Experimental Study of Associative Processes 109 



and that, therefore, and therefore only, a certain situation 

 brings forth a certain act. Returning to our analysis of 

 the association, this theory would say that there was no (9) 

 or (10) or (3) or (4), that the sense-impression gave rise, 

 when accompanied by the feeling of discomfort, to the im- 

 pulse (5) directly, without the intervention of any represen- 

 tations of the taste of the food, or the experience of being 

 outside, or the sight of oneself doing the act. This theory 

 might be modified so as to allow that the representations 

 could be there, but to deny that they were necessary, were 

 inevitably present, that the impulse was connected to the 

 sense-impression through them. It would then claim that 

 the effective part of the association was a direct bond be- 

 tween the situation and the impulse, but would not cut off 

 the possiblity of there being an aura of memories along with 

 the process. It then becomes a minor question of inter- 

 pretation which will doubtless sooner or later demand an 

 answer. I shall not try to answer it now. The more 

 radical question, the question of the utter exclusion of rep- 

 resentative trains of thought, of any genuine association 

 of ideas from the mental life of animals, is worth serious 

 consideration. I confess that, although certain authentic 

 anecdotes and certain experiments, to be described soon, 

 lead me to reject this exclusion, there are many qualities 

 in animals' behavior which seem to back it up. If one takes 

 his stand by a rigid application of the law of parsimony, he 

 will find justification for this view which no experiments of 

 mine can overthrow. 



Of one thing I am sure, and that is that it is worth while 

 to state the question and how to solve it, for although the 

 point of view involved is far removed from that of our lead- 

 ing psychologists to-day, it cannot long remain so. I am 

 sorry that I cannot pretend to give a final decision. 



