themselves. The Functions of Images and Memory. — The func- tion of images is to permit us to prepare for future re- actions to things not at the time present. They allow us, so to speak, to anticipate the future, to prepare for war in time of peace. By thinking of the frosty Caucasus we can take measures in thought or action against the time when we shall actually confront it. It is by virtue of images that man thinks before and after and so modifies his behavior apart from the stress of immediate contact with things. He can thus spend days in preparation for a situation which in actual presence would allow of hardly a minute's thought. Instead of having to wait for the convenience of nature, he can suit nature to his thought. The function of the permanence of mental changes in conscious memory and in unconscious habits of thought and action is, of course, to permit experiences to extend their influence into the future. Man and other animals as well would quickly succumb to the environment if the lessons it taught them in one hour were all lost during the next. It would be useless and indeed meaningless to learn if we learned only immediately to forget. The Function of Feelings of Relationships. — To ex- plain in detail the service rendered by feelings of relation- ships would require too intricate an analysis of their influence on human conduct. In general they enable man to adapt his reactions to the world as a related whole. Since things are alike and different, are causes and effects, n6 Descriptive Psychology are before and after, are above and below, awareness of these relations guides our reactions to the things. And since the relations often equal or outweigh the things in practical importance, awareness of relations will often be of as great service as awareness of things. The Function of Feelings of Meaning. — The func- tion of an individual notion is to provide a constant men- tal sign for one particular thing, regardless of the variations in its appearances in percepts and images. Thus we can mean or think 'J°lm Smith' no matter whether his face or voice or the sound of his name is perceived or imaged. The provision of a constant mental sign to stand for 'Jorm Smith' anywhere and always implies the provision for similar reaction to 'John Smith' anywhere and always. The individual notion then enables anyone to economize by having one reaction to one thing instead of many reactions to its varied appearances. The function of a general notion or concept is to pro- vide a constant mental sign for any one of the members of a group. As before, this implies the power to react similarly to any member of the group by reacting to the sign that stands for any one of them. Since seven means any seven and five means any five, any seven and any five make twelve. Since acid means any acid and base means any base we can once for all form habits of knowledge and action respecting the union of any acid and any base. General notions are the short-hand of thought. The function of an abstract notion or abstraction is to provide a mental sign for and hence means of reaction to some element or aspect or quality or relationship regard- less of the particular thing or things in which it appears. Thus we react to intentions regardless of results ; to lengths without either breadth or thickness ; to times apart from anything happening in them; to shapes regardless Functions of Mental States 117 of what they are shapes of. In a sense we recreate the world to suit us by analyzing it in thought into elements more manageable and by reacting, not to the total situa- tion with which we are confronted, but to some element in it which offers a vital point of attack. The Function of Emotions. — Emotions serve to emphasize certain things and conditions and to lead to action in more specific and intense ways than do sensa- tions and percepts. They commonly go with those things and conditions which nature has taught us to emphatically seek or avoid. The teachings of nature in this respect are however of much less value in the conditions of mod- ern civilized life than they would be if man were still lead- ing an animal life in the woods. Jealousy and rage, for instance, could be omitted from human life with little loss. It is often stated that the emotions furnish the energy for action, while the intellectual states only guide and enlighten; that without the emotions man would never act vigorously. This is false. Men of vigorous action seem to be moved by strong emotions because acting vigorously itself tends to produce strong emotions, but really clear insight and prompt decision do as much to favor action as do soul-stirring fervor and intense pas- sion. It would be truer to say that strong emotions represent a partial waste of the energy that should be used in action. The waste is only partial ; for the emotion does, as was said in the previous paragraph, emphasize the situation and so intensifies action somewhat. The Functions of Connecting, Selecting and Ana- lyzing Agencies. — It is perhaps needless to call atten- tion to the function of habits, the associations of ideas, and judgments. They are all names for connections; the first a general name, the second a name for con- nections amongst ideas only and the third for connections n8 Descriptive Psychology commonly between concepts, abstractions and individual notions, connections that also usually involve a felt rela- tionship. The function of connections as a class was made clear in the first few paragraphs of this chapter. Instincts, though also connections having in general the function of all connections, have as their special function that of providing for the essentials of preservation and of serving as the material out of which the edifice of habits is reared. Analysis, in the sense of noting parts, does the actual work of breaking the direct concrete experiences of things up into elements, and so of producing the abstractions the function of which we found to be so important. In fact the power to 'see into things,' to 'pick out the essen- tial factor in a situation/ is as important practically as the power to 'put two and two together;' so that analysis is as useful as association. The function of attention, is, first, to economize time and effort. The selective activity for which attention stands concentrates mental life upon the things, qualities, and conditions of moment to us and allows the rest of the universe to slip by without taking our time. It allows us to proportion the prominence any thing shall have in the mind to the importance it possesses for our welfare. In the second place, attention is one main step toward analysis. Only this brief statement of the functions of the means of connection, selection and analysis is given here, because the same topic will be dealt with more fully in Part III. Exercises The function or part played by different features of mental life can be concretely imagined by thinking what would be lost from life by the loss of any one of them. Functions of Mental States 119 Thus suppose a man to be: — 1. Without any concepts or abstractions. 2. Without any permanence to his ideas. 3. Without any images. 4. Without any established connections amongst his ideas. 5. Without any established connections between ideas and acts. 6. Without any restriction of thought to special features of the situations encountered. 7. Without any sensations. 8. What are some of the difficulties that would be caused if the feelings of things in memory or anticipation were indistin- guishable from the feelings of things present to perception? PART II THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MENTAL LIFE CHAPTER IX The Constitution of the Nervous System § 23. Gross Structure Human thought and conduct are intimately connected with the working of the nervous system, by which is meant the brain and spinal cord, the nerves from these to the organs of sense and to the muscles, the nervous tissue in the organs of sense, and the sympathetic system and local ganglia. Injuries to or diseases of the nervous sys- tem cause marked changes in thinking and action. Brain tumors may result in disordered thinking ; diseases of cer- tain nerves cause inability to move the corresponding muscles; disease of the optic nerve causes blindness. Drugs which affect the nervous system, such as chloro- form, alcohol and hashish, produce mental symptoms. The development of the nervous system in child life parallels the growth of bodily control, intellect and char- acter. From a vast amount of such evidence as this it is abundantly shown that the thoughts and feelings and behavior of men are in direct relations with the activities of the nervous system. The appearance to the naked eye of the human nerv- ous system, as in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, offers little instruction 120 The Constitution of the Nervous System 121 to the student of mental life. The surgeon or physician must know its shape, the names of its parts, and the out- lining walls of its ventricles, because he has to operate upon it. Its more detailed inner structure, as shown by the microscope and by modern histological methods, is of chief concern to the student of psychology. It is not the gross appearance but the composition of the nervous sys- tem that throws light upon human learning and conduct. The reader should, however, in order to understand later descriptions, recall from his studies of physiology 1 that the nervous system as a whole is divided into (1) the central nervous system, (2) the nerves passing from it to different parts of the body, (3) the sympathetic system and its isolated ganglia in different parts of the body and (4) the nervous apparatus of the end-organs (eyes, ears, etc.). The central nervous system is further divided into the brain and spinal cord. The brain is further divided into the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata and other parts. The cortex of the cerebrum is the gray matter composing its outside layer. In the descriptions of the figures, the name refers to the source from which the figure was copied. Barker refers to L. F. Barker's 'The Nervous System and Its Constituent Neurones;' Edinger to L. Edinger's, 'Nervose Centralorganej 5 Auflage; Kolliker to A Kolliker's, 'Handbuch der Gewebelehre des Men- schen' Zweiter Band, 6 Auflage ; Lenhossek to M. v. Lenhossek's, 'Der Feinere Bau des Nervensystems,' 2 Auflage ; Starr refers to the reproductions of M. Allen Starr's series of photographs of the brain's finer structure in his 'Atlas of Nerve Cells'; Van Gehuchten refers to A. Van Gehuchten's 'Anatomie du Systeme Nerveux de 1'Homme.' Roman numerals refer to the volume, the first arabic numeral to the page, and the second arabic num- eral to the number of the figure in the original. 1 The student who has never studied human anatomy and physi- ology should read the chapters on the nervous system in some stan- dard text book of human physiology. 122 Physiological Psychology A. b. Fig. 2. A. The brain and spinal cord, viewed from the side, in then- relation to the general structure of the body. One-seventh natural size. B. The brain and spinal cord, viewed from the front. Three- seventeenths natural length After Van Gehuchten, I, 2, 1 and 2. The Constitution of the Nervous System 123 Fig. 3. A (above). The cerebrum, viewed from the top. Two-fifths natural length. After Van Gehuchten, I, 80, 60. Fig. 3. B (below). The cerebrum, viewed from the left side. Two-fifths natural length. After Van Gehuchten, I, 87, 69. 124 Physiological Psychology Fig 4. A section through the cerebrum, showing the appearance to the naked eye of the white and gray matter and the relation of the cortex to the inner substance of the cerebrum. After Edinger, 254, 173. The Constitution of the Nervous System 125 § 24. Finer Structure The Nervous System Equals the Sum of its Neu- rones. — The nervous system proper (exclusive, that is, of the blood vessels and lymph which permeate it and the tissues which act as connective and supporting structures) is composed of units of structure called neurones or nerve cells. For instance, the optic nerve is essentially a bundle of very fine thread-like bodies of protoplasm placed side L> V Fig. 5. Rough sketches of six neurones. Thickness is overestimated rela- tively to length. 126 Physiological Psychology by side like the wires running from pole to pole along a telegraph line. Each of these neurones or nerve cells of the optic nerve has one end in the retina of the eye and the other in the brain (in the parts called the geniculate bodies). Again, if we could see exactly the structure of the brain itself, we should find it to consist of millions of similar neurones each resembling a bit of string frayed out at both ends and here and there along its course. So also the nerves going out to the muscles are simply bun- dles of such neurones, each of which by itself is a thread- like connection between the cells of the spinal cord or brain and some muscle. The nervous system is simply the sum total of all these neurones, which form an almost infinitely complex system of connections between the sense organs and the muscles. Fig. 5 gives a general idea of the essential features of a neurone, or nerve cell, by giving simplified drawings of several types of neurones. 1 Figs. 6-16 may help to make real the idea that the brain and other components of the nervous system are essentially a vast assemblage of these string-like neurones. Figs. 6- 11 are reproductions of drawings made with all possible fidelity to the actual facts; Figs. 12-16 reproduce actual photographs of very thin sections from the central nervous system, so stained as to show its composition. In examining them one must bear in mind that such sections will rarely if ever show the whole of any one neurone, but only cross views of parts of some, lengthwise views of parts of others, here a main string, there a frayed-out end. It is also the case 1 The student will of course bear in mind that the fraying out is not simply in one plane, that the neurone is not flat. Moreover, in the drawings the thickness of the string and its branches is over- estimated relatively to their length. To get a true idea of these rel- ative proportions in the longest neurones one would need to have a page many yards long or on a page of this size to represent the main string of the neurone as less than a thousandth of an inch thick. The Constitution of the Nervous System 127 that the method of staining used is such that not all of the neurones are stained. If they were, the whole picture would be a dense-black mass, so closely are the string- like nerve units packed together. The top of Fig. 15 gives some idea of this closeness of interweaving. If the reader will think of a slice through the brain, such as appears to the naked eye as in Fig. 17 or Fig. 4, as being really of the appearance which a combination of hundreds of such drawings and photographs as Figs. 6-16 would make, he will have a true though crude conception of the general characteristics of the brain's structure. It is absolutely essential that the picture of it as a custard- like mass of gray and white stuff be replaced in the reader's mind by a picture of it as an aggregation of millions of thread-like neurones, each a perfectly definite unit by itself. The drawings, I repeat, are in no sense unreal or simply general diagrams, but are actual reproductions of the things seen under the microscope. The photographs are of course absolute copies of actual cells as found in sections cut from the brain and stained. It is unfor- tunate that a picture of an entire neurone cannot be gotten by the camera, and that one sees therefore only a scrap of one neurone here and a scrap of another there. Fig- ures drawn as well as photographs taken give a false idea of the length of the neurone. The longer ones do not appear for the very good reason that at the magnification of say 190 diameters, a drawing of one of the longer neurones would have to be a tenth of a mile long. 128 Physiological Psychology After Kdinger, 221, 152. The Constitution of the Nervous System 129 Fig. 7. A section through the brain cortex. Greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 652, 732. 9-a 13° Physiological Psychology Fig 8. Fig. 9- Fig. 8. A section through t e brain cortex (a) (at the left) so stained as to show the thickened portions of the neurones and short pieces of their string-like processes, and (b) (at the right) so stained as to show only parts of the string-like processes. Imagine the left and right halves to fill the same space and the result will fairly represent the real condition. Much magnified. After Edinger, 220, 151. Fig. 9. A section of the part of the brain in a very early stage of its development. Much magnified. After Kolliker, 802, 814. Fig. 10 (above) and Fig. 11 (below). Sections through the medulla ob- longata or myelencephalon (the enlargement of the spinal cord where it joins the brain). These sections are from the brain of a young mouse, but the idea they give of the general structure of the brain is perfectly applicable to the human brain. After Van Gehuchten, II, 386, 597 and II, 392, 603. Both figures are due originally to Ramon y Cajal. ** Figs, io and ii. 132 Physiological Psychology Fig. 17. A section through the cerebrum, as it appears to the naked eye. Nearly actual size. After Edinger, 243, 165. The Structure of Neurones. — Different names are given to the different parts of a neurone or nerve cell. The thickened part containing the nucleus is called the cell-body. The process that diminishes in size slowly in its course and commonly goes a considerable distance from the cell-body and gives off branches rather infre- quently until it frays out at its end, is called the axis- cylinder process or neuraxon or axone. The one or more processes that diminish rapidly in size, that commonly - N4 \ - :.i \ r v'v Fig. 12. A photograph of a section of the spinal cord in an early stage of the development of the nervous system. After Starr, 20, Plate 2. X27 Diameters. Fig. 13. A photograph of a section through the cortex of the cerebrum, showing segments of very many neurones. After Starr, 68, Plate 41. X150 Diameters. Fig. 14. A photograph of a section through the cortex of the cerebrum in an early stage of development of the nervous system, showing segments of a number of neurones, including the thickened part. — the so-called cell-body of the neurone. After Starr, Plate 42 X150 Diameters. j M § Fig. 15. A photograph of a section through a convolution of the cere- brum in an early stage of development of the nervous system. The black mat at the top of the photograph represents a dense aggregation of the frayed-out ends of many neurones; in the rest of the photograph are seen clearly segments of many separate neurones, with the thickened parts of about thirty in a nearly horizontal line. After Starr, 62, Plate 33. X20 Diameters. Fig. 16. A photograph of a section through the cortex of the cerebrum, showing short segments of a number of neurones, including in many cases the thickened part, — the so-called cell-body of the neurone. After The Constitution of the Nervous System 133 go only a slight distance from the cell-body and branch again and again like a tree are called the dendritic pro- cesses or dendrites. 1 The fine branches given off from Fig. 18. A neurone from the cerebral cortex. The axis-cylinder process, dendrites and collaterals are marked A, D and C respectively. The neuraxon is shown in the drawing only for a short distance. If its entire length were pictured it would run for yards below the bottom of the page. Very greatly magnified. After Van Gehuchten, I, 201, 145. the neuraxon are called collaterals. The branching out at the end of a process is often called (by Latin words 1 An absolutely comprehensive and exact distinction between neuraxon and dendrite cannot be made that will agree with the dif- ferent usages. 134 Physiological Psychology meaning the same thing) the terminal arborisation. (See Fig. 18.) These different parts of the neurone are clearly shown in Figs. 19-23 which represent neurones or parts of neurones. They may also be observed in the actual photographs of neurones reproduced in Figs. 26-29. The part of a neurone called the axis-cylinder process or neuraxon or axone is throughout a part of its course covered with a surrounding substance or sheath, called the medullary sheath. When a part of a neurone is called a fibre, the part of it thus ensheathed is called a medullated fibre. Xeuraxons in that part of their course outside the central nervous system have a second sheath outside the medullary sheath, called the sheath of Schwann. Figs. 24 and 25 (p. 137), show the arrangement of these sheaths. It is clear from the description so far given and from the figures that the word cell which is used for the unit of structure in any living thing does not describe the unit of structure of the nervous system at all well. The great majority of structural units are at least somewhat like a cell or box or bag or lump in shape, but the 'cells' of the nervous system are especially unlike all other cells of the body and utterly unlike the cell of common language. These may be thousands of times as long as they are wide or thick, are extremely irregular in their shape, and would be far better described by the term, nerve-string or fibre or tangle. The unfitness of the term is one reason why the nerve cell is commonly described as a cell-body plus cell-processes. It has also been the cause of a most mis- leading habit : namely, the use of the word cell for the cell-body alone and the word fibre or process for the string-like parts of the cell. The student should remem- ber always that the process or fibre is always a part of a neurone or cell, and as important a part as the cell-body. It would be a sad mistake to think of the thickened part The Constitution of the Nervous System 135 Fig. 21. Fig. 19. A neurone from the optic lobe. Very greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 419, 5718. Fig. 20. A segment of a neurone from the optic lobe. Only the frayed end or terminal arborization is shown. Very greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 583, 693. Fig. 21. A segment of a neurone from the spinal cord, showing a collateral. Very greatly magnified. After v. Lenhossek, 255, 36, 136 Physiological Psychology Fig. 22, Segments of three neurones from the optic nerve's termination, showing their frayed ends or terminal arborization. Very greatly mag- nified. After Kolliker, 416, 575. Fig. 23. Segments of neurones from the spinal cord, showing also col- laterals (d). Very greatly magnified. After v. Lenhossek, 287, 45. * V Fig. 26. A photograph of a cell-body of a motor neurone in the spinal cord with numerous dendritic processes and the beginning of the neu- raxon. The latter passes from the cell-body at the left hand side and runs almost horizontally to the edge of the figure. After Starr, 21, Plate 3. X120 Diameters. Fig. 27. A photograph of segments of several neurones from a spinal ganglion of an embryo chick. The cell-body and the extensions of the neurone from it are very clear in five of the neurones. After Starr, 21, Plate 11. X 120 Diameters. \t- ( f J * \m ) L V ^I Jl \ V " 7 T \ 9 i / i 1 /jf* 4 i Fig. 28. Fig. 29. Fig. 28. A photograph showing at the right a segment of a neurone includ- ing the cell-body, the neuraxon running downward and a long den- dritic process running upward to form, by branching, a part of the black mat at tne top of the figure. After Starr, Plate 44. X120 Di- ameters. Fig. 29. A photograph of a neurone of the third layer of the cerebral cortex, showing the cell-body, dendritic processes and the neuraxon; the latter runs upward, and divides into two branches which later divide again. After Starr, Plate 46. X330 Diameters. The Constitution of the Nervous System 137 where the nucleus lies as the essential, and of the proc- esses or thinner parts as minor features. The thickened part is not the main thing even in bulk. The process or fibre part is almost always larger, in some cases nearly if not quite two hundred times as large. B ,C Fig. 24. Schematic sketch of a longitudinal section of a medullated neurone. 1 is the neurone itself (that is, a segment of the neuraxon). 2 is the medullary sheath. 3 is the sheath of Schwann. Fig. 25. Drawings of (A) a section of a segment of a medullated neuraxon, and of (B, C, and D) the appearance of a medullated neuraxon, show- ing the structure and arrangement of the medullary sheath. After Kolliker, pages 10, 13 and 14, Figs. 331, 334 and 335. And in the service performed by a neurone, although the whole cell is needed, the frayed-out ends and the fibres play the leading role. 10 138 Physiological Psychology Varieties of Neurones. — The cells that compose the nervous system vary tremendously in size and shape. They range from less than a twentieth of an inch to three feet or more in length. Some are very simple threads Fig. 30. A pyramidal neurone, showing only the beginning of the neuraxon. Greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 46, 367. Fig 31. Segments of neurones with long neuraxons. Greatly magnified. After Van Gehuchten, II, 497, 676. with a few frayings and side branches ; others are at their two ends as complicated as the branches and roots of a tree. Some end in simple fibrils, others in discs or plates. These special forms are probably each adapted to the work the neurone has to do. With all these differences there The Constitution of the Nervous System 139 remains the general likeness to a thread-like body frayed out at the ends, and along its course. Figs. 30-40, wiih those already given, show some of the chief types of neurone structure. They will serve also to emphasize the fact that the nervous system is made up of definite units. Fig. 32. A Purkinje ceil, a type of neurone found in the cerebellum, characterized by very elaborate branching of the dendritic processes. Only a part of the neuraxon is shown. Greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 44, 363. The Connections Between Neurones. — No neurone is in complete isolation. Every neurone stands in a spe- cial relation to one or more other neurones ; namely, that some part of it is in close proximity or contact with some part of the other neurone or neurones. Probably it is between (i) the terminal arborization of the neuraxon or of one of its collaterals of one neurone and (2) the dendritic process or cell-body of the other that this close proximity obtains. I shall use the word connection to 140 Physiological Psychology Fig. 33. A basket cell, a type of neurone found in the cerebellum. The neuraxon gives off a number of branches, each ending in a basket- shaped arborization. Greatly magnified. After Kolliker, 352, 535. Fig. 34. A commissural cell, a type of neurone with a short neuraxon. Greatly magnified. After v. Lenhossek, 333, 50. Fig. 35. A Golgi cell, a type of neurone with a short and much branch- ing neuraxon. Greatly magnified. After v. Lenhossek, 371, 57. Fig 36. A Cajal cell, a type of neurone with several neuraxons. Greatly magnified. After v. Lenhossek, 53, 8. ^J*§ - ., V / t 1 *h irm I^T^ll f m £$ fflESAJji jTr \Wi \ '4 ML \ ' «* ^Ipp |||VJ ? * • ; if ■ ' * ift^^ ■■■ /* mm i ■^4 " Fig. 38. A photograph of a Purkinje cell. After Starr. 35, Plate 15. X125 Diameters. Fig. 39. A photograph of a Cajal cell. After Starr. 65, Plate 37. X125 Diameters. Fig. 40. A photograph of a large polygonal neurone from the spinal cord. After Starr, 26. Plate 8. X125 Diameters. The Constitution of the Nervous System 141 denote this relationship of close proximity or contact, though it should be understood that there may be, and commonly is, no connection in the sense of one neurone growing into the other, fusing with it, making a struc- tural connection. Every neurone, then, is in connection 1 Fig. 2,7- Association cells (a, b and c). Greatly magnified. After Ed- inger. 28, 9. with some other or others. Fig. 41 shows the general plan of such connections. Figs. 42 and 43 are drawings of the actual connections in two cases where they can be clearly inferred from what the microscope reveals. 1 The word synapsis, meaning a clasping together, has been sug- gested as a useful descriptive term for the peculiar connections that exist between neurone and neurone. 