Illusions: a Psychological Study

CHAPTER III.. Illusions of Perception: General.

ILLUSIONS OF PERCEPTION: GENERAL.

Psychology of Perception:--The Psychological analysis of Perception, 19, 20; Sensation and its discrimination, etc., 20, 21; interpretation of Sensation, 22, 23; construction of material object, 23, 24; recognition of object, specific and individual, 24-27; Preperception and Perception, 27-31; Physiological conditions of Perception, 31-33; Visual and other Sense-perception, 33, 34.

Illusions of Perception:--Illusion of Perception defined, 35-38; sources of Sense-illusion, 38-40: (a) confusion of Sense-impression, 40-44; (b) misinterpretation of Sense-impression, 44; Passive and Active misinterpretation, 44-46; Passive Illusions as organically and extra-organically conditioned, 46-49.

CHAPTER IV.. Illusions of Perception--_continued_.

ILLUSIONS OF PERCEPTION--continued.

A. Passive Illusions (a) as determined by the Organism. Results of Limits of Sensibility:--Relation of quantity of Sensation to that of Stimulus, 50-52; coalescence of simultaneous Sensations, 52-55; after-effect of Stimulation, 55, 56; effects of prolonged Stimulation, 56-58; Specific Energy of Nerves, 58, 59; localization of Sensation, 59-62; Subjective Sensations, 62-64.

Results of Variation of Sensibility:--Rise and fall of Sensibility, 64-67; Paraesesthesia, 67, 68; rationale of organically conditioned Illusions, 68, 69.

CHAPTER V.. Illusions of Perception--_continued_.

ILLUSIONS OF PERCEPTION--continued.

A. Passive Illusions (b) as determined by the Environment. Exceptional Relation of Stimulus to Organ:--Displacement of organ, etc., 70-72.

Exceptional Arrangement of Circumstances in the Environment:-- Misinterpretation of the direction and movement of objects, 72-75; misperception of Distance, 75, 76; Illusions of depth, relief, and solidity in Art, 77-81; Illusions connected with the perception of objects through transparent coloured media, 82-84; visual transformation of concave into convex form, 84-86; false recognition of objects, 86, 87; inattention to Sense-impression in Recognition, 87-91; suggestion taking the direction of familiar recurring experiences, 91, 92.

CHAPTER VI.. Illusions of Perception--_continued_.

ILLUSIONS OF PERCEPTION--continued.

B. Active Illusions.

Preperception and Illusion, 93-95.

Voluntary Preperception:--Choice of interpretation in the case of visible movement, 95, 96; and in the case of flat projections of form, 96-98; capricious interpretation of obscure impressions, 99, 100.

Involuntary Preperception:--Effects of permanent Predisposition, 101, 102; effects of partial temporary Preadjustment, 102-105; complete Pro-adjustment or Expectation, 106-109; subordination of Sense-impression to Preperception, 109-111; transition from Illusion to Hallucination, 111, 112; rudimentary Hallucinations, 112-114; developed Hallucinations, 114-116; Hallucination in normal life, 116, 117; Hallucinations of insanity, 118-120; gradual development of Sense-illusions, and continuity of normal and abnormal life; 120-123; Sanity and Insanity distinguished, 123-126.

CHAPTER VII.. Dreams.

DREAMS.

Mystery of sleep, 127, 128; theories of Dreams, 128, 129; scientific explanation of Dreams, 129, 130.

Sleep and Dreaming:--Condition of organism during sleep, 131, 132; Are the nervous centres ever wholly inactive during sleep? 132-134; nature of cerebral activity involved in Dreams, 134-136; psychical conditions of Dreams, 136-138.

The Dream as Illusion:--External Sense-impressions as excitants of Dream-images, 139-143; internal "subjective" stimuli in the sense-organs, 143-145; organic sensations, 145-147; how sensations are exaggerated in Dream-interpretation, 147-151.

The Dream as Hallucination:--Results of direct central stimulation 151-153; indirect central stimulation and association, 153-155.

