How did apperception relate to the work of James Mill and John Stuart Mill?
Apperception is the unified conscious experience that stems from the simpler mental elements. Wundt, defined apperception as the combining of mental elements to build up a higher new process, which is also called as creative synthesis or psychic resultants.
He further defines it by saying that the formation of a higher process from the simpler elements, leads to establishment of a completely new product, which is different from its original elements.
John Mill, considered the mind to be passive and gave no importance to free will of the mind. He also had the same doctrine of ideas that mind is made of smaller mental elements that sum up to construct the higher order processes. To Mill sensation and ideas are the mental elements that are existent. He gave no role to the mind in the process of association.
John Stuart Mill differed a little from his father, and gave importance to the mind in participating with the simpler mental processes. He said that these simple processes add up to make the higher cognitive functions, which are different from the simpler processes.