ASSOCIATION 109 



objects or occurrences. For example, if one should at- 

 tempt to descend from a hill by a steep and slippery 

 path and should slip and fall, the natural effort to re- 

 gain one's balance would illustrate what is meant by a 

 reflex action, and the sensation is illustrated by the sur- 

 prise or pain of the fall. Derived or secondary stimuli 

 are ideas and emotions, complex products of response. 

 They are products not only of the activity of the indi- 

 vidual nervous system, but also in great measure of 

 activities of other animate individuals. In the instance 

 given, the fact of losing one's balance would be the pri- 

 mary stimulus which produced the sensation of surprise 

 and the reflex action of attempting to regain balance, 

 whereas if the individual should again pass that way 

 he would tend to retain a distinct impression of the con- 

 sequences of following that steep path and this would 

 lead him to descend from the hill by another path. Here 

 the unpleasant idea of the fall was a secondary or de- 

 rived stimulus which caused a reaction in the form of 

 going down the hill by another way. This process of 

 stimulation and response, relatively simple with the iso- 

 lated individual, becomes exceedingly complicated in 

 social relations. Where individuals live in groups, fel- 

 low beings become the sources of primary stimuli, and 

 even the ideas of companions, especially if expressed by 

 sign or language, form an increasingly important source 

 of secondary stimuli. "The ultimate motive of volun- 

 tary activity, both mental and muscular, is the persistent 

 desire of consciousness to be clear and painless, and, if 

 possible, pleasurable. Consciousness is intolerant of 

 obscurity, perplexity, obstruction, and suffering. " 9 It 

 therefore follows that consciousness endeavors to attain 



9 Giddings, op. cit., pp. 125-126, 