The Form and Structure of Dreams:--The incoherence of Dreams explained, 156-161; coherence and unity of Dream as effected (a) by coalescence and transformation of images, 161-163; (b) by aground-tone of feeling, 164-168; (c) by the play of associative dispositions, 168-172; (d) by the activities of selective attention stimulated by the rational impulse to connect and to arrange, 172-176; examples of Dreams, 176-179; limits of intelligence and rational activity in Dreams, 180-182; Dreaming and mental disease, 182, 183; After-dreams and Apparitions, 183-185.

NOTE.--The Hypnotic Condition, 185-188.

CHAPTER VIII.. Illusions of Introspection.

ILLUSIONS OF INTROSPECTION.

Illusions of Introspection defined, 189-192; question of the possibility of illusory Introspection, 192-194; incomplete grasp of internal feelings as such, 194-196; misobservation of internal feelings: Passive Illusions, 196-199; Active Illusions, 199-202; malobservation of subjective states, 202-205; Illusory Introspection in psychology and philosophy, 205-208; value of the Introspective method, 208-211.

CHAPTER IX.. Other Quasi-Presentative Illusions: Errors of Insight.

OTHER QUASI-PRESENTATIVE ILLUSIONS: ERRORS OF INSIGHT.

Emotion and Perception, 212; AEsthetic Intuition, 213; Subjective Impressions of beauty misinterpreted, 213-216; analogous Emotional Intuitions, 216, 217; Insight, its nature, 217-220; Passive Illusions of Insight, 220-222; Active Illusions of Insight: projection of individual feelings, 222-224; the poetic transformation of nature, 224-226; special predispositions as falsifying Insight, 226-228; value of faculty of Insight, 228-230.

CHAPTER X.. Illusions of Memory.

ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY.

Vulgar confidence in Memory, 231-233; definition of Memory, 233-235; Psychology of Memory, 235-237; Physiology of Memory, 237, 238; Memory as localization in the past, 238-241; Illusions of Memory classified, 241-245.

(1) Illusions of Time-Perspective:--

(a) Definite Localization of events: constant errors in retrospective estimate of time, 245-249; varying errors: estimate of duration during a period, 249-251; variations in retrospective estimate of duration, 251-256.

(b) Indefinite Localization: effect of vividness of mnemonic image on the apparent distance of events, 256-258; isolated public events, 258, 259; active element in errors of Localization, 259-261.

(2) Distortions of Memory:--Transformation of past through forgetfulness, 261-264; confusion of distinct recollections, 264-266; Active Illusion: influence of present imaginative activity, 266-269; exaggeration in recollections of remote experiences, 269, 270; action of present feeling in transforming past, 270, 271.

(3) Hallucinations of Memory:--Their nature, 271-273; past dreams taken for external experiences, 273-277; past waking imagination taken for external reality, 277-280; recollection of prenatal ancestral experience, 280, 281; filling up gaps in recollection, 281-283. Illusions connected with, Personal Identity:--Illusions of Memory and Sense of identity, 283, 284; idea of permanent self, how built up, 285-287; disturbances of sense of identity, 287-290; fallibility and trustworthiness of Memory, 290-292.

NOTE.--Momentary Illusions of Self-consciousness, 293.

CHAPTER XI.. Illusions of Belief.

ILLUSIONS OF BELIEF.

Belief as Immediate or Intuitive, 294-296; simple and compound Belief, 296.

A. Simple Illusory Belief:--

(1) Expectation: its nature, 297, 298; Is Expectation ever intuitive? 298; Expectation and Inference from the past, 299-301; Expectation of new kinds of experience, 301, 302; Permanent Expectations of remote events, 302; misrepresentation of future duration, 302-305; Imaginative transformation of future, 305-307.

(2) Quasi-Expectations: anticipation of extra-personal experiences, 307, 308; Retrospective Beliefs, 308-312.

