ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a series of studies that have extended and confirmed empirically some of the key principles of associationism, as reflected in studies of the operation of memory systems, sensory conditioning, selective deprivation, repressed memories, and “the seven sins of memory,”. It discusses Auguste Comte’s approach of studying the mind through behaviors in comparison to Ernst Mach’s study of the immediate, unanalyzed experience of the observer as an indication of how the human mind acquires content. The chapter demonstrates how David Hume’s differentiation of simple from complex ideas bridged empiricism and associationism, thus calling for the development of psychology as a science. It describes the four goals of British associationism. Four goals are: identify the laws of association, analyze human consciousness and indicate how the contents can be explained by the laws of association, break down the contents of mind into the most elementary components, and identify the anatomical and physiological basis of mental phenomena.