142 Physiological Psychology St A W ^ ^ ■^1 /*" $<• Fig- 41. A schematic sketch showing methods of connection between neu- rones. The Constitution of the Nervous System 143 Fig. 42. Fig. 43- Fig. 42. A sketch showing the connection between the terminal arboriza- tions between the axis-cylinder processes of the neurones of the optic nerve and the dendritic processes of neurones in the optic lobes, f obt. =the axis-cylinder processes of the neurones of the optic nerve; ram. t. - their terminal arborizations in contact with the dendritic pro- cesses of the neurones below. After Van Gehuchten, I, 245, 159. Fig. 43. A sketch showing the connection between the terminal arboriza- tions of the bipolar neurones of the sense organ of smell and the dendritic processes of the so-called mitral cells. The two terminal arborizations intertwine in a globular mass called the glomerulus (gl). After Van Gehuchten, II, 369, 581. CHAPTER X The Action of the Nervous System § 25. The Functions of the Neurones The neurone or " nerve cell, besides possessing the powers of absorption, growth, etc., common to all the cells of the body, has three special duties or functions : — (1) It is especially sensitive to or influenced by what happens to it or to parts of it. (2) It conducts or transmits; i.e., it so acts that a stimulation or disturbance or activity at one end of it results in a stimulation or disturbance or activity at the other. (3) It is especially modifiable; i.e., its action at any time depends upon its previous actions. In the human nervous system this third function is probably restricted in the main to the cells in certain parts of the central nervous system. Sensitivity. — The first function, sensitivity or im- pressibility, needs no explanation. All matter is influenced by what happens to it; all living matter is especially so; and the nerve cells are the parts of living animals which carry this trait to the extreme. If we compare a man's body to a building, calling the steel frame-work his skele- ton and the furnaces and power-station his digestive organs and lungs, the nervous system would include with other things the thermometers, heat regulators, electric buttons, door bells, valve openers, — the parts of the build- 144 The Action of the Nerz } oiis System 145 ing in short which are specially designed to respond to influences of the environment. Conductivity. — Just how the nerve cell conducts or transmits is not known. But the fact itself is sure. As a copper wire at one end of which an electric current is excited is so influenced that the current appears at the other end; as the air so acts that a vibration in any part spreads to other parts, — so the neurone when stimulated at one end acts so as to produce a corresponding activity at the other end ; and so as to produce, under certain con- ditions, activity in the neurones in connection or synapsis with it. The activity or disturbance which is transmitted is called the nervous impulse. When such an impulse is started in a nerve cell we say that the nerve cell is stim- ulated and call the agency by which the impulse is begot- ten the stimulus. Also when the nerve cell transmits the impulse to some body cells or other nerve cells we say that it stimulates them. Just as an electric current might pass along one wire, thence to another and along it to a third, so the nervous impulse passes from neurone to neurone when these are in functional connection. The conduction or transmission is commonly over a series of nerve cells. For instance when the stimulus of pain at the finger's end makes us rub the injured spot, the impulse does not go from the skin to the muscles via a single cell (or set of cells), but traverses at least three, one set running from the skin to the spinal cord, one from the spinal cord to the muscles and one or more sets in the spinal cord connecting these. The transmission is, in any given neurone, usually, if not always, in the same direction ; namely, toward the extremities of the neuraxon. A cell carrying impulses from the brain to a muscle does not, so to speak, carry return messages. For that another 146 Physiological Psychology wire is used. A nerve cell may receive impulses from several nerve cells. It may and commonly does transmit its impulses to many nerve cells. As might be expected, the two functions of sensitivity and conductivity are aided by such an arrangement of the nerve cells that stimuli are received at important points in the body and conducted to appropriate muscles. The constituents of the nervous system are not arranged at random. They are not like the chance tangle of a billion little threads which would receive stimuli hit or miss and conduct them nowhere in particular, but are, like the wires of the telephone system of a city or the railroads of a country, definitely placed lines of transmission between important points, and are so arranged at central offices as to permit a great number of useful connections. For instance, the neurones receiving the stimuli of light in the retina have definite connections with the neurones that carry impulses to the muscles that open and close the eyes, also to the muscles that move the eyes in turning to and converging upon and focussing for objects, also to the muscles that move the head. Modifiability. — The analogy with a telephone sys- tem fails when we come to the third function, characteris- tic of many of the nerve cells 1 of the human brain, their power of modification by use. Unlike any system of wires or machines, the human nervous system possesses the power, at least in many of its parts, to be so altered by whatever happens to it as to enable the body on the next occasion to meet the situation more successfully. The nervous system which causes at a child's early sight of the fire the reaction of reaching for it, becomes a 1 This paragraph refers only to the cells of the so-called 'higher' parts of the nervous system. Of the cells in the spinal cord and peripheral system it is almost surely not true. Of just what groups of cells it is true is not known. The Action of the Nervous System 147 nervous system that causes in later trials the reaction of avoidance. The connection between the impression and the one motor discharge has been weakened and an opposite one formed. The neurones learn, so to speak, to form, break and modify their inter-connections. If a telephone system possessed within itself the power by which the connections between the wires to certain houses would, with successful use, become more and more easily made while other connections would become in- creasingly more difficult, the analogy would be complete. But of course no mere machine has such a power to modify its workings, to make or break connections in ac- cordance with the frequency of their use and the desira- bility or discomfort of the results to which they lead. This function of the neurones will be more fully described after the facts concerning the arrangement of the neurones in a system have been presented. § 26. The Arrangement of the Neurones The Three Chief Groups. — The cells of the nervous system as a whole may best be divided into three classes. There are first, neurones which are stimulated by heat, light and other physical or chemical forces and discharge into other neurones ; second, neurones which are stimu- lated by other neurones and themselves stimulate muscles ; third, neurones which are stimulated by and themselves stimulate other neurones. In other words, there are cells directly sensitive to the environment, cells directly active in causing muscular contraction and cells acting as inter- mediaries between the former and the latter. The first are called Afferent or Centripetal neurones because they bring stimuli toward the brain and spinal cord (ad-fero=r bring to) ; the second are called Efferent or Centrifugal 148 Physiological Psychology neurones because they carry stimuli away from the brain and spinal cord toward the muscles. The third are called Associative or Connecting neurones. Cells of class 1 are also called Sensory neurones or cells ; cells of class 2, Motor neurones or cells. The term motor cell is also used to include cells which, though themselves not directly connected with muscles, lead out from the brain and connect in the spinal cord with cells which are so connected. Afferent, centripetal and sen- sory are used of nerves when the cells composing the nerve bring stimuli from the different parts of the body to the brain and spinal cord ; efferent, centrifugal or motor nerves meaning of course nerves of an opposite function. Sensory Neurones. — From almost every part of the body there originate afferent neurones to transmit stimuli arising there to the brain and spinal cord. Not only in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin, but also in the muscles, articular surfaces, connective tissues, along the digestive tract, and throughout the sensitive areas of the body, there are neurone-endings capable of being set in action by the proper stimuli at the point where they are located. Motor Neurones. — To all the muscles, — to the muscles which control the peristalsis of the intestine and the contraction of the blood vessels, as well as to those that more obviously move our limbs, — run efferent neu- rones, stimuli from which influence the amount and dura- tion of muscular action. The nervous system thus furnishes a most elaborate mechanism for receiving stimuli at almost all points in the body, — and, in the case of light, heat and smell, of stimuli from distant objects, — and for controlling the action of the body in the most minute details. If we The Action of the Nervous System 149 liken the body to an army and the neurones to its signal- ling corps, we may say that signals may be sent from every point in the army to headquarters and from head- quarters to every company or battery that can act. Associative Neurones. — Still more elaborate is the mechanism for securing the proper connections between stimulus to and action of the body, for enabling the body to react advantageously with the movement fitted to the particular stimuli felt, for causing what happens to it to result in its doing what is necessary. This mechanism is of course the system of neurones connecting sensory with motor cells. It is almost literally true that any set of afferent cells may indirectly make connection with any set of motor cells and so influence any bodily act. The cell connections provide for a range of performances, extending from simple cases, such as that of the trans- mission of the stimulus of cells in the eye due to a bright light to the cells influencing the muscles of the eves so as to result in the act of winking, to such a complex linkage as occurs when the sight of the word 'dollar' leads a man to put his hand in his pocket, grasp a coin and pull it out with a sigh. The greater part of the bulk of the human brain is given up to such connecting cells. And the more im- portant part of the work of the nervous system is the work, not of receiving stimuli from sensitive parts of the body, nor of discharging stimuli to the muscles, but of turning stimulus into discharge, connecting outgo prop- erly with income, suiting expression to impression, action to circumstances. The Grouping and Chaining Together of the Neu- rones. — It would be hopeless to try to portray in a diagram the arrangement of this practical infinitude of neurones to be affected by happenings inside and outside i5o Physiological Psychology Fig. 44A. A possible scheme of arrangement of neurones to form an ex- ceedingly simple nervous system. J 1 f I Fig. 44B. A scheme of arrangements of neurones of varying degrees of complexity. Each line represents one neurone or neurone group. The Action of the Nervous System 151 of the body and to transmit the stimuli here and there so as to make final connections with neurones going out to the muscles. Even if we knew the exact arrangement of each neurone in a man's brain it would take a model as large as St. Paul's Cathedral to make them visible to the naked eye, a model with whose details only years of study would familiarize us. Consider that counting at the rate of 50 a minute it would take a man working 12 hours a day over 200 years, probably over 700 years, to merely count the nerve-cells of one man. It is possible, however, to picture the general features of the arrangement. We can imagine an animal with a nervous system with only two neurones to receive stimuli, only three neurones to discharge into muscles and only two connecting neurones. Fig. 44A may serve as its picture. Nervous action in general may be diagrammed as in Fig. 44B, which shows various degrees of complexity of connections. Even the most complicated nervous sys- tems are variations of this general arrangement of a shorter or longer series of neurones making a circuit from sensitive surfaces to organs of response. Such a simple circuit is called a Reflex arc or Reflex arch. What would be seen if a perfect model of all the nerve cells were available would be simply a multitude of such arches or circuits of conduction from sensitive parts of the body to muscles and a multitude of circuits cross-connecting these. It is possible also to get a more definite conception of these circuits of conduction by studying one or two sam- ples or types of them. Figs. 45, 46 and 47 give in this way a general view of the grouping and chaining together of the neurones which conduct certain stimuli to the brain cortex or conduct stimuli from the cortex to certain groups of muscles. 152 Physiological Psychology Fig. 45. Fig. 46. Fig. 45. A scheme of the arrangement of the neurones conducting 1 stimuli from the olfactory sense organ. 1 — the first neurones passing to the glomeruli (gl). 2 — the second neurones passing from the glom- eruli to the hippocampus. 3 — the third neurones passing from the hippocampus to the cornu ammonis. 4 — the fourth neurones passing from the cornu ammonis to make further connections. After Van Gehuchten, II, 294, 539. Fig. 46. A scheme of the arrangement of the neurones conducting stimuli from the sense organs in the skin. After Van Gehuchten, II, 412, 624. The Action of the Nervous System 153 Fig. 47 Scheme of the arrangement of the motor neurones conducting stimuli toward the muscles. After Van Gehuchten, II, 512, 688. II 154 Physiological Psychology Sense Organs. — One end (the peripheral end) of an afferent neurone is stimulated by physical or chemical forces. • It may be more or less specialized to suit it to this work. It may be connected with bodily structures specially fitted to cause the physical or chemical force to influence it. The peripheral end of an afferent neurone, or a group of peripheral ends of afferent neurones which Fig. 48. A. Sensory neurones ending around the base of hairs (in the mouse). B. Cross-section of the same tissue as in A. C. Sensory neurones ending in epithelial cells. D. Sensory neurones ending around pigment cells. A, B, C and D are after Edinger, 42, 17. C is taken by Edinger from Bethe, D from Eberth and Bunge. E. Sen- sory nerve fibrils in the lining of the oesophagus, n — the neurone. After Barker, 362. 211; after Retzius. F. A sensory neurone's end- ing in a tactile corpuscle. After Barker, 386, 242; after Smirnow. act as a unit, together with such bodily structures, is called a Sense Organ. A sense organ may be so simple an affair as the mere terminal arborization of a neurone ending freely in the outer or inner surface of the body. Such are shown in Fig. 48. It may be so complex as the eye, a sense organ which includes not only the endings of thousands of neurones in the retina, but also a lens to The Action of the Nervous System 155 Fig. 49. Terminal corpuscle of Ruffini with the sensory neurone's ending therein. After Barker, 389, 246; after Ruffini. Fig. 50. Tendon with nerve-plaque made up of the ending of sensory- neurones seen entering from above; rfnc, ultimate arborization of the neurones. After Barker, 408, 266; after Ciaccio. 51. Terminal plaque in a muscle spindle. The neurone entering at the left subdivides to form the elaborate net work shown. After Barker, 416, 273; after Ruffini i56 Physiological Psychology focus light rays upon them, an arrangement to alter the shape of the lens so as to focus the light from objects at different distances, an arrangement to regulate the amount of light admitted, an arrangement to shut out light altogether and an arrangement to move the eyes so that light will come from any one of many directions. The endings of the neurones of a sense organ may have a 54 ±Mrkki 55 Fig. 52. Taste buds (from the tongue) and the endings of sensory gusta- tory neurones: s — a supporting cell; t — taste cells; n — fibrils of neu- rones passing upon and between the taste buds. After Barker, 527, 348; after v. Lenhossek. 53. The ending of a sensory neurone in the ear (in the macula acustica sacculi). After Barker, 502, 333; after v. Lenhossek. 54. Sensory neurones in the nose (in the olfactory mucous mem- brane). After Van Gehuchten, I, 244, 156. 55. The principal nervous elements of the retina: r — rods; c — cones; s — a supporting cell; b — a bipolar nerve cell; g — ganglion nerve cell After Van Gehuchten, I, 244, 157. Fig. Fig. Fig. The Action of the Nervous System 157 structure not notably different from the general type (see Figs. 4.8, 52 and 53) or may be so altered as to be hardly recog- nizable (see Figs. 51, 54 and 55). An adequate idea of the rich provision made in the nervous system for the reception of stim- uli from without and within the body can be obtained only by study of such a full account of the peripheral neurones as may be found, say in Barker's 'Nerv- ous System,' but Figs. 48-55 will give some conception of the fact and may serve to illustrate the statement previously made that "not only in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin, but also in the muscles, articular surfaces, con- nective tissues, along the diges- tive tract, and throughout the sensitive areas of the body, there are neurone-endings capable of being set in action." . Motor Organs. — The ending of an efferent neurone in a mus- cle is specialized to suit its work of transmitting the nervous stimulus in some way to the tis- sue of the muscle so as to make the latter contract. As this pro- cess is almost, if not exactly, the same in all cases, there is not Fig. 56. The ending of a motor neurone in a muscle. At the bottom are shown two mus- cle plates (p) on muscle fibres (m). After Van Ge- huchten, 242, 154. 15& Physiological Psychology the variety or complexity in motor organs which is found in sense organs. Fig. 56 shows the ending of a motor neurone forming the so-called muscle-plates. The Localization of Brain Functions. — It is evident that each particular cell has its special work to do and that the circuits found at any particular spot in the brain have each their special work to do. If a man's spinal cord is injured in the lumbar region (the lower part of the back) it will not directly influence his feelings from or movements of his arms, since the cells that go to and from the arms and their connecting cells are not directly influenced. An injury to the frontal lobe does not directly alter the power of vision, for the circuit from the eyes to the cortical cells, action of which is accompanied by sensations of sight, is not impaired. But the section of the cord mentioned above would injure feelings from and movements of the legs. An injury at a certain spot in the occipital lobe would abolish sensations of sight. Injuries to the inferior frontal convolution result in dis- orders of speech. Injuries to the parietal region result in disordered sensations of bodily condition and second- arily in altered feelings of personality. Figs. 57 and 58 show the probable location in the human cortex of the neurones most intimately concerned with sensations of various sorts, and Figs. 59 and 60 show the location of the neurones most intimately concerned with the control of the movements of various muscles, in the case of the monkey. This view of localization is quite different from phrenology, which regards the brain as divided sharply into parts each of which corresponds to some complex mental trait such as observation, ingenuity, kindness, intellect, attentiveness and the like. Such a complex trait as anv one of these would involve verv manv differ- The Action of the Nervous System 159 Fig. 58. Figs. 57 and 58. The areas of the cerebral cortex to which sensory neu- rones lead, and the areas occupied chiefly by associative neurones. Fig. 57 is a view of the outer half of the right cerebral hemisphere, Fig. 58 of its inner or mesial half. After Van Gehuchten, II, 308, 548; after Flechsig. I — Tactile area; II — Visual area; III — Auditory area; IV — Olfactory area. 1 — Anterior area for association; 2 — Pos- terior area for association. i6o Physiological Psychology Fig. 59. Fig. 60. Figs. 59 and 60. The areas of the cerebral cortex from rones stimulating certain movements lead (in the Barker, 998 and 999, 634 ,hich motor neu- monkey). After after Horsley and Schaefer. The Action of the Nervous System 161 ent groups of neurones in many different parts of the brain. There is a place in the brain where the cells are specially connected with vision, but only the action of cells in many places would correspond to observation. Moreover 'place in the brain' means the entire course of a conducting group of neurones, or some important part of that course, not a compartment or special creative center. The student should, therefore, not harbor any fanciful guesses, such as that each neurone corresponds to some one idea, or that one kind of a neurone goes with thought, another with emotions, or that the neurones hold thoughts and feelings in them or tied to them. The neurone is not a feeling, nor does it hold it, nor does the fact that the action of certain neurones is accompanied by, say sensa- tions of smell, imply that the feeling of smell is in them. The proper way to realize the nature of the human nervous system, the way its infinite multitude of nerve strings are arranged, the currents or stimuli which they transmit and the way these are aroused by happenings in the sense organs and in turn arouse movements of the body, — to realize in short the part played in human life by the nervous system — is to spend a year or more in the study of the histology and physiology of the brain. It is difficult from a few pages of words and diagrams to get even a general idea of what nerve cells are and what they do. If, however, the reader will practice himself in thinking at every sense impression, "Now a sense organ has been excited to action and has set up a commotion in some nerve cells. This commotion has been transmitted to other cells in the brain ;" — if he will recall, whenever he makes a movement, that the movement is due to the contraction of certain muscles because of a stimulus 1 62 Physiological Psychology transmitted to them by nerve cells running from the brain and spinal cord and ending in the muscle itself; — if he will, as he lives and thinks, keep before him an image of countless nerve cells running from this place to that in his brain and conducting impulses hither and yon, and think of this activity as the condition and parallel of his mental life ; — if in short the reader will relate the facts so far given to his life of to-day and to-morrow, and think of human conduct in terms of the conduction of stimuli by nerve cells — he will come to realize and use the truth that the nervous system is the sum total of nerve cells, that these act by conducting impulses, that they link parts of the body that can be influenced to parts of the body that can act and link themselves to each other, that in the infinite number of their possible ways of conduction there is the basis and parallel of the infinite variety of a man's thoughts and deeds. He will then no longer think of the nervous system as a vague name, but as an almost infinitely complex mechan- ism for receiving impressions from the body and its surroundings, for arousing and controlling bodily acts, for connecting the latter in appropriate ways with, the various situations represented by the former, and for modifying their connections to meet the needs of life. He will realize the nature of the mechanism which enables us to respond to the events of our lives, and by its power of modification affords the physiological basis for changes of intellect and character, for learning, for education in the broadest sense. § 27. The Lazvs of Brain Action The Law of Expression. — In accordance with the general doctrine of the conservation of energy we must believe that every stimulus that is started in sensory nerves The Action of the Nervous System 163 by what happens at their peripheral ends must have some result. These stimuli cannot come to nothing. Their energy must either be transmitted on to other cells and eventually out through the efferent cells to the muscles, or else cause modifications, — do work, — in the cells of the central system. Just as in a storage battery electric charges coming in must sooner or later be discharged out or modify the battery itself, so the stimuli coming in to the brain must transform it or be conducted out and cause the muscles to contract. Every stimulus has its result somehow and somewhere. The function of mental life we saw was to influence our movements, — to cause what happened to us to result in actions that preserved our lives and happiness. The nervous system we now see to be a transformer of stimuli coming in, which are due to our surroundings, into stimuli going out which cause our actions, or into modifications of the nervous system itself. Inhibitory Action. — That action in the nervous sys- tem discharges eventually into the muscles does not mean that it necessarily arouses movement. It may result in the cessation of a movement. Suppose that the forearm is being lowered by the contraction of the triceps and that a stimulus somewhere among the neurones works itself out into a stimulus to the biceps muscle. This stimulus tends to raise the forearm and, by counteracting or bal- ancing the effect of the contraction of the triceps, may hold the arm still. Very many performances of skill re- quire such a counteraction. Two sets of opposite muscles may both be stimulated, and but little movement be made. Twice as many neurones may be active as if the arm was swung energetically. Stimulation may regulate or de- crease or check movement as well as initiate it. What we do not do as well as what we do, is often a result of stim- ulation. Every nervous impulse tends to work itself out 164 Physiological Psychology in action, but action means restraint, the opposition of one contraction to others, not doing, as well as mere move- ment. In the mental world as well, we may suppose that the action of the nervous system may be to check as well as to arouse a sensation or idea. Nervous action may make one not think of a certain thing, not feel a certain emotion. When the result of nervous action is thus apparently negative, — when it checks or restrains or lessens, — the state of affairs is called Inhibition and the stimulus is said to inhibit the checked process. Such inhibitory action is of the utmost importance. We die when the vagus nerve to the heart is cut, not because the heart stops beating, but because it beats too fast ; i.e., over-acts. We are men and not brutes because the neurones concerned in the idea- tional and moral life keep in subjection and counteract the direct impulses to action of the neurones concerned in the instincts of greed, lust, cruelty and hatred. We reason, and do not merely day-dream, because we can check foolish, irrelevant fancies, — can inhibit all ideas that do not lead on to the desired goal. The Law of Least Resistance. — When any neurone acts, i.e., when it is stimulated and transmits, it will trans- mit the stimulus along the line of least resistance, or in other words along the line of strongest connection. Just as a copper wire through which an electric current is passing will, if its end is one millimeter from wire B and 20 millimeters from wire C, transmit the current to wire B, so a neurone will transmit its stimulus along the easiest path. The line of least resistance or of strongest connection for any neurone or set of neurones will be, other things being equal, to the neurones which by the inborn arrange- ment of the nervous svstem are in closest connection with The Action of the Nervous System 165 it. When the neurone endings of the retina are stimu- lated by bright light, nothing need happen in the leg muscles, because there is no ready made connection in the brain between the optic neurones and the neurones pass- ing from the spinal cord to the leg muscles. But there will be a contraction of the muscles that lessen the pupillary opening, for there is a definite connection be- tween the optic neurones and those to the iris muscle. The Law of Inborn Connections. — The first law that decides what neurones any given neurone will arouse to action, — what the line of least resistance or strongest connection will be, — is then that, other things being equal, any neurone group will discharge into the neurone group with which it is by the inner growth of the nervous sys- tem connected. This we may call the Law of Natural or Inborn Connections. The Law of Acquired Connections. — These natural lines of connection are in the course of life added to and subtracted from. The neurones are not by nature so arranged as to make a man say, "How dazzling," when the neurones of the retina are stimulated by a bright light. And the natural tendency of infants to turn the head toward a light is in later life largely overcome. The 'other things' are not always equal. We have in fact as a general law of behavior of, at least, the neurone groups of the so-called 'higher' centers or parts of the brain, the law that when any neurone or neurone group is stimulated and transmits to or discharges into or connects with a second neurone or neurone group, it will, zvhen later stimulated again in the same way, hai'e an increased ten- dency to transmit to the same second neurone group as before, provided the act that resulted in the first instance brought a pleasant or at least indifferent mental state. If, on the contrary, the result in the first case was dis- 1 66 Physiological Psychology comfort, the tendency to such transmission will be les- sened. In other words, any conduction of a stimulus from nerve cell to nerve cell tends increasingly to take the direction it has taken unless the result is discomfort. In that case the original tendency decreases. Stating the law in terms of connections made between cells, we would say: Connections betzveen neurones are strengthened every time they are used with indifferent or pleasurable results and weakened every time they are used with resulting discomfort. This law includes the action of two factors, frequency and pleasurable result. It might be stated in a com- pound form as follows, (i) The line of least resistance is, other things being equal, that resulting in the greatest satisfaction to the animal; and (2) the line of least resist- ance is, other things being equal, that oftenest traversed by the nervous impulse. We may call (1) the Law of Effect, and (2) the Law of Habit. The line of least resistance will also, other things being equal, be that most recently traversed. Suppose a neurone group, A, to have made connection ten times with neurone group B and ten times with neurone group C with equally pleasurable results ; suppose the stimulus to have been transmitted from A to B ten years ago and from A to C during the past week. All that we know of living matter teaches us to expect that time will weaken the effect of any influence upon it. The strongest con- nection will then be from neurone group A to neurone group C. We may call this law the Law of Recency. The line of least resistance will also be that which has been traversed by strong stimuli rather than weak, or by stimuli acting for a long time rather than by stimuli acting for a short time. Just as a large flow of water will cut The Action of the Nervous System 167 a deeper channel than a small flow, or a flow lasting an hour a deeper channel than a flow lasting but a minute ; so energetic or continued nervous transmission in a cer- tain direction will make future transmission in that direc- tion the more likely. We may call these the laws of Intensity and Duration. 1 The line of least resistance will also be toward the most easily arousable, most sensitive neurone group, the group most ready to act. All these different laws may be combined in the fol- lowing general Lazv of Acquired Brain Connections or Law of Association: When any neurone group, A, is stimulated, the nervous impulse will be transmitted to the neurone group which is most closely connected with group A, which has been aroused by A most frequently, with most satisfaction to the individual, most recently, most energetically and for the longest time, and which is the most sensitive at the time. Finally a neurone group may be, and commonly is, tremendously complex, and the connection formed may be, and often is, not with a few neurones, but with a few neurones chiefly plus a host of others acting less vigor- ously. The condition of a whole system of neurones at any one time determines their condition later. The action of any neurone group depends upon the 'set' or condition of the total system of which the group is a part. The way in which a brain acts at any time is, then, the result of what connections it possesses as features of its inborn organization, plus what has happened to it in the past and what actions it has previously manifested. a There is an important exception to the laws of frequency, re- cency, intensity and duration. If a connection is made too often, too energetically and too long without rest, the neurones may be- come fatigued and lose the power to transmit. Neurones, however, apparently fatigue very slowly. 1 68 Physiological Psychology From hour to hour and day to day it is becoming a new thing. From month to month it takes on new habits. Everything that is manifested as knowledge, power, self- control, habits of thought and action, attitudes and capaci- ties of mind, skill and training may be paralleled within by alterations which the neurones have undergone. If we had perfect knowledge of the entire history of a man's brain, if we could from second to second see just what was going on in it, we should find in its actions and con- sequent changes the parallel of his life of thought and action. Let no one object that it is incredible that the mental history of a man involving millions of ideas and acts should be paralleled by any bodily organ. A human nervous system is estimated to comprise over ten thou- sand millions of neurones. Each of these is itself a com- plex organ, and is often capable of many connections. Since it would take ten lifetimes to merely count the neurones and probably the lifetimes of ten Methuselahs to count their connections, it is evident that the brain is complicated enough to register the richest and most active human experience. References A. James, Briefer Course, VIII., IX. Stout, Manual, 34-46. Angell, Psychology, II. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundsiige, §§ 7-1 1. James, Principles, II., III. Wnndt, Physiologische Psychologic, IT. -VI., or Princv pies of Physiological Psychology, II. -VI. Barker, L. F., The Nervous System. CHAPTER XI The Nervous System and Mental States § 28. In General Brain Action Without Consciousness. — Not all the happenings in all the neurones are accompanied by men- tal states. Stnmuli are incessantly coming in from the body which need not be felt ; e.g., many stimuli from the lungs or digestive tract in waking hours; many stimuli from all quarters during sleep; many stimuli of slight amount. Stimuli are incessantly going out to the muscles which some psychologists think are never felt and which certainly in many cases and at many times are not; e.g., the stimuli which regulate the nourishment of parts of the body and control the reflexes such as winking or the con- traction of the pupil of the eye. Brain Action With Consciousness. — What sort of action in the neurones is accompanied by consciousness and even whether there is any special sort that is, science has not yet discovered. Which neurones are concerned in the conscious life is known only imperfectly. Appar- ently in man those in certain parts of the cortex are and those in the sensory and motor nerves, spinal cord, medulla, cerebellum and base of the brain are not. It is thought by many that consciousness appears only when the nervous system is undergoing modification, — becom- ing adjusted to some new condition. The action in the nervous system which is connected 12 169 170 Physiological Psychology with any mental state is called the physiological or neural or nervous basis or correlate of that mental state. Although it is easy to prove that mental life in general is connected with the activity of nerve-cells it is hard to ascertain what is the particular physiological basis of each special variety of mental state. For instance, just what happens in the nervous system when one feels bored or thinks 'nevertheless,' no one could say. So also what difference there is between the neural correlate of the mental image of a dog and the neural correlate of a gen- eral notion of a dog is a matter for hypothesis, not for proof. There are undoubtedly differences in the activities of the nervous system corresponding to the differences between feelings. For sensations there is brain action A, for percepts, brain action B, for images, brain action C, for emotions, brain action D, and so on through the list. With the advance of knowledge these correspondences will become better and better known. In some cases there is already enough evidence to warrant a working belief. In others there are more or less interesting hypotheses. These beliefs and hypotheses are stated briefly in § 29. § 29. The Physiological Correlates of Particular Groups of Mental States Of Sensations. — The physiological basis of a sen- sation is action of certain neurones stimulated at the time by sensory neurones. The locality in the brain of the neurones concerned in many special kinds of sensa- tions, e.g., sounds, is known. In Figs. 57 and 58 were shown the localities in the brain where the neurones con- cerned with certain sensations are found. It is not The Nervous System and Mental States 171 action of sensory neurones themselves, of the cells mak- ing up the afferent nerves, that parallels sensations. It is apparently only when the afferent cells have stimulated other cells than themselves, cells in the cortex of the brain, that any sensation is felt. Of Percepts. — The physiological basis of a percept is the same except that modifications of the action of the neurone group due to previous experiences play a larger part. It is apparently when the actions of neurones stimulated by sensory neurones result together in some unitary muscular response that we feel, not a confusion of sensations, but a definite 'thing.' Of Illusions and Hallucinations.-^The physiological basis of an illusion is the same as for the corresponding percept except that the sensory neurones that give the stimulus are not those which commonly do. The physio- logical basis of an hallucination is the same as for the N P F B Fig. 61. Let N P F B be the neural process corresponding to the feel- ing of the sound of a bell. Let S B be the action in sensory neurones which usually arouses the neural process corresponding to the feeling of the sound of a bell. Let S H be the action in sensory neurones which usually arouses the neural process corresponding to the feeling of the sound of a hammer on an anvil. Let I I be the neural process cor- responding to the feeling of certain ideas and images. When S B arouses N P F B, the mental state corresponding is called perception. When S H arouses N P F B, the mental state corresponding is called illusion. When I I arouses N P F B, the mental state corres- ponding is called hallucination. 172 Physiological Psychology corresponding percept except that the cells are aroused to action without any stimulus from sensory cells. Fig. 61 illustrates the different neural processes which parallel respectively the percept, illusion and hallucination of an object. Of the Emotions. — With respect to the coarser or bodily emotions such as jealousy, rage or fear, the best working hypothesis is the theory 1 that their physiological basis is, like that of sensations, the action of neurones stimulated at the time by afferent neurones. In the case of the emotions, however, these afferent neurones come, not from eyes or nose or ears, but from the lungs, heart, blood vessels and other internal organs. That is, just as when, light rays having excited the peripheral ends of the visual sensory neurones, the excita- tion is transmitted to the sensory neurones concerned in vision, sensations of color and brightness are felt ; so when the excitation caused in the peripheral ends of the sensory neurones in the internal organs of the body by palpitating heart, tense muscles, the contraction of the small arteries of the skin, etc., is transmitted to the neu- rones in the cortex, fear is felt. The bodily disturbances which are commonly called the expression of the emo- tional feeling would then be really its cause. The tre- mendous equipment of sensory neurone endings in the inner parts of the body appears to be not so much for the sake of the few sensations such as hunger, thirst, nausea, pains and the like which are recognized as dependent upon afferent neurones from inside the body, as for the sake of the rich life of passion, jealousy, fear, anger, grief, joy and the like. 1 The James-Lange theory of the emotions, named after the two psychologists, William James and C. Lange, who announced the theory independently at about the same time. The Nervous System and Mental States 173 According to the other theory of the emotions, the physiological basis of the emotions would be the action of associative neurones aroused by the neurones the action of which parallels percepts and ideas. By this theory the order of events is ( 1 ) some sensation, percept or idea, (2) some emotion resulting from it, (3) disturbances of bodily organs resulting from the emotion. The behavior of a child frightened by, say, a horse would be described by the two theories as follows : — Older Theory Percept of horse running. Feeling of fear. Acts of altered heart beat, pallor, trembling, etc. James-Lange Theory Percept of horse running. Acts of altered heart beat, pallor, trembling, etc. Feeling of fear. The two theories might be stated in terms of neurone action as follows : — Older Theory Sense organs stimulated. Afferent neurones. Central neurones concerned with percepts. Central neurones connected therewith (giving the emotion). Motor neurones. Bodily disturbances in heart, lungs, etc. James-Lange Theory Same Same. Same. Motor neurones. Bodily disturbances in heart, lungs, etc. Afferent neurones coming from heart, lungs, etc. Central neurones con- nected with these (giv- ing the emotion). It is a matter of dispute how far other than the coarser of emotions follow the James-Lange theory. It appears 174 Physiological Psychology probable that the bulk of our emotional life is thus due to stimuli from the heart, lungs, vaso-motor system, digestive tract and other internal organs ; that in large measure the emotions are caused in the same way as sensations and percepts, — are 'peripherally initiated' mental states. There still might be and probably are not only such sensory emotions but also imaged emo- tions, 'centrally initiated.' Their neural correlates would correspond to those for images of things, to be described on the next page. Of Effort. — The physiological basis for the feeling of strain or effort, as in voluntary attention, also cor- responds probably to- that for sensations, being action of certain neurones stimulated at the time by sensory neurones with peripheral ends in or on the muscles, joints and tendons. Of External Relationships. — Feelings of external relationships, such as of above, below, beyond and the like, may be really sensational ; e.g., the feeling of the above- ness of this line to the next may be simply the feeling of the eye's movement in looking from -one to the other. The neural correlate of feelings of relationship of this sort would be the same as of sensations. It may perhaps be assumed that all the feelings which were grouped under the heading, feelings of the first intention, have as their neural correlate action in neurones stimulated at the time by afferent neurones. Leaving now the field of sensations and their like, all statements about neural correlates of mental states must be regarded as hypotheses and should properly be pre- faced by a perhaps. Of Images. — The neural basis of feelings of the sec- ond intention is evidentlv action of cells not stimulated The Nervous System and Mental States 175 at the time by sensory cells. Much more cannot be said except as guess work. The physiological basis of an image is perhaps action similar to that in the correspond- ing percept but weaker, or (and to the author's mind far more probably) the action of only a portion of the cells involved in the corresponding percept, the cells asso- ciated in the action being different in the two cases. In actual perception the brain action giving, say, the mere sight of the thing would be accompanied by brain action corresponding to the thing being in a certain place, being touched as well as seen, being felt as possessed of ten- dencies to be or do this or that. The neural correlate of a percept, say of a dog, would thus be a complex total. The mental image of the dog might well have as its neural correlate a weakened revival and of only a part of this total. Still more hypothetical are all notions about the neural correlates of feelings of the third intention. Of General Notions. — The physiological basis of a general notion is perhaps the neural correlate of some percept or image or sensation, commonly of a word, plus the half-aroused activities of the numerous associated sets of cells, each set of which would, if fully active, give the feeling of one of the particular things included in the class meant by the word. For instance, the concept 'a dog' would have as its physiological basis the cell action going with the image of the word 'dog' plus the half- aroused action of the cells which if fully active would give images of different particular dogs. Of Individual Notions. — The physiological basis of an individual notion is probably the neural correlate of some percept or image or sensation, commonly of a word, plus action in other cells which would, if allowed to dis- 176 Physiological Psychology charge on into their associated cells, lead to the image or percept of the thing or person referred to by the individual notion. Thus the thought of 'Napoleon' may have as its physiological basis the cell action going with the word 'Napoleon' plus the half-aroused action of the cells which if fully 'active would give images of Napoleon or of his various acts and characteristics. Of Feelings of Relationships. — Feelings of logical relationships may have as their basis the states of transi- tion in the brain from the activity of one set of neurones to that of others. For instance, the feeling of unlikeness may have as its parallel the simultaneous waning of one brain process and the waxing of one different. Some feelings of relationship may be semi-emotional feelings, and due to the same type of neural action as parallels emo- tions. Thus the feeling of the relation of cause and effect may be a feeling of justified expectancy. Other hypotheses about the neural basis of mental states are that the greater or less intensity of a mental state is due to a greater or less violence of the conducted stimulus ; that the personal feeling which characterizes mental states is related to the constantly acting cells stimulated by ever present bodily conditions ; that the broad qualities of mental life which we call temperament or disposition are related to cell action due to the con- dition of the blood. About the physiological activities which go with feelings of time, belief, desire, choice and many other types of feelings, so little is known or even guessed that it is unwise to note the speculations about them. x ' Of Mental Connections. — The physiological basis of the connections between ideas, acts, and ideas and acts is much clearer than the physiological basis of the varieties The Nervous System and Mental States 1JJ of ideas. These connections are throughout based on the connections between neurone and neurone in the nervous system, the existence of paths of easy conduction for the nervous stimulus. Reflexes and instincts are the manifestations in con- duct of connections between neurones due to the natural organization of the human body. Acquired habits of thought and conduct represent the connections between neurones by which the nervous system has adapted itself to the individual's needs. When in Part III the growth' of mental life and the laws of its action are described, the dependence of the connections between the parts of a human life of thought and action upon the connections between parts of the nervous system will be seen every- where to be a natural, almost the inevitable, conclusion. Exercises Experience 13. The Influence of .the Absence of Neurone Endings in a Portion of a Sensitive Surface. The neurones com- posing the optic nerve form a compact bundle of fibres where they enter the retina. Where this bundle enters there are no rods or cones or bi-polar neurones, nothing in fact to be stimulated by- light. Close or cover the left eye. Look with the right eye steadily at the cross in Fig. 62. When the book is about seven inches from Fig. 62. the eye the circle will not be seen at all. It is essential that the eye be kept fixed steadily on the cross. The reason for the non-appearance of the circle is that at that distance the image of the circle on the retina falls on the spot where the optic nerve enters. Move the book slowly to a greater distance, fixating the cross as before. Soon the circle will reappear and the square dis- i 7 8 Physiological Psychology + fie. 63. • • • • • » • • ' • •••• ••« #*• » • • •*•*• • » ♦ * • * • • • • • + m. '• • o * • • • • • % » • . - .\v.v Re. 64. + After some time, I came thither dressed in my new habit, and now I was called governor again. Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused tho men to be brought before me, and I told them I had had a full account of their villainous behaviour to the captain, and how they had run away with the ship, and were preparing *• commit further rob- beries; but that ice had ensnared them in their ow d that they were fallen into the pi fey had digged for others. I let thei^ ,, that by my direc- tion the ship had been seized that she lay' now in the road and they might see by and bye that their new captain had received the reward of his villainy; for that they might see him hanging at the yard-arm. That as to them, I wanted to know what they had to . say, why I should not execute them as pirates taken in the fact, as by my commission they could not doubt I had authority to do. One- Etff The Nervous System and Mental States 179 appear. Why? How may the figure be used to demonstrate the existence of the similar 'blind spot' in the left eye? From this experiment it would appear that every field of view seen by a single eye should have an unseen spot or patch. + Fig. 66. Perform a similar experiment with Figs. 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67. When the circle falls on the blind spot, what takes its place in each case? State the rule which seems to hold concerning what hap- pens (in the case of vision) in the absence of neurone endings in a portion of a sensory surface. + Fig. 67. Sensations from Bilaterally Symmetrical Sensitive Surfaces. Experiment 14. If you touch the desk simultaneously with the right and left forefingers, you feel two touches, but if you 180 Physiological Psychology hear a bell with both ears or see a star with both eyes you ordi- narily feel but one sound or star. Recall and perform the experi- ment familiar to childhood by which the eyes are made to see double. In binocular vision each retina is separately stimulated, but the result in sensation may be (i) two corresponding sights, or only one sight due (2) to the joint action of the two stimuli or (3) to the failure of one of them to influence sensation, or (4) three sights, one due to joint action and two to the separate ac- tions. Experiment 14 shows a case of (1). Cases of (2) and (3) occur of course in ordinary life (cases of 2 occurring dur- ing every moment's vision), but they may be seen most clearly by simple experiments. These experiments involve the power to observe near objects while holding the eyes as one would to look at a distant object, and so may require a little practice. Experiment 15. Holding the book upright before the eyes at a distance of about 12 inches, look at the drawings of Fig. 68 as you would to look through it at an object in the distance. That is, fixate for a point in the distance, so that the left eye looks at the left hand pair of circles and the right eye at the right hand pair. If this is done the two figures will appear to move toward each other and occupy the same space. If the eyes are kept as if fixed on a distant object, the single figure result- ing from the two drawings can be kept in place for examination. Neglect the two hazy figures seen one on each side of it. What does it appear to be? What new feature not present in either of the two figures appears ? Do likewise with Fig. 69. Fill out with appropriate words the blanks in the following statement : — In certain cases when one retina receives one impression and the other another impression, the resulting percept is of , and possesses the quality of Perform the same experiment with Fig. 70. What is the re- sulting single percept? Do the bars of the cage hide part of the bird or does it hide part of the cage? Does it seem inside or outside or' against the front of the cage? Experiment 16. Combine the two halves of Fig. 71 by fix- ating for a point in the distance as in Experiment 15. What is the resulting picture? Hold it steadily for some moments. What happens? Do likewise with the two drawings of Fig. 72. Do likewise with the two drawings of Fig. 73. The Nervous System and Mental States 181 Fig. 68. Fig. 69. \~7 Fig. 70. 1 82 Physiological Psychology ^T7 Fig. 71. rj Fig. 72. Fig 73- The Nervous System and Mental States 183 What is the chief difference between the resulting percepts in Experiment 15 and those in Experiment 16? What are some other differences? What difference between the pairs of objects of Figs. 68-70 and the pairs of objects of Figs. 71-73 seems to ac- count for the difference in the resulting percepts? Fill out with appropriate words the blanks in the following statement : Two differing retinal impressions will result in a single and constant percept if they are the impressions which would ordinarily be caused by , or are such impressions. They will result in if they are impressions which could not be caused by References A. James, Briefer Course, II. (9-12), III. (28-40), IV. (47- 53), V. (60-67), XIII. (228-234), XIX. (310-311), XX. (329-330) XXIV. (375-384). Angell, Psychology, III. ; see also pp. 93-101, 137, 190-192, 215I, 272L, 316-319. B. James, Principles, XL (434-447), XVI. (653-658), XVII. (68-75), XIX. (103-106), XX. (449-474-) PART III DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY § 30. Introduction The previous chapters have described the different varieties of mental states, the service performed by each in the conduct of life, and the physiological facts with which they are connected. Equally important — for practical purposes more so — is knowledge of the mind in action, knowledge, that is, of the facts and laws which determine what any human being will think and feel and do, how he will learn, why he will misunderstand, when he will be interested, what habits he will form, to what sort of intellect and character he will attain. The science of the mind in action is called Dynamic Psychology. 1 If we ask how the baby comes to feel pleasure at pull- ing and overturning a toy, why we shut our eyes when an object approaches them, or why we feci the sun to be brighter than the moon, common experience readily an- swers that we are by nature provided with these and other tendencies to think, feel and act in certain ways, — that apart from any training the mind of its own accord or, to use a more technical word, instinctively behaves in certain ways under certain conditions. For very many of the mind's connections we need no other immediate explanation than that human beings are by nature so organized as to manifest under certain cir- 1 By some writers it is called functional psychology. 184 Introduction 185 cumstances certain thoughts, feelings and acts. Just as human beings by nature possess arms and hands, so they possess nervous systems that lead them to reach for objects that lie within their view and to grasp the objects touched. Just as they are given by nature lips and tongues, so also they are given the feelings of sweetness and of pleasure thereat. Just as infants are given by nature muscles that turn the head and eyes, so they are given by nature a connection between seeing a light and turning the head and eyes toward it. The capacity for becoming a great musician or a great orator or a great mathematician is to a large extent born in a man as a part of his original make-up. For all of the powers of sense, intellect and character there are certainly foundations in human nature apart from the training which life gives. Such features of our original make-up are due to the same causes as unlearned re- actions. The basis of a mind's action, — the starting point of the life of intellect, feeling and conduct, — is thus its equipment of instincts and capacities, its native or un- learned tendencies. These correspond to qualities inherent in the nervous system, to characteristics of and connections between the neurones which are provided by nature. The brain is so constructed at birth and so grows by the inner impulse of development as to make stimulation of the neurones end- ing in the retina of the eye arouse sensations of light and color, to make the afferent nerve cells stimulated by the sight of a light connect with the motor cells that cause movements of the head and eyes toward the light. That we have, apart from training, a vast number of tendencies to feel and to act in certain ways in response to certain situations, corresponds to the fact that by the inner 13 1 86 Dynamic Psychology impulse of growth the brain is so made as to connect certain afferent neurones with certain associative and efferent neurones. That we have, apart from training, an equipment of capacities or possibilities of thought and action, corresponds to the fact that the brain is by nature fitted to do certain work. Although much of human life finds its explanation in unlearned tendencies, — in the mental constitution pro- vided by nature, — still more must be attributed to learn- ing, experience, training. What is born in us soon becomes outweighed by what happens to us. The brain, the basis of mental life, is primarily an organ to be modi- fied; the connections between its neurones are constantly being added to and substracted from; it is literally never the same at any two moments of life. The mind similarly is constantly adding and losing habits, increasing this and decreasing that capacity, changing with every influence that plays upon it. If we ask how the baby comes to feel pleasure at the sight of its mother, why we shut our eyes when told to do so or why we feel $30.00 to be more than 30 cents, the answer must be sought in the facts of the modification of connections by experience, — in the laws of mental acquisition. The two great divisions of dynamic psychology will thus treat of: (1) The power of nature, manifested in instincts and capacities. (2) The power of nurture, manifested in habits and acquired powers. CHAPTER XII Original Tendencies to Connections § 31. Instincts The Law of Instinct. — Instincts have been defined as all connections or tendencies to connections which are unlearned, — are in us apart from training or experience. The inborn constitution of a human being provides con- nections between certain situations and the responses made to them. The line of least resistance in any case will then, apart from training, be toward that response connected by nature with the situation. This fact may be called the law of instinct or the law of original con- nections. It may be stated as follows : In any situation that mental state or act will, other things being equal, take place which is by original nature most closely con- nected with the situation; or, the likelihood that any mental state or act will occur is, other things being equal, proportional to the closeness of its instinctive connection with the situation in question. The Attributes of Instincts. — That an instinctive pendency is born in a human being as a result of the structure of his nervous system need not mean that it is present at birth. Creeping, standing erect and laughing are surely instinctive, but appear only after months of life. The new feelings and desires which characterize the change from childhood to adult life in the years from thirteen to sixteen are as truly instinctive as the infant's 187 1 88 Dynamic Psychology fears. The date of appearance of each instinct is a separate problem. It is also an error to suppose that instinctive acts or feelings always jump suddenly into being, that what we do not learn we get in a flash as an instantaneous inspira- tion from nature. On the contrary, the common fact is a gradual growth. So, for instance, with the fear of strangers in young infants or the tendency to personal display with boys from fourteen to eighteen. There are all degrees of gradualness in the maturing of instincts. Again, that a tendency is due to inborn nervous make- up need not mean that it will remain all through life. On the contrary, all instincts tend to die out if not given exercise, and may be killed off, — or, to use the technical term) inhibited, — when circumstances are so arranged that their manifestation leads to discomfort. Thus chicks brought up in isolation from the parent hen do not show, after ten or twelve days, the tendency to follow her; and children are taught by punishment to abandon their original tendency to grab every new and attractive object which they see. If an instinct does not accord with our notions of desirable behavior, we may and do get rid of it. If it is advantageous, we must take pains to provide the conditions to call it into use and to allow its action to result in pleasure. Instincts are a fund of capi- tal loaned to us by nature for a period, not given outright. Only on the condition that they are used and bring satis- faction do they become our permanent property. They become our permanent property by being hard- ened into habits. It is a general law of mind that any act or thought or feeling which in a given set of circum- stances results in satisfaction, comfort or at least indifferently, is, if those circumstances recur, more likely to appear than in the first instance ; and so on increasingly Original Connections 189 with more repetitions. The transitory instinct thus may become a permanent habit. The child who instinctively says baba or mama in its mother's presence and is re- warded by parental attention and petting, forms the habit of calling her by that name. The chick, in the ordinary course of events, follows the hen for a few days because of instinct, but from the second time on the force of habit combines with that of inner nature ; so that by the eighth or tenth day, when the instinct, if left to itself, would have vanished, the chick continues the now habitual act. It is common in books of natural history to give, as illustrations of instincts, extreme cases, : — such as the building of the honeycomb by bees or the spinning of the web of the spider, — where the action is definite and uni- form and highly specialized. But the majority of in- stincts are vague, variable and rough-hewn. The chick instinctively feeds itself by pecking at, picking up and swallowing small objects; but so far as the instinct goes, all sorts of small objects fit and unfit, — tacks, yarn, and match heads as well as seeds and bugs, — are pecked at. Experience, not instinct, decides the particular feeding- habits into which the vague instinct shall eventually grow. This indefiniteness and lack of precise adaptation to any one particular situation is important because it allows the instinctive tendency to produce, not some one single habitual act, a replica of itself, but a number of different habits, each fitted to some special set of situations. Thus the vague, instinctive tendency of kittens when con- fined in boxes to squeeze, claw, bite and pull, gave rise to the habits of pulling a loop in one box, turning a button in another, pulling a lever in another, etc. Thus the general instinctive tendency of babies to take and pull and twist and turn and drop and poke all things grows 190 Dynamic Psychology into the multitude of habits of using toys and common household objects. Akin to the naturalist's error of neglecting vague and variable instincts is the psychologist's error of neglecting general tendencies. The tendency of children to do all sorts of things to objects, — e. g., to pull, turn, drop, pick up, roll, put in the mouth, bite, pull out and rub a new toy, — is as truly due to inborn make-up as are their tendencies to sneeze, laugh or creep. The instincts of the most im- portance to mental growth and education are those general tendencies to react in certain ways to large classes of experiences which we call curiosity, emulation and physical play. Instincts, then, may be delayed, gradual in appearing, and transitory; they are modifiable, hardening into habits or becoming abolished by disuse or inhibition; they are often indefinite and general. Human Instincts. — Too little is known about the extent to which human behavior is based upon instincts to allow their enumeration. But even with our present lack of knowledge the list of demonstrated instincts is a long one. It takes Professor James thirty-seven pages to list and describe them. Probably the list will grow with further study, since many actions which common sense credits to acquisition are really the gift of nature. E. g., standing alone, walking and retrieving (getting an object and bringing it back) appear in babies who are given no incitement or assistance. The manifestations of grief, — puckering the lips, drawing down the face and a prolonged wail, — appear in babies at the stimulus of harsh speech or ugly looks, although such speech or looks have never been followed by any unpleasant consequence. The more carefully mental development is investigated, Original Connections 191 the more we find human life everywhere rooted in in- stincts. Especially noteworthy in human instinctive equipment is the tendency which I shall call multiple reaction to a single stimulus. The reason for this name will appear from the following illustrations : The baby confronted by a small novel object, not only reaches and takes it; he also, as has already been noted, puts it in his mouth, takes it out, turns it over, drops it, picks it up, rolls it around, rubs it against his nose, looks at it in one way, then in another, holds it up, holds it down, and so on. Again the baby makes not a few distinct cries as does the dog or cat, but a rich variety of prattle, containing all sorts of combinations of sounds. By means of these multiple reactions to single stimulLthe field of experimen- tation with things is far greater in man than in any other animal. Man, who does so many things to so many things, has the opportunity to develop a far wider range of habits. Out of the fumbling and prattle of