ERCISES
1. Outline the chapter.
2. Complete the sentence, "I feel_____" in 20 different ways
(not using synonyms), and measure the time required to do this.
3. What can be meant by speaking in psychology of only two feelings,
when common speech recognizes so many?
4. If the states of mind designated by the words, "feeling sure",
or "feeling bored", are compound states, what elements besides the
feelings of pleasantness and unpleasantness may enter into the
compounds?
5. Attempt an analysis of the "worried feeling", by your own
introspection, i.e., try to discover elementary feelings and
sensations in this complex state of mind.
6. Following Wundt's three-dimensional scheme of feeling, analyze
each of the following states of mind (for example, a child just
admitted to the presence of the Christmas tree would be in a state
of mind that is pleasant, tense, and excited):
(a) Watching a rocket go up and waiting for it to burst.
(b) Just after the rocket has burst.
(c) Waiting for the dentist to pull.
(d) Just after he has pulled.
(e) Enjoying a warm bed.
(f) Lying abed after waking, not quite able as yet to decide
to get up.
(g) Seeing an automobile about to run down a child.
7. Make a list of six primary dislikes, and a list of six dislikes that
are dependent on the instincts.
REFERENCES
For a much fuller treatment of the subject, see E. B. Titchener,
_Textbook of Psychology_, 1909, pp. 225-264.
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CHAPTER X
SENSATION
AN INVENTORY OF THE ELEMENTARY SENSATIONS OF THE DIFFERENT SENSES
With reflex action, instinct, emotion and feeling, the list of native
mental activities is still incomplete. The senses are provided by
nature, and the fundamental use of the senses goes with them. The
child does not learn to see or hear, though he learns the meaning of
what he sees and hears. He gets sensation as soon as his senses are
stimulated, but recognition of objects and facts comes with
experience. Hold an orange before his open eyes, and he sees, but the
first time he doesn't see _an orange_. The adult sees an object, where
the baby gets only sensation. "Pure sensation", free from all
recognition, can scarcely occur except in the very young baby, for
recognition is about the easiest of the learned accomplishments, and
traces of it can be seen in the behavior of babies only a few days
old.
Sensation is a response
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