The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)James, William
Philosophy
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)
James, William
Psychology
of exit again, the thrill of satisfaction which the consciousness
connected with the whole residual brain then receives will reinforce
and fix the paths of that moment and make them more likely to be struck
into again. The resultant feeling that the old habitual act is at last
successfully back again, becomes itself a new stimulus which stamps all
the existing currents in. It is matter of experience that such feelings
of successful achievement do tend to fix in our memory whatever
processes have led to them; and we shall have a good deal more to say
upon the subject when we come to the Chapter on the Will.
My conclusion then is this: that some of the restitution of function
(especially where the cortical lesion is not too great) is probably due
to genuinely vicarious function on the part of the centres that remain;
whilst some of it is due to the passing off of inhibitions. In other
words, both the vicarious theory and the inhibition theory are true in
their measure. But as for determining that measure, or saying which
centres are vicarious, and to what extent they can learn new tricks,
that is impossible at present.
FINAL CORRECTION OF THE MEYNERT SCHEME.
And now, after learning all these facts, what are we to think of the
child and the candle-flame, and of that scheme which provisionally
imposed itself on our acceptance after surveying the actions of the
frog? (_Cf_. pp. 25-6, _supra_.) It will be remembered that we then
considered the lower centres _en masse_ as machines for responding to
present sense-impressions exclusively, and the hemispheres as equally
exclusive organs of action from inward considerations or ideas; and
that, following Meynert, we supposed the hemispheres to have no native
tendencies to determinate activity, but to be merely superadded organs
for breaking up the various reflexes performed by the lower centres,
and combining their motor and sensory elements in novel ways. It will
also be remembered that I prophesied that we should be obliged to
soften down the sharpness of this distinction after we had completed
our survey of the farther facts. The time has now come for that
correction to be made.
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