Page:Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology (1916).djvu/119

 give a stimulus word to the test-person, which denotes an action, it is as if I represented to him the action itself, and asked him, “How do you behave towards it? What do you think of it? What would you do in this situation?” If I were a magician, I should cause the situation corresponding to the stimulus word to appear in reality, and placing the test-person in its midst, I should then study his manner of reaction.



The result of my stimulus words would thus undoubtedly approach infinitely nearer perfection. But as we are not magicians, we must be contented with the linguistic substitutes for reality; at the same time we must not forget that the stimulus word will almost without exception conjure up its corresponding situation. All depends