678 TRANSACTIONS OF SUB-SECTION I. 
either by imperfect development of the cortex or defect of education in thinking, 
such a mind is in a state of inco-ordination, which hinders comparison of ideas 
in the same way as disco-ordination does in hypnosis and in insane delusions. 
Analysis of the reasoning implied in Magic and Animism exposes its purely 
imaginative character. 
If action is the test of belief, it may seem at first that the beliefs of Magic 
and Animism are as profound as those that are based upon perception. But in 
our own case play-belief varies in intensity from a momentary attitude to com- 
plete absorption in dramatic illusion; and we must consider what the result 
will be where, as amongst savages, there is nothing to destroy the illusion. And, 
further, we find that that result is not really to put their superstitions upon the 
same footing as the necessary beliefs of practical life. For they are often 
mingled with deception, and involve incompatible elements; they break down 
under pressure of economy, social fatigue, &c.; they need the support of emo- 
tional excitement; they are often expressed by games, dances, shows, and 
degenerate at last into drama, epic, and fiction. 
The universal prevalence of such beliefs embodied in rites and ceremonies 
implies some great utility; and this may be found (1) in the giving of hope 
and allaying of anxiety; (2) the encouragement of social co-operation; and 
(3) the providing of serious organised pastimes which preserve tribal tradition 
and develop the xsthetic aptitudes. 
But scientific ideas are not to be traced to these imaginative constructions ; 
they are derived from practical enterprises, war, dustry, and commerce. 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 
Joint Meeting with Section I (Physiology). 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. Some Experimental Data concerning the Localisation of Visual 
Images. By Professor R. M. Oapen. 
The conditions and possibilities of projecting visual images in space have 
been recently indicated by the experimental results of Perky,’ Martin,? and 
Koftka,* and the theoretical views of G. E. Miller. The experiments which 
form the basis of this report were performed after the publication of Mrs. 
Perky’s paper, and were largely suggested by her work. They antedate the 
appearance of the other three publications. 
The primary aim of the experiments was to secure visual images suggested 
by a series of fifty words exposed in a card-changer. Above the word was 
pasted a round disk of ‘granite’ paper, two centimetres in diameter, which 
the observer was instructed to fixate. As soon as an image appeared the subject 
reacted, and then described the nature of the image which had occurred. 
There were six observers; two of them, however, performed but half the 
series. Thus there were 250 experiments in all, which produced 251 images. 
» «An Experimental Study of Imagination.’ Amer. J. of Psychol., 1910, 
xxi., 422-452. 
2 “Die Projektionsmethode und die Lokalisation visueller und anderer 
Vorstellungsbilder.’ Ztsch. is Psychol., 1912, 1xi., 321-546. 
* Zur Analyse der Vorstellungen und ihrer Gesetze. Leipzig, 1912. 
“ ‘Ueber die Lokalisation der visuellen Vorstellungsbilder.’ Arch. f. d. ges. 
Psychol., 1912, xxiv., 73-76. 
a 
