of readiness as by the stimulus. Indeed, he
sometimes gets too ready, and makes the response before he receives
the stimulus.

The preparation in such a case is more specific, less a general
organic state, than in the previous cases of fatigue, etc. It is
confined for the most part to the nervous system and the sense organ
and muscles that are to be used. In an untrained subject, it includes
a conscious purpose to make the finger movement quickly when the sound
is heard; but as he becomes used to the experiment he loses clear
consciousness of what he is to do. He is, as a matter of fact, ready
for a specific reaction, but all he is conscious of is a general
readiness. He feels ready for what is coming, but does not have to
keep his mind on it, since the specific neural adjustment has become
automatic with continued use.

Examples of internal states of preparedness might be multiplied
indefinitely, and it may be worth while to consider a few more, and
try out on them the formula that has already been suggested, to the
effect that preparation is an inner adjustment for a specific
reaction, set up in response to some stimulus (like the "Ready!"
signal), persisting for a time, and predisposing the individual to
make the specified reaction whenever a suitable stimulus for it
arrives. The preparation may or may not be conscious. It might be
named "orientation" or "steer", with the meaning that {76} the
individual is headed or directed towards a certain end-result. It is
like so setting the rudder of a sailboat that, when a puff of wind
arrives, the boat will respond by turning to the one side.

The runner on the mark, "set" for a quick start, is a perfect picture
of preparedness. Here the onlookers can see the preparation, since the
ready signal has aroused visible muscular response in the shape of a
crouching position. It is not simple crouching, but "crouching to
spring." But if the onlookers imagine themselves to be seeing the
whole preparation--if they suppose the preparation to be simply an
affair of the muscles--they overlook the established fact that the
muscles are held in action by the nerve centers, and would relax
instantly if the nerve centers should stop acting. The preparation is
neural more than muscular. The neural apparatus is set to respond to
the pistol shot by strong discharge into the leg muscles.

What the animal psychologists have called the _delayed reaction_ is a
very instructive example of prep