the baby grow the play and speech of the child, and later the work and invention and thought of the man. § 32. Capacities The Attributes of Capacities. — All the character- istics of instincts summarized in § 31 belong to the subtler possibilities of mental life which are called capacities. For instance, the capacity for managing men is delayed in comparison with that for acting or literary production. Apparently the capacity for seeing blue develops later than that for seeing other colors. Capaci- ties of motor control and of sense perception have been proved to mature gradually. It is a common and likely belief that the capacity for rote-memorizing is transitory, 192 Dynamic Psychology weakening somewhat in spite of the tremendous amount of training which it receives. The capacity to adopt new points of view seems to be very often lost by the age of twenty-five. When their exercise is attended by pleasant results, capacities harden into actual powers, just as instincts harden into habits. The child with musical capacity, wisely trained, thus becomes capable of actual achievement in music. But disuse will as surely destroy the capacity, and the fact of a capacity positively stamped out by unpleasant results is one of the commonest facts in human life. Many men would have been great generals had there been wars enough. Most men could have been first-rate bullies and vagabonds, most women could have been first-rate coquettes, had not the capacities been stifled from childhood It is fortunately true that useful capacities are not likely to be inhibited even when home and school offer them little encouragement. For the capacity itself begets interest, and mere achievement is often its sufficient reward. Sooner or later the boy or girl who has a capacity which the world needs will probably transform it into actual power and achievement. It is risky to console oneself for lack of success by the claim that one had as much capacity as anyone else but was not en- couraged. There are, however, some sad cases of noble capacities starved and beaten to death. The Specialization of Capacities. — Like instincts, capacities are often indefinite and generalized. Men are not born with the capacity to learn English or German, but to learn a language. Common belief, and many psychologists, however, make here an error just the reverse of that made concerning the same feature of instincts. In the latter case they overestimate the definite- ness and specialization of inborn nature; in the case of Original Connections 193 capacities they overestimate the indefiniteness and gen- eralization. These instincts of possibility are much more specialized than we commonly think or than the older books on psychology acknowledge. One may have the capacity to appreciate music without the capacity to appreciate other forms of art ; one may be a most expert calculator with numerical problems and nearly an idiot in other fields of knowledge; a most gifted reasoner in mathematics was easily deceived by a spiritualist's tricks ; the hardest-headed men of business are often silly in their superstitions; a most gifted and inventive scholar may be hopelessly stupid about the simplest bit of machinery. § 33. Further Attributes of Original Tendencies Individual Differences in Inborn Nature. — Nature does not provide each human being with the same capital of instincts and capacities. Men are no more created alike in their mental constitutions than they are treated alike by their surroundings. Any instinct is possessed by different individuals in different degrees of strength. One is gentle, one harsh, one cruel, one a Nero. One strikes back only when teased for an hour, another at the least offense. Indeed there is probably no instinct which is not entirely lacking in some individuals. Even that one which is the first necessity for living, the suckling instinct, does not always appear. So also any capacity is possessed by different individuals in different degrees of strength, the variation here being even greater than in the case of instincts. Some men are born to be intel- lectual giants, some to be idiots. This is universally recognized only in such obvious cases as the capacities for music and poetry, but it is equally true of the capacity to add or to multiply, to read or to spell, to succeed in science or in affairs. Wherever measurements have been 194 Dynamic Psychology made of mental capacities, individual differences are the rule. In the keenness of the senses, in the quickness and accuracy of perception, in the vividness of imagery, in the permanence of memories, in the appreciation of relations, — everywhere men are by nature different. It is true that when thought of in comparison with other animals, men seem closely alike, — that amongst all men there is a gen- eral family resemblance. The differences amongst men seem small in comparison with the much greater differ- ence between men and animals. But they exist, and in sufficient amount to explain a great part of the differences in human achievements. The original mental equipment of any human in- dividual is thus to be regarded as the result of two fac- tors ; ( I ) a fund of instincts and capacities which he has in common with other members of the human species, and which belongs to him as one of that species, and (2) an additional fund which belongs to him alone as an individual. It is most convenient to regard as the com- mon fund, that which the ordinary, average, common man possesses and to regard any individual's special share as being either plus or minus. The common fund is then, not that possessed by all, but that possessed by the gen- eral type of the species. From this type an individual may deviate in either direction. The Source of Original Nature. — So far the inborn equipment of instincts and capacities has been attributed to the constitution of the nervous system as determined by nature. We have now to ask what laws of nature control its distribution. These are the lazv of heredity and its supplement, the lazv of variation. The mental constitution given by nature to any man is that of his ancestors plus many or few of the variations which occur in all living things. The special share Original Connections 195 characteristic of any individual, — his deviation from the general type of the species, — is his inheritance from his immediate ancestry; the common fund is his inheritance from his remote ancestry, the human race as a whole. Much of this common fund dates its origin farther back than the human species. Just as the human back- bone can be traced back to the notochord of Amphioxus, or the human kidney to the pronephros of the fishes, so many instincts and capacities can be traced back to our animal forebears. ( Scratching the head in perplexity is as old as the monkeys ; creeping has a still more remote origin; the capacity to modify instincts into habits is an inheritance fully as old as the backbone. We are by nature a part of a species thousands of years old, — a part, too, of the animal kingdom as a whole. In mind as in body, man bears the marks of his long ascent. The special characteristics of an individual are partly due to normal variation and partly to the characteristics of his immediate ancestors. The second factor is by far the greater. Measurements of the resemblance of par- ents to offspring and of brother to brother prove that, in the same way and for the same reason that tall parents have tall children or dark-haired parents dark-haired children, so also stupid parents have stupid children, hot- tempered parents have hot-tempered children, and musical parents, musical children. Original mental make-up is thus determined by heredity, slightly supplemented by chance variation. To it prehuman species contribute ; the thousands of gen- erations of savage and prehistoric man add their shares; its special features in any individual are the bequests of his nearer ancestry. On this foundation of original make-up, nurture builds. The bequests of heredity are invested and made productive by the environment. In- 196 Dynamic Psychology stincts and capacities are modified and transformed by experience. The study of the laws by which this modi- fication takes place will occupy us in the next six chapters. The Control of Original Tendencies. — Although instincts and capacities are, in and of themselves, removed from human control, their later modifications are not. They are a fund of capital given by nature which may be invested in all sorts of ways. We make the most of nature's gifts by (1) encouraging the useful instincts and capacities, (2) inhibiting the harmful ones, and (3) by so arranging life's work as to have natural tendencies assist rather than oppose it. (1) Useful instincts and capacities are encouraged: (a) by being given exercise as soon as they appear and frequently enough to result in the formation of habits before the instinct wanes, and (b) by making their con- sequences pleasurable. (2) Harmful instincts and capacities are weakened or inhibited : (a) by depriving them of exercise, by not allowing the situations which would evoke them to appear, (b) by forming, before the tendency is fixed, the habit of meeting the situation in some other way, and (c) by making their consequences intolerable. (3) No general answer can be given to the question suggested by (3), but one or two illustrations will show the gain to be everywhere expected from recognition of and allowance for natural tendencies. A man wanted a pile of rocks removed. He taught his boys to play that there was a fire in a hole some distance away and that the rocks were pails of water and they the firemen. In a few days not a rock was left. At a city playground the older boys bullied and teased the younger ones. The sagacious director picked out several leaders from among the older boys and appointed them policemen to enforce fairness Original Connections 197 and to protect the "little kids." The instincts of activity and combativeness and emulation were now turned to useful ends. Bullying the small boys gave way to gov- erning the large ones. Judge Lindsey of Denver turns youthful offenders into arms of the law by directing the instinctive love of excitement into the channel of detective work against men selling liquor to minors. The individual differences in inborn original nature may be prevented from waste and made to do service by specialization in the home, in school, in business — in fact everywhere. Since men are different, they are adapted to different careers in life. By finding out their individual constitutions and directing their energies in appropriate channels, we may make them happier and more useful, may preserve them from unmeaning instruction and profitless tasks and incite them to service which they can do better than anyone else. Exercises 1. Pugnacity, climbing, walking, emulation, jealousy, biting the finger nails, curiosity, and manipulation or constructiveness are commonly quoted cases of instinctive tendencies. What are the situations and the responses, the connections of which constitute these several instincts? E. g., pugnacity means the response, 'blow/ to the situation, 'being injured or interfered with,' and the response, 'enjoyment/ to the situation, 'fighting.' 2. Of the instincts named in question 1, name one that is de- layed, one that is transitory, one that is common to man and the lower animals, one that is specially characteristic of the male sex, one that is most useful, one that is often the origin of crimi- nal acts. 3. Give two illustrations from history or from your own ac- quaintance of a high degree of capacity coupled with only mod- erate attainments in other directions. 4. Just how would you get rid of the tendency in a child to torment animals? After writing your answer read again (2) of 198 Dynamic Psychology page 196 and note which methods of those mentioned there your plan involves. 5. Which is rarer, the capacity to form percepts or the capacity to form abstract ideas? 6. Illustrate individual differences (a) in the case of sensa- tion, and (b) in the case of imagery. 7. Illustrate race heredity, i. e., the inheritance of certain mental qualities by a race as a whole. Experiment 17. Instincts of the Reflex Type. — Have a friend hold about half or three quarters of an inch in front of his eyes, a piece of glass, at least an eighth of an inch thick. Throw directly at his eye a bit of cork or light wood, or a small wad of paper, so aimed that, but for the glass, it would hit the eye and at a fair rate of speed. Of course he winks. Then inform him that you will repeat the process, and that since it is impossible that anything can hit his eye he is to keep it wide open. Throw as before. Is the eye kept open? Repeat nine times more, noting and recording each time the action of the eyelids. Experiment 18. The Modiiiability of Instincts. — With suffi- cient time the instinctive closing of the eye can be modified and even inhibited. The experiment may take many trials. If it is made, a tube like a pea-shooter, but one half inch in diameter and not over eight inches long, and a sufficient number of bits of cork about a quarter of an inch in diameter, should be provided. Record the action of the eyelids at each trial, and continue the experiment until the person can hold the eyelids unmoved during ten successive trials. References A. James, Briefer Course, XXV. Titchener, Outline, §§ 35, 66-67. Angell, Psychology, XV., XVI. B. James, Principles, XXIV. CHAPTER XIH The Law of Association § 34. The Growth of Instincts into Habits Under the influence of the outside conditions that form human nature, instincts and capacities grow into an almost countless multitude of habits of thought, feeling and action. \ On the basis of our many unlearned ten- dencies, we learn still more numerous acts and ideas. To original equipment is added the store of knowledge and skill which we acquire. How this modification and de- velopment of instincts and capacities into the fullness of mental life is brought to pass is the subject of this chapter. Some Concrete Cases. — A simple case of the develop- ment of habits from instincts will introduce us best to the laws that govern this process. A child eight months old was kept an hour or so each day in a chair beside a win- dow. To a cord hung from above were attached some of his playthings. His instinctive tendency led him to pull at, poke and finger these. By a specially vigorous pull to one side the toy would be swung against the window glass. This sort of a pull occurred occasionally among the many acts which resulted from his instinctive play. It noticeably attracted the child's attention and aroused the expression of satisfaction. As time went on he did it oftener and oftener until swinging the toy against the glass became a regular feature of his play. The vague instinctive pulling had given birth to a special habit. 199 200 Dynamic Psychology The particular act of pulling in a certain way had been selected from the many acts performed and had been associated more and more closely with the situation 'being in that chair in sight of that string of toys/ The force which strengthened the connection between that particular act and the situation was not only its repetition, but also the resultant satisfaction, for other acts done as frequently at the beginning faded out and did not result in any new habits. This will be still clearer from two illustrations drawn from animal life. Fig. 74. "If we make a pen, as shown in Fig. 74, and put but a chick, say six days old, in at A, it is confronted by a situa- tion which is, briefly, 'the sense-impression or feeling of the confining surfaces, an uncomfortable feeling due to the absence of other chicks and of food, and perhaps the sense-impressions of the chirping of the chicks outside.' It reacts in this situation by running around, making loud sounds, and jumping at the walls. When it jumps at the walls, it has uncomfortable feelings of effort; when it runs to B, or C, or D, it has a continuation of the feel- ings of the situation just described; when it runs to E, it The Law of Association 20 1 gets out, feels the pleasure of being with the other chicks, of the taste of food, of being in its usual habitat. If from time to time you put it in again, you find that it jumps and runs to B, C, and D less and less often, until finally its only act is to run to D, E, and out. It has, to use techni- cal psychological terms, formed an association between the sense-impression or situation due to its presence at A and the act of going to E. In common language it has learned to go to E when put at A — has learned the way out. The decrease in the useless runnings and jumping and standing still finds a representative in the decreasing amount of time taken by the chick to escape. The two chicks that formed this particular association, for exam- pier, averaged one about three and the other about four minutes for their first five trials, but came finally to escape invariably within five or six seconds. The following schemes represent the animal's behavior (1) during an early trial and (2) after the association has been fully formed — after it has learned perfectly the way out.. (I) Situation Impulses Acts Resulting Feelings As described To chirp, etc. Corresponding Continuation of situa- above. To jump at various to impulses. tion. places. Fatigue. To run to B. " " " c. " " " D. ( Pleasure of company. « » " E. \ " food. 1 " surround- ( ings. (2) Situation Impulses Acts Resulting Feelings Same as (i). To run to E. Corresponding to impulse. Pleasurable as above. If we take a box twenty by fifteen by twelve inches, replace its cover and front side by bars an inch apart, and 14 202 Dynamic Psychology make in this front side a door arranged so as to fall open when a wooden button inside is turned from a vertical to a horizontal position, we shall have means to observe another simple case of learning. A kitten, three to six months old, if put in this box when hungry, a bit of fish being left outside, reacts as follows: It tries to squeeze through between the bars, claws at the bars and at loose things in and out of the box, reaches its paws out between the bars, and bites at its confining walls. Some one of all these promiscuous clawings, squeezings, and bitings turns round the wooden button, and the kitten gains freedom and food. By repeating the experience again and again, the animal gradually comes to omit all the useless clawings, etc., and to manifest only the particular impulse ( e. g. } to claw hard at the top of the button with the paw, or to push against one side of it with the nose) which has resulted successfully. It turns the button round without delay whenever put in the box. It has formed an association between the situation, 'confinement in a box of a certain appearance,' and the impulse to the act of clawing at a certain part of that box in a certain definite way. Popularly speaking, it has learned to open a door by turning a button. To the uninitiated observer the behavior of the six kittens that thus freed themselves from such a box would seem wonderful and quite unlike their ordinary accomplishments of finding their way to their food, beds, etc., but the reader will realize that the activity is of just the same sort as that displayed by the chick in the pen. A certain situation arouses, by virtue of accident, or, more often, instinctive equipment certain impulses and corresponding acts. One of these happens to be an act appropriate to secure freedom. It is stamped in in connection with that situation. Here the act is 'claw- The Law of Association 203 ing at a certain spot' instead of 'running to E/ and is selected from a far greater number of useless acts." 1 The Law of Habit-Formation. — The characteristics of these cases of learning are that from the instinctive tendencies present the one which brings satisfaction is selected and is associated more and more closely with the situation until it alone is the reaction to that situation. The tendencies which bring discomfort are more and more dissociated from that situation until they may be totally eliminated and never appear in response to it. Selection and Association best describe the process. Sat- isfaction best describes the motive force in it. The result is that a set of special habits or connections between each particular situation and its fitting response takes the place of the original vague instinct. Instincts are thus modified into habits in accordance with the law that any act which in a given situation pro- duces satisfaction becomes associated with that situation, so that when the situation recurs the act is more likely than before to recur also. Conversely, any act which in a given situation produces discomfort becomes dissociated from that situation, so that when the situation recurs the act is less likely than before to recur. The case is the same when the response to the situation is a thought or feeling instead of an act. So the law may be stated, any mental state or act which, etc. § 35. The Formation of Connections in General Habits Formed From Previous Habits. — The same process of learning occurs when the development is not from mere instinctive tendencies but from these as modi- fied by previous training. The baby who has formed the 1 E. L. Thorndike in the Woods Holl Biological Lectures for 1899, PP. 70-74. 204 Dynamic Psychology habit of swinging a toy against the window-pane may later, as an outgrowth of that habit, form the new habit of swinging the toy rhythmically. The process is again simply the selection of the rhythmical movement from amongst the many sorts made because of its relatively greater amount of resulting satisfaction. We may there- fore widen the statement of our law and say : — In any situation the thoughts, feelings and acts manifested will be those to which instinctive tendencies or capacities and also previously formed habits impel one. Of all these the one which succeeds best, results in the most satisfac- tion, will be associated with that situation. Some Additions to the Law of Habit Formation. — In some cases the results of original tendencies and pre- vious learning will be to furnish, not a number of acts, — some more, some less, some not at all fitted to the situa- tion, — but to arouse directly the one suitable act. For instance, the chicken a few days old in the presence of a worm does not pick at it in many different ways, some quite useless ; he at once seizes it. The baby may suckle at once when the breast is offered to it. In such cases the selection is of one act from one only. The formation of the habit means as before the strengthening of one con- nection, though not the exclusion of other connections. Resulting satisfaction is not always a sine qua non in the formation of connections. Mere repetition strength- ens the connection between situation and response, pro- vided no positive discomfort results. The child who says dog at the sight of the letters dog often enough, will learn to do so even though he has never obtained any observable benefit from so doing. The law then may be stated, 'which in a given situation does not produce dis- comfort.' The greater the satisfaction produced, how- ever, the more firmly will the connection be made between The Law of Association 205 the response and its situation, and vice versa. Thus amended the law becomes : — Any mental state or act which in a given situation does not produce discomfort becomes associated with that situation, so that when the situation recurs the mental state or act is more likely than before to recur also ; the greater the satisfaction produced by it, the stronger the association. Conversely, any mental state or act which in a given situation does produce dis- comfort becomes disconnected from that situation, so that when the situation recurs the mental state or act is less likely than before to recur also; the greater the dis- comfort produced by it, the weaker the association becomes. From another point of view the law may be stated as : In any situation the mental state or act will take place which has resulted from that situation oftenest and with the most satisfaction. The law of habit formation and the law of instinctive connection may be combined into one as follows : The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any situation is in proportion to the closeness of its inborn connection therewith, to the frequency of its connection therewith, and to the amount of satisfaction resulting. This may be called the Law of Least Resist- ance in Mental Life. The Real Situation May Be More or Less Than the Apparent Situation. — The word situation in the law of instinct and the law of association must be taken broadly. The connection made is not necessarily with one particular circumstance or thing, but often is with the total state of affairs felt. Thus the chicken in the pen whose behavior was described in § 34, did not make con- nection with the situation, 'sight of confining walls,' but rather with the situation, sight of confining walls plus 206 Dynamic Psychology feelings of hunger plus absence of sight of companions plus sound of companions at a distance plus absence of food.' The same particular circumstance may in one set of surrounding circumstances, — in one mental context, — connect with one act and in a different mental context, with another. Had the chick been put into a pen with other chicks and food, it would have played about and pecked at the food and only occasionally jumped at the confining walls. The sight of the figures below (Fig. 75) would call up in a school-boy's mind the thoughts of a cube and a sphere if felt in connection with the surround- Fig. 75. ings of his school room and geometry class, while if felt in connection with the ordinary sights of street or play- room they would call up the thought of a box and a ball. The situation may then be the whole state of mind, the circumstances or thing in its context, the entire 'attitude' or 'set' of mental life, as well as the particular^ fact in its focus. On the other hand the connection made may be with some very small element of the apparent situation. In learning to swim the connections are not made with the color, temperature, taste and smell of the water, but only with the feelings of non-solidity, of suspension and of The Law of Association 207 sinking. In learning to play a piece on the piano the connections are not made with the color of the instrument, the quality of the room's atmosphere and the size of the music book, but with the position of the notes on the scale, the form of the notes, the feelings of one's arms and ringers and the sounds produced. The facts that the connection may be made not only with the apparent situation, but also with it plus the co- operating attitude of the mind as a whole or with it minus many or all but one of its elements may be stated as the laws (1) of the Mind's Set and (2) of Partial Activity. These are : — (1) The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any apparent situation is in propor- tion to the closeness of its connection with the total set of the mind at the time as well as zvith the apparent situation itself. (2) The likelihood that any mental state or act will occur in response to any apparent situation is in propor- tion to the closeness of its connection with the apparent situation or some element or part thereof. Recency and Intensity of Connections. — Other fac- tors besides the results of a connection and its frequency determine the likelihood of its operation, namely, recency and intensity. "For the sake of simplicity these factors may remain undescribed until later chapters. An ade- quate statement of the entire Law of Association would be : The likelihood that any mental state or act WILL OCCUR IN RESPONSE TO ANY SITUATION IS IN PRO- PORTION TO THE FREQUENCY, RECENCY, INTENSITY AND RESULTING SATISFACTION OF ITS CONNECTION WITH THAT SITUATION OR SOME PART OF IT AND WITH THE TOTAL FRAME OF MIND IN WHICH THE SITUATION IS FELT. The Varieties of Connections. — The law of associa- 208 Dynamic Psychology tion applies not only to the growth of connections between sensory situations and responses to them, but also to the growth of all the forms of connections described in Chapter I. Connections between (i) physical stimuli and mental states, between (2) one mental state and another, between (3) ideas and acts — all are formed in accordance with the law of association. Illustrations of (1) need some preliminary explanation and will be reserved for another chapter (Chapter XV). Illustrations of (2) are found in almost every process of memory or thought. We think of 36 when we think of 9X4 because with the situa- tion, 'thinking of 9X4' the thought of 36 has gone oftenest and with most satisfaction. Illustrations of (3) are found in almost every hour of daily life. We start for the class-room when the clock strikes the hour be- cause we have done so ; when we feel a desire to read, we buy a magazine because we have done so and with pleasurable results. In -cases where the connection involves a bodily act, it will be found that the satisfaction or discomfort result- ing plays a large part in the formation or breaking of the connection. In cases where the connection involves only thoughts and feelings, the mere frequency of the response will be found to play the leading role. This is due to the fact that (1) the satisfaction resulting from responding to a situation by a successful idea so often comes much later. The boy in school who thinks of the correct answer to a question does .not feel much satisfaction at the time. Often he does not know that his idea is right and so feels none. It is later when he is asked to recite and wins approval, or when his examination paper is re- turned and he finds it marked high, that the satisfaction comes. Moreover (2) the results of many of our mental The Law of Association 209 responses produce almost no satisfaction. It makes little difference whether the sight of a watch arouses the thought of a clock or the thought of time or the thought of wheels ; whether the thought of John arouses the thought of Smith or of Jones or of Anderson. § 36. The Control of the Formation of Connections Three Essentials in Efficient Learning. — The appli- cations of the law of association to the control of mental life by school education and general training are clear. In briefest terms they are as follows : — The first necessity of mental progress is fertility in response. Unless the baby does something, it can learn nothing; there is nothing for selection to work upon. In- tellect and character cannot be created from a void. Other things being equal, the capacity for varied re- sponses, great activity, curiosity, and mental energy increase the probability of mental improvement. The second means of training is the arrangement of instructive situations, — of conditions the responses to which may form valuable associations. As civilization progresses, men try increasingly to provide in the home, in schools and in the world's affairs, situations fitted to induce profitable responses. The behavior and conver- sation of the people about us, the books, laboratories, museums and other school paraphernalia, sermons, news- papers, music, laws and the like — all aim to control the mind's acts by controlling the situations to which it responds. In the words of a sagacious trainer of ani- mals, we "Arrange all the circumstances of the experi- ment so that the animal is compelled by the laws of its own nature to do the trick." The third means is the arrangement of the results of 210 Dynamic Psychology the different possible responses so that desirable ones give satisfaction and undesirable ones, discomfort. By re- wards and punishments, natural or designed, parents, teachers, employers and rulers preserve the responses which they approve and stamp out those which they disapprove. The history of a mind's training is in great measure the history of the elimination of its mistakes. These Three Factors Illustrated. — These three fac- tors may be illustrated by almost any mental achievement, for instance, by learning to read. The teacher arranges a chart with a picture of a cat, the word cat and the like. The more skillfully she can arrange to get the situation 'attention to the picture, the cat and the sound as she or some pupil pronounces it,' the better the prospect that the associations between the cat and the picture and sound will be formed. If now there is an utterly stolid, idiotic boy who is aroused to no action by the situation, who does not look at the chart or listen to the teacher, or repeat the sound after her, or think of cats or dogs or anything else, the process of teaching him to read is blocked at the outset and cannot progress till he is somehow stimulated to respond. Usually, of course, responses will be made; the chil- dren will say cat when the picture is pointed out, will repeat cat after the teacher when she points at the word and says cat; and will say cat when she points at the word but says nothing; some may however say 'kitten,' or 'What is that?' or the last word the teacher has herself said. If the teacher looked as pleased, and said yes as often, and in general rewarded these incorrect replies as she does the correct ones, the process would again be blocked. It is the satisfaction or discomfort which she causes that selects the sound cat to be the permanent fixed associate of the sight cat. The Lazv of Association 211 § 37. Response by Analogy Responses to Novel Situations. — The law of instinct and the law of association fail apparently to prophesy what will happen when a situation appears for which no instinctive connection exists and which has never before been experienced. What, for example, will a chicken do when it for the first time sees a piece of yarn? What will a student unlearned in zoology do who is asked to name the picture of an Amphioxus? There being no response provided for that particular situation by inborn constitution 1 or previous experience, the individual will respond as he would to some situation like it, to which instinct or training has provided a re- sponse. The chicken will respond to the yarn as he would instinctively to a worm, will seize it, run away and begin to swallow it. The student will call the picture of Amphioxus a worm, though it is not, because experience has connected the word worm with long, legless, finless things. Every stimulus tends to discharge in some response; and in default of any response specially connected with it by nature or nurture, a stimulus will discharge into that response which has gone with something like it. This fact, that any unprepared-for situation will be treated as some familiar one like it would be, may be called Assimi- lation or Response by Analogy. The fact may be stated more exactly as follows : — To any situation for which neither nature nor nurture provides a response the response will be that which they provide for the situation most like it; or, Any situation 1 It must be remembered that for many new situations there Is provided an instinctive response just because of their novelty. 