Page:Jung - The psychology of dementia praecox.djvu/29

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THEORETICAL VIEWS OF DEMENTIA PRÆCOX.
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den invasions of changed psychological activity I observed in a very clear case of hysteria,[1] and recently I could again confirm it in a similar case. Finally, as I have shown, sudden disturbances of association by the incursion of seemingly strange connections of ideas also appear in the normal.[2] In the saltatory association or "pathological fancy" we are perhaps dealing with a widely disseminated psychical phenomenon, and without further discussion we can agree with Sommer that the most marked type appears in dementia præcox.

Sommer, in examining the associations of catatonics, found numerous sound associations and stereotypies. By stereotypies we mean frequent repetitions of former reactions. In our examinations we simply name it "repetitions." The reaction time showed enormous fluctuations.

In 1902 Ragnar Vogt[3] again took up the problem of the catatonic consciousness. He proceeded from the Müller-Pilzecker investigations[4] by considering mainly their observations about "perseveration." The continuation of psychic processes or their correlates, even after being replaced in consciousness by other ideas, is according to Vogt the normal analogy to catatonic perseveration, such as verbigeration, catalepsy, etc. Accordingly, in catatonia the tendency to perseveration of the psychophysical functions would be especially marked. But inasmuch as in the Müller-Pilzecker observations perseveration is manifested most distinctly only when no new content of consciousness impresses itself,[5] Vogt claims that in catatonia perse-

    vations sur un cas de somnambulisme avec glossolalie. Archives de Psychologie de la Suisse Romande, T. I, p. 102.

  1. Zur Psychologie und Pathologie sogenannter occulter Phänomene. Leipzig, 1902.
  2. Diagnostische Assoz. Stud., IV Beitrag. Über das Verhalten der Reaktionszeit beim Assoziationsexperiment. J. A. Barth, Leipzig, 1906.
  3. R. Vogt: Zur Psychologic der Katatonischen Symptome. Zentr. f . Nervenheilk. u. Psych., Bd. XIX, p. 433.
  4. Zeitschrift für Psych, u. Phys. der Sinnesorgane, Erg. B. I, 1901.
  5. In conditions of distraction there is an increase of preseveration in the association experiments. See Diag. Assoz. Stud., I Beitrag, and interesting experiments of Stransky: über Sprachverwirrtheit, 1905. Marhold, Halle. See also the excellent work of Heilbronner: Über Haftenbleiben und Stereotypie (Monatsschr. f. Psych, u. Neur., Bd. XVIII, Erg.-Heft), which accepts similar theoretical views.