Fact and fable in psychology . now of another; and from thesame objective experience, especially in instances thatdemand a somewhat complicated exercise of the senses,different observers derive very different impressions. Not only when the sense-impressions are ambiguousor defective, but when they are vague — when the lightis dim or the forms obscure — does the minds eye ekeout the imperfections of physical vision. The vagueconformations of drapery and make-up that are identi-fied and recognized in spiritualistic seances illustrate THE MINDS EYE 295 extreme instances of this process. The white
Fact and fable in psychology . now of another; and from thesame objective experience, especially in instances thatdemand a somewhat complicated exercise of the senses,different observers derive very different impressions. Not only when the sense-impressions are ambiguousor defective, but when they are vague — when the lightis dim or the forms obscure — does the minds eye ekeout the imperfections of physical vision. The vagueconformations of drapery and make-up that are identi-fied and recognized in spiritualistic seances illustrate THE MINDS EYE 295 extreme instances of this process. The whitewashedtree or post that momentarily startles us ? in a darkcomitry lane takes on the guise that expectancy givesit. The mental predisposition here becomes the domi-nant factor, and the timid see as ghosts what theirmore sturdy companions recognize as whitewashed experiences we ascribe to the action of suggestionand imagination ^— the cloud thats almost in shapelike a camel, or like a weasel, or like a Fig. 19. — Do you see a duck or a rabbit, or either? (From HarpersWeekly, originally in Fliegende Blatter.) But throughout our visual expeiiences there runs thisdouble strain, now mainly outward and now mainlyinward, from the simplest excitements of the retina upto the realms where fancy soars free from the confinesof sense, and the objective finds its occupation gone. MENTAL PREPOSSESSION AND INERTIA Those who are actively engaged in educational pur-suits are called upon from time to time to consider thenature of the difficulties in the imparting of knowledge,the psychological impediments that stand in the wayof successful instruction. These are many and various;and pertain as well to the givers as to the receivers oflearning. This large and well threshed field I haveno intention of gleaning once more ; I desire simply todraw attention to one form of difficulty on the partof the learner, which has been brought home to me sofrequently and at times so for
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