ABSTRACT
In “A Theory of Thinking”, Bion refers to the use of the concept of the alpha function (fa), a function initially exercised by the mother, who converts sensory data into alpha elements, allowing the psyche to differentiate between being awake and sleeping, being conscious or unconscious. The development is normal when the relationship baby/breast allows depositing into the mother intolerable sensations, re-introjecting the modified sensations after being kept in the breast long enough for the sensation to become tolerable. The unaccepted feeling is modified by the mother’s alpha function. With the rupture of the mother’s capacity for reverie, the tasks that cannot be concluded “are imposed on the rudimentary consciousness; they are all in different degrees related to the function of correlation. According to Bion, “The myth may be regarded as a primitive form of pre-conception and a stage in publication, that is, in communication of the individual’s private knowledge to his group”.
