Chapter 9 - The Association of Ideas

The second time I read this chapter I thought to myself, "James is talking about schema." The notion of schema as it ebbed and flowed inside my mind touched off several different thoughts. For example, I began thinking of this big Excel spreadsheet related to items in my household. Then my mind recalled a schema analogy using a hotel I heard the first time I became acquainted with John Sweller: Thinking of the word hotel conjures up myriad images; the front desk, the pool, room service, the exercise room. Each of these elements contain various sub-components until we may be thinking of something completely different that the original object of thought.

How did I arrive at such a place? James tries to shed light on this phenomenon in presenting his construct of idea association. In so doing, he presents a law of contiguity and a law of similarity, the basic premise of which is that one's stream of consciousness has a structure; ideas though sometimes tangential, are related and relatable to prior thoughts.

Based on my understanding of the text, the practical application of this information is incumbent on understanding two main concepts. First, James shares an anecdote about anticipating a possible windfall from a deceased relative's bequest:

"The words 'I, the heir,' immediately make an electric connection with the marginal thought of the will; that, in turn, makes my heart beat with anticipation of my possible legacy"

I believe James is trying to underscore the fact that steps can be taken to encourage or stimulate students by using tactics to stimulate them through use of prior experiences via associated ideas. Using words, pictures, sounds or other stimuli to invoke associations which would yield enthusiastic responses and gain students' attention might be a powerful motivating force pedagogically.

Second, James presents the concepts that chains of ideas which point to similar linkages in thinking might yield more predictable results than those which may cause a more chaotic or misdirected change in the stream of consciousness; humans often tend to look at the pattern as a whole when the ideas therein are more directly linked in a compatible manner.

One thing I like about this book, and especially in this chapter is that this is not a practical step-by-step guide for classroom teaching. However, he is giving theoretical concepts and just as he said in the first chapter, suggesting there are several ways one might implement them.

Can you give some specific classroom examples where these laws have born out in the words or actions of students? What changes might you make to your teaching in order to incorporate these ideas?