Excerpt from The Train of Thought: An Experimental Study of the Insane<br><br>In an adult brain every area must have myriads of associated areas, and every idea, therefore, myriads of previously associated ideas which it might possibly recall; indeed the possible associa tions of any idea seem to be limited only by the previous mental experience of the individual. The fact that it is frequently not obvious that recalled ideas are dependent upon contiguity asso ciation is accounted for by the theory that ideas do not recall others as a whole but through their elements. An associated idea may be made up of many elements, only one of which need' be directly related by contiguity to the stimulus worcl or to one of its elements. The associated idea as a whole, therefore, may never have been experienced in conjunction with the stimulus word, indeed it may be an entirely new combination of elements. Just as the fine muscular movements used in articulation may be combined so as to produce any one of the some three hundred and eighty thousand words in the English language and in addi tion an unlimited number of words from other tongues, so, in a highly cultivated mind, may the elements of ideas be combined and recombined ad infinitum.<br><br>Which element will be most active as a recalling agent will depend upon the past mental experience of the individual and the resulting tendency of his mental activity, modified by the mood of the moment, in short on what aspect of the stimulus is most interesting to the individual at the time.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.