'To handle and look at' is the baby's instinctive reaction to small novel objects as a class. 212 Dynamic Psychology which has by nature and nurture no connections zvill con- nect with that response which the situation most like it would connect with. Response by Analogy. — Learning to deal with new situations is a constant repetition of the following process : the new is treated as some situation like it would be treated; by the results of the responses the responses themselves are modified until in due time a response is selected that is well adapted to the situation. The probable physiological basis for assimilation is easy to conceive, though proof is absent. Let us call the stimulation set up in the neurones by the new situation A B C D E F G. For just this particular situation there is no response provided; with just this neurone-group action there is no connection formed. But suppose that for the brain action A K C D E F G, there is a connection formed, M N O. The line of least resistance, of strongest connection for A B C D E F G would be toward M N O rather than toward some other ; for the elements A C D E F and G would tend each to call up its own connection. The fact that the new situation resembles some other means that it has elements in common with some other. It can call up a response because these elements do have some formed connection though it as a whole has not. It calls up the response which would be made to the situation most like it, because being most like it means containing many of the elements which it contains. The elements in it call up the response which they are con- nected with, namely, the response made to the situation most like it. Assimilation, then, is one instance of the law of partial activity. The case may be likened roughly to that of the direction taken by a four horse team at a fork in the roads, when the team has never traveled either road as a team but some one horse or a pair has. Their The Law of Association 213 previous habit of taking, say, the left turn, will cause the whole team to go that way. The law of response by analogy is of importance apart from its service as an account of the means of responses to new situations ; for even when instinct or habit does furnish a response, that response may be neglected in favor of the response which would be made to some situation resembling the one present. The baby who on seeing a bottle of small white medicine-tablets sang out 'shirt buttons' could have followed instinct and responded merely by fumbling and biting the new things. The school boy who, when asked to give the opposite of frequently, wrote 'a bad smell,' could have followed pre- vious habits and said, T don't know.' Exercises 1. What addition should be made to the maxim, "Practice makes perfect?" 2. Why is repetition more useful in acquiring knowledge than in acquiring skill? 3. Show how the law of association applies (a) to learning to ride a bicycle, (b) to learning to be tactful in dealing with people, (c) to learning to read, (d) to learning to shoot straight. 4. (a) Give two cases of learning in which resultant satis- faction is the main factor, (b) Give two cases in which result- ing discomfort is the main factor, (c) Give two cases in which frequency is the main factor. 5. Give two illustrations of the law of the mind's set. Give two illustrations of the law of partial activity. 6. Explain by the laws described in this chapter or the pre- ceding one the following facts : a. Tne existence of the so-called 'happy families'; e. g., of dogs, cats, mice, chickens, living together in peace. b. That a religion based on fear commonly produces only negative morality ; i. e., only the absence of evil, not the presence of good acts. c. Young children (five to eight years old) will commonly 214 Dynamic Psychology define an object by its use. Thus a knife 'is a thing to cut with', a chair 'is what you sit on'. d. A child in the primary class of a school committed some misdemeanor and was called to the teacher's desk and punished. A day or so later when occasion offered he committed the same fault but when told to come to the teacher's desk sat stubbornly still. e. A child from the country who was being shown the ani- mals in the zoological gardens called the antelopes calves. 7. In what way does attention play a part in acquisitions by the law of association? 8. Criticise the following statement: "Our nervous system grows to the modes in which it has been exercised." 9. The probable physical parallel in the nervous system for the law of association is the law of the formation of connections stated and described in Chapter X. Read again § 27 and for each feature of the law of association find the probable physiolog- ical parallel. References A. James, Briefer Course, X. Stout, Manual, 76-96. B. James, Principles, IV. CHAPTER XIV The Law of Dissociation or Analysis § 38. The Process of Analysis Important as is the action of the mind in connecting impressions with ideas and acts, ideas with ideas and acts and acts among themselves, it would be a gross mistake to restrict mental action to the single field of connections, habit formation, association. The mind works not only by association, by connecting this situation with that response, but also by association or analysis, by breaking up a total situation into its elements. The abstract and general notions which we found in Part I to be essential features in the higher types of human thinking and the operations of parts of impressions or ideas which will later be found to be essential features of reasoning, are mental products which come, not by putting things to- gether, but by separating them into parts. The bare facts of experience give only white paper, white balls, white liquids, never the thought of mere whiteness by itself ; the law of association, so far as hitherto described, would lead to an interminable repetition of selections from our experience and responses, never to the original insights of the mathematical or scientific thinker; the same law in conduct would provide only a better and better selection from amongst acts, a greater skill due to the elimination of failures, never with totally new moral insights or new combinations of bodily movements. But 215 2i6 Dynamic Psychology in fact we do separate out elements in thought which have never appeared before by themselves, but only as parts or elements of total experiences. We do come to make isolated movements which have previously been only parts of instinctive and habitual reactions. And this work of analysis of total impressions into ideas of parts and elements and qualities and of complex acts into minute separate movements is of the utmost use in giving command over the problems of thought and the activities of the body. By dividing we conquer. How this process of analysis occurs will be clear from a few simple cases. The child at school whom we wish to feel the abstract quality of sphericity is given marbles and balls to observe. His attention is called to the orange, the gas globe, and the like. The word round or sphere is associated with all these and other objects, alike in being spheres but different in size, color, use, etc. As a result he comes to feel in connection with the word the special quality of similarity of surface at all points which to him means sphericity. Again the child to whom we wish to teach the abstract thing, number, — for instance the abstract quality of fiveness, — is given five peas, five sticks, five leaves, is made to draw five lines, to move his arm five times, to hold up five fingers, each time in association with the word five. He comes, by having the five quality constantly present but in connection with all sorts of other accessory qualities, to feel the numerical aspect of any group, the five aspect, by itself as a separate ele- mentary thought in his mind. In movements the same procedure is followed. A backward child can say th in common words but cannot make by themselves the movements needed to produce it alone. He is led to repeat that, those, they, this, then, The Law of Analysis 217 breathe and similar words in order to lift into separate existence the th movement, to develop direct control of it. In all these cases the method taken to develop into a separate idea or act some aspect of a total mental state or muscular performance, — to abstract, that is, some part or quality of an experience, — is to arouse many experi- ences in which that aspect or part or quality is constantly present but with in each case different surroundings or context. The element of idea or impulse which is thus felt with many different associates comes to be felt with none of them, to be felt by itself as an idea, to be inde- pendent of any of them. The movement which is thus made with many different associated movements comes to be made by itself alone. BACD, EAFG, H A I J, K A L M, etc., result in a new A. It thus seems to be the general law of mind that any element of mental life which is felt as a part of many total mental states, differing in all else save its presence, comes thereby to be felt as an idea by itself, and that any movement which has been made as a part of many com- plex movements differing in all else save its presence comes thereby to be made as a movement by itself. This law is called the law of Dissociation by Varying Con- comitants, or the Law of Analysis. 1 § 39. The Influence of the Law of Analysis In the arithmetic of the primary school where the meanings of the numbers from one to twenty and their 1 The law of dissociation is really only one case of the law of association ; it is the multitude of connections which serves to dis- connect. The same general principle accounts for both association and dissociation, although the results of its workings are opposite in the two cases. When one thing has gone with another it tends to call it up and to fuse with it ; but when one thing has gone with many different others it will tend to call up each of them a little and so none of them fully, and, instead of fusing with any one of them, to win an independent existence. IS 218 Dynamic Psychology combinations are taught ; in all inductive work in science where a general law or general notion is evolved from particular series of events or cases ; in learning the mean- ing of but, and, notwithstanding, in spite of, etc., from their use in conversation and books; in comparing one character in literature or history with others to bring out essential points of his make-up — in short in all cases where we try to progress from vague feelings of a total fact to exact, definite feelings of its elements and of it as the compound of those elements — we depend upon the law of analysis or dissociation.^ This law is the basis of the capacity to reason, i.e., to think out the solutions of novel problems. Indeed it is probable that to the workings of this law of dissociation in infancy is due the growth of thought itself and of all those mental states which we call ideas, — that but for it mental life would be entirely composed of feelings like dizziness, suffocation, nausea, weariness or faint- ness, feelings which we would be very conscious of and would react to violently, but which we could not turn into continued and useful thought. The infant's feelings of things, qualities, conditions and relationships are nothing more than vague total im- pressions of this person, that thing, this weather, that stomach-ache and the like. Only after many experiences, resulting in many associations and comparisons, have given the law of dissociation an opportunity to play its role, does he come to feel the sense qualities of objects as discriminated elements, to feel forms and colors and sizes and shapes distinct from each other. His bottle, for instance, is to him for months only a vaguely sizable thing to be taken and held in his mouth. Only after much experience does it become a thing so long, so heavy and so colored. Even in adults much of mental life never The Law of Analysis 219 develops into definite ideas. How few, for example, are the smells which we feel as definitely in the general odor of a cook shop as we do red and green in the colors of a landscape. As the infant gradually dissociates the elements of color, form, size and the like from the complex things in which they inhere, so the school boy in long years disso- ciates the more abstract qualities, such as justice, law or liberty. And to the end of life a thinking man will be busy in analyzing his vague impressions and opinions into their elements. The elements acquired by the action of the law of dissociation furnish new materials for the law of associa- tion to work with. As soon as the child in school feels the meanings of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, he is ready to form the associations 1 and 2 are 3, 1 and 3 are four, 1 and 4 are 5, 2 and 3 are 5. As soon as a new movement comes under control, i.e., can be made- by itself, it enters into associa- tions with other movements and with mental states. The first mental connections are between particular sensory situations and responses thereto, simple modifications of existing instincts. Starting with these the law of dis- sociation produces the feelings of common objects, qualities, acts and relations, such as children commonly manifest in the third year of life. These new feelings as fast as they appear become associated with words, acts and with each other, so that the child by the time of entrance to school has thousands of associations between ideas, mostly between concrete particulars. With these associations further action of the law of dissociation pro- duces general and abstract ideas. These in turn form new associations. Thus in mental growth connection and analysis, association and dissociation, putting things 220 Dynamic Psychology together and breaking things up into parts, constantly work together. § 40. The Control of the Process of Analysis The conditions favoring the analysis of a definite ele- ment out of a vague and complex total fact are :— 1. The collection of a number of total facts in each of which (a) the element is as obtrusive as possible, as little encumbered by irrelevant detail as possible and in which (b) the element's concomitants or surroundings vary. Thus if the teacher wishes to develop in a pupil's mind the abstract idea of the passive voice, he uses such exam- ples as: he is struck, they were accepted, you will be applauded, Grant was elected, rather than the repetition four times of, / am satisfied. For in the last example the passive element is not at all prominent; the pupil may well think of satisfied as an adjective; and the element is not thrown into relief by variations in the other features of the examples. 2. That these facts be compared with attention di- rected toward the parts or elements of each fact, espe- cially toward the element in question. In the illustration above, attention could readily be directed toward the passive voice aspect by comparing the four sentences each with its corresponding active (he is struck, he strikes; they were accepted, they accepted, etc.) 3. That a symbol or name of some kind be ready to be associated with the element when felt. Unconnected feelings cannot maintain an existence in the mind ; a fact thought of without a name of some sort is just an uncon- nected feeling. Let me have never so clear an idea of the thing, I shall gain by having also associated with it a name. So in the illustration above good teachers are The Law of Analysis 221 careful to give the name 'passive voice' as soon as the pupil has the feeling, 'subject does nothing, something is done to him/ To assure the permanence of the feeling, repeated practice in detecting the element in new complexes is necessary. So the teacher sets the pupil to pick out all the passives he can on a page, or to divide a mixed list into actives and passives, or to perform some other exer- cise to the same end. The conditions that favor analysis are thus those that would be met by a fertile and selective mind, one that would naturally summon together many facts' and attend to their parts. More is required here than for the simple association of ideas and acts. Hence the capacity to dissociate or analyze is of later and higher development. Animals possessing the former lack it. Babies form many associative habits before they show any signs of analysis. In feeble minded adults analysis develops only to a slight extent. The commonest sense elements, such as color, size, shape, few, many, and the like, are known, but to feel the meaning of 'twenty,' or of 'a promise' or of 'opposite' is beyond their power. In individuals of high intellectual ability, on the other hand, the process of dis- sociation is very prominent. Exercises 1. Which process, association or dissociation, is involved in each of the following? (a) in learning to ride a bicycle. (b) in learning a poem by heart>c (c) in learning to understand the difference between the present tense and the past tense. (d) in learning to understand the difference between by to express means and by to express agency. (e) in learning the meanings of the numbers. 222 Dynamic Psychology (f) in learning the multiplication table. (g) in learning the meanings of velocity and of accel- eration. (h) in learning to spell. 2. For which is dissociation more necessary, (a) learning the grammar of a language or learning its vocabulaory? (b) Learning algebra or learning geometry? (c) Learning physical geography or learning commercial geography? 3. (a) What associations would be necessary before a child could by dissociation come to feel the meaning of iff (b) Of longer than? (c) Of positive, comparative and superlative? 4. How would you develop in the mind of a school-boy a definite and independent idea of acceleration, or of wealth, or of reciprocity? References A. James, Briefer Course, XV. B. James, Principles, XIII. (502-508). § 41. Physiological Conditions of Human Nature The three laws presented in this and the two preceding chapters summarize the method of action of nature and nurture, inborn mental constitution and acquired modi- fications, in its most essential features. The intellect and character of any one of us is due largely to the operation of these three laws. Not entirely, however; for any human being's thought and conduct, depending as they do upon the action of his nervous system, will sometimes show mysterious alterations, — behavior unexplainable by the laws of instinct, association and dissociation. The nervous system is influenced not only by the factors accounted for in these three laws, but also by fatigue, drugs, sickness, the decay of old age, shock, the chance variations of blood-pressure, metabolism and the like. It is necessary in a brief treatment to omit the facts that are known concerning the action of these forces, as The Law of Analysis 223 well as the many problems answers to which are yet to be discovered. I have used and shall in the future, fre- quently use the phrase 'other things being equal' to recall to the reader's mind the fact that there are always many complex possibilities for mental action at any moment. Even when no such provisional clause is in the text the reader should supply it mentally. He should not forget, for instance, that though the general law of mental life is the law of association or habit, a sufficient dose of hashish will keep in temporary abeyance the most fixed habits of perception ; that enough alcohol will weaken all inhibitory associations ; that the law of frequency will be apparently suspended in the delirium of fever or even in ordinary sleep; that the capacity for intellectual achieve- ment may be weakened by disease of the thyroid gland; that a child's temperament or disposition will suffer com- plete change during an attack of indigestion. This caution not to forget the real and frequent influence of direct physiological changes in the nervous system upon human intellect and character ought perhaps to be re- peated at the beginning of every chapter from now on. But I shall entrust to the reader the duty of remembering it for himself. CHAPTER XV The Connections Between Sense Stimuli and Men- tal States: Connections of Impression § 42. Inborn and Acquired Connections of Impression Inborn Connections. — Every educated person knows that some sort of connection exists between events taking place in the physical world and his mental states ; that he hears sounds because there are sound-waves, and smells odors when certain gases are present in the atmos- phere. The immediate connection is between the action of neurones in the brain and the mental states ; but since these neurones are aroused to action by afferent neurones from the sense organs, and since these afferent neurones are aroused by the physical event either directly or through some physiological process, we commonly speak of the total series of connections between the physical event and the mental state as one connection. Such connections are due to inborn capacities. Sound waves of 50-100 vibrations per second arouse a feeling of a low tone and those of 10,000-20,000 vibrations per second arouse a feeling of *a high tone, simply because man's mind is so constituted by nature that they do. Ether vibrations make us feel reds and greens and blues while rapid molecular motion makes us feel warm, just because these forms of connection have been established 224 • Connections of Impression . 225 by natural evolution. 1 Given a certain physical stimulus and a certain feeling follows. Acquired Connections. — At first thought this seems to be the end of the matter ; but, as was briefly stated in Chapter II, § 8, the stimulus itself is not the sole cause of the mental state. To the question, "What determines what things anyone feels at any moment?" common sense gives the ready answer, "That which is there to be sensed, — to be seen, heard or touched." But common sense is only partly right. The physical stimulus affecting the sense organs is one, but only one, of the causes which determine what the percept shall be. For (1) we may feel different things, have different percepts, from the same stimulus; moreover (2) we may have the same per- cept from different stimuli; and in the third place (3) we may feel a thing when there is no physical stimulus cor- responding to it. Thus (1) the same cup of coffee tastes sweet after quinine and bitter after honey; the same light is bright by night and dim by day ; the same gray looks reddish on a green background and greenish on a red background. The same air waves which make me feel a vague tumult of sound, make the musician feel the tones of five distinct instruments combined in a harmony; the same mass of colors is a blur to me and a definite group of micro-organ- isms to the trained microscopist. Thus (2) patches of quite different shades may all be ^here is no absolute necessity that the connections should be as they are. Man might conceivably have been such a creature that sound waves of 50-100 vibrations would make him feel cold and those of 20,000-40,000 vibrations make him feel warm. There might conceivably exist connections between the pressure of the X- rays and feelings of some sort unlike any we now possess. Or we might lack, as the fishes apparently and as some lower animals cer- tainly do, any connections between sound waves and mental states. The existing connections represent only one of many possible ar- rangements. 226 Dynamic Psychology felt as the same green (e.g., grass in the sunshine and in the shade) ; the table top is felt to be a rectangle, though seen as a sharp rhombus; in a brief glance at the letters 'bad oratory,' half an audience saw the same word as when the letters presented were 'laboratory ;' so also with 'peneil' and 'pencil.' Thus (3) occasionally in waking hours, and custom- arily in dreams, we see and hear and smell and taste things though neither they nor anything like them is present. Not only the outside stimulus, but also the inner con- stitution of the individual's mental life, decides what thing shall be felt. There is more to perception than passive impressibility by external forces. Every act of perception is really an act of association. What is felt depends not only upon how the afferent neurones are stimulated, but also upon what neurones they in turn arouse; not only upon what the external object is, but also upon (A) the past experiences and (B) the present tendencies of the individual who perceives it. (A) The musician feels the sounds made by the string quintette differently from the untrained person, because he has in the past attended to musical sounds and learned to discriminate the parts of a harmony; the audience saw peneil as pencil because the pen il had so often connected with the thought pencil in their previous reading. (B) The coffee tastes now sweet, now bitter, the light is now bright, now dim, according to the back- grounds of taste and illumination accompanying them; the 'bad oratory' was felt as 'laboratory' because in the minds of the audience (a class seated in a laboratory where they had been doing laboratory work for the month past) the thought of laboratory was especially ready to be aroused, was in a line of little resistance. If 'labora- Connections of Impression 227 tory' had been shown for a fraction of a second to an audience accustomed to listening to and thinking about speeches, many of them would have seen it as 'bad oratory.' § 43. The Law of Association in the Case of Connections of Impression In General. — What one feels at any given sense stimulus depends then upon what one has felt and upon what one is feeling at the time. Not only the mere capaci- ties for responding to certain events in the physical world by feelings of certain qualities, but also the development of these capacities by training and their dependence upon the particular circumstances attending each case of re- sponse, must be taken into account in a study of the connections between sense stimuli and mental states. Nurture modifies nature even in the case of feelings from the senses. The connections between sense stimuli and mental states are partly instinctive and partly learned. Perception involves the influence of training and is explained by the law of association as surely as is the formation of habits; there are habits of perceiving as truly as there are habits of thought and conduct. The incoming stimulus from any set of afferent neurones may discharge into any one of several cell groups ; which one it will arouse depends upon the general laws of asso- ciation and assimilation deciding which connection is strongest. In Detail. — Other things being equal the strongest connection will be (1) that favored by inborn structure, (2) that most frequently made, (3) the most recently made, (4) that with the most easily excitable mental state and (5) that most in harmony with the general set of the 228 Dynamic Psychology mind at the time. Illustrations of the influence of each of these factors may be found in anyone's daily experience, (i) is of course illustrated in every minute of perceptual experience. The trained nurse reading 'abominable' as 'abdominal' illustrates (2) ; the householder who, after a burglary at his house, heard every noise as a fumbling at the door illustrates a combination of (3) and (4). The psychology class who saw 'psychogaly' as 'psychology' illustrates (5) combined with (2) and (3). The author's name was heard by various people to whom he was intro- duced at the time of the discovery of gold in x\laska, as Klondike ; and an old lady in a country town once greeted him as Mr. Corn-doctor. One consequence of the laws of association and assim- ilation in the case of connections of impression is that any sense stimulus tends to be felt as some definite 'thing.' The incoming nerve currents have by the law of diffusion to go somewhere and the connections which have been made in the past are largely with cell actions correspond- ing to feelings of 'things.' So ink blots made at random often strike the observer as pictures of real objects; the clouds take on animal forms ; there is a man in the moon ; the wind in the trees is heard as a 'sighing.' The Influence of the Law of the Mind's Set. — Three special forms of the influence of the general set of the mind, of the mental context in which the percept is felt, are so important as to deserve formulation as special laws. The first and most general is the Law of Relativity, that any stimulus will be felt, not as it would be if by itself alone, but in comparison with the sensations and percepts which accompany or precede it. Thus a gray on a black background will look whiter than when on a white background ; a one-pound weight added to a pound will be felt as an increase, but will not when added to a Connections of Impression 229 hundred pounds. The second and third laws refer to special cases of the law of relativity. The Law of Dimin- ishing Returns from increases in the amount of a stimulus (Weber's law) is that the same stimulus will produce a more intense sensation when added to a weak stimulus than when added to a strong one. Under this law belongs the case of the pound weight. Similarly an inch more makes 2 inches perceptibly longer, but adds little feeling of length to ten feet; it is easy to distinguish a three candle power lamp from a two candle power lamp, but between a two hundred and three and a two hundred and two candle power lamp practically no difference can be felt. The Law of Contrast is that one sensation or per- cept felt with or after another tends to take on the quality opposite to or complementary to that other. When the other is felt with it, we have Simultaneous Contrast; when the other is felt before it, we have Successive Con- trast. Thus the gray on a black looks whiter and on a white blacker than it would by itself ; a candle light looks brighter in the dark than in daylight; a tone seems lower after a high than after a low one ; lemonade tastes sweeter after vinegar than after honey; a gray on red looks greenish ; on blue, yellowish ; and on green, reddish. Percepts, Illusions and Hallucinations. — It follows from the facts so far stated that the same general process causes percepts, illusions and hallucinations. When the word beautiful is spoken and heard, hearing it is called a percept ; when dutiful is spoken but beautiful heard, hear- ing it is called an illusion ; when nothing is spoken (as in a dream) but beautiful is heard, hearing it is called an hallucination. In all three cases the same final brain process was aroused, the difference being that in the first case one afferent process excited it, in the second a slightly different process, and in the third no afferent process at all 230 Dynamic Psychology but some inner connection. In other words, when the sense stimulus present is the one that ordinarily arouses the mental fact, it is a case of perception ; when the sense stimulus present is one that ordinarily arouses some other mental fact, it is illusion ; and when the sense stimulus is nil, it is hallucination. What is commonly called perception is a mixture of perception, illusion and hallucination. Thus in reading, some of the words which we feel ourselves to see are not seen at all and others are seen as quite different from their actual printed forms. There are misspellings in almost every book, but they pass unnoticed, unseen by the mental eye. Parts of words, even whole words, are often not present as sensory stimuli at all, the mind making them up out of whole cloth. So also in listening to spoken language we hear words which the ear does not hear at all. If one says rapidly in the proper context 'What time tis it ?' or 'Please pass me ge butter,' the error will often be undetected. The letter t is often pronounced as d in such words as ability, certainty, falsity, 1 but only experts in phonetics notice the fact. Again and again in rapid speech words are totally omitted without anyone being the wiser. § 44. The Control of Connections of Impression What is called the education of the senses and training in observation might better be called training in acquiring associations with sense stimuli. The difference between the untrained and the trained observer lies not in the action of the sense organs but in the previous experience which interprets their messages. The professional tester of tea has not a different tongue but a different set of experiences, a different stock of associations with various 1 Where the t is far removed from the accented syllable. Connections of Impression 231 1 11 2 12 3 18 4 14 5 15 6 16 7 17 8 18 9 19 10 go Fig. 76- stimuli. The man of science sees more in the specimen because he knows more about it. One does not learn to see by perpetual staring, but by connecting each sight with knowledge about the thing seen. To educate the senses means ( 1 ) to form habits of systematic rather than hap-hazard examination, (2) to learn to recognize ele- ments in complexes by first getting used to them singly, and (3) to connect each sensory stimulus with a separate identifiable feeling and with knowledge of its properties. 