The Alexander Technique and Associationist Learning Theory

A Historical Perspective

Abstract

When, in 1894, F. Matthias Alexander set out as a ‘natural elocutionist’ (Alexander, 1995, p. 3), little could he have guessed what lay ahead—that in his search for a sore throat cure he had hit upon a new and thoroughly practical understanding of how the human being functions as an integrated whole and to a technique for ‘The development of the control of human reaction’ (Alexander, 2000, p. 88). Central to the way the Alexander Technique is framed is the concept of habits of thought or action as some kind of chain reaction of associated events—one giving rise to the next, and so on. It is well-documented that around 1900 Alexander became acquainted with William James’ book, Principles of Psychology. James’ theory of habit provided a sound theoretical basis for Alexander’s empirical discoveries.1 As with any new theory, James built on the ideas of oth­ers. This article traces ideas from the eighteenth-century English physician David Hartley—the acknowledged founder of associationism—through to Alexander and the present day. There is also obvious relevance to nineteenth-century ideo-motor theory, but this is not included as it has been discussed elsewhere (Ballard, 2015, p. 49-71; Williamson, 2017, p. 18-28).