So far we’ve discussed learning and mental structures, but have yet to discuss thinking. The pure associationist will want a theory that covers not just acquisition and cognitive structure, but also the transition between thoughts. Associative transitions are a particular type of thinking, akin to what William James called “The Stream of Thought” (James 1890). Associative transitions are movements between thoughts that are not predicated on a prior logical relationship between the elements of the thoughts that one connects. In this sense, associative transitions are contrasted with computational transitions as analyzed by the Computational Theory of Mind (Fodor 2001; Quilty-Dunn and Mandelbaum 2018,2019; see  the entry on Computational Theory of Mind).  CTM understands inferences as truth preserving movements in thought that are underwritten by the formal/syntactic properties of thoughts. For example inferring the conclusion in modus ponens from the premises is possible just based on the form of the major and minor premise, and not on the content of the premises. Associative transitions are transitions in thought that are not based on the logico-syntactic properties of thoughts. Rather, they are transitions in thought that occur based on the associative relations among the separate thoughts.