The delay in arriving at the correct apperception of the stimulus may be
referred to as "finding-time" or simply as apperceptive delay. It represents
time occupied with the reproduction of erroneous apperceptive
images--apperceptive errors. Meanwhile the stimulus-idea, that mental
element most closely connected with the original stimulus, is operating
somewhere in the brain, determining the evocation of the secondary images
that appear in the dream.[33] This wire-pulling is done in the dark; the
primary stimulus-idea is not itself imaged, at first; neither is the context
or apperception-mass which meets it half-way, that is, becomes conjoined
with the stimulus-idea. Indeed, the images that come into the dream are only
emerging peaks of a submerged island of memory. What shall emerge is
determined by the interplay of stimulus-idea and apperception-mass, below
the level of consciousness. (A and Z are working together.)
The particular "island of memory" in this case, was an impression of the
talk with Dr. X., about histology, reflexology and dream interpretation; it
remained subliminal, evidently, except so far as portions of it were raised
above the threshold by the reproductive energy of the stimulus of
scratching. Necessarily, a process of imageless thought had taken place,
whereby the conversation was brought into play as a sub-excited
apperception-mass or setting-of-ideas for the stimulus-idea. Furthermore,
another process of imageless thought must have taken place whereby the
secondary images being raised into consciousness attained to their
arrangement as a wish-phantasy, without that preliminary tuning-up which the
principal cue (scratching) called forth, on its own account. This remains to
be explained.