Herrick, Lecture Notes on Attention. 13 



that consciousness hovers from point to point in accordance with 

 laws some of which we are able to formulate, if not to explain. 

 Before leaving this point we meet the apparently legitimate crit- 

 icism that what has been said applies rather to reproduction than 

 to attention. Attention, it may be said, is not responsible for 

 calling data to consciousness but for retaining them when there. 

 However, observe that, if the conclusion that only one datum 

 can be in consciousness at once be correct, experience shows 

 that it is impossible to keep attention fixed for the fraction of a 

 second on absolutely one presentation. There is a constant flux 

 and alteration. Attention becomes then a set of rapidly re- 

 peated reproductions. In thinking intently of one thing we 

 limit the field of oscillation and cut off distractions as much as 

 possible, but the oscillations with the various resulting associa- 

 tions continue and give pregnancy to the meditation. Here 

 again inhibition emerges as the agent of attention. Here too 

 we are forced to reject the interpretation as above. The sense 

 of voluntary effort in attention we may agree with Ziehen in 

 ascribing to sensations of innervation, etc., that in no sense are 

 a cause of the attention. But we would not stop there, but be- 

 lieve that the sense of personal participation in our activities is 

 of a more complex chaiacter than that suggested by the Miins- 

 terberg-Ziehen school. 



To understand attention then one must understand the na- 

 ture of consciousness. From its psychological side this is con- 

 fessedly insoluble and we must be content either to pursue our 

 search no further or to accept such suggestions as may come 

 from neurology and philosophy. In taking the latter course we 

 are frankly entering a theoretical domain where only a balance 

 of probabilities and reasoning from analogy can serve us. 



The organ of consciousness is the cerebrum and the great 

 and distinguishing character of the hemispheres is the unlim- 

 ited associational mechanism. All sorts of lower neural pro- 

 cesses which are to influence consciousness have their offices 

 here but these stations are all connected with each other. From 

 all that we know of the analogies of nerve force it does not 

 seem inherently impossible that a current from an eye centre 



