For the last two years, at different times, I have taken from the patient simple word associations (corresponding to those discussed in the Diagnost. Assoz.-Stud.). I now present some of them:
Among these repetitions some sound quite incomprehensible. Socrates, the first reaction to "pupil," is quite a striking reaction for a tailoress; it looks very affected and gives the appearance of a complex constellation. It also shows the tendency to affected speech and behavior. The same holds true for R. 8. "Lamp—electricity" (patient would like electricity instead of gas). R. 4 "yes irretrievable" to "head" is incomprehensible if one does not know that the word "irretrievable" is one of the patient's preferred stereotyped words. The reaction "nut water " to R. 5 "ink" is explained on subsequent questioning. Nut water is dark brown, ink is black. But how does patient get to nut water? It is again a complex constellation like Socrates. Nut water is something that patient likes very much. [It is made from the green shells of unripe nuts.] Besides these oddities one is struck by the numerous repetitions of the stimulus words, the unusually long reaction times, and the frequent beginning of the reaction with "yes." As is known we take these signs also as symptoms of complex constellations, it is the intervention of an emotionally strong idea feeling. But it must be realized that we deal with a patient with dementia præcox who presents her delusions (which according to our conceptions are
