Whereas linear thought proceeds from the limited awareness of the five senses of the physical plane, associative thought proceeds from awareness of the astral plane integrated with the physical plane, and is the next step in the evolution of human cognition. Associative thought is preconscious (Lyon, Duane); below the level of conscious awareness, is conceptual rather than verbal, and non-linear rather than linear.
This level of cognition is responsible for
1) associating current experiences and thoughts with prior memories,
2) filtering unwelcome,taboo, or embarrassing thoughts and feelings,
3) implementing conscious perceptions, and
4) classifying, storing, and recalling strong emotional, self-centered memories.
Much of associative thought is positive-oriented, and can be used to stabilise and harmonise our emotional environment.
For example, a person may smell a certain fragrance, and suddenly be overwhelmed with memories and feelings of a point in time in their past when they were happy, secure, and loved. Often there is no pattern as to how these thoughts and feelings are processed; they simply wash over the person in a massive paradigm, all associated with a smell. If the person feels happy, secure, and loved when they smell this scent, they can work directly with that scent to bolster attitudes of happiness, security, and belovedness. Using the scent in times of doubt or grief may actually help the person come to terms with the challenging emotions s/he is facing.
Because the bulk of humanity cannot cognize at this level, many people are imprisoned by it within the realm of linear thought. Such people tend to view the world in terms of "black & white", or from a persecutor/victim, savior/victim standpoint.
It has been shown that subliminal programming, the process of feeding programming images to the subconsious mind at faster-than-conscious-level processing speeds (usually during audio or video transmissions), is most effective when used upon an audience that is largely unaware of their associative processes. Being thus unaware, they are subject to anyone who has the ability to manipulate their associative impressions and subconscious thoughts.
Even for those members of humanity who are beginning to work creatively with associative thought may become entrapped by preconscious associations of which they were unaware. Examples of the entrapment of associative thought are as follows:
Walking down the street, a person sees a dog and her pulse races and she develops gooseflesh. (Based on a childhood experience in which an angry dog attacked her while she was in her stroller, she now as an adult still associates "dog" with the emotion of terror.)
A student, about to give an oral report in front of his class, stammers, turns pale, sweats, and balks at following through with it. (Based on a prior experience in kindergarten when he acted in a skit, forgot an important line, and was the laughingstock of the kids in the class, who taunted him cruelly about it.)
Working in an office, a businessman hears a song playing on a radio in another office, and, without explanation, bursts into tears. (Based on an experience in his childhood when he found out that his mother had suddenly died, this same song was playing in the background.)
In each of these cases, the person is unaware of the root cause for their discomfort and emotional reaction, although this is based very strongly upon a prior event and its emotional impact upon their subconscious mind. All three of these people, very strongly conditioned in the linear realm of thought, would explain their behaviour by "I've never liked dogs", "I'm no good at giving speeches, and I never have been", and "I can't understand what came over me. I'm going crazy!"
Linear thought is unable to account for associative memories. In the case of the businessman, he was only barely aware of the event of being told of his mother's passing, and was completely unaware of the song that was playing in the background; yet, that song was associated with the depth of grief and despair that he felt at that moment.
There are several techniques by which a person can become aware of his/her associative thought processes. One is by using simple relaxation and/or meditation techniques which can connect the person to their inner subjective self and enable them to understand some of the root events that are creating their unexplainable emotional reactions. Often, people may not embark upon such a self-study until their emotional pain becomes so great that they seek out therapy or counseling.
The Bach Flower Essences are homeopathic essential oil remedies for many deep-seated emotional difficulties. These remedies work directly through the power of the associative (astral) mind-form. In use since the 1930's, the flower remedies are powerful in helping people adjust the associative thought form and work harmoniously with the bridge between thought and emotional cognition.
A highly effective technique used to gain control of the associative thought process is known as neurolinguistic programming (NLP). Using associative thought, NLP links emotions to actions or statements that serve to empower the individual and reprogram him/her from negative to positive emotional responses. NLP is used predominantly in reprogramming the associative process to where the person has cognitive control over his/her emotional reactions.