﻿148 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  6 
  

  

  plex 
  interplay 
  of 
  the 
  electromagnetic 
  forces 
  which 
  are 
  associated 
  with 
  

   these 
  physical 
  particles. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  intrinsic 
  nature 
  of 
  elec- 
  

   tricity 
  is 
  not 
  specified 
  by 
  physics, 
  which 
  rests 
  content 
  with 
  its 
  defini- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  its 
  external 
  dynamic 
  relationships, 
  is 
  merely 
  a 
  further 
  

   aspect 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  inability 
  of 
  physics 
  to 
  describe 
  its 
  universe 
  in 
  

   imaginable 
  terms. 
  However, 
  our 
  ignorance 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  electrons 
  

   and 
  protons 
  in 
  and 
  for 
  themselves 
  does 
  not 
  prevent 
  us 
  from 
  ascer- 
  

   taining 
  and 
  describing 
  the 
  structures 
  or 
  processes 
  into 
  which 
  they 
  

   enter. 
  

  

  The 
  psychologist, 
  as 
  a 
  psychophysiologist, 
  discovers 
  that 
  conscious- 
  

   ness 
  is 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  part 
  representable 
  as 
  a 
  mathematical 
  function 
  of 
  

   certain 
  aspects 
  of 
  organic 
  structure 
  and 
  activity. 
  Each 
  individual 
  

   consciousness 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  determined 
  by 
  the 
  nature 
  and 
  reactions 
  

   of 
  a 
  particular 
  corresponding 
  physiological 
  mechanism. 
  There 
  are 
  

   as 
  many 
  fields 
  of 
  consciousness, 
  or 
  streams 
  of 
  experience, 
  as 
  there 
  

   exist 
  living 
  organisms, 
  in 
  particular 
  human 
  organisms. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  

   naive 
  observation 
  and 
  thought 
  as 
  if 
  consciousness 
  were 
  a 
  product 
  of 
  

   the 
  organic 
  mechanism, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  capable 
  in 
  turn 
  of 
  in- 
  

   fluencing 
  that 
  mechanism. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  doctrine 
  of 
  "interactionism" 
  

   in 
  psychophysiology. 
  However, 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  conceiving 
  a 
  transfer 
  

   of 
  energy 
  from 
  the 
  physical 
  organic 
  system 
  to 
  consciousness 
  or 
  the 
  

   reverse 
  is 
  so 
  great 
  that 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  psychologists 
  prefer 
  the 
  doc- 
  

   trine 
  of 
  psychophysical 
  parallelism 
  according 
  to 
  which 
  a 
  functional 
  

   or 
  determinative 
  relationship 
  obtains 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  systems 
  with- 
  

   out 
  either 
  being 
  regarded 
  as 
  causally 
  dependent 
  upon 
  the 
  other. 
  

   That 
  this 
  is 
  an 
  unsatisfactory 
  doctrine 
  may 
  be 
  freely 
  admitted, 
  but 
  

   upon 
  a 
  level 
  of 
  philosophical 
  argument 
  which 
  (erroneously) 
  regards 
  

   the 
  psychical 
  and 
  the 
  physical 
  systems 
  as 
  of 
  coordinate 
  reality 
  it 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  avoided. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  aspect 
  of 
  the 
  functional 
  relationship 
  between 
  conscious- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  physiological 
  factors 
  which 
  becomes 
  available 
  to 
  the 
  psycho- 
  

   physiologist 
  is 
  that 
  which 
  obtains 
  between 
  sense 
  qualities 
  and 
  stimuli. 
  

   We 
  have 
  noted 
  previously 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  physicist 
  ousted 
  color 
  from 
  

   the 
  domain 
  of 
  his 
  science 
  he 
  substituted 
  for 
  it, 
  electro-magnetic 
  waves 
  

   of 
  certain 
  specified 
  length, 
  and 
  since 
  the 
  latter 
  are 
  conceived 
  to 
  be 
  

   portions 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  world 
  while 
  the 
  former 
  are 
  now 
  considered 
  

   as 
  psychological 
  entities 
  merely, 
  this 
  act 
  of 
  the 
  physicist 
  at 
  once 
  

   establishes 
  a 
  definite 
  psychophysical 
  relationship. 
  From 
  the 
  point 
  

   of 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  physicist, 
  color 
  and 
  wave-length 
  are 
  simply 
  associated 
  

  

  