Experimental Study of Associative Processes 25 



than some of the animal psychologists. In short, the 

 anecdotes give really the abnormal or supernormal psy- 

 chology of animals. 



Further, it must be confessed that these vices have been 

 only ameliorated, not obliterated, when the observation is 

 first-hand, is made by the psychologist himself. For as men 

 of the utmost scientific skill have failed to prove good 

 observers in the field of spiritualistic phenomena, 1 so biolo- 

 gists and psychologists before the pet terrier or hunted 

 fox often become like Samson shorn. They, too, have 

 looked for the intelligent and unusual and neglected the 

 stupid and normal. 



Finally, in all cases, whether of direct observation or 

 report by good observers or bad, there have been three other 

 defects. Only a single case is studied, and so the results 

 are not necessarily true of the type ; the observation is not 

 repeated, nor are the conditions perfectly regulated; the 

 previous history of the animal in question is not known. 

 Such observations may tell us, if the observer is perfectly 

 reliable, that a certain thing takes place; but they cannot 

 assure us that it will take place universally among the ani- 

 mals of that species, or universally with the same animal. 

 Nor can the influence of previous experience be estimated. 

 All this refers to means of getting knowledge about what 

 animals do. The next question is, "What do they feel?' 

 Previous work has not furnished an answer or the material 

 for an answer to this more important question. Nothing 

 but carefully designed, crucial experiments can. In aban- 



1 I do not mean that scientists have been too credulous with regard to 

 spiritualism, but am referring to the cases where ten or twenty scientists 

 have been sent to observe some trick-performance by a spiritualistic 'me- 

 dium,' and have all been absolutely confident that they understood the secret 

 of its performance, each of them giving a totally different explanation. 



