A Study of Association in Insanity by Kent, Grace Helen

methods. However, to decide that question for any given reaction is really not necessary in practice, since an error made through wrongly placing one, two, or three reactions tinder any heading is of no significance; the types acquire importance only when represented by large numbers in a record under consideration; and when many reactions fall tinder a single heading the likelihood of error, as affecting the record as a whole, is by that fact alone greatly reduced.

The whole question might more profitably be approached from another point of view: To what extent are the distinctions of this classification useful? An answer to this question can be found only in the results.

Sec. 7. ANALYSIS OF PATHOLOGICAL MATERIAL

We present in Table IV, the results of a statistical examination of the records obtained from certain groups of normal subjects and from some groups of insane subjects.

The normal groups have been studied for the purpose of determining the frequency and manner of occurrence among normal subjects of the various of abnormal reactions. It seemed best for this purpose to consider separately the records of those subjects who gave an unusually large number of individual reactions. Fifty-three records containing fifteen or more individual reactions were found after a fairly diligent search among our normal test records. In the other groups of subjects--persons of common school education, persons of collegiate education, and children--we included no records containing more than ten individual reactions.

The more striking departures from average normal figures are indicated in the table by the use of heavy type.

This table reveals associational tendencies as occurring in connection with the psychoses studied. A better insight into the nature of these tendencies can be gained by a special analysis of the test of each clinical group.

DEMENTIA PRAECOX

In this psychosis we find the number of individual reactions far exceeding not only that of the normal but that of any other psychosis which we studied. To a corresponding extent we find the number of the highest type of normal reactions--the common specific reactions--reduced.

TABLE IV.