2$2 Dynamic Psychology IA- 11» 2 « 12 " 3 " j.3 «« 4 h 14" ISA 16 « 7" 17 u 8 n- 18 w 9" 19 » 10'^ 20 i' Fig. 77. Exercises i. Read again § 8 and recall the results of the experiment there described. 2. Illustrate individual differences in the capacities to feel things and qualities in response to sensory stimuli. 3. Illustrate individual differences in perception due to dif- ferences in previous experience. 4- Illustrate the law of diminishing returns in the case of the perception of movements. Of tastes. 5- Classify the following illusions as (A) those caused by Connections of Impression 233 the strength of previous habit and (B) those caused by the temporary set of the mind: — a. "An officer who superintended the exhuming of a coffin rendered necessary through a suspicion of crime, declared that he already experienced the odor of decomposition, though it was afterwards found that the coffin was empty." (Quoted from Carpenter's Mental Physiology by J. Sully in Illusions p. 108.) b. "I never feel sure after wiping the blades of my skates, that they are perfectly dry, since they always seem more or less damp to my hand." (Sully.) c. "If we are seated in a railway train which is quite station- ary and watch through the window a train passing ours on a neighboring track, we feel our own train to be in motion in the opposite direction. d. "I remember one night in Boston, whilst waiting for a 'Mount Auburn' car to bring me to Cambridge reading most distinctly that name upon the signboard of a car on which (as I afterward learned) North Avenue was painted." (James.) 6. Hold one hand in hot and the other in cold water for a few seconds ; then put them both in the same dish of tepid water. Compare the feelings of the two hands^ Experiment 19. Color Contrast. — Take 5 pieces of the same gray paper. Lay them on sheets of white, black, red, green and blue paper. Cover with very thin tissue paper. Compare the five grays. Take two pieces of the same green paper. Lay one on a red background, the other on a background of its own color. Cover as before and compare the two greens. Do similarity with red on a green and on a red background. Experiment 20. The Law of Diminishing Returns. — (a) Look at line No. 1 of Fig. 76 then at line No. iA of Fig. yy. Is the latter shorter or longer than No. 1. (Do not measure, judge by the eye alone.) Compare similarly lines 11 and 11 A, 2 and 2A, etc., recording each judgment. After the 20 judgments have been recorded measure the lines and compare the frequency of right judgments in the case of lines 1-10 with that in the case of lines 11-20. (b) On a sheet of paper 10 inches or more wide rule five lines 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 millimeters long respectively. Place beside it a similar sheet and draw lines as nearly equal to the models 16 234 Physiological Psychology as you can without measuring or superposition. Do the same thing with another sheet, and continue until you have 10 sheets, each with five lines as nearly equal to the original models as you can draw them. Find, by measuring, the error made in each of the fifty lines. Compare the amount of the error for the 20 mm. line with that for the 40 mm. line and so on through the series. Experiment 21. The Law of Association in Perception. — Print in the Scttne style and size each of the following words upon a slip of paper and paste on a card about 3*^ by i l / 2 inches: (1) good, (2) boy, (3) house, (4) pasent, (5) scarf, (6) sdirt, (7) chipon, (8) feather, (9) tackle, (10) tooch drwn, (11) genuine, Fig. 78. Fig. 79' (12) meawing, (13) reaeoning, (14) initate, (15) stoie, (16) morning, (17) frequmtly, (18) constant, (19) embrarderg. Expose each (in the order given above) for one or two tenths of a second to some one unacquainted entirely with the cards or the object of the experiment, and have him write down what he sees in each case. Explain so far as you can the percepts felt. Compare the records of men and women in the case of words 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, and 19. Experiment 22. Look at Fig. 78. Does it seem to be (1) a folded sheet with the folded edge toward you, or (2) a folded sheet with the folded edge away from you, or (3) a group of lines on a flat surface? Continue looking at it steadily. What happens? Make it seem like (1) (without altering the figure it- Connections of Impression 235 self at all). Make it seem like (2). What do you do to make it seem like (1) ? Shut your eyes ; imagine a sheet of cardboard with the folded edge away from % you, open your eyes and look at the figure. Which was it like, (1), (2) or (3)? Make it seem like (3). Which appearance is hardest to obtain: (1), (2) or (3)? Experiment 23. How many blocks are there in Fig. 79? Continue looking at it steadily. What happens? Experiment 24. How many different appearances can you Fig. 80. get from Fig. 80? Describe each of them. Why does it seem like an object of three dimensions rather than of two only, when it really is all in one plane? Experiment 25. How many different appearances can you get from Fig. 81 ? Describe each of them. Which is the easiest to get and retain? Why? 7. In what other experiments have you found the alternation 236 Dynamic Psychology of one impression with another in somewhat the same way as happens in Experiment 22. 8. Illustrate from your record of Experiment 22 the state- ment: "What thing is perceived will depend upon past experi- ence." 9. Illustrate similarly ; "What thing is perceived will depend upon the state of mind at the time of perceiving." Fig. 81. 10. Illustrate similarly ; "Perception is of definite and prob- able things." 11. Illustrate similarly the influence of frequency of con- nection in determining what percept a given sense stimulus will arouse. 12. From your records of Experiments 19 to 25 gather all the facts you can in support of any statements made in this chapter. Arrange these facts in lists, each under the statement which it supports. Connections of Impression 237 References James, Briefer Course, II. (17-27), XX. (316-334). Stout, Manual, 125-140, 199-209. Titchener, Outline, §§ 27-30. Ebbinghaus, Grundziige, §§ 44-47. James, Principles, XVII. (9-31), XIX. (82-133). Wundt, Physiologische Psychologie, IX., XII.-XV. CHAPTER XVI The Connections Between one Mental State and Another § 45. Associations of Ideas The Problem Stated.— The problem of this section may be stated in several ways. Given any mental state not due to a sense stimulus, how came it to be present? Given any mental state, what other mental state will it call up? What in addition to sense stimuli determines the order of our thoughts ? What laws account for the ways in which mental states are connected among themselves? These four questions are substantially the same. The first member of the connection, i.e., the mental state that calls up, may be termed the antecedent, the stimulant or simply Thought 1 ; the second member of the connected pair, i.e., the mental state that is called up, may be termed the consequent, sequent, resultant or simply Thought 2. Thought 1 may be a mental state of any sort; but Thought 2 cannot be a sensation or percept or any feeling that results directly from a sense stimulus, for then the connection would necessarily be not mental- mental, but physical-mental. Thought 2 is generally, perhaps always, an image, a feeling of meaning or intel- lectual relationship, or a judgment. The complex states of mind which we ordinarily experience are the results of both the antecedent thought and of sense stimuli; a man does not often have a series 238 Purely Mental Connections 239 of mental states due to purely mental connections. What he sees and hears, the feelings of his own body, and other sensory stimuli, color his thoughts and may redirect them. Still in day dreams, in serious thought on intellectual problems and in the flow of undisturbed memories, when little attention is paid to the physical world and to the warmth or cold or pain or movements of the body, the course of thought is almost exclusively explainable as the result of purely mental connections. And in any case we can study the influence of the present thought in determin- ing the future apart from that of the sense stimuli which are also acting. The General Law of Association in the Case of Purely Mental Connections. — Probably none of the purely mental connections are inborn, unlearned. Nature does not apparently provide any ready-made apparatus for such connections as thinking of six when one thinks of three and three. Our rich inheritance of connections between sense stimuli and mental states, sense stimuli and acts, and mental states and acts, is in sharp contrast to our utter poverty with respect to connections between one mental state and another. Nature gives only the general capacity to form such connections as soon as images, feelings of meaning and judgments have been acquired. One important result of the fact that all purely mental connections are due to nurture is that there is far less uniformity among human beings in the mental-mental than in the physical-mental connections. Light rays of a certain vibration-rate produce in seeing persons the feel- ing of red with comparatively small variations, but the sight of the color will arouse in one the thought of red, in another of roth, in another of rouge, in another of corado, according to the connections which have been acquired. 240 Dynamic Psychology The mode of acquisition of the purely mental con- nections is by the action of the general law of association. The most frequent reason why one mental state calls up the thought of a certain object is that it has been its antecedent in our previous experience. Thinking of 6 times 7 makes us think of 42, because in school the 6 times 7 was deliberately connected with 42. The child thinks of the word dog as a sequent to the percept of the animal because he has heard and said the word in response to that percept before. All associations between percept of thing and name, percept of relation and name, percept of image of thing and class-name, between sensation and adjective, and the like, are clearly due to this law. Con- sider also the vast number of mental connections which owe their origin to arithmetical tables, paradigms and definitions learned, to books read, to sights seen and sounds heard in sequence. Throughout life we put one thing after another in order that the thought of the first may call up the thought of the second. The mental con- nections which attract our notice do so often by their very abnormality and rareness and so give a false notion of connections in general. For once that a thought calls up some unlikely sequent, there are a hundred times that it calls up the object which the law of association would lead us to expect. The law of association applied to the formation of purely mental connections may be roughly stated as follows : Any mental state will be followed by that mental state by which it has been followed in the past. A fuller statement of the law will be made later after certain apparent exceptions to it have been examined. The Law of Partial Activity. — It is impossible to explain the following connections, which represent a very common sort, by the fact of Thought 1 having been fol- lowed by Thought 2 in the past : — Purely Mental Connections 241 Case A. Thought 1. Of a large piece of ice in a cup of iced tea. Thought 2. Of the ice trust. Case B. Thought 1. I have lots of curiosity. Thought 2. Of Eve. In these and similar cases the first thought as a whole has surely never before gone with the second thought. But they are nevertheless to be explained by the law of association, for although Thought 1 has never been fol- lowed by Thought 2 in either case, a part of it has. In Case A the image or word ice is the only element of the total thought that is active in making the connection; in Case B the thought of curiosity is the active element. Tee — Ice trust' and 'Curiosity — Eve' are readily explain- able by the law of association. In the total thought some one element frequently, indeed usually, will be thus active. The law should therefore be amended so as to read : Any mental state zvill be followed by that mental state by which it or some part of it has been folloived in the past. A Mental State Calls Up Its Previous Accompani- ments. — There remain still some apparently unex- plained cases such as the following: Case A. Thought 1. Percept of Mr. S. reciting. Thought 2. Image of Mr. S. at luncheon the day before. Case B. Thought 1. Percept of the moon. Thought 2. Image of a lamp with a round globe at home. Here, as before, only a part of Thought 1 is operative, but the part acts not by calling up something which has followed it, but something which has been simultaneous with it and of which it was a part. The feeling of Mr. S. in the total of 'Mr. S. reciting' calls up the feeling of Mr. S. in the total of 'Mr. S. at luncheon.' The feeling 242 Dynamic Psychology of bright roundness in the total, 'bright roundness up in the sky there/ calls up the feeling of bright roundness in the total, 'bright roundness of globe with rest of lamp/ It is a fact that mental states connect not only with their previous sequents but also with their previous accompani- ments. Association is not only in a forward but also in a sideways direction. The law should read, 'by which it or some part of it has been followed or accompanied.' Purely Mental Connections in General. — The facts of mental connections so far presented may be represented by easy symbols as follows : — Let x be a total thought composed of the elements ABC it a a a a tt a a a "D "R T? ft tt y one of the sensa- tions which guide the movement. In learning to play a piece on the piano, to ride a bicycle or to knit, one grad- ually passes from full consciousness of what one sees and hears and does to such an almost complete absence of feelings concerned with the act that one can think of something else at the time with no effort whatever. The Function of Automatic Connections. — The saving of time due to this release of attention, and, per- haps, of all feeling, from fully formed habits, is enormous. In so far as the movements of the eyes in reading become automatic, attention can be devoted to the meaning of the words read ; in so far as the movements necessary to feed oneself become automatic, the newspaper can be devoured with the breakfast. If the operations of dressing, eating, walking, reading, sewing and the like were all accom- panied by the attentive consciousness which went with them in their early appearances, half our days would be spent in getting them done. It is necessary for the Movements 305 efficiency of mental life that many habits should be made thus self-controlling, should be practiced until they make no demands upon mental life proper. Indeed in general we think about things so as eventually to do them without thought. It should be the fate of every connection to progress toward automatic behavior. It is extravagant to waste attention on minor connections which do not deserve it. A student who was forced by circumstances to spend much time in the society of some stupid people, found that by making automatic the habit of responding to a certain general tone by 'Exactly' or 'Certainly/ to another tone by 'Indeed!' or 'Well! Well!' and to still another by, 'Your own judgment on that question would be better than rnine,' she could carry on her own medita- tions almost as well as if by herself. One reason perhaps for the absent-mindedness of gifted men is that they have learned to leave all the small matters of life to take care of themselves and so occasionally blunder by making an automatic response at an improper time. It is better to occasionally enter a neighbor's house, or try to light the gas with a pencil or greet your wife on the street with a pleasant 'And -how is your husband's health ?', than to think all day long about trifles. Exercises 1. Name six instinctive automatic connections. 2. What name is given in § 4 to the instinctive automatic connections ? 3. Observe by looking in a glass what happens to the pupils of your eyes when you come into a bright room after eight or ten minutes in a very dark room. Would you know what happened to them from direct feeling alone? 4. Name six acquired connections which you make auto- matically or nearly so. 5. The conjurer Houdin is. reported to have been able to keep four balls in the air quite automatically, in fact to do so 306 Dynamic Psychology while steadily reading a book. Give similar instances showing the degree of complexity possible in automatic connections. 6. Which would be harder, to learn to walk and sew at the same time or to read and sew at the same time? 7. Why is to learn to talk and sew at the same time easier than either? § 58. Movements as Antecedents Movements, though they do not directly arouse, do indirectly react on mental states, Any movement serves as a stimulus to the sense organs, — of the eye, if it is seen ; of the skin, if it causes tension or folding; of the joints, if a bone is moved ; of the muscle itself in any case. Every turn of the eyes, every change of facial expression, every contraction of the vocal chords, every posture of the body, every extension of flexion of a finger, thus plays a part in determining the course of the stream of thought. Just as a multitude of sights and sounds sets at work the forces of sensation and produces new mental states, so the mul- tiplicity of bodily movements produces a crop of second- arily caused sensations, which feature in later thought. Just what and how great a part movements play as stimuli to sensations, is not known. But it is surely not unimportant. The images of words in which thought is carried on are often motor images of the movements made in speech. The feelings of strain, irritation and perplexity, are very probably due to conditions of general muscle tension. One theory of the fusion of sensations into percepts is that we feel as one thing whatever com- bination of sensations is responded to by a single move- ment or a connected series of movements. Some thinkers assert that without bodily movement, controlled thought cannot even take place. The feeling of self or person- ality, which is one element of almost all mental states, is in large measure due to the ever present stimuli from the Movements 3°7 muscular tension of the body, the unnoticed movements of breathing, and the like. The feelings of the distances of objects arise in part from feelings of the movements of the eyes made in converging for near and diverging for far objects. General satisfaction and dissatisfaction are, by one theory, explained as the feelings caused by move- ments of extension or approach and of flexion or with- drawal respectively. From these and similar facts and theories, it is certain that the indirect contribution of movements to thoughts and feelings is a large one, and one upon which man relies for the material for some of his most important judg- ments. Exercises I. Which looks longer in Fig. 84, the vertical or the hori- zontal line? Measure the lines. What fact, in addition to the fact that it is harder to move the eyes in a vertical than a horizon- tal direction, is needed to explain the appearance? Fig. 84. 2. Can you discover in yourself feelings due to movements of the sort described in the following passages? — 308 Dynamic Psychology "In consenting and negating, and in making a mental effort, the movements seem more complex, and I find them harder to describe. The opening and closing of the glottis play a great part in these operations, and, less distinctly, the movements of the soft palate, etc., shutting off the posterior nares from the mouth. My glottis is like a sensitive valve, intercepting my breath instantaneously at every mental hesitation or felt aversion to the objects of my thought, and as quickly opening, to let the air pass through my throat and nose, the moment the repugnance is overcome. The feeling of the movement of this air is, in me, one strong ingredient of the feeling of assent. The movements of the muscles of the brow and eyelids also respond very sensi- tively to every fluctuation in the agreeableness or disagreeable- ness of what comes before my mind. In effort of any sort, contractions of the jaw-muscles and of those of respiration are added to those of the brow and glottis, and thus the feeling passes out of the head properly so called." James, Principles, I., 301. Experiment 30. Movements as Stimuli to Mental States. — Lie down and let all your muscles relax until you are perfectly limp and easy and without any tension anywhere. Let the mus- cles of the face relax as well as those of the rest of the body. Rest thus for ten minutes or more. Then jump up, frown, set your teeth, clinch your fists and stalk back and forth with quick, vigorous and jerky movements. How did you feel in the two cases ? References A. James, Briefer Course, XXIII., X. Stout, Manual, 99-102. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzuge, § 65. James, Principles, XXIII., IV. Wundt, Physiologische Psychologic XIV., § 3. CHAPTER XX Selective Processes § 59. Attention and Neglect Attention. — In the last seven chapters are frequent references to the facts of attention, the fact (1) that of any mental state some one portion is predominant, — is more likely than others to be operative in causing the sequent mental state or act; and the fact (2) that of many feelings felt, only a few are noticed, dwelt upon, allowed to play leading parts in influencing the future course of thought and action. Chapter VII contained a brief description of the facts of attention. It is now necessary to study their causation ; to answer the questions : 'What determines which part of a mental state will be focal? Which mental states will be selected, dwelt upon, allowed to weigh heavily in mental life and conduct?' Here as elsewhere (1) original nature, (2) the in- fluence of experience and (3) accidental causes share in producing the result. What will be felt as clear, em- phatic and focal, what will be selected and dwelt upon, what in short will be attended to, by any individual, will be that mental state or that feature of a mental state which is attractive because of (1) the original tendencies to attend with which nature endows us, because of (2) the habits of attention which have been found by the individual in question to be desirable or because of (3) some accidental cause. The original tendencies to attend 309 310 Dynamic Psychology may be called instinctive interests; the acquired tenden- cies to attend may be called acquired interests. Instinctive Attention. — Some of the more important instinctive tendencies are to attend, other things being equal to: — (i) Moving objects rather than still objects. (2) Other human beings and living animals rather than plants or inanimate objects. (3) Clear rather than obscure or indefinite objects. (4) Intense rather than weak stimuli. (5) Novel rather than familiar objects (unless the latter have special advantages). (6) Pleasurable rather than painful stimuli. (7) Expected rather than unexpected stimuli. These tendencies are fairly common to all human beings, though individual differences exist with respect to the amount of strength of each. Like instincts in general, these instinctive interests may be delayed. Obvious illustrations are the interest in living animals and the interest in the opposite sex. Little is known of the exact time of maturing of in- stinctive tendencies to attend, because in actual life the influence of original nature is often inextricably con- joined with that of experience. No one can yet say, for instance, how far the tendency to attend to the number aspect of any stimulus, — to count objects, — is a delayed instinct and how far it is an acquired habit. Acquired Attention — In habits of attention there is amongst individuals a tremendous diversity due to the moderate differences in the instinctive tendencies from which the habits develop, the greater differences in capacities, and the still greater differences in the exper- iences which life affords to different individuals. We all come to attend in general to spoken words more than to Selective Processes 311 coughs, laughs, sneezes and the like ; to facial expression more than to movements of the chest; to the weather more than to the character of the soil. In these cases experience teaches all much the same lessons. But on the whole each individual acquires interests in a special circle of friends, special divisions of knowledge, a special profession or trade, a special locality, and so with the many objects of modern civilized life. The forces in forming habits of attention, and in deciding what thing or feature out of several will in any given situation be attended to, are the frequency, recency and intensity of attention to the thing on previous occa- sions, resultant pleasure, and harmony with the general set of the mind. Of these, resultant pleasure is by far the most important. Mere frequency and recency of attention will in fact produce inattention or disregard if the consequences are unsatisfactory or even indifferent; for frequency breeds familiarity and monotony and by original nature the familiar and monotonous is disre- garded in favor of the novel. In the long run attention is more and more given to those things attention to which produces felt satisfaction. Voluntary Attention. — So-called voluntary atten- tion, — i.e., attending with effort and deliberately neglect- ing the thing which appeals to instinctive interests or pleasurable habits of attention, — seems unexplainable by the laws of instinct and association. Why, for instance, does a boy attend with effort to the words of his spelling lesson when the sound of a band and the vision through the window of a circus parade invite him? As a matter of fact he usually does not. When he does, it is because some idea or feeling in connection with the situation makes the attending to the spelling words more satis- factory to him than attending to the parade. In and of 312 Dynamic Psychology themselves the spelling words would speedily give way to the parade. But the situation is: 'spelling words to look at and think of — please father — show my grit — I'm weak if I don't do it — of course they must be learned first, and the like/ and if these ideals of duty and achievement are highly enough esteemed, the spelling words are clothed with an attractiveness derived from remote aims and enjoyments which is stronger and wins. It is not that the unsatisfying conquers the desirable; but that what is undesirable in itself may be so suffused by the desirability of its connections as to seem the more desira- ble to the total frame of mind. It is not that men attend, some only to the attractive and others, of a firmer fibre, to the repugnant. The real difference is that some feel satisfaction only in the directly pleasurable, the selfish rewards, the narrow and immediate outcome; whereas others feel satisfaction in the prospects of far off benefits, in the welfare of others, and in the general and eventual outcome which their entire system of ideas and purposes holds in view. The thing to be accounted for is not a difference in the laws of attention but a difference in taste or preference. Whether the proverbial, 'There is no accounting for tastes' be true or not will be seen in a later section. The fact of moment here is the fortunate one that men may have a preference for the eventually useful, the abstractly good and the eternally right as well as for beer and skittles. The case of voluntary attention, attention against resistance, is one case of the general fact of derived attention. Any thing may gain attention not only from its intrinsic qualities (immediate attention), but also from its associations. Derived attention may or may not imply effort, may minister to higher or lower impulses. Attention to a dollar bill is derived but commonly implies Selective Processes 313 no feeling of effort. Fagin's attention to Oliver Twist, derived from the idea of making him a thief, was of course in the service of a distinctly low motive. One more fact of the development of tendencies to attend deserves notice, — namely, that an object which originally is attended to with effort so often comes after a time to be attended to without effort. To look at the printed words in a story book and to think of '4 and 7 are 11' and the like in doing sums in addition, imply effort in the 7 year old child in school, but none in the practiced reader and accountant. Getting rid of the feeling of effort is due to getting rid of irrelevant impulses or ideas which need checking or inhibition, and to the strengthening of the relevant im- pulses or ideas by their repetition and resulting satis- faction. Just as a person could free life as a whole from the feeling of effort, if the tendencies to do every thing that he had to do were made a hundred times as strong and the tendencies to do everything that he must not do were reduced ninety-nine per cent, in strength; so in a single process of life like reading, effort vanishes in pro- portion as the tendencies to do what must be done in reading {e.g., to move the eyes to a point on the line) are strengthened and the tendencies to do what must not be done (e.g., to move the eyes away from the point before the words are perceived) are weakened. There is no mysterious law that effort decreases with repetition. It does not except in so far as the need for inhibition decreases. Neglect. — Selecting one thing implies the disregard of other things. For one feature of a mental state to be focal, others must be kept in the margin. Attention has, as its corollary or negative aspect, neglect. 