B. Compound Illusory Belief:--

(1) Representations of permanent things: their structure, 312; our representations of others as illusory, 312-315; our representation of ourselves as illusory, 315; Illusion of self-esteem, 316-318; genesis of illusory opinion of self, 318-322; Illusion in our representations of classes of things, 322, 323; and in our views of the world as a whole, 323, 324; tendency of belief towards divergence, 325; and towards convergence, 326, 327.

CHAPTER XII.. Results.

RESULTS.

Range of Illusion, 328-330; nature and causes of Illusion in general, 331-334; Illusion identical with Fallacy, 334; Illusion as abnormal, 336, 337; question of common error, 337-339; evolutionist's conception of error as maladaptation, 339-344; common intuitions tested only by philosophy, 344; assumptions of science respecting external reality, etc., 344-346; philosophic investigation of these assumptions, 346-348; connection between scientific and philosophic consideration of Illusion, 348-350; correction of Illusion and its implications, 351, 352; Fundamental Intuitions and modern psychology, 352; psychology as positive science and as philosophy, 353-355; points of resemblance between acknowledged Illusions and Fundamental Intuitions, 355, 356; question of origin, and question of validity, 356, 357; attitude of scientific mind towards philosophic scepticism, 357-360; Persistent Intuitions must be taken as true, 360, 361.

~ILLUSIONS.~

CHAPTER I.. The Study of Illusion.

THE STUDY OF ILLUSION.

Common sense, knowing nothing of fine distinctions, is wont to draw a sharp line between the region of illusion and that of sane intelligence. To be the victim of an illusion is, in the popular judgment, to be excluded from the category of rational men. The term at once calls up images of stunted figures with ill-developed brains, half-witted creatures, hardly distinguishable from the admittedly insane. And this way of thinking of illusion and its subjects is strengthened by one of the characteristic sentiments of our age. The nineteenth century intelligence plumes itself on having got at the bottom of mediaeval visions and church miracles, and it is wont to commiserate the feeble minds that are still subject to these self-deceptions.

According to this view, illusion is something essentially abnormal and allied to insanity. And it would seem to follow that its nature and origin can be best studied by those whose speciality it is to observe the phenomena of abnormal life. Scientific procedure has in the main conformed to this distinction of common sense. The phenomena of illusion have ordinarily been investigated by alienists, that is to say, physicians who are brought face to face with their most striking forms in the mentally deranged.

While there are very good reasons for this treatment of illusion as a branch of mental pathology, it is by no means certain that it can be a complete and exhaustive one. Notwithstanding the flattering supposition of common sense, that illusion is essentially an incident in abnormal life, the careful observer knows well enough that the case is far otherwise.

There is, indeed, a view of our race diametrically opposed to the flattering opinion referred to above, namely, the humiliating judgment that all men habitually err, or that illusion is to be regarded as the natural condition of mortals. This idea has found expression, not only in the cynical exclamation of the misanthropist that most men are fools, but also in the cry of despair that sometimes breaks from the weary searcher after absolute truth, and from the poet when impressed with the unreality of his early ideals.

Without adopting this very disparaging opinion of the intellectual condition of mankind, we must recognize the fact that most men are sometimes liable to illusion. Hardly anybody is always consistently sober and rational in his perceptions and beliefs. A momentary fatigue of the nerves, a little mental excitement, a relaxation of the effort of attention by which we continually take our bearings with respect to the real world about us, will produce just the same kind of confusion of reality and phantasm, which we observe in the insane. To give but an example: the play of fancy which leads to a detection of animal and other forms in clouds, is known to be an occupation of the insane, and is rightly made use of by Shakespeare as a mark of incipient mental aberration in Hamlet; and yet this very same occupation is quite natural to children, and to imaginative adults when they choose to throw the reins on the neck of their phantasy. Our luminous circle of rational perception is surrounded by a misty penumbra of illusion. Common sense itself may be said to admit this, since the greatest stickler for the enlightenment of our age will be found in practice to accuse most of his acquaintance at some time or another of falling into illusion.

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