Speaker 1: Chapter seven. Memory. Psychologists class as representative mental processes those
known as memory and imagination, respectively. The term representation is
used in psychology to indicate the processes of representation or
presenting again to consciousness that which has formerly been presented
to it, but which afterwards passed from its field. As
Hamilton says, the general capability of knowledge necessarily requires that,
besides the power of evoking out of unconsciousness one portion
of our retained knowledge in preference to another, we possess
the faculty of representing in consciousness what is thus evoked.
Memory is the primary representative faculty or power of the mind.
Imagination depends upon memory for its material as we shall
see when we consider that faculty, every mental process which
involves the remembrance, recollection, or representation of a sensation, perception,
mental image, thought, or idea previously experienced must depend upon
memory for its material. Memory is the great storehouse of
the mind in which are placed the records of previous
mental experiences. It is a part of the great subconscious
field of mental activity, and the greater part of its
work is performed below the plane of consciousness. It is
only when its results are passed into the field of
consciousness that we are aware of its existence. We know
memory only by its works. Of its nature, we know
but little, although certain of its principal laws and principles
have been discovered. It was formerly customary to class memory
with the various faculties of the mind, but later psychology
no longer so considers it. Memory is now regarded as
a power of the general mind, manifesting in connection with
every faculty of the mind. It is now regarded as
belonging to the great subconscious field of mental and its
explanation must be sought there. It is utterly unexplainable. Otherwise
the importance of memory cannot be overestimated. Not only does
a man's character and education depend cheaply upon it, but
his very mental being is bound up with it. If
there were no memory, man would never progress mentally beyond
the mental state of the newborn babe. He would never
be able to profit by experience. He would never be
able to form clear perceptions, He would never be able
to reason or form judgments. The processes of thought depend,
for material upon the memory of past experiences. This material lacking,
there can be no thought. Memory has two important general functions.
Those are one the retention of impressions and experiences, and
to the reproduction of the impressions and experiences so retained.
It was formerly held that the memory retained only a
portion of the impressions and experiences originally noted by it,
but the present theory is that it retains every impression
and experience which is noted by it. It is true
that many of these impressions are never reproduced in consciousness,
but experiments tend to prove, nevertheless, that the records are
still in the memory, and that appropriate and sufficiently strong
stimuli will bring them into the field of consciousness. The
phenomena of somnambulism, dreams, hysteria, delirium, approach of death, etc.
Show that the subconscious mind has an immense accumulation of
apparently forgotten facts, which unusual stimuli will serve to recall.
The Power of the memory to reproduce the retained impressions
and experiences is variously called remembrance, recollection, or memory. This
power varies materially in various individuals, but it is an
axiom of psychology that the memory of any person may
be developed and trained by practice. The ability to recall
depends to a great extent upon the clearness and depth
of the original impression, which in turn depends upon the
degree of attention given to it at the time of
its occurrence. Recollection is also greatly aided by the law
of association, or the principle whereby one mental fact is
linked to another. The more facts to which are given
fact is linked, the greater the ease by which it
is recalled or remembered. Recollection is also greatly assisted by
use and exercise. Like the fingers, the memory cells of
the brain become expert and efficient by use and exercise,
or stiff and inefficient by lack of the same. In
addition to the phases of retention and reproduction, there are
two important phases of memory. That is three recognition of
the reproduced impression or experience, and four localization the impression
or its reference to a more or less definite time
and place. The recognition of the recalled impression is quite important.
It is not enough that the impression be retained and recalled.
If we are not able to recognize the recalled impression
as having been experienced before, the recollection will be of
but little use to us in our thought processes. The
purposes of thought demand that we shall be able to
identify the record impression with the original one. Recognition is
really recognition re knowing. Recognition is akin to perception. The
mind becomes conscious of the recalled impression just as it
becomes conscious of the sensation. It then recognizes the relation
of the recalled impression to the original one, just as
it realizes the relation of the sensation to its object.
The localization of the recalled and recognized impression is also important.
Even if we recognize the recalled impression, it will be
of comparatively little use to us unless we are able
to locate it as having happened yesterday, last week, last month,
last year, ten years ago, or at some time in
the past, and as having happened in our office house,
or in such and such a place, in the street,
or in some distant place. Without the power of localization,
we should be unable to connect and associate the remembered
fact with the time, place, and persons with which it
should be placed to be of use and value to
us in our thought processes. Retention, the retention of a
mental impression in the memory depends very materially upon the
clearness and depth of the original impression, and this clearness
and depth, as we have previously stated, depend upon the
degree of attention bestowed upon the original impression. Attention, then,
is the important factor in the forming and recording of impressions.
The rule is slight attention, faint record, marked attention, clear
and deep record. To fix this fact in the mind,
the student may think of the retentive and reproductive phases
of memory as a phonographic record. The receiving diaphragm of
the phonograph represents the sense organs, and the recording needle
represents the attention. The needle makes the record on a
cylinder deep or faint. According to the condition of the needle.
