§ 7. Association and Reproduction.—On seeing a flower, I am told that it has a certain name. Afterwards, I hear this name again: it may then call up to my mind a mental picture of the flower, though no flower is actually present. It is clear that if I had never seen the flower, the mental picture of the flower would not have arisen. Now suppose the original perception of the flower had left no trace behind it after itself ceasing to exist,—that it had flitted over the surface of my mind like a shadow over the surface of a stream, without producing any permanent result. The case would then have been just the same as if I had never seen the flower. The mere hearing of the name would be inoperative unless there were something for it to act on,—an appropriate trace of past experience constituting a preparatory disposition for future experience. But primary retentiveness is not in this case sufficient. More is implied than the mere cumulative effect of the previous phases of a continuous process determining succeeding phases. Retentiveness in this instance works by way of reproduction and association. The specific nature of the original experience which we call the perception of the flower, is partially reinstated in the mental image of the flower. The name, as we say, reproduces the mental image. It does this through association. The actual perception of the flower occurred as part of the same continuous conscious process as the hearing of the name. Hence, when the name occurs again, it may reexcite the mental disposition left behind by the perception, and reexcite it in such a way that the mental image of the flower rises before the mind although no actual flower is present to the senses. In so far as the mere fact that a certain modification of consciousness has already occurred constitutes the general possibility of its recurrence, retentiveness takes the form of reproduction. The general possibility of recurrence is for the most part actualised in each, special case by association. The disposition left behind by the previous experience must be reexcited if the experience itself is to be reproduced. The reexcitement is mostly, though not always, effected by a presentation similar to some presentation which has formed part of the same total process with the experience which is to be reproduced. This is expressed by saying that the reinstatement takes place by the previous association of the reproduced and reproducing presentation. In the example given, the association is between the perception of the flower and its name. The repetition of the name revives the mental image of the absent flower.