THE CONCEPT OF INHIBITION IN SOME 19TH-CENTURY THEORIES OF THINKING

The concept of inhibition was introduced into psychology and physiolog y at the beginning of the 19th century. Although it was quickly adapte d to account for a wide range of phenomena in both disciplines, questi ons were soon raised about its real explanatory power. Some of the obj ections were on logical and scientific grounds but many were to the ve ry notion that an inhibitory process could be an active one. Despite m any analytical reviews and attempted redefinitions, no clarification r esulted. Partly this was due to the influence of a variety of unstated philosophical and social-ideological assumptions about the phenomena for which inhibition was used. In this paper, some of these issues are explored in relation to ''insanity,'' hypnosis, and normal thinking a nd willing. Particular attention is paid to Alexander Bain's theory of the will which David Ferrier attempted to locate in his hypothesised frontal inhibitory-motor centers. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.