A primer of psychology / by Edward Bradford Titchener.

  • Titchener, Edward Bradford, 1867-1927.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A primer of psychology / by Edward Bradford Titchener. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    304/340 (page 284)
    tent; the loss may be loss of substantives, or of proper names or of a few words, or of certain letters; one word may be substi- tuted for another; a particular phrase or series of syllables may be used on all occasions in all meanings; the patient may be unable to name an object unless he can trace the outline of the written word with his finger or foot or tongue; objective speech may be lost, but subjective speech (oaths and interjections: §88) remain; etc., etc. It is clear that the detailed study of single cases of aphasia may throw light upon the mechanism of thought and of the asso- ciation of ideas in the normal mind, — especially if the results of psychopathological observation be compared with those of brain physiology (Flechsig’s scheme of the cortical centres). Questions and Exercises (1) On waking from a visual dream, keep your eyes closed, and scrutinise the dots and splashes of colour that are sprinkled over the dark field. You will find that they correspond roughly in form and arrangement to the figures of the dream-scene. What does this prove ? (2) Write out a vivid dream, while it is fresh in your memory. Then work it over, and try to account for the sequence of ideas by the law of association. (3) Watch your dreams for a week, and note whether they are all visual, or whether sounds, etc., occur in them. During the following week, fix your attention steadily, before you go to sleep, upon a certain sound, taste, smell, etc.; and note whether sounds, tastes, smells, etc., occur afterwards among the dream-ideas. (4) The most general way in which mental derangement shows itself is in ‘defective concentration of the attention’ (Wundt). Apply this rule to the various forms of insanity described in §116. Draw diagrams of the typical insane consciousnesses, after the pattern of Figs. 10 and 19. (5) ‘What strikes one most, on going through an asylum for the first time, is the wonderfully little difference, whether in looks or in conduct, that there is between the insane and the sane.’ How is this possible ? (6) How do you explain the fact that certain butterflies, spiders, etc., ‘sham dead’ when taken in the hand ? And the similar fact that birds are ‘ fascinated ’ by snakes ?