A loud sound may be recorded, but faintly if the
needle is not properly adjusted. And further, it must be
remembered that the strength of the reproduction depends almost entirely
upon the clearness and depth of the original impression on
the cylinder. As is the record, so is the reproduction.
It will be well for the student to carry this
symbol of the phonograph in his mind. He will aid
him in developing his powers of memory. In this connection,
we should remember that attension depends largely upon interest. Therefore,
we would naturally expect to find that we remember interesting
things far more readily than those which lack interest. This
supposition is borne out in actual experience. This accounts for
the fact that everyone remembers a certain class of things
better than he does others. One remembers faces, another dates,
another spoken conversation, another written words, and so on. It
will be found as a rule that each person is
interested in the class of things which he most easily remembers.
The artist easily remembers faces and details of faces, or
scenery and details thereof. The musician easily recalls passages or
bars of music, often of a most complicated nature. The
speculator easily recalls the quotations of his favorite stocks. The
racing man recalls without difficulty the odds posted on a
certain on a certain day, or the details of a
race which was run many years ago. The moral is
arouse and induce an interest in the things which you
wish to remember. This interest may be aroused by studying
the things in question, as we have suggested in a
preceding chapter visualization in Memory. Many of the best authorities
hold that original impressions may be made clear and deep
and the process of reproduction accordingly rendered more efficient by
the practice of visualizing. The thing to be remembered by
visualizing is meant the formation of a mental image of
the thing in the imagination. If you wish to remember
the appearance of anything, look at it closely with attention,
and then turning away from it, endeavor to reproduce its
appearance as a mental picture in the mind. If this
is done, a particularly clear impression will be made in
the memory, and when you recall the thing, you will
find that you will will also recall the clear mental
image of it. Of course, the greater the number of
details observed and included in the original mental image, the
greater the remembered detail perception in memory. Not only is
attention necessary in forming clear memory records, but careful perception
is also important. Without clear perception, there is a lack
of detail and the retained record and the element of
association is lacking. It is not enough to merely remember
the thing itself. We should also remember what it is
and all about it. The practice of the methods of
developing perception given in a preceding lesson, will tend to
develop and train the retentive reproductive recognitive and locative powers
of the memory. The rule is the greater the degree
of perception accorded a thing, the greater the detail of
the retained impression, and the greater the ease of the recollection.
Understanding and memory. Another important point in acquiring impressions in
memory is this that the better the understanding of the
subject or object, the clearer the impressions regarding it, and
the clearer the recollection of it. This fact is proved
by experiment and experience. A subject which will be remembered
only with difficulty under ordinary circumstances, will be easily remembered
if it is fully explained to the person and accompanied
by a few familiar illustrations or examples. It is very
difficult to remember a meaningless string of words, while a
sentence which conveys a clear meaning may be memorized easily.
If we understand what a thing is for its uses
and employment, we remember it far more easily than if
we lack this understanding. Elbringhouse, who conducted a number of
experiments along this line, reports that he could memorize the
Stanza of poetry at about one tenth the time requires
to memorize the same amount of nonsense, syllables God. He
states that he once asked capable students of the Johns
Hopkins University to give him an account of the lecture
to which he had just listened. I cannot do it,
replied the student. He was not logical. The rule is
the more one knows about a certain thing, the more
easily is that thing remembered. This is a point worth noting.
End of chapter seven, Chapter eight, memory continued. The subject
of memory cannot be touched upon intelligently without a consideration
of the law of association. One of the important psychological principles,
the law of association. What is known in psychology as
the law of association, is based on the fact that
no idea exists in the mind except in association with
other ideas. This is not generally recognized, and the majority
of persons will dispute the law at first thought. But
the existence and appearance of ideas in the mind are
governed by mental law as invariable and constant as the
physical law of gravitation. Every idea has associations with other ideas.
Ideas travel in groups, and one group is associated with
another group, and so on, until in the end, every
idea in one's mind is associated directly or indirectly with
every other idea. Theoretically, at least, it would be possible
to begin with one idea in the mind of a
person and then gradually unwind is entire stock of ideas,
Like the yarn on the ball. Our thoughts proceed according
to this law. We sit down in a brown study
and proceed from one subject to another until we are
unable to remember any connection between the first thought and
the last. But each step of the reverie was connected
with the one proceeding and the one secs exceeding it.
It is interesting to trace back these connections. Poe based
one of his celebrated detective stories on this law. The
reverie may be broken into by a sudden impression from outside,
and we will then proceed from that impression, connecting it
with something else already in our experience, and starting a
new chain of sequence. Often we fail to trace the
associations governing our ideas, but the chain is there. Nevertheless,
one may think of a past scene or experience without
any apparent cause. A little thought will show that something seen,
or a few notes of a song floating to the ears,
or the fragrance of a flower has supplied the connecting
link between the past and the present. A suggestion of
mignonette will recall some past event in which the perfume
played a part. Someone's handkerchief perhaps carried the same odor,
or an old familiar tune reminds one of someone, something,
or some place in the past. A familiar feature in
a countenance of a passer by will start one thinking
of someone else who had that kind of a mouth,
that shaped nose, or that expression of the eye, and
away he will be off in a sequence of remembered experiences.
