FREE ASSOCIATION. 117 



days do not agree among themselves; thus Subject II increases his 

 rate an average of 0.30" in the second experiment and decreases it an 

 average of 0.44" in the third experiment, both alcohol days. 



The experiments do not justify attributing to alcohol such widely 

 varying changes as the above, which are shown in full by table 14. 



The association time is not a simple process, and its results might 

 conceivably be produced by consistent, though opposite effects upon 

 its components a facilitation of the motor and retardation of the 

 psychic elements, for example. If this were the case, variations could 

 still be expected in the form and content of the responses. 



ASSOCIATIVE CATEGORIES. 



In 1911 Wells 1 formulated a system of quasilogical classification of 

 associations, which aimed to preserve the valuable distinctions of such 

 categories in their simplest possible form. It was derived most imme- 

 diately from the system of Jung and Riklin. 2 The categories were 

 reduced to 5 in number, the egocentric, the supraordinate, the contrast, 

 the miscellaneous, and the speech-habit. A brief definition and illus- 

 tration of them is as follows : 3 



(1) The egocentric reactions may be typified by 



(a) Predicate reactions : cloud-ominous, flower-pretty, crooked- 

 line, red-rose, scratch-cat, lion-roar, money-wish, invent- 

 machine, weasel-stealth, beauty-rose, safe-quite, almost- 

 grown, sing-well, never-decide, nicely-very (including 

 the responses yes and no). 



(&) Responses in the form of proper names : citizen-New York, 

 boy-Johnny, mountain Kearsarge. 



(c) Reactions interpreting the stimulus word as a proper name: 



eagle-newspaper, park-square. 



(d) Reaction involving the response of a pronoun: hand-you, 



health-me. 



(e) Interjections, failures of response, or repetitions of the 



stimulus word. 



(2) The supraordinate category is confined strictly to the individual 



genus order, defined in such examples as: priest-man, potato- 

 vegetable, lily-flow T er, cow-animal. 



(3) The contrast group is composed, of course, of reactions in which 



the response meets the opposite of the stimulus and is made up 

 of such associations as: good-bad, trouble-pleasure, scatter- 

 gather, fertile-sterile, and the like. 



(4) The miscellaneous category is composed essentially of the remain- 



ing reactions of the "inner" type. It includes about 45 per 

 cent of all associations. 



(5) The speech-habit group is composed of associations by familiar 



phrase (stand-pat), word compounding (play-ground), simple 

 sound associations (tease-sneeze) , and syntactic changes (high- 

 height). 



1 Wells, Psycho). Review, 1911, 18, p. 229. 



2 Jung and Riklin, Journ. f. Psychol. u. Neurol., 1904, 3, p. 55, and 1904-05, 4, p. 24; Jung, 

 Journ. f. Psychol. u. Neurol., 1905-06, 6, p. 1. 

 'Wells, Psychol. Review, 1911, 18, pp. 229-288. 



