assimilation

assimilation
   The term assimilation comes from the Latin verb assimilare, which means to equalize. It was used by the German father of psychology Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) to denote the physiological process that enables the mind to fill in any blanks and ambiguities that may exist within the stream of perceptual information. As Wundt remarks, the hearing of spoken words depends in large measure upon our ability to fill in the less articulate parts by reference to familiar words and phrases. In his view, the other sensory modalities depend in equal measure upon the perceptual system's urge to create whole, consistent, and meaningful patterns. Or, as the American philosopher James Gibson (1904-1979) recapitulates this point of view, "The perceptual system hunts. It tries to find meaning, to make sense from what little information it can get." As Wundt points out, the process of assimilation may also be held responsible for the mediation of words and phrases out of animal voices, the rustling sound of water, the sound of the wind, and machine noises (i.e. the mediation of "functional hallucinations). Apparently, the American psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910) had a similar phenomenon in mind when he formulated his law of figured consciousness. When blanks or ambiguities within the stream of perceptual information are filled in erroneously, "illusions may arise. The term " functional hallucination has traditionally been reserved for actual hallucinations that arise in conjunction with background noises.
   References
   Wundt, W. (1918). Einführung in die Psychologie. Leipzig: Dürr'sche Buchhandlung.
   James, W. (1952). The principles of psychology. Great books of the Western world no. 53.Edited by Hutchins, R.M. London: Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
   Gibson, J.J. (1966). The senses considered asperceptual systems. Boston, MA: Houghton Mif-flin Company.

Dictionary of Hallucinations. . 2010.

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  • assimilation — [ asimilasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1503; assimulation 1374; lat. assimilatio, de assimilare → assimiler 1 ♦ Acte de l esprit qui considère (une chose) comme semblable (à une autre). ⇒ identification, rapprochement. L assimilation d une chose à une autre,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • ASSIMILATION — ASSIMILATION. In general the sociocultural process in which the sense and consciousness of association with one national and cultural group changes to identification with another such group, so that the merged individual or group may partially or …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Assimilation — (von lateinisch similis „ähnlich“) steht für: Assimilation (Biologie), die schrittweise erfolgende Stoffumwandlung körperfremder in körpereigene Stoffe, sowohl im Pflanzen als auch im Tierreich Assimilation (Lernpsychologie), die Integration… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Assimilation — (from Latin assimilatio ; to render similar ) may refer to more than one article: *Assimilation (linguistics), a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an adjacent sound *Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group …   Wikipedia

  • Assimilation — As*sim i*la tion, n. [L. assimilatio: cf. F. assimilation.] 1. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Assimilation — Assimilation, die Aufnahme und Verarbeitung der Nährstoffe durch die Pflanze, insbesondere Aufnahme des Kohlenstoffs aus der Kohlensäure der atmosphärischen Luft und Einführung desselben in den Stoffwechsel. Nach der Einrichtung ihrer… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Assimilation — Assimilation, d.i. Verähnlichung, heißt der physiologische Vorgang, durch welchen der aus der aufgenommenen Nahrung durch die Verdauung bereitete Milchsaft dem Blute allmählig ähnlicher gemacht und endlich ganz in solches umgewandelt wird. Auch… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • assimilation — [ə sim΄ə lā′shən] n. an assimilating or being assimilated; specif., a) the cultural absorption of a minority group into the main cultural body b) Linguis. a process in which a sound, influenced by a neighboring sound, tends to become like it in… …   English World dictionary

  • assimilation — assimilation. См. ассимиляция. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • Assimilation — (v. lat.), 1) Verähnlichung, Ähnlichmachung; 2) (Gramm.), in zusammengesetzten Wörtern die Verwandlung des Endconsonanten des ersten Wortes in den Anfangsconsonanten des zweiten, zur leichteren Aussprache, z.B. das Wort A. selbst für Adsimilation …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Assimilation — (lat., »Verähnlichung«), der Vorgang, durch den Bestandteile der Nahrung innerhalb der lebenden Wesen zu Bestandteilen von deren Körper werden. Hierhin ist bei den Tieren zu rechnen die Verwandlung der im Verdauungskanal aus den genossenen… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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