A first book in psychology / by Mary Whiton Calkins.

  • Mary Whiton Calkins
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A first book in psychology / by Mary Whiton Calkins. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    extensity appears more simple. The extensity which is real¬ ized as separating the red and the blue dots is that of the white background; and in retinal terms, end-organs or sub¬ stances, between those stimulated by the red and blue light are excited by white light. The problem, here, is to explain why — when the whole retina is stimulated by the white light from the paper background — just this particular part of the stimulating background should be realized as in especial relation to the red and the blue dots; in other words, why this particular part of the total consciousness of extended whiteness should be combined with the consciousness of dis¬ tinct red and blue. Again the explanation may be given in terms of habitual experience. We are accustomed to the sight of objects with edges in accentuated color; and we see the ‘middle ground’ of these objects as extensity intervening between the two borders. We therefore gain the habit of regarding that part of a background which lies between lines, or even between dots, rather than any other part of the background, as related to these lines or dots. c. The Consciousness of Form i. Of Two-dimensional Form My spatial consciousness is more than a mere awareness of extensity and apartness. I am at this moment, for example, conscious not only that my letter-paper has bigness and lies apart from my penwiper, but also that the paper is oblong and the penwiper round; and I am furthermore conscious that the paper is flat and the ink-bottle cubical. I am con¬ scious, in other words, of two-dimensional and of three- dimensional form. The consciousness of form differs from other sorts of spatial
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