Herbert Spencer says that "our intellectual operations are indeed mostly
confined to the auditory feelings as integrated into words and the visual
feelings as integrated into ideas of objects, their relations and their
motions."
Stricker by introspection and concentration of attention upon his own
speech-production came to the conclusion that the primary revival of words
was by the feeling of movements of the muscles of articulation; but there
is a fallacy here, for the more the attention is concentrated upon any
mental process the more is the expressive side brought into prominence in
consciousness. This can be explained by the fact that there is in
consequence of attention an increased outflow of innervation currents to
special lower executive centres, thence to the muscles, but every change of
tension in the speech muscles is followed by reciprocal incoming
impressions appertaining to the sense and feeling of the movement. The more
intense the sense of movement, the greater will be the effect upon
consciousness. In fact, a person who reads and thinks by articulating the
words, does so because experience has taught him that he can concentrate
his attention more perfectly; therefore his memory or understanding of the
subject read or thought of will be increased.
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