Page:Jung - The psychology of dementia praecox.djvu/18

xiv of attention evoked by the stimulus word. Whenever the distraction phenomena succeeded, the result was always the same, the outer associations and sound associations gained at the expense of the inner; that is, there was a deviation to the direction of the customary and smooth, hence to the automatically obvious, or habitual speech combination.

"Attention is a state characterized by muscular tension manifested in an association complex and furnishes the accentuated complex with the psycho-physical subsoil. The aim of the physical reflection seems to be the establishing of the toned presentation into consciousness. By the somatic connection the accentuated presentation is probably held on the height of distinctness in the stream of presentations. It becomes the 'directing' presentation (respectively the 'directing feeling') of the others. It causes two kinds of effects:

"1. Promoting effects to all associated presentations and especially to all associated in the sense of direction.

"2. Inhibiting effects to all presentations not associated, especially not associated in the sense of direction.

"If a non-associated presentation gains in attention, the directing presentation becomes correspondingly crowded from the fixation point, i. e., it loses in tone. The effects emanating from it likewise correspondingly lose in intensity and therefore the difference in the liminal value of all the others is diminished. The choice in the sense of direction becomes more difficult and is more and more subjected to the law of frequency, i. e., all those associations which through habit and practice form the most frequent content of consciousness push themselves forward. The law of frequency takes the place of the directing presentation. It means that the endeavor to conceive and elaborate the sense of the stimulus word is hindered by the interposition of presentations which are already blended and automatic in speech." Whenever there is a disturbance of attention we have to expect shallow reaction types or sound associations, and, conversely, whenever we get sound associations we have to presuppose a disturbance of attention.