Abstract
THE theory of the Mneme, propounded by Prof. Semon, has attracted the attention both of psychologists and of those naturalists who are interested in the profound problems of hereditary transmission. It is founded on the statement, which everyone is ready to admit, that a stimulus must affect the quality of living matter in such a way that the matter is not the same as it was before the stimuluacted. A permanent change, which, in a sense, may be called a memory, has been effected, or, to use the terminology invented by Semon, the action has been engraphic and the change itself is an engram. Repeated stimulation will make the engram more lasting. All stimuli then produce engrams, and the sum of the engrams of a living being is its mneme. Complex stimuli cause complex engrams, and if there is, under the action of some stimulus or other, a revivification of the complex engrams, then a condition termed ecphoria is produced, and the assemblage of engrams is exphorized. If the new stimulus is in concord with the awakening of the complex engrams, this concord is termed by Semon homophonia, but if there is a discord, the homophonia may be restored in the case of psychical processes, by an introspective activity of the power of attention, or, in the case of a living organism, by regenerative processes acting ontogenetically, or by adaptation to the new conditions acting phylogenetically.
Die mnemischen Empfindungen in ihren Beziehungen zu den Originalempfindungen.
By Prof. Richard Semon. Pp. xv + 392. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann; London: Williams and Norgate, 1909.) Price 9 marks.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MCKENDRICK, J. Die mnemischen Empfindungen in ihren Beziehungen zu den Originalempfindungen . Nature 81, 302 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/081302a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/081302a0