622 PSYCHOLOGY. 



psychology of tlie Will. It can be tlie more easily treated 

 now that we have got rid of so nmch tedious preliminary 

 matter. 



IDEO-MOTOR ACTION. 



The question is this : Is the. hare idea of a movemenCs sen- 

 sible effects its sufficient mental cue (p. 497), or must there he 

 an additional mental antecedent, in the shape of a fiat, decision^ 

 consent, volitional mandate, or other synonymous phenomenon of 

 consciousness, before the movement can follow? 



I answer : Sometimes the bare idea is sufficient, but 

 sometimes an additional conscious element, in the shape of 

 a fiat, mandate, or express consent, has to intervene and 

 precede the movement. The cases without a fiat constitute 

 the more fundamental, because the more simple, variety. 

 The others involve a special complication, which must be 

 fully discussed at the proper time. For the present let us 

 turn to ideo-motor action, as it has been termed, or the se- 

 quence of movement upon the mere thought of it, as the 

 type of the process of volition. 



Wherever movement follows unhesitatingly and immedi- 

 ately the notion of it in the mind, we have ideo-motor action. 

 We are then aware of nothing between the conception and 

 the execution. All sorts of neuro-muscular processes come 

 between, of course, but we know absolutely nothing of 

 them. We think the act, and it is done ; and that is all 

 that introspection tells us of the matter. Dr. Carpenter,, 

 who first used, I believe, the name of ideo-motor action, 

 placed it, if I mistake not, among the curiosities of our 

 mental life. The truth is that it is no curiosity, but simply 

 the normal process stripped of disguise. Whilst talking I 

 become conscious of a pin on the floor, or of some dust on 

 my sleeve. Without interrupting the conversation I brush 

 away the dust or pick up the pin. I make no express re- 

 solve, but the mere perception of the object and the fleeting 

 notion of the act seem of themselves to bring the latter 

 about. Similarly, I sit at table after dinner and find 

 myself from time to time taking nuts or raisins out of the 

 dish and eating them. My dinner properly is over, and in 

 the heat of the conversation I am hardly aware of what 1 



