The Train of Thought

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Excerpt from The Train of Thought: An Experimental Study of the Insane In observing and studying experimentally the patients at Friends' Asylum for the Insane, Frankford, one test has proved especially fruitful of results. The test is that used by Prof. Lightner Witmer for the study of association. The subject is required to write a list of words, one below the other, during a period of fifteen minutes. He is directed to write without pause or choice each word as it occurs to him. The experimenter records the number of words written during the first two minutes, and during the first, second and third periods of five minutes each. This fifteen minute test furnishes material for the study of (1) the forms of association, (2) the quality of the ideas expressed (perceptual or conceptual), (3) the thought content, (4) the rapidity of thought, (5) the effect of practice and fatigue, (6) the degree of concentration of thought, and (7) the degree of the power of application. The trend of thought is not controlled in any way by the experimenter, and the subject writing freely for a period of fifteen minutes, rarely fails to include many words indicative of his individual interests and pursuits. In an insane subject this tendency is of especial value as delusions are often expressed which would not be betrayed in conversation or in a shorter written test. From an examination of such a list, therefore, the investigator is usually able to determine the general trend of the writers thought, i.e. to determine whether he is literary or scientific in his tastes, or whether he is principally occupied with the daily routine of events either in the narrow field of personal experience, or in the larger sphere of the worlds activities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com 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.