ACTION PATTERNS 307 



eral stimuli which participate in the activation 

 especially the coincident stimuli of the distance and 

 of the contact ceptors. Thus the sight of the 

 mother and the sound of her voice are coincident 

 stimuli with those of the acquisition of food and, as 

 in Pawlow's dog, the action pattern of acquiring food is 

 in physical connection with the sight stimuli and voice 

 stimuli of the mother. Thus is associative memory devel- 

 oped. Each new adequate stimulus writes a new record 

 begins a new action pattern and when two or more 

 stimuli act simultaneously the resultant pattern will 

 ever after be activated in like manner by each stimulus. 

 Thus in time, as one after another the contact stimuli 

 of environment become associated with simultaneous 

 distance ceptor stimuli, the action patterns are more 

 and more activated by the associated distance ceptor 

 stimuli alone. Thus step by step, action patterns 

 made by the simultaneous stimulation of contact and 

 distance ceptors become connected until in time ac- 

 tivation is effected almost completely through distance 

 ceptor stimuli alone. 



After a contact with a given object has once been 

 associated with a sight, a sound or a smell, the taste, 

 smell or sight of that object will excite activity toward 

 contact or away from contact according as the object 

 is beneficial or harmful. For example, the contact 

 ceptor stimulus of fire would be simultaneous with 

 the distance ceptor stimulus of light and the action 

 pattern of withdrawal would be stimulated. Subse- 

 quent to this association, the accompanying sight 

 stimulus alone activates the moving-away action 

 pattern and the child therefore never again makes 



