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The author groups under this term minor distortions of reality perception and the feeling of estrangement called fausse reconnaissance. Erroneous recognition as used in this article refers to pathological experiences of the above nature recognized as such by the patient but occurring in an unclouded sensorium. The phenomenon of
erroneous recognition is always accompanied by an affect which is disconcerting, unpleasant and sometimes ominously warning of some impending danger.
The author then quotes several examples from psycho-analysed patients which illustrate his theory of the dynamics of the phenomenon—namely, that déjà vu is primarily a disturbance of reality perception and the reaction to it serves to reassure the patient against this insecurity, by divesting, through an estrangement affect, the recurrent circumstances of the impact of a new reality. It constitutes a defensive reaction against future danger or unpleasantness, as well as against the anxiety associated with the memory of an undefined unsolved experience. It further serves to reassure the individual that he is not venturing into an entirely new field, with which there is an unconscious association of uncertainty and failure. He appreciates that the situation is not too greatly fraught with danger in the immediate future, since he has been in it, heard it, smelled it before and has survived.
Author's Abstract.