CHAPTER III.
The Influence of the Emotional Complex on Association.
How the complex manifests itself in association experiments we have discussed a number of times, and the reader is therefore referred to our earlier publications. We must, however, return to one point which is of theoretical value. We frequently meet with complex reactions which are built up in the following manner:
| 1. | to kiss | —to love | 3.0″ | |
| burn | —ing | 1.8″ | ||
| 2. | to despise | —someone | 5.2″ | |
| tooth | —teeth | 2.4″ | ||
| 3. | friendly | —amiable | 4.8″ | |
| dish | —fish | 1.6″ |
The first reaction of the three examples contains the complex (in 1 and 3 we deal with erotic references and in 2 with an injury). The second group of reactions shows a perseverating feeling-tone from the preceding reactions, as can be readily seen by their slightly prolonged reaction time and their superficiality. As explained in the first contribution of the "Diagnost. Assoz.-Stud.," associations like tooth—teeth belong to the motor-speech combinations, burn—ing to word completion and dish—fish to rhyme combinations. When attention is distracted, there is an increase in motor-speech combinations and in sound reactions, as was positively shown from the results obtained in distraction experiments. Whenever there is a diminution of attention there is an increase in the superficial associations and their value diminishes. Therefore, if during an association experiment without any artificial distraction there suddenly appear striking superficial associations, one is justified in supposing that a momentary diminution of attention has taken place. The cause of this is to be sought in an internal distraction. According to instructions the subject is supposed to fix his attention on the
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