The Cryptomnesic Fragment in the Discovery of Free Association

Cryptomnesia occasionally accompanies an original discovery in a highly creative person. A number of such cryptomnesic phenomena are described, and particular attention is paid to Ludwig Börne's influence on Freud's discovery of free association. The discovery is seen as the fulfillment of an adaptive task consistent with the scientific path Freud was pursuing. The cryptomnesic fragment, although related to conflict and thus an ideational remnant

of a failure of repression, is also an indicator of the link between the creator and his intellectual and personal tradition in the form of a creative alliance. The period of early adolescence, when ideational content is patterned by narcissistically derived ideals, is suggested as critical to the potentially creative individual in that bonds of attachment to the historical past permit acceptance of creative powers and give direction for potential investments. Figures for identification are likely to follow a design established by an assessment of specifically unique attributes. Börne was not only a minor source for the discovery of free association but also an early precursor of "the unseen collaborator" necessitated by the hazards of revolutionary creative achievement.