Often the starting idea or the connecting links may appear
but dimly in consciousness, but rest assured they are always there.
In fact, we frequently accept this law unconsciously and without
realizing his actual existence. For instance, one makes a remark,
and at once we wonder how did he come to
think of that? And if we are shrewd, we may
discover what was in his mind before he spoke. There
are two general classes of association of ideas in memory.
Those are one association of contiguity and two logical association.
Association of contiguity is that form of association depending on
the previous association in time or space of ideas which
have been impressed on the mind. For instance, if you
met mister and Missus Wetterhorn, who were introduced to them
one after the other, thereafter you will naturally remember mister
Thereafter you will naturally remember mister w when you think
of Missus W. And vice versa. You will naturally remember
Napoleon when you think of Wellington, or Benedict Arnold when
you think of Major Andre. For the same reason, you
will also naturally remember b at c When you think
of a. Likewise, you will think of abstract time when
you think of abstract space, of thunder, when you think
of lightning of colic, when you recall green apples of
love making, and moonlit nights when you think of college days.
In the same way, we remember things which occurred just
before or just after the event in our mind, and
at the moment of things near in space to the
thing of which we are thinking. Logical association depends upon
the relation of likeness or difference between several things thought of.
Things thus associated may have never come into the mind
of the same previous time, nor are they necessarily connected
in time and space. One may think of a book
and then proceed by association to think of another book
by the same author, or of another author treating of
the same subject. Or he may think of a book
directly opposed to the thirst the relation of distinct difference
causing the associated idea. Logical association depends upon inner relations
are not upon the outer relations of time and space.
This innerness of relation between things not connected in space
or time is discovered only by experience and education. The
educated man realizes many points of relationship between things that
are thought by the uneducated man to be totally unrelated.
Wisdom and knowledge consist largely in the recognition of relations
between things association in memory. It follows from a consideration
of the law of association that when one wishes to
impress a thing upon the memory, he should, as an
authority says, multiply associations. Entangle the fact you wish to
remember in a net of as many associations as possible,
especially those that are logical. Hence the advice to place
your facts in groups and classes in the memory. As
Blackie says, nothing helps the mind so much as order
and classification. Classes are always few individuals many. To know
the class well is to know what is most essential
in the character of the individual, and what burdens the
memory least to retain in memory. Another important principle of
memory is that the impressions acquire depth and clearness by repetition.
Repeat a line of poetry once and you may remember it.
Repeat it again, and your chances of remembering it are
greatly increased. Repeat it a sufficient number of times and
you cannot escape remembering it. The illustration of the phonograph
record will help you to understand the reason of this.
The rule is constant repetition deepens memory impressions. Frequent reviewing
and recalling what has been memorized tends to keep the
records clear and clean, besides deepening the impression at each review.
General rules of memory. The following general rules will be
of service to the student who wishes to develop his memory.
Making impressions. One bestow attention. Two, cultivate interest, three manifest
perception four, cultivate understanding. Five, form associations six, repeat and
review recalling impressions. One, endeavor to get hold of the
loose end of association and then unwind your memory ball
of yarn. Two. When you recall an impression, send it
back with energy to deepen the impression and attach it
to as many new associations as possible. Three, practice a
little memorizing and recalling each day, if only a line
of verse. The memory improves by practice and deteriorates by
neglect and disuse. Four. Demand good service of your memory,
and it will learn to respond. Learn to trust it,
and it will rise to the occasion. How can you
expect your memory to give good service when you continually
abuse it and tell everyone of the wretched memory I have.
I can never remember anything. Your memory is very apt
to accept your statements as truth. Our mental faculties have
an annoying habit of taking us at our word in
these matters. Tell your memory what you expect it to do.
Then trust it and refrain from abusing it and giving
it a bad name. Final advice. Finally, remember this rule.
You get out of your memory only that which you
place in it. Place in it good, clear, deep impressions,
and it will reproduce good, clear, strong recollections. Think of
your memory as a phonographic record, and take care that
you place the right kind of impressions upon it. In memory,
you reap that which you have sown. You must give
to the memory before you can receive from it of
one thing, you may rest assured, namely, that unless you
take sufficient interest in the things to be remembered, you
will find that the memory does not take a fear
interest in them to remember them. Memory demands interest before
it will take interest in the task. It demands attention
before it will give attention. It demands understanding before it
will give understanding. It demands association before it will respond
to association. It demands repetition before it will repeat. The
memory is a splendid instrument, but it stands on its
dignity and asserts its rights. It belongs to the old dispensation.
It demands compensation and believes in giving only an equal
measure to what it receives. Our advice is to get
acquainted with your memory and make friends with it. Treat
it well and it will serve you well. But neglect
it and it will turn its back on you.