1 The same 1 The term inhibition is the one commonly used for this process 21 314 Dynamic Psychology process is, from the point of view of the thing selected, attention, and, from that of the thing disregarded, neglect. The account just given is then as applicable to the latter as to the former. Tendencies to neglect, like tendencies to attend, are partly inborn and partly acquired. The laws of their acquisition are the same; discomfort being the rejecting and dissociating force as satisfaction is the emphasizing and associating force. Neglect may be intrinsic or derived, according as the object is in itself unattractive or repellent, or has grafted upon it the unattractiveness or repulsiveness of its mental associates. Neglect may be with or without a feeling of strain or effort. § 60. Satisfaction and Discomfort Two facts, resulting satisfaction and resulting dis- comfort, have been constantly invoked as causes of changes in the life of thought and action. The reader is acquainted with these facts in his own experience but certain knowledge about their presence and causation needs statement here. To explain fully why any human being thinks and feels and acts as he does, it is necessary to know what circumstances will give him the feelings of satisfaction and of discomfort. Having learned that connections productive of satisfaction are selected for survival and that connections productive of discomfort are eliminated, the final step is to learn what sort of result is satisfying. of disregard or neglect. The word inhibition is however used also to mean the prevention of any tendency, of tendencies to move, to perceive, to associate ideas and the like as well as the prevention of tendencies to attend to an object. It is best to avoid ambiguity by using rejection or neglect to refer to the negative aspect of at- tention and keeping inhibition for the more general fact of preven- tion. Selective Processes 315 Original nature decides this in part. Man is so con- stituted by nature that certain stimuli produce feelings of satisfaction and others discomfort. Sweet tastes, rhyth- mical sounds, movements after rest, relaxation of the muscles after fatigue, the moderate action of the senses of vision, hearing and smell, are thus satisfying to well nigh everyone. The free exercise of instinctive tenden- cies to take, hold, play, sleep, run, fondle and the like, is an almost equally important source of satisfaction. Sen- sory pains from blows, cuts, burns, diseases and the like ; certain sensations and emotions such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, fear, anxiety; restraint from the exercise of instinctive tendencies, as by capture, confinement or the obstruction of movement, are for the same reason uncom- fortable. Let us call these two classes of feelings, Original Satisiiers and Original Troublers. Original nature alone is obviously insufficient to account for all likes and dislikes ; for they differ much with different individuals, change much with age and alter quickly with training. Whether any given result shall be satisfying or uncomfortable depends in part upon what it has been associated with. The rule is that, other things being equal, any feeling will be satisfying which has been associated with original satisiiers, and that any feeling will be uncomfortable which has been associated with original troublers. Thus 'to have the bottle' becomes a satisfactory result to the baby, being suffused with the feeling originally felt only with the result 'food in mouth/ After the satisfyingness has been acquired from connec- tion with an original satisfier, it can spread further. Later 'to see the bottle being brought' and later still 'to be told "You shall have your milk," ' acquire in turn this aura of satisfyingness. The discomfort of the blow spreads to the sight of the uplifted hand, and from there 316 Dynamic Psychology to the sound of the spoken threat. No matter how barren of instinctive pleasurableness a condition may be, it may- become the most cherished and satisfying of feelings. 'I am doing God's will/ T am serving the state/ and 'I am hunting the truth/ have ruled men's lives in spite of their lack of intrinsic satisfaction. The general laws of instinct and of association thus account for the satisfying and uncomfortable qualities of different feelings as well as for the connections amongst stimuli, mental states and movements. How the satis- faction following upon a connection strengthens it, and how the discomfort following upon a connection weakens it, must be left unanswered questions. Neither psy- chology nor physiology has yet anything much better than a guess to offer to this, the most fundamental question of the mental life of man and of the animal kingdom as a whole. All that can be said is that the original satisfiers are as a rule events useful for the survival of the species and the original troublers are as a rule events disadvan- tageous to the survival of the species; consequently any means by which the former could reinforce the connec- tions causing them and the latter weaken the connections causing them would, when evolved, be maintained by natural selection. Perhaps their respective influences on the blood supply constitute such a means. § 61. Conclusion of Part III Complex as is a human life, it is at bottom explainable by a few principles. The presence of original tendencies to connections and of satisfaction and discomfort as quali- ties of certain feelings, the power of satisfaction to strengthen the connections producing it and of dis- comfort to weaken those producing it, the natural influence of frequency, recency and intensity on con- Conclusion of Part III 317 nections : — these are the ultimate laws of dynamic psy- chology. Of these the only one unexplained by the general laws of living beings is the power of satisfaction and discomfort. The development of a human mental life may be likened to that of the animal kingdom as a whole. The present animal kingdom is the result of the existence in the past of many variations, the elimination of those which did not lit the environment so as to survive, and the persistence of the others through heredity. The eliminat- ing agent in this case is death. Any man's intellect and character are the results of the existence in his past of many connections, the elimination of those which did not fit their environment so as to bring satisfaction, and the persistence of the others through the law of association. The eliminating agent in this case is dissatisfaction and the environment is not the physical world alone but also the greater universe of passions and ideals, of wrong and right, of falsehood and truth. It is often said that there is and can be no science of- human nature, that it is impossible to do more than make shrewd guesses as the poets, story-writers and proverb- makers do. The progress of psychology is, however, gradually proving the assertion false. Even in the ele- mentary and untechnical account of psychology presented in these few pages, there is given enough evidence to justify the faith that human life can be the object of systematic and verified knowledge. Nor are the facts of psychology so chaotic and fragmentary as is generally supposed. Although yet far from the perfection of full explanation by a few general laws which is being reached in the case of physical facts, they are nevertheless being more and more reduced to order and summarized under simple laws. In Part I the rich variety of human thought 318 Dynamic Psychology and feeling was shown to be after all divisible into three natural groups; first, feelings of direct experience; sec- ond, reproductions of direct experience; and third, feel- ings meaning or referring to direct experience. In Part II the tremendously complex physical basis of mental life, the nervous system, was shown to be essentially the sum of the connections between sensitive areas of the body and motor organs, the same bodily organ, the neurone, being always the connecting agent. In Part III it has been shown that in great measure the intellects and characters of men are explainable by a single law, and that in the case of certain facts psychology possesses the final warrant of a science, the power to predict the future. CHAPTER XXI Conclusion : The Relations of Psychology § 62. The Science of Psychology as a Whole In this book only the more elementary and funda- mental facts and laws of mental life have been presented. A complete account of the science of psychology would require many volumes. We have studied only the more general facts of ordinary human mental life, but psy- chology deals also with the details of sensations, the associations of ideas and the like, with the facts of abnormal and diseased minds and with the mental processes of animals. I have, as a rule, described only those facts which may be appreciated by simple observa- tions and reflection, but psychology uses also intricate analysis, elaborate experiments, exact measurements and wide comparisons. The subject matter of psychology covers a wide range of facts, and these are studied by many different methods. Such a book as this can, of course, be but the slightest beginning of a study of psychology, — of the thoughts and feelings of men, their relation to the nervous system and the human actions which they arouse and guide. The field of the science is so wide, and the methods of studying it so various that any one small book can present only the most general principles and offer only the simplest kind of an introduction to psychology as a whole. During the year 1903 alone there were published over two thousand 3i9 320 Conclusion books and articles on psychology or allied topics, written by recognized scientific workers. These included studies of the psychology of children as well as of adults; studies of the insane, of the feeble-minded and of animals as well as of ordinary human beings ; studies of the growth and decay of mind as well as analysis of its normal conditions ; studies of the deeper realities behind human lives as well as of mental facts taken at their face value. The psy- chologists who wrote them used in some cases observation and reflection, in other cases comparison, experiment and measurements. In many cases all these methods were employed. The subject ranged from The Psychology of Advertising to The Psychology of Religion, from Habit Formation in the CrazvUsh to the Aesthetics of Unequal Division. The Subject Matter of Psychology.— The chief divisions of psychology and the subject matter dealt with by each are: General Psychology : The ordinary mental life of human beings. Individual Psychology : The nature and amount of the mental differences which are found"among human beings. Abnormal Psychology : Exceptional and unhealthy mental traits. Child Psychology : The mental life of children. The grozvth of mental life in the individual and in the race is often regarded as a special division of psychology and called Genetic Psychology. Animal Psychology : The mental life and ways of learning of the lower ani- mals. The Relations of Psychology 321 Physiological Psychology Social Psychology : Educational Psychology : The relations between mental life and conditions of the body, especially of the nerv- ous system. The division of psychology dealing with the relation of stimulus to sensation is called Psycho- physics. Those aspects of mental life which are connected with the influence of human be- ings on one another and the action of human beings in groups. Those aspects of mental life which are connected with the production of changes in human beings, especially by consciously directed hu- man influences. Philosophical Psychology : The fundamental realities be- hind the facts of mental life. The place of mental life in the universe as a whole. The Methods of Psychology. — The chief methods of studying mental facts and the names commonly given to them are : Observation: Mental facts are noticed (1) directly in oneself by introspection, or (2) indi- rectly in others by studying their be- havior and their statements about their mental lives. 322 Conclusion Analysis : Complex mental facts are broken up into their elements. The composition of mental states is studied. Experiment: Mental facts are noticed under special conditions arranged for the purpose. Measurement : Quantitative estimates of mental facts and their relationships are made. Comparison : Any one group of mental facts is studied in the light of others. Human mental life is studied in connection with animal mental life. Adult minds are com- pared with the minds of children ; nor- mal mental conditions with abnormal, etc. Reflection : All methods imply the thoughtful, logical consideration of facts. Any one of the kinds of subject matter may be studied by several methods. For instance, Child Psychology may be studied by all the methods except by direct introspec- tive observation. It could be so studied if there were children who were also psychological students. Each method is, however, in the present state of the science, more appropriate to some kinds of subject matter than to others. Thus animal psychology is very often compara- tive; philosophical psychology is rarely aided by experi- ments or measurements; individual pschology is much more frequently quantitative than is social psychology. The tendency of the present time is to rely less on mere observation and analysis and more upon carefully planned experiments conducted with quantitative precision. § 63. The Relations of Psychology to Other Sciences Psychology is related to other sciences both as a dependent and as a contributor. It needs the results of The Relations of Psychology 323 physiology to explain the action of the nervous system which is the basis of mental life as we know it. It sup- plies or should supply the fundamental principles upon which sociology, economics, history, anthropology, lin- guistics and the other sciences dealing with human thought and action should be based. The connection between psychology and physiology has been illustrated so often in this book as to need no further comment. Everywhere we have to seek for the physiological basis of mental facts and connections. Through physiology, psychology makes connection with anatomy, physics and chemistry. The structure of the body must be known if we are to understand the action of the sense organs, central nervous system and muscles. The nature of the physical forces must be known if we are to understand the ways in which the sense organs are stimulated by outside events. With some of the physical sciences, such as geology, astronomy, physical geography, paleontology, botany and mineralogy, psychology has only the most remote relations. With the non-physical sciences, the connections should naturally be closer. The story of human life as told by anthropology and history; the picture of man's dealings with man given by sociology ; the analysis which econom- ics makes of human action in the production, distribution and consumption of wealth ; the record of the processes of human thought which is stored up in languages, — all these should furnish material for the student of human thought, feeling and action. On the other hand, the facts and laws of psychology, — its account of why human beings think and feel and act as they do, — should provide the general basis for the interpretation and explanation of the great events studied by history, the complex activities of civilized society, the motives that 324 Conclusion control the action of labor and capital, and the causes to which linguistic inventions and modifications are due. Theoretically, history, sociology, economics, linguistics and the other 'humanities' or sciences of human affairs are all varieties of psychology. But in fact the connec- tions have not been close. These sciences have not attained sufficient insight into general principles or suffi- cient precision in the knowledge of details to offer psy- chology very many valuable contributions. And psy- chology, for the same reasons and also because the greater part of its endeavors so far have been confined to the one problem of the way we come to feel the world of things, — to perceive space, color, form, movement, weight and the like, — has not been a necessity to students of these sciences. On the whole, psychology has at present more to gain than give. But in the future psychology will undoubtedly assume the relation to the other sciences of human affairs which physics now holds to geology, meteorology, astronomy and the like; it will become the fundamental science in the mental world. § 64. The Relations of Psychology to the Arts The sciences state facts and laws; the arts give rules for practical procedure. Science seeks to know the world; the arts, to control it. Each art is or should be dependent upon some science or sciences for its general principles. Thus the rules of the art of architecture should be derived from the laws of mechanics, aesthetics, etc. ; the practice of medicine and surgery should be founded in the sciences of physiology, pathology, bac- teriology, anatomy, etc. ; the art of steel-making depends upon the facts of chemistry and metallurgy. If there were a complete science of psychology,— if the laws of human nature were fully known, — all the arts The Relations of Psychology 325 concerned with human thought, feeling- and action would be based upon it. The orator and actor would seek from psychology knowledge of the laws governing the feelings of an audience ; the man of business would ask from psy- chology an account of the motives which influence men in buying and selling; the teacher would derive his methods from a consideration of the psychological laws of learning; the statesman would study psychology to find the probable effect on a population of a certain law or policy; the manufacturer would obtain the advice of a psychological expert concerning the conditions under which his employees would work most intelligently and efficiently. Psychology is not sufficiently advanced as yet to give the man engaged in the control of human forces much more useful knowledge than he can obtain by direct observation of his own special problems and common sense inferences from what he sees in daily life. And the only practical sphere in which there has yet been any important relation between the science of psychology and the arts of control over mental life is that of education. In this case the value of the science has been perhaps exaggerated. The art of teaching has been improved by being based upon the science of psychology, but not so much as one might hope. As the science progresses, it will more and more pro- vide with useful rules all the arts that aim to influence men, and will more and more be recognized as a part of the equipment of the teacher, business man, clergyman, employer, statesman or writer. Even now there are signs of a rapidly growing recognition of its importance by practical men. Psychology and Education. — Education was men- tioned as the one art which has been commonly supposed 326 Conclusion to rest upon a foundation of psychology. The supposi- tion has a far better warrant now than it had fifty or even ten years ago. Besides the general recommendations concerning the best ways to get boys and girls to study, to notice, attend to, understand, remember and apply knowledge, to form habits and develop capacities, which spring out of the facts of general psychology, there are three lines of special psychological knowledge which are influencing the prac- tical work of education. (1) The psychology of child- hood has acquired facts concerning instinctive tendencies, the gradual maturing of capacities, the tendencies useful and harmful in children's habits of observing, associating and reasoning, the actual kinds and amounts of knowledge which they may be expected to possess at different ages and under different conditions, their likes and dislikes, the relation of their mental to their physical well being and the like. You will hardly find a book or address on the art of teaching before 1890, which pays any attention to the fact of instinctive tendencies and you will hardly find one after 1900 which does not. The knowledge of these facts is altering the treatment of children in homes as well as in schools. (2) The results of researches in dynamic psychology, mostly quantitative, into the nature and amount of individual differences, the relative shares of original nature and experience in the formation of human intellect and character, the relationships between various factors in education and certain traits of mind, and other allied topics, are being studied by the men and women who plan educational systems, construct the pro- grams of studies for the schools and select the methods of teaching to be followed, — who, that is, administer the affairs of education. For instance, the old practice of trying to get everyone in a class to the same level of The Relations of Psychology 327 achievement is fast vanishing as a result of increasing knowledge of individual differences. (3) The detailed studies of special topics, such as the time taken to per- ceive objects, or the nature of eye-movements, or the course of fatigue, or the relation of motor skill to intel- lectual capacity, frequently provide some fact or theory upon which those who have charge of school systems or classes of scholars base changes in their practice. For instance, manual training, though introduced into the schools largely because of the belief that in some subtle way the acquisition of bodily skill improved the intellec- tual powers, is coming year by year, as later studies show this relationship between bodily skill and intellect to be not at all close, to base its claims rather upon the value of the knowledge of physical things, the appreciation of industry and art, the actual skill and the interest in con- structive activity which it produces. § 65. The Relations of Psychology to the Personal Con- duct of Life Knowledge of psychology should make one better able to control his own mental life. Man is more nearly master of his own intellect and character than of anything else in nature. The mind is readily influenced, the nerv- ous system being the most modifiable of all the bodily organs, and one has a power over himself that he has over no other mind. 'Psychologist, improve thyself is an even more just command than 'Physician, heal thyself/ The application of psychological knowledge to the work of self-improvement has important limitations, how- ever. The first is due to the same fact that limits its application to the arts of controlling others, — the incom- pleteness of the science : we do not know enough about psychology to give us self-knowledge and self-control. 328 Conclusion In the second place, making the most of one's own intellect and character depends largely upon the knowledge of one's own individual psychology, of the mental character- istics peculiar to oneself, of one's special variations from the common human type. But this knowledge the study of general psychology does not supply ; it must be gained by direct observation. In the third place, the habit of taking an impartial, purely scientific view of oneself is rare. To see ourselves as others see us, or as a scientific observer would see us — who of us even tries to do that ? Even with the limitations of the inadequacy of psy- chology, the indispensability of direct observation of individual make-up, and the rarity of a scientific attitude toward oneself, psychology can minister to the art of self- improvement. Although this book presents but the out- lines of the science, it should teach a number of lessons in the conduct of life. A brief mention of some of these may indicate what the student could expect from further knowledge of psychology. It is a natural tendency, when disturbed by any un- pleasant fact, to do one thing after another blindly in the hope of getting rid of or altering the fact. This holds of mental as well as bodily life. If we find that we are not very well liked by some companion, we do this or that to please him in a hit or miss fashion ; if we grow irritable during the day, we try to work it off in a fit of scolding or we go out doors for a tramp or we do nothing; if we become discouraged and pessimistic, we resort to prayer or to drink or to a change of air as our habits may be, from no rational idea of what is the matter with us or what is its best remedy. Now every step in psychological study teaches us that for everything in mental life there is a reason, that what anyone thinks or feels or does at any time is the result of causes, and that these are to at The Relations of Psychology 329 least some extent knowable. When in mental difficulty, do not worry or aimlessly try this or that, but seek the reason, is the plain teaching of psychology. The advice is worth following. The cause will not always be found ; when it is found, to avoid it or to find a remedy for its action will in some cases be impossible. But there will be very many cases where an intelligent search for the reason of a mental fact will soon disclose both it and the means of preventing it. Too often the energy of life is wasted in sickly thought or unproductive emotion. Life is wrecked morally for anyone who is content with fine thoughts and fine feelings. Psychology, in teaching us that the function of mental life is to arouse and guide action, warns us against the errors of the sentimentalist and emotional enthusiast. The lessons of church and of school are unfortunately often insufficient, and even misleading, here. To feel love toward God and righteousness, to thrill with admiration for the heroes of history and fiction, to say fine things about truth and duty— these are too often accepted as virtues in and of themselves. Psychology teaches us that they are worthy only in so far as they are expressed in worthy conduct, — that, as mere feelings, they may even be vices because they may encourage the habit of feeling satisfied with being a wolf in action with a sheep's cloth- ing of sentiment. This is a sound lesson. Not only the hateful Pecksniffs and the charming Sentimental Tommys, but every one of us, needs it. You think and feel so as to do, and what you do — that and that alone you will really be. It is a common fallacy in human conduct to try to do a thing merely because someone else has done it with suc- cess. Jones made a fortune by speculating in stocks. Why not I? Miss Smith went on the stage and is a 22 330 Conclusion great actress. Why not I ? The reason why is that you are not Jones or Miss Smith. The fallacy is the neglect of differences in capacity. To know our powers and our limitations is the first step in using them wisely. Many of our failures are due to forgetfulness of our limita- tions; many of our missed opportunities are due to for- getfulness of our powers. We spoil a first rate artisan to make an inferior lawyer. She who might be happy and useful as a wife and mother becomes a dissatisfied and inefficient teacher. Psychology teaches us to take stock of our mental equipment and to wisely dispose our forces in the attack on life's problems, to seek carefully for the lines of least resistance. Perhaps the most important of all the practical lessons of psychology is furnished by the general law of the modification of the mind by every thought and feeling and act of a man's life. Common experience teaches us in a vague and partial way that what we are at any time depends upon what we have been "and done in the past; but life is so complex and the causes of the growth of intellect and character are so hidden that unless we have studied mental life scientifically we are almost sure to make two errors, — to suppose ( I ) that much in our lives is due to chance and (2) that by an act of will we can at any time blot out the past and begin again. Psychology proves and reinforces the practical conclusion of the wise men of all ages that every thought and act of life counts, that we build the ladder by which we climb, that nothing happens by chance. Though we seem to forget what we learn, each mental acquisition really leaves its mark and makes future judgments more sagacious; a few indul- gences in some useless or bad habit are of small conse- quence but they are of some consequence; nothing of good or evil is ever lost; we may forget and forgive, but The Relations of Psychology 331 the neurones never forget or forgive. Balzac somewhere says that if a young man is upright and honorable till he is twenty-five he can never become thoroughly vicious. It is certain that every worthy deed represents a modification of the neurones of which nothing can ever rob us. Every event of a man's mental life is written indelibly in the brain's archives, to be counted for or against him, not at some far off judgment day, but in every future step of his mental career. We must learn then that no intellec- tual or moral response is without importance and dignity. The influence of each one lasts as long as life; the little things prepare for the great ; no effort for truth and right is ever a waste; no error should ever be without regret. We must learn to have full confidence that we shall think wisely and act nobly in face of the great problems and decisions, if we do the measure of our duty by the common day's work of thought and action. Our only responsi- bility toward the unknown is to do our best by the known. He who is faithful in a very little is given authority over ten cities. Man not only creates his own future by the responses he makes from moment to moment ; he also creates in some measure his own present by his power to select what features of his surroundings shall influence him. The psychology of attention should teach us that in some degree we can literally make the world. We can avoid the pain and distress and cherish the joy and hope. It is our choice whether the world shall be sordid and mean or inspiring and noble, — shall be ugly or beautiful, en- couraging or disheartening. There is no place in nature so repellent as to possess no feature which attention might select to enjoy; nor is there any place so lovely as not to make dissatisfied one who should focus a fault-finding mind on some one of its details. We are as truly and 33 2 Conclusion perhaps as much rulers as victims of circumstances. As saints burning at the stake have felt only the joy of worship, so we may refine away the dross from life simply by not attending to it. To banish great physical pain or impressive misfortune is perhaps too much to expect of ordinary mortals, but surely there is no excuse for any student of psychology who does not keep his stream of attentive thought turned away from minor discomforts and mishaps, petty irrelevancies and idle regrets. One of our chief practical problems is to conduct life so that we may think and act rightly with as little effort or strain as possible. Effort or strain is what makes work unpleasant in the doing and destructive