Lectures on psycho-physiology / by J. Martin Littlejohn.
- Littlejohn, J. M. (John Martin)
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Lectures on psycho-physiology / by J. Martin Littlejohn. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![ists coeval with mental existence but all perceptions, apprehensions and discriminations mark the mental g-rowth. The brain developes and so does the mind, both of these developments being- inseparably connected. To understand the present mental status we must follow its genetic pro- g-ress from the simplest form. We must study the growth in order to reach the order of mental development, these laws representing- the men- tal prog-ress which is in harmony with all nature's evolution. From the animal upward we find this progressive development. The instinct of the chick exhibits itself on the third day of life so that instinctively the chick will follow after any moving- object and thereafter adhere to its lead- er no matter who, every other moving- object creating- a feeling- of anxiety and producing- fear. If this period of instinctive development issuppress- ed or allowed to pass by it will never thereafter be developed. This is an important psychic principle, that there is an order and a period for the proper development of psychic nature. In man we find a g-reater num- ber of instincts than in any other animal and these all develop in their proper order. These instincts and the emotions associated with them represent the most powerful of nature's influences. There are various types of human thinking- and association. People think and form mem- ory mental pictures in different ways, the type being- individual, the cap- acity g-eneric. This is illustrated in the methods of visual observation, the forms of vocal utterance and the manner of audition. Some people visualize, others vocalize, while others embody in auditory expressions all their thoug-hts. These represent the three types of mental embodiment in the activity of the mind. This seemsto rest on the basis of imitation whichisasmuchinstinctivein man as in thelower animals. In orderto im- itate there must be formed in the mind a definite concept and there must be prower to carry out the concept. The mind thus formulates and throug-h the medium of the brain, the nervous system and the body, ex- ecutes its plans. In another direction we find the same idea of the connection of brain and mind, viz., in speech. In the brain we find two lobes, each lobe gov- erning- the opposite half of the body. The rig-ht hand is controlled by the left part of the brain. In the left part of the brain we find]|the speech center, close to the hand reg-ion. Anthropolog-y and primitive philolog-y have proved that the lang-uage of the hand or sig-n lang-uag-e existed prior to vocal language. In hand language the right hand is the prominent in- strument. In line with this we find that right handedness and speech are not found in the animals lower than mian. In line with this animal brain development is normal and there is no variation in one lobe as compared with another. This indicates that the speech organs, the prominent use of the right hand and what they repre- sent, brain centers in the same region and lobeof the brain have an inti-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21064520_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
