484 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tion is embodied in the popular game of philopoena. Here a premium 

 is placed upon the guarding of one's subconscious tendency to allow 

 the complacent habit of assent or difference to express itself, and 

 specifically towards one individual, in the conventional ' yes ' or ' no ' ; 

 or in taking what is naturally or unobtrusively offered. It is sur- 

 prising how quickly this charge upon the subconscious becomes lost 

 amid the more vital interests of social intercourse, how readily the hand 

 is entrapped into an acceptance of what is extended, or the tongue into 

 an automatic ' yes ' or ' no,' when the major attention becomes directed 

 to the channels of our real concern. A situation lightly perceived, with 

 still slighter reflection, awakens the natural response; and it is just 

 this relation that my data indicate. Subconscious doing ensues some- 

 what more readily than subconscious perceiving ; while the role of sub- 

 conscious elaboration and interpretation can not be so easily appraised. 

 Yet it must constantly be held in mind that subconscious doing in- 

 volves and indeed becomes an index of subconscious perceiving, followed 

 typically by some measure of interpretation. And it may be well to 

 illustrate in detail this dependence of a motor action upon a sensory 

 clue, mindful, in our choice of illustrations, of their bearing upon the 

 lapses that form our main pursuit. In other words, we may deliberately 

 charge our subconscious habits with actions that spring from no real 

 sensation. For this attitude, particularly in its personal and social 

 aspects, we have the apt term of affectation. One may affect a lisp, 

 or a foreign pronunciation, or the broad a, or, with the changes of the 

 fashions, an exaggerated hand-shake or manner of raising one's hat; 

 and throughout the series there is constant danger of lapsing back 

 into the natural form of expression. The affectation thus attempts to 

 guide consciously what should be guided subconsciously; it attempts 

 for some special effect to pass current as a natural habit, what really 

 is the issue of a watchful guidance. The actor has professional occasion 

 to cultivate such affectation ; and it is sometimes amusing to detect the 

 inexperienced actor reminding himself that he must no longer use his 

 wounded arm, must continue to limp, or to reel, or to exhibit the 

 manners of old age, or of the ruffian, or of the peasant. This arti- 

 ficial relation is interesting in that it presents in exact reverse the 

 ordinary intrusions of the subconscious into the conscious field. The 

 one formula expresses the fact that when the proper sensory clue is 

 present we proceed to react to it without intent; and the other that 

 having only a fictitious sensory clue we fail to act in spite of our 

 resolution.* 



* The more usual lapse of this temporary type occurs where the sensory 

 clue is slight enough to pass readily in and out of notice; thus if one has 

 slightly injured a finger, one is intermittently reminded by a sudden pain that 

 it can not be used for the accustomed service; one steps upon a foot that is 



