ABSTRACT
It will be remembered that in the chapter on Thinking we pointed out that material first enters the mind through sensation, that Sensations are stored up as Images, and Images are combined to form Concepts. This stock of concepts is termed the Apperception Mass, although it must be clearly understood that there is no “mass” about it at all. It might perhaps render the matter more clear if we thought of this stock of concepts as a self-compiled dictionary of experiences. When we turn up any particular word in the dictionary we are referred to all the previous experiences and sensations we have had concerning that particular thing. If we turn up “apple” we find that it was something that was round, smooth, and yellow, that tasted and smelt so and so; all this matter flashes into mind with incredible speed in answer to the key-word “apple.”
