﻿150 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  6 
  

  

  ment 
  among 
  psychologists 
  as 
  to 
  exactly 
  what 
  selection 
  of 
  these 
  various 
  

   stages 
  of 
  the 
  response 
  process 
  will 
  show 
  the 
  closest 
  correlation 
  with 
  

   the 
  facts 
  of 
  immediate 
  experience. 
  However, 
  these 
  differences 
  of 
  

   opinion 
  appear 
  to 
  rest 
  more 
  upon 
  a 
  quest 
  for 
  novel 
  viewpoints, 
  than 
  

   upon 
  any 
  new 
  data 
  which 
  actually 
  contradict 
  the 
  classical 
  teaching 
  

   that 
  consciousness 
  in 
  its 
  entirety 
  is 
  correlated 
  directly 
  with 
  the 
  central 
  

   or 
  synaptic 
  process 
  alone 
  ; 
  for 
  the 
  simplest 
  explanation 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  

   relations 
  which 
  are 
  discovered 
  by 
  the 
  psychophysiologist 
  appears 
  

   to 
  lie 
  in 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  experience, 
  both 
  external 
  and 
  in- 
  

   ternal, 
  is 
  a 
  function 
  of 
  certain 
  restricted 
  nerve 
  processes 
  occurring 
  

   probably 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  association 
  areas 
  of 
  the 
  cerebral 
  cortex. 
  The 
  

   correlations 
  existing 
  between 
  experience 
  and 
  other 
  stages 
  in 
  the 
  re- 
  

   sponse 
  are, 
  according 
  to 
  this 
  view, 
  indirect 
  in 
  nature, 
  resting 
  upon 
  the 
  

   purely 
  physiological 
  interdependencies 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  stages 
  in 
  question. 
  

   If 
  we 
  accept 
  this 
  truly 
  astounding 
  principle 
  of 
  the 
  "monophasic 
  

   cerebro-cortical 
  determination 
  of 
  consciousness" 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  

   psychophysiology 
  reduces 
  itself 
  in 
  essence 
  to 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  

   which 
  relate 
  the 
  component 
  variables 
  of 
  consciousness 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  

   the 
  cortical 
  mechanism. 
  So 
  far 
  very 
  little 
  which 
  is 
  definite 
  has 
  been 
  

   established 
  along 
  this 
  line, 
  but 
  the 
  simplest 
  working 
  hypothesis 
  would 
  

   appear 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  there 
  exists 
  a 
  point-to-point 
  correspondence 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  constitution 
  of 
  immediate 
  experience 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  cortical 
  

   activity 
  so 
  that 
  for 
  each 
  distinctive 
  characteristic 
  of 
  experience 
  or 
  

   consciousness 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  corresponding 
  attribute 
  of 
  the 
  brain 
  activity. 
  

   This 
  is 
  the 
  specific 
  form 
  which 
  the 
  general 
  doctrine 
  of 
  psychophysical 
  

   parallelism 
  assumes 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  monophasic 
  cerebro- 
  

   cortical 
  theory. 
  The 
  structures 
  of 
  consciousness, 
  in 
  harmony 
  with 
  

   this 
  view, 
  would 
  probably 
  depend 
  upon 
  the 
  structural 
  interconnections 
  

   of 
  various 
  active 
  brain 
  elements 
  ; 
  the 
  unity 
  or 
  coherence 
  of 
  conscious- 
  

   ness 
  would 
  be 
  correlated 
  with 
  the 
  electrical 
  continuity 
  of 
  the 
  fields 
  

   of 
  excitation 
  which 
  make 
  up 
  the 
  cortical 
  synergy 
  while 
  the 
  various 
  

   qualities 
  which 
  form 
  the 
  substance 
  of 
  consciousness 
  would 
  presumably 
  

   be 
  determined 
  by 
  the 
  varieties 
  of 
  atomic 
  or 
  molecular 
  structure 
  to 
  be 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  cortical 
  synapses. 
  

  

  III. 
  THE 
  METAPHYSICS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PSYCHOPHYSICAL 
  RELATION 
  

  

  Having 
  considered 
  the 
  outcome 
  of 
  sophisticated 
  reasoning 
  in 
  the 
  

   domains 
  of 
  physics 
  and 
  of 
  psychology, 
  let 
  us 
  return 
  once 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  

   point 
  of 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  intelligence 
  with 
  which 
  we 
  began. 
  

   Let 
  each 
  one 
  of 
  us, 
  for 
  the 
  moment, 
  identify 
  himself 
  with 
  this 
  in- 
  

  

  I 
  

  

  