PSYCHOLOGY 269 



Unconscious memory is not only represented by tissue 

 presentation but also by unconscious presentation in the 

 ganglion-cells, a function of the lower nerve-animals. 



The transition from this to the conscious memory of the 

 brain and spinal cord may be seen in those frequently repeated 

 acts which in man have by long use become unconscious and 

 automatic (speaking, writing and eating). The highest stage 

 is the conscious memory of man and the higher animals. 



While Turkheim denies absolutely that animals have memory 

 because no after-images remain of impressions received through 

 the eye, ear and other sense-organs, Wundt is just enough to 

 allow that the lower animals have a power of recognition, at 

 least for short periods, and that the higher animals have perfect 

 memory. Where any particular sense is exceptionally well 

 developed (e.g., scent of hounds, or eyesight in pigeons), animal 

 powers of recognition may far outstrip those of man. 



In his ability to recall at will ideas or presentations, man 

 stands alone and far above even the highest mammals. Associa- 

 tion of ideas is a very important factor in the mind-life of man 

 and animals. Appearing at first to be subconscious and lead- 

 ing to actions which one is accustomed to designate as instinct, 

 the association becomes more and more conscious until at last 

 in higher animals and man it becomes the source of conscious 

 deliberation. 



One of the highest developments of association of ideas is 

 imagination in man, the power of inventing pictures in speech 

 or art. "The imagination," says Darwin, 1 "is one of the 

 highest prerogatives of man. By this faculty he unites former 

 images and ideas, independently of the will, and thus attains 

 brilliant and novel results." 



Unconsciously, and uncontrolled by reason and logic, the 

 association of ideas goes on in dreams, not only in man but also 

 in the higher animals (dogs, cats, and even birds). Are we to 

 conclude like Darwin from these vivid dreams that animals even 

 when awake possess some power of imagination ? I should not 

 venture to call it impossible when I think of the mocking-bird 

 that in most ingenious fashion adapts the song of some other 

 bird to its own melody and composes an exquisite tone-picture. 

 1 Darwin, loc. cit., vol. i., p. 113. 