of mental health, and the worker a trial to all his friends and associates. It is our duty to them and to ourselves to work easily, without fatigue and irritation. Psychology teaches us that mental activity is in itself pleasant, that to think is more enjoyable than to be empty-minded, that the effort and strain of thought and action are not concerned with the actual thinking and doing, but with not thinking and not doing, — with inhibiting irrelevant ideas and undesir- able impulses. The effort involved in reasoning we found, in Chapter XVII, to be due to the irruption into our stream of thought of ideas which did not fit our purposes and so needed to be promptly ruled out of the mind's court; the effort involved in voluntary action we found, in Chapter XVIII, to be due to the rise of impulses which conscience or wisdom could not approve and which the will must promptly squelch. The effort of being indus- trious is the effort not to heed the calls of idle pleasures. We become weary, worn and peevish because of what we do not do. Psychology offers us help in two ways. In the first place tension and effort may be lessened by so arranging The Relations of Psychology 333 circumstances that undesirable ideas and impulses requir- ing inhibition will seldom appear. The school-boy who cannot do his lessons in the midst of the family circle often works successfully if given a study room for him- self. Men for whom the moral life was a bitter and wearying struggle have found peace and rest in the monastery. Every intelligent worker soon learns that discretion is often the better part of valor, that to avoid temptation is often wiser than to resist it. Psychology also teaches us to distinguish between those impulses which should be overcome by never letting them come to the front, and those which should be faced and conquered outright. The rule is simple. Any undesirable impulses which must be often met sooner or later need to be abso- lutely inhibited : any which are transitory, infrequent and unnecessary in life may best be avoided. It is the error of the weak individual to always either yield or avoid; it is the error of the strong mind to make needless victories, expensive in their tax on the power of inhibition ; it is the error of all of us to fight useless battles, — useless either because, being weak, we are sure to be beaten or because, though strong, we gain victory at too great a cost. In the second place much of the need for voluntary inhibition is due to a misleading notion taught to many of us in school that the harder work we make of any mental task, the better we shall do it. T must now make a tre- mendous effort at concentration, bend all my energies to the work, gird up my loins for an intense fight,' we say, with the expectation that the amount of effort that we expend will decide the amount of work that we get done. Nothing could be more perverse. Other things being equal, the more easily we work, the more we shall accom- plish. The success of mental work is measured by the amount done and its quality, not by the feelings we have 334 - Conclusion when doing it. The most efficient workers make the least display of effort; and the best men and women morally are those who do what is right with the least moral strug- gle. The mental attitude toward intellectual work should be to think, not of our efforts, but of the problem in hand. We should do right with as little trouble to ourselves or anyone else as may be. As a last illustration of the applications of psychology to the practical control of life, we may take the outcome of the general fact that our feelings of things and of personal conditions are due to conditions of the body. Common sense has by the present day come to agree that a headache is more likely to come from overeating or eye strain than from anxiety or disappointed love, and that the temper and peevishness of children are caused by improper food rather than by the sin of Adam. Psy- chology extends the lesson through the entire realm of sensation and the sensory emotions. Of course, improv- ing one's health is not the only way to improve one's temper, but it is the easiest. Correcting eye defects is not the only way to increase the quantity of one's mental work, but it is one of the most profitable. A sagacious school principal who realized the effect of the physical functions on intellect and disposition remarked that he looked especially for teachers who had strong 'insides.' Certainly one of the best means of preserving intellectual vigor and emotional balance is to maintain healthy 'insides/ These samples may serve to show that psychology has a real bearing upon mental hygiene. At the present time its recommendations are necessarily somewhat vague, but with every advance in the science of mental facts we may rightly expect a corresponding advance in the art of con- trolling them. The Relations of Psychology 335 Concerning the general position of psychology amongst other sciences and in relation to the arts, the facts given in this chapter emphasize the incorrectness of the common notion of psychology as a study apart from the recognized sciences and devoid of meaning for the practical affairs of life. On the contrary psychology is intimately connected with the biological and social sciences and is likely in the future to become one of the most useful of them to the practical man. References A. Stout, Manual, 14-32. Titchener, Outline, §§ 5-6. Angell, Psychology, pp. 3-10. B. Ebbinghaus, Grundzilge, § 6. James, Principles, VII. 336 Topics for Special Study Topics for Special Study The topics and references given below are chosen to meet the needs of students in their first year of psycho- logical work, who wish or need to make an intensive study of several topics. Those marked (A) may conven- iently be studied by all students and even before any text- book is completed. Those marked (B) should in most cases be studied only by interested and capable students and after the text-book is nearly or quite completed. The aim in the selection of references has been not only to name books and articles by thoroughly qualified experts, but also to name only those which are not too advanced for college students, which can be readily ob- tained by the ordinary college or normal school class, and which exist in an English text. Books known to be out of print, such as Galton's 'Inquiries into Human Faculty,' are for this reason rejected; and articles in periodicals which the student would be unable to buy and of which a single copy or none would be found in his institution's library, are used very sparingly. It is unfortunately true that not one in fifty amongst college and normal school students of psychology can read a technical book in a for- eign language. All the books referred to may well be bought for the library of any institution which offers in- struction in psychology. In some cases the reference is not to pages to be read but to sets of experiments to be done. Such cases are marked Experimental. (A) 1. The Nervous System. The Growth of the Brain, by H. H. Donaldson, or The Anatomy of the Central Nervous System, etc., by L. Edinger (translation). (A) 2. Sensations. Chapters I-VII of An Introduction to Physiological Psychology, by T. Ziehen (translation), or The Analysis of Sensations, by E. Mach (transla- tion) . Topics for Special Study 337 (A) 3. The Sense Organs. The Physiology of the Senses, by J. G. M'Kendrick and W. Snodgrass. (A) 4. The Experimental Study of Connections of Impression. Chapters V and VI of Analytical Psychology, by L. Witmer. Experimental. (A) 5. Vision. Sight, by J. Le Conte. (A) 6. Color Vision. The Colour Sense, by Grant Allen, or Colour Blindness and Colour Perception, by F. W. Edridge-Green. (B) 7. Hearing. L' Audition, by P. Bonnier. (A) 8. The Experimental Study of Perception. Chapters I and IV of Analytical Psychology, by L. Witmer. Experimental. (B) 9. The Perception of Space. Chapter XX of The Princi- ples of Psychology, by W. James, or Studies in Audi- tory and Visual Space-Perception, by A. H. Pierce. Illusions. Illusions, by J. Sully. Hallucinations. Hallucinations and Illusions, by E. Parish (translation). Apperception. Apperception, by K. Lange (transla- tion). Apperception. The Reading of Words; A Study in Apperception (in the American Journal of Psychol- ogy, 1897, VIII, 315-393), by W. B. Pillsbury and The Apperception of the Spoken Sentence (in the American Journal of Psychology, 1900, XII, 80-130), by W. C. Bagley. ^ (A) 14. Attention. The Psychology of Attention, by T. Ribot. (B) 15. Imagery. Mental Imagery (Monograph Supplement No. 7 of the Psychological Review), by W. Lay, or An Essay on the Creative Imagination, by T. Ribot (translation). (A) 16. Memory. Memory, by F. W. Colgrove, or La memoir e, by J. J. Van Biervliet. (B) 17. The Association of Ideas. Association (Monograph Supplement No. 2 of the Psychological Review), by M. W. Calkins, or ^association des idees, by E. Claparede. (B) 18. Reasoning. The Psychology of Reasoning, by A. Binet (translation). (A) 10. (A) n. (A) 12 (B) 13- 338 Topics for Special Study (A) 19. The Physiological Basis of the Emotions. Chapter XXV of The Principles of Psychology, by W. James and Les emotions or Ueber Gemiithsbewegungen, by C. Lange (translations from the Danish). (A) 20. The Expression of the Emotions. The Expression of the Emotions, by C. Darwin. (B) 21. Fear. Fear, by A. Mosso (translation) and A Study of Fears (in the American Journal of Psychology, 1897. VIII, 147-249), by G. S. Hall. (B) 22. Anger. A Study of Anger (in the American Journal of Psychology, 1899, X, 516-591), by G. S. Hall. (B) 23. Joy. The Emotion of Joy (Monograph Supplement No. 9, of the Psychological Review), by G. V. N. Dearborn. (A) 24. The Instincts of Animals. Habit and Instinct, by C. L. Morgan. (A) 25. The Instincts of Man. Chapter XXIV of The Princi- ples of Psychology, by W. James and Chapters III- XIII of The Fundamentals of Child Study, by E. A. Kirkpatrick. (B) 26. Movement. Le mouvement, by R. S. Woodworth. (A) 27. Suggestion and Hypnotism. Chapter XXVI of The Principles of Psychology, by W. James and one of the following: Hypnotism, by A. Moll (translation) ; Hypnotism, by J. M. Bramwell; The Psychology of Suggestion, by B. Sidis. (B) 28. Diseases of the Will. Diseases of the Will, by T. A. Ribot (translation) and Les obsessions et les impul- sions, by E. Regis and A. Pitres. (B) 29. The Self. Chapter X of The Principles of Psychology, by W. James and Chapter VII of Book IV of A Manual of Psychology, by G. F. Stout. (B) 30. Physical and Mental Fatigue. Fatigue, by A. Mosso (translation), or La fatigue intellectuelle, by A. Binet and V. Henri. (A) 31. Dreams. Chapter IV of Sleep, by M. de Manaceine (translation) and Les rives, by P. Tissie. (B) 32. The Acquisition of Skill. Studies in the Psychology of the Telegraphic Language (in the Psychological Re- view, 1897, IV, 27-53 and 1899, VI, 346-375), by W. L. Bryan and N. Harter, or The Practice Curve Topics for Special Study 339 (Monograph Supplement No. 19 of the Psycholog- ical Review), by J. H. Bair, or Studies in the Psychology and Physiology of Learning (in the American Journal of Psychology, 1903, XIV, 201- 251), by E. J. Swift. (A) 33. The Inheritance of Mental Capacities. Hereditary Genius, by F. Galton, or Mental and floral Heredity in Royalty, by F. A. Woods. (B) 34. Sex Differences in Mental Traits. Chapters VI-VIII, XII-XVI and XVIII of Man and Woman, by H. Ellis, and Mental Traits of Sex, by H. B. Thompson. (A) 35. Experimental Psychology. Experimental Psychology and Culture, by G. M. Stratton, or The New Psy- chology, by E. W. Scripture, or Analytical Psychol- ogy, by L. Witmer. (A) 36. The Psychology of Infancy. The Mind of the Child, by T. W. Preyer (translation), or First Steps in Mental Growth, by D. R. Major. (A) 37. The Psychology of Childhood. Studies of Childhood, by J. Sully, or The Fundamentals of Child Study, by E. A. Kirkpatrick, or Notes on Child Study, by E. L. Thorndike. (A) 38. The Mental Life of Animals. Animal Behavior, by C. L. Morgan, or Animal Intelligence (Monograph Sup- plement No. 8 of the Psychological Review), by E. L. Thorndike. (B) 39. The Psychology of Primitive Man. The Basis of Social Relations, by D. G. Brinton, or Primitive Culture, by E. B. Tylor. (A) 40. The Psychology of Races. The Psychology of Peo- ples, by G. Le Bon (translation), or La psychologie du peuple franqais, by A. Fouillee, or The Russian People (in The Expansion of Russia, by A. N. Rambard), by Novikov Yakov. (A) 41. The Psychology of Insanity. The Pathology of Mind, by H. Maudsley, or Sanity and Insanity, by C. Mer- cier. (A) 42. The Psychology of Intellectual Superiority. English Men of Science, by F. Galton and A Study of British Genius, by H. Ellis. 34-0 Topics for Special Study (B) 43. The Psychology of the Feeble-minded. The Mental Affections of Children, by W. W. Ireland, or The Psychology of Mentally Deficient Children, by N. Norsworthy or Mental Defectives, by M. W. Barr. (A) 44. The Psychology of the Mob. The Croivd, by G. Le Bon (translation), or U opinion et la foule, by G. Tarde. (A) 45. The Psychology of the Criminal. The Criminal, by H. Ellis. (A) 46. The Psychology of the Deaf-Blind. The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller, or Laura Bridgman, by M. H. Elliott and F. H. Hall and the article on Laura Bridgman "in Aspects of German Culture, by G. S. Hall. (B) 47. The Psychology of the Weather. The Weather, by E. G. Dexter. (A) 48. The Psychology of Play. The Play of Animals and The Play of Man, both by K. Groos (translations). (A) 49. The Psychology of Religion. The Varieties of Re- ligious Experience, by W. James, or The Psychology of Religion, by E. D. Starbuck, or The Spiritual Life and The Religion of a Mature Mind, both by G. A. Coe. (A) 50. The Psychology of the Occult. Fact and Fable in Psy- chology, by J. Jastrow. (B) 51. The Psychology of Speech. The Faculty of Speech, by J. Collins, or Aphasia, by F. Bateman. (B) 52. The Development of Speech. Chapter V of The Psy- chology of Childhood, by F. Tracy, and Die Entwick- lung von Sprachen und Denken beim Kinde, by W. Ament. (B) 53. The Psychology of Reading. On the Psychology and Physiology of Reading (in the American Journal of Psychology 1900, XI, 283-302 and 1901, XII, 292- 312), by E. B. Huey, or Psychologische Unter- suchungen iiber das Lesen, by B. Erdmann and R. Dodge, or The Psychology of Reading, by W. F. Dearborn. (B) 54. The Psychology of Spelling. Spelling in the Elemen- tary School, by O. P. Cornman. (B) 55. The Psychology of Arithmetic. The Psychology of Number, by J. A. McLellan and J. Dewey. Topics for Special Study 341 (B) 56. The Psychology of Writing. Zur Psychologic des Schreibens, by W. Preyer. (A) 57. The Psychology of Advertising. The Theory of Ad- vertising, by W. D. Scott, and On the Psychology of Advertising, by Harlow Gale (pp. 39-69 of his Psy- chological Studies). (A) 58. Psychology and Philosophy. An Introduction to Phil- osophy, by F. Paulsen (translation) and Chapters V and VI of The Principles of Psychology, by W. James. (B) 59. Psychology and Philosophy. Why the Mind Has a Body, by C. A. Strong, or The Philosophy of Mind, by G. T. Ladd. (B) 60. Psychology and Ethics. The Psychology of Ethics, by D. Irons. (B) 61. Psychology and Aesthetics. Aesthetic Principles, by H. R. Marshall. (B) 62. Psychology and Sociology. The Psychic Factors of Civilization, by L. F. Ward, or The Principles of So- ciology, by F. H. Giddings, or The Laws of Imita- tion, by G. Tarde (translation), or Etudes de psy- chologic sociale, by G. Tarde. (B) 63. Psychology and Economics. La psychologic econo- mique, by G. Tarde. (A) 64. Psychology and Education. Talks to Teachers on Psy- chology, by W. James, or Genetic Psychology for Teachers, by C. H. Judd, or Herbartian Psychology Applied to Education, by J. Adams, or The Principles of Teaching, by E. L. Thorndike, or The Psychologi- cal Principles of Education, by H. H. Home. Bibliographies of Psychology The books and articles on psychology which have been written since the beginning of 1894 are carefully indexed in the annual 'Psychological Index' of the Psychological Review. A selected bibliography containing the titles of all important books on psychology is being published as a volume of the Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychol- ogy, edited by J. M. Baldwin. 342 Bibliographies Guidance in the selection of reading may be best ob- tained from the reviews of psychological books found in the leading psychological journals. Those in English are: Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Phil- osophy; The American Journal of Psychology; The Psy- chological Review; The British Journal of Psychology; and The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods. Nature and Science also furnish trustworthy guidance. INDEX Illustrations Page 1. Ambiguous and hidden pictures 41 2. The brain and spinal cord 122 3. The cerebrum 123 4. A section of the brain as it appears to the naked eye. . . . 124 5. Sketches of neurones 125 6-1 1. Drawings of the finer structure of the brain 128-131 12-16. Micro-photographs of the finer structure of the brain. 132 17. A section of the brain as it appears to the naked eye. . 132 18-23. Drawings of neurones and parts of neurones. .. .133-136 24. Scheme showing sheaths of a neurone 137 25. Drawings showing sheaths of neurones 137 26-29. Micro-photographs of neurones and parts of neurones. 136 30-37. Drawings of different varieties of neurones 138-141 38-40. Micro-photographs of different varieties of neurones 140 41. Scheme showing connections of neurones 142 42-43. Drawings showing connections of neurones 143 44.-47. Schematic representations of the arrangement of neurones 150-153 48-55. Drawings of sensory neurone-endings 154-156 48. Neurone endings in the epidermis 154 49 50 52 53 54 55 56 Corpuscle of Rufhni 155 Tendon with nerve-plaque 155 Taste buds 156 Neurone endings in the ear 156 Neurone endings in the nose 156 Nervous elements of the retina 156 Ending of a motor neurone 157 57 and 58. Sensory areas in the cortex 159 59 and 60. Motor areas in the cortex 160 61. The neural correlate of perception 171 62-67. Diagrams for experiments on the blind spot 177-179 343 344 Index Page 68-73. Diagrams for experiments in binocular vision... 181-182 74. Apparatus for experiments on animal learning. 200 75. A diagram to illustrate the influence of the law of the mind's set 206 76 and 77. Diagrams to test the law of relativity 231-232 78-81. Diagrams to illustrate the law of association in per- ception 234-236 82. A diagram for an experiment in purposive thinking 268 83. A diagram for an experiment in the accuracy of movement 299 84. A diagram for an experiment in the influence of move- ments as antecedents , , . . 307 Experiments Page 1. Pressure spots 32 2. Cold spots 33 3. The threshold for pressure 33 4. The mixture of taste and smell 34 5. Sensations and percepts 41 6. Percept and stimulus 42 7. After-images and recalled images 57 8. The duration of mental processes 96 9. The fluctuations of attention 106 10. The relative time of focal and marginal thinking 106 11. The influence of attention on memory 107 H 12. The aid of attention in analysis 107 13. The influence of the absence of neurone endings in a por- tion of a sensitive surface 177 14, 15 and 16. Sensations from bilaterally symmetrical sensi- tive surfaces 179 17. Instincts of the reflex type 198 18. The modifiability of instincts 198 19. Color contrast 233 20. The law of diminishing returns! 233 21. The law of association in perception 234 22. 23, 24 and 25. Apperception .234-235 26 and 27. Spontaneous and controlled association 271-273 28. The acquisition of skill 301 29. The influence of practice on motor skill 301 30. Movements as stimuli to mental states 308 Index 345 Names and Subjects Abstract ideas, 6, 68. Abstraction (See Analysis). Acquired Tendencies, described, 14 f. ; in general, 184 ff. ; 199 ff.; in perception, 225 ff. ; in the connections of ideas, 239 ff. ; in connections of expres- sion, 274 ff. ; to attend, 101 f. ; to feel satisfaction and dis- comfort, 315 f. Action, 10 ff. (See also Expres- sion, connections of) . Adaptation, 113 f. Adjustments, in motor skill, 300. Aesthetic feelings, 80 ff. Affection (See Emotions, Sat- isfaction and Discomfort). Afferent (See Sensory). After-images, 57. Aikins, H. A., 72. Analogy, response by, 211 ff. Analysis, and attention, 105; the law of, 215 ff. Animals, mental states of, no, 221, 320. Apperception (See Impression, connections of and Associa- tions of ideas). Applications of psychology, in the case of instincts, 196 f., of the law of association, 209 f. ; of connections of impression, 230!; of memory, 260 ff. ; of reasoning, 270 f. ; of action, 293 ff. ; to the arts, 325 f . ; to the personal conduct of life, 327 ff- Assimilation, fill, 213, 276. Association, connections of, 14; 23 of ideas, 17, 238 ff.; the law of, 199 ff. ; 227 f., 234, 239 f., 274 ff., 298 f., 309 ff., 315 f. Associations of ideas, 238 ff. ; and the general law of asso- ciation, 239 f.; the law of partial activity in, 240 f. ; simultaneous and successive, 241 f. ; laws of, 242; by similarity, 243; by contiguity, 243; selection among sequent ideas, 244 ff.; individual dif- ferences in, 249 f. ; control of, 260 ff. ; and memory, 255 f. ; and purposive thinking, 264. Associative neurones, 148 f. Attention, the nature of, 94 ff., 98; varieties of, 99 f. ; volun- tary and involuntary, 100 f. ; native and acquired, 101 f.; immediate and derived, 102 f. ; sensorial and intellectual, 103; and analysis, 105; func- tion of, 118; law of associa- tion in habits of, 309 ff. ; and neglect, 313 *• Auditory images, 43, 47, 49. Auditory sensations, 25, 29. Automatism, 302 ff. Axis-cylinder process (See Axone). Axone, 132, 137. Bain, A., 44. Baldwin, J. M., j6. Barker, L. F., 121, 154, 155, 156, 160. Blind spot, 177 ff. 346 Index Blood supply, the influence of on mental life, 222. Bodily expression, of emotions, 81 f. ; of mental states in gen- eral, in f. Brain {See Nervous system). Bunge, 154. Cajal, Ramon y., 131. Calkins, M. W., 91. Capacities, defined, 17; attri- butes of, 191 f. ; specialization of, 192 f. ; control of, 196 f. Cells, of nervous system {See Neurones). Cerebrum {See Nervous sys- tem). Choice, 87 f. Ciaccio, 155. Classification, of mental states in general, 3ff., 108 ff.; of movements, 11 f. ; of con- nections, 12 ff. ; of sensations, 24 ff. ; of percepts, 39 f. ; of images, 43 f. ; of feelings of relationships, 61 f. ; of feelings of meaning, 67 f. ; of judg- ments, 72; of emotions, 75 ff. ; of attention 99 f. ; of neurones, 147 ff. ; of the sub- ject matter of psychology 320 f. ; of the methods of psychology, 321 f. Clouston, 297. Collaterals, 132 ff. Color, sensations of, 24, 26; contrast, 229 232. Complex mental states, 8, 92. Concepts, described, 6, 68 ; func- tion of, 116; physiological basis of, 175. '(See also Meaning, feelings of). Conduct {See Expression, con- nections of). Conductivity of neurones, 145 f. Connections, in general, 12 ff. ; functions of, 117 f . ; original and acquired, 165 ff . ; phys- iological basis of, 222 f. ; the formation of, Chapter XIII; of impression, Chapter XV; between one mental state and another, Chapters XVI and XVII; of expression, Chap- ters XVIII and XIX. Consciousness {See Mental states). Contiguity, association by, 243. Continuity of mental life, 94. Contrast, 229, 232. Coordination of movements, 298 ff. Cortex of cerebrum, 121, 124, 128, 129 and Figs. 13-16. Curiosity, 190. Decision, 87 f. Deduction, 267 ff. Deliberation, 87. Dendrites, 132, 137. Desire, 87. Discomfort, influence of on connections, 166, 188, 200, 203, 204ff., 245 f., 265, 275; in- stinctive sources of, 315; the acquisition of feelings of, 315 ff. Dissociation, 215 ff. Duration, of sensations, 22; of mental states in general, 96. Index 347 Eberth, 154. Edinger, L., 121, 124, 128, 130, 132, 141, 154. Education {See Applications of psychology). Efferent neurones {See Motor neurones). Effort, 89, 100 f. ; 295 f. ; phys- iological basis of, 174. Emotions, denned, 7, 74; and sensations, 75 ; classification of, 75 ff. ; aesthetic, 80 . f. ; bodily expression of, 81 f. ; and action, 82; development of, 82 f. ; function of, 117; physiological basis of, 172 ff. ; James-Lange theory of, 172 f., 174. End organs {See Sense organs and Motor organs). Expression, movements of, 11; of the emotions, 81 f. ; the law of, 162 f. ; connections of, 274 ff. ; connections of ex- pression and the law of in- stinct, 274; and the law of association, 274 ff. ; and the law of assimilation, 276; and the law of analysis, 276 ; spon- taneous and purposive, 2j6 ff. ; individual differences in, 290 ff. ; the control of, 293 ff. Extensity of sensations, 23. Facts, feelings of, 58 ff. Fatigue of neurones, 167. Flechsig, P., 159. Frequency of connections as a cause of their permanence, 204, 206, 227 f., 245 ff., 274 ff. Functions of mental states, 111 ff. ; of sensations, 114; of per- cepts, 114 f. ; of images, 115; of memories, 115; of feelings of relationships, 115 f. ; of feelings 'of meaning. 116; of emotions, 117; of the connec- tions of mental states, 117 f. ; of selective processes, 118; of automatism, 304 f. Galton, F., 53 ff., 266. General notions {See Con- cepts). Gustatory sensations {See Tastes). Habits, 16, 199, 302. {See also Association, the law of, and Connections). Hallucinations, described, 35 ; physiological basis of, 171 ; causes of, 229 f. Heredity, 194 ff. Horsley, V., 160. Huxley, T. H., 45. Ideas, association of {See As- sociation). Illusions, defined, 35 ; physi- ological basis of, 171 ; causes of, 229. Imagery, {See Images). Images, defined, 5, 43 ; classifi- cation of, 43 f. ; variation in, 45 ff. ; types of individuals with respect to, 49; and per- cepts, 49 f. ; productive and reproductive, 50 f. ; and feel- ings of meaning, 68 f . ; of emotions, 83; function of, 115. 348 Index Imitation, 287 ff. Impression, connections of 224 ff.; inborn, 224 f . ; acquired, 225 ff. ; law of association in the case of, 227 ff. ; control of, 230 f. Impulses, 85 ff. Inattention, 104 f. Individual differences, in im- agery, 45 ff. ; in original ten- dencies, 193 f. ; in purely men- tal connections, 249 ff. ; in connections of expression, 290 ff. Individual notions, described, 6, 68; function of, 116; physio- logical basis of, 175 f. Induction, 267 ff. Inferences, 17. ' Inhibition, as a feature of at- tention, 101, 313 ff. ; as a func- tion of the nervous system, 163 f. ; of instincts, 188 f. ; in purposive thinking, 265 ff . ; in motor skill, 299 ff. ; and effort wasted, 332. Instincts, defined, 15 f. ; 187; de- layed, 187 f. ; transitory, 188; and habits, 188 f . ; 199 ff. ; indefiniteness of, 189 f . ; hu- man, 190 f. ; individual differ- ences in, 193 ff. ; the control of, 196 f. Intensity, of sensations, 23; of mental states in general, 96; as a cause of the formation of connections, 166, 207, 247, 275- Interest, 309 ff. (See also un- der Attention and Satisfac- tion). James, W., 3, 22, 42, 44, 46, 47, Si, 57, 60, 80, 93, 95, 172, 252, 259, 283, 297. Judgments, defined, 7, 71 ; classification of, 72; and reasoning, 71 f. Kinaesthetic sensations (See Movement, sensations of) . V. KOELLIKER, A., 121, 129, 130, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140. Ladd, G. T., 3. Lange, C, 172. Lay, W., 48, 49. v. Lenhossek, M., 121, 135, 136, 140, 156. Localization, of brain functions, 158 ff. McCosh, J., 3. Meaning, feelings of, described, 6, 65 ff.; classification of, 67 f. ; and images, 68 f. ; and reasoning, 69 f. ; functions of, 116. (See also under Indi- vidual notions, Concepts and Abstract ideas.) Medullary sheath, 134 ff. Memories, described, 5 f., 50 ff. ; function of, 115. Memory, and the law of asso- ciation, 255 ff. ; appropriate revival in, 257 f. ; individual differences in, 258 f. ; the con- trol of, 260 ff. Mental states, in general, 1 ff., 92 ff. ; function of, 111 ff. ; Index 349 physiological basis of, 169 ff. (See also under Sensations, percepts, etc.). Modifiability of the nervous sys- tem, 146 f. Moral training, 298 ff. Motor images, 43 ff. Motor neurones, 147 f. Motor organs, 157 f. Movements, in general, 10 ff. ; classification of, 11 f. ; sensa- tions due to, 306 ff. ; connec- tions involving, 298 ff. Native tendencies (See Original tendencies). Nervous system, gross struc- ture, 120 ff. ; finer structure, 125 ff. ; action of the, 144 ff. ; arrangement of the elements of, 147 ff. ; and mental states, 169 ff. Neurones, in relation to the nervous system, 125 ff. ; structure of, 132 ff. ; varieties of, 138 ff. ; connections of, 139, 141 ff. ; functions of, 144 ff. ; arrangement of, 147 ff- Original tendencies, defined, 14; attributes of, 184 ff. ; in per- ception, 224 f. ; and purely mental connections, 239; in action, 274; to automatic re- sponses, 303; in attention, 310; to feel satisfaction and discomfort, 315. (See also Instincts and Capacities). Partial activity, the general law of, 206 f. ; in connections be- tween one mental state and another, 240 f. ; in connec- tions of expression, 280 f. Perception (See Impression, connections of). Percepts, described, 5, 35 ff. ; and stimuli, 36 ff . ; and sen- sations, 39; classification of, 39 ff. ; function of, 114 f.; physiological basis of, 171. Personal feeling as a quality of mental states in general, 93. Persuasion, 286. Powers, 16. Pre-perception, 235 f. Psychology, the subject matter of, 1 ff. ; 319 ff. ; abnormal, 320; individual, 320; of chil- dren, 320 ; animal, 320 ; physi- ological, 120 ff., 321 ; sociolog- ical, 321 ; educational, 321 ; methods of, 321 f. ; the rela- tions of, to other sciences, 322 ff. ; to the arts, 324 ff. ; to education, 325 ; to the personal conduct of life, 327 ff. Purposive action (See under Expression, connections of). Purposive thinking, 264 ff. ; and spontaneous thinking, 264 f . ; selection in, 265 f. ; and reas- oning, 267 ff. Qualities, feelings of, 19 ff. Quality, of sensations, 23 f. Range, of sensations, 28. Reactions, 17. Reasoning, described, 17, 267; 350 Index and feelings of relationship, 62 f.; and feelings of mean- ing, 69 f.; and judgments, 71 f. ; inductive and deductive, 267 ff. ; factors in, 269 f.; training in, 270 f. Recency of connections, 166, 207, 245 ff., 275. Reflexes, 15, 198. Relationships, feelings of, de- scribed, 7, 58 *•; attributes of, 59 ff. ; classification of, 61 f.; and logical thought, 62; de- velopment of, 63 f . ; function of, 115 f.; psychological basis of, 174 ^ Relativity, law of, 228. Resistance, law of least, 164 f. Response, 17. Retzius, G., 154- Royce, J., 78. RUFFINI, ISS. Satisfaction, influence of on connections, 166, 200 ff., 245 f., 265, 274 f.; the source of, 315 ff- SCHAEFER, l60. • Scope of psychology, 3*9 ff- Scott, W. D., 289. Selection, 309 ff. (See also At- tention). Sensations, defined, 5, 19 ff. ; pure sensations, 21 ; elemen- tary sensations, 22 ; attributes, 22 ff. ; classification of, 24 ff. ; and stimuli, 28 ff. ; and per- cepts, 39; and emotions, 75; functions of, 114 f. ; physio- logical basis of, 170 f. ; caused by movements, 306 ff. Sense organs, 154 ff.; and sen- sations, 24 ff. Sense stimuli, connections of with mental states (See Im- pression) ; connections of with movements, 302 f. Sensitivity of neurones, 144 f. Sensory neurones, 147 f. Sheath of Schwann, 134, 137. Similarity, association by, 243. Skill in movement, 298 ff. Social implications of mental life, 94. Spontaneous action (See Ex- pression, connections of). Spontaneous thinking (See As- sociations of Ideas). Starr, M. A., 121, 132, 136, 140. Steinthal, H., 251. Stimulus, 17 (See also under Sensations). Stricker, S., 47 f. Stout, G. R, 3, 31. Suggestion, 286 ff. Synapsis, 141. Tastes, 26, 29, 34. Things, feelings of, 35 ff. Threshold of sensations, 28. Titchener, E. B., 3, 41, 78. Van Gehuchten, A., 121, 122, 123, 131, 133 138, 143, 152, 153, 156, 157, 159- Variations in individuals (See Individual differences). Vision, binocular, 179 ff. (See also Sensations). Index 351 Volition {See Expression, con- nections of) . Voluntary {See Purposive : See also under Attention and Ex- pression, connections of). Weber's Law, 229, 233. Will, 7, 85 ff. {See also Ex- pression, connections of). Wish, 87. WUNDT, W., 77.