Movement and Mental Imagery
Preface
Margaret Floy Washburn
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THE first debt of gratitude which I have to acknowledge in completing this book is to the Trustees of Vassar College, who have authorized the publication of the series to which the book belongs, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the college. I wish that I had a better contribution to offer in honor of my Alma Mater. My second debt is to my colleague, Dr. Elizabeth L. Woods, who by generous sacrifice of time has read through the whole manuscript and suggested many improvements.
Although the problems considered in this essay are of a technical rather than a popular character, I have tried so to present them that a reader without psychological training could follow the discussion. No topic dealt with in the book is treated in anything like an exhaustive manner. It is only fair to say, however, that if all the reading which was done in direct connection with its composition were represented in the list of references at the end, that list would be three times as long as it is. I have not aimed at a thorough presentation of the literature of my subject, but simply at an outline development of my own views. The psychological reader will miss references to Kostyleff's Le mécanisme cérébral de la pensée (Paris, 1914). The omission is intentional. The book did not appear until the framework of my theory had been erected. I have felt that any adequate discussion of the theories of others would occupy space which might better be given to the consideration of the bearing of facts on my own views.
MARGARET FLOY WASHBURN.
