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A distinction is made between images of the body and body states and the 'self' as a collective name for the totality of the body images. This self is, however, more than a collection. It is an organized institution or unity, brought about by slow growth through differentiation from 'the object'. The phenomenon of double touch and the recognition of the inner nature of instinctual demands—discharged through the motor apparatus or unable so to be discharged—play important formative roles in the process.
The author considers the process of 'self' building as an unconscious averaging (not arithmetical) or pooling of all self experiences to form a zero point to which representations of specific mental and physical states can be referred and against which they are perceived and judged. Three conditions then present themselves for constancy of self feeling: (i) A constant quantitative ratio must exist between the cathexis of a single or small group of self representations and the self as a whole; (ii) Constancy of a small group of self representations; and (iii) Constancy of framework.
The more massive the frame of reference becomes through pooling of narcissistic cathexes, the less will the sense of self be affected by cathectic fluctuations of single self representations. With the gradual development of such a collectively constant frame of reference, the ego's perception of internal states becomes more orderly. The loss of such a frame of reference in regressive states (dreams and psychosis), leads to chaotic internal perceptions, for the various internal states succeed one another without any common reference point. The function of 'pooling' would be an aspect of the organizing function of the ego; its efficiency would depend on the nature of the energy cathecting narcissistic representations, neutralized energy with its minor fluctuations presenting less of a demand on the pooling capacity of the ego. The well-functioning ego achieves both a constant frame of