Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 12.djvu/439

 PHILOSOPHICAL PERIODICALS. 425 <jrror of apprehension, with six place numbers, extends to one or two figures (hardly ever to three or four) : the two are almost always juxta- posed. (4) One place errors occur in 90 per cent, of all experiments in the right half of the printed numeral : in two-thirds of these cases the penultimate number is wrongly read, in almost one-third the antepenul- timate. Two place errors also occur on the right of the numeral, affect- ing generally the fourth and fifth digits. (5) One place errors may be referred to the following conditions : assimilation to similar reproductive elements ; replacement of an obscurely perceived digit by a clearly perceived similar neighbouring digit ; replacement of an obscurely perceived digit by a neighbouring digit, without regard to similarity ; replacement of an obscurely perceived digit by some individually pre- ferred number. Two place errors are in general permutations (Finzi) or inversions (Wundt, Zeitler). Similarity illusions also play their part. (6) The experiments showed that certain combinations of digits predisposed to illusion, while others were practically immune. Errors occurred predominantly in numbers whose four right-hand digits con- tained two identical or similar figures in juxtaposition, or separated by one or two other figures. So we have two sets of conditions for illusion : the composition of the series of digits (homogeneous figures make for errors), and the natural attitude of attention (directed to the beginning of the series). The rest of the paper is devoted to an examination of this result, that the limen of apprehension of simultaneous (or quickly successive) heterogeneous stimuli lies lower than that for homogeneous stimuli. It turns out that " similar elements, in proportion to the degree of their identity, inhibit the complete and autonomous development of the corresponding stimulus effects ". The nature of the inhibitory pro- cess is illustrated by appeal to the introspections of the observers, and by a comparison with tonal fusion.] N. Lossky. ' Eine Willenstheorie voin voluntaristischen Standpunkte.' [After a preliminary definition of voluntarism, as that psychological theory which makes voluntary actions typical of conscious process at large, the author discusses the constituents of the voluntary action, under the headings of effort ; the feeling of activity ; change ; and states of consciousness. " All phenomena in the individual consciousness may be divided into three groups : acts of will <(' my acts '), ' acts in me ' [the psychical processes consisting of the efforts given to me and the corresponding changes], and states of conscious- ness." These latter are mental phenomena (e.g., the sensation black) which are not preceded by any effort, whether ' mine ' or ' given to me '. The author's conclusion is summed up in three propositions. (1) Every state of consciousness, so far as it is felt (empfnndeti) as state of my con- sciousness, includes all the elements of a voluntary act : namely, my effort, the feeling of my activity, and a change attended by the feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction ; and appears to me as if produced by me. Only efforts can be felt as 'mine,' even in the case that they .are not accompanied by the other elements of the voluntary act. (2) All conscious processes, so far as they are felt as 'mine,' include all the elements of the voluntary act, and are caused by 'my' efforts. Voluntarism may be finally defined as that psychological theory which sets out from this generalisation. (3) Will is the activity of consciousness, consisting in the fact that every state of consciousness directly felt as ' mine ' is caused by ' my ' efforts, and manifesting itself for the acting subject in the feeling of activity.] Literaturbericht. Bd. xxx., Heft 3. E. Reimann. ' Die scheinbare Vergrosserung der Sonne und des Mondes am Horizont. ii. Beobachtungen und Theorie.' .[Observation proves that the apparent diameter of the sun at the horizon