Associationism
Associationism
A theory of the structure and organization of mind which asserts that(a) every mental state is resolvable into simple, discrete components (See Mind-Stuff Theory, Psychological Atomism) and (b) the whole of the mental life is explicable by the combination and recombination of these elemental states in conformity with the laws of association of ideas. (See Association, Laws of). Hume (Treatise on Human Nature, 1739) and Hartley (Observations on Man, 1749) may be considered the founders of associationism of which James Mill, J. S. Mill and A. Bain are later exponents. — L.W.