Speaker 1: Phases of memory. One of the first things apt to
be noticed by the student of memory is the fact
that there are several different phases of the manifestation of memory.
That is to say, that there are several general classes
into which the phenomena of memory may be grouped. And
accordingly we find some persons quite highly developed in certain
phases of memory, and quite deficient in others. If there
were but one phase or class of memory, then a
person who had developed his memory along any particular line
would have at the same time developed it equally along
all the other lines. But this is far from being
the true state of affairs. We find men who are
quite proficient in recalling the impression of faces, while they
find it very difficult to recall the names of the
persons whose faces they remember. Others can remember fases and
not names. Others have an excellent recollection of localities, while
others are constantly losing themselves. Others remember dates, prices, numbers,
and figures generally, while deficient in other forms of recollection.
Others remember tales, incidents, anecdotes, et cetera, while forgetting other
things and so on. Each person being apt to possess
a memory good in some phases, while deficient in others.
The phases of memory may be divided into two general classes, namely,
one memory of sense impressions and two memory of ideas.
This classification is somewhat arbitrary for the reason that sense
impressions develop into ideas, and ideas are composed to a
considerable extent of sense impressions. But in a general way,
the sussification serves its purpose, which is the grouping together
of certain phases of the phenomena of memory. Memory of
sense impressions, of course, includes the impressions received from all
of the five senses sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
But when we come down to a practical examination of
sense impressions retained in the memory, we find that the
majority of such impressions are those obtained through the two
respective senses of sight and hearing. The impressions received from
the sense of taste, touch, and smell, respectively, are comparatively small,
except in the cases of certain experts and special lines
whose occupation consists in acquiring a very delicate sense of taste, smell,
or touch, and correspondingly a fine sense of memory. Along
these particular lines, for instance, the one fine taster and
tea tasters, who are able to distinguish between the various
grades of merchandise handled by them, have developed not only
very fine senses of taste and smell, but also a
remarkable memory of the impressions previously received, the power of
discrimination depending as much upon the memory as upon the
special sense. In the same way, the skilled surgeon, as
well as the skilled mechanic, acquires a fine sense of
touch and a correspondingly highly developed memory of touch impressions.
But as we have said, the greater part of the
sense impressions stored away in our memories are those previously
received through the sense of sight and hearing, respectively. The
majority of sense impressions stored away in the memory have
been received more or less involuntarily, that is, with the
application of but a slight degree of attention. They are
more or less indistinct and hazy, and are recalled with difficulty.
The remembrance of them generally coming about without conscious effort
according to the law of association, that is, they come
principally when we are thinking about something else upon which
we have given thought and attention, and with which they
have been associated. There is quite a difference between the
remembrance of sense impressions received in this way and those
which we record by the bestowal of attention, interest, and concentration.
The sense impressions of sight are by far the most
numerous in our subconscious storehouse. We are constantly exercising our
sense of sight and receiving thousands of different site impressions
every hour. But the majority of these impressions are but
faintly recorded upon the memory, because we give to them
but little attention or interest. But it is astonishing at
times when we find that when we recall some important
event or incident, we also recall many faint sight impressions
of which we did not dream we had any record.
To realize the important part played by sight impressions in
the phenomena of memory. Recall some particular time or event
in your life, and see how many more things that
you saw are remembered compared with a number of things
that you heard or tasted, or felt or smelled. Second
in number, however, are the impressions received through the sense
of hearing, And consequently the memory stores away a great
number of sound impressions. In some cases, the impressions of
sight and sound are joined together as, for instance, in
the case of words in which not only the sound,
but the shape of the letters composing the word, or
rather the word shape itself, are stored away together, and
consequently are far more readily remembered or recollected than things
of which but one sense impression is recorded. Teachers of
memory use this fact as a means of helping their
students to memorize words by speaking them aloud and then
writing them down. Many persons memorize names in this way,
the impression of the written word being added to the
impression of the sound, thus doubling the record. The more
impressions that you can make regarding a thing, the greater
are the chances of your easily recollecting it. Likewise, it
is very important to attach an impression of a weaker
sense to that of a stronger one in order that
the former may be memorized. For instance, if you have
a good eye memory and a poor ear memory, it
is well to attach your sound impressions to the site impressions,
And if you have a poor eye memory and a
good ear memory, it is important to attach your sight
impressions to your sound impressions. In this way, you take
advantage of the law of association, of which we have
told you. Under the subclass of sight impressions are found
the smaller divisions of memory, known as memory of locality,
memory of figures, memory of form, memory of color, and
memory of written or printed words. Under the subclass of
sound impressions are found the smaller divisions of memory known
as memory of spoken words, memory of names, memory of stories,
memory of music, etc. We shall pay special attention to
these forms of memory in succeeding chapters. The second general
class of memory of ideas includes the memory of facts, events, thoughts,
lines of reasoning, et cetera, and is regarded as higher
in the scale than the memory of sense impressions, although
not more necessary nor useful to the average person. This
form of memory, of course, accompanies the higher lines of
intellectual effort and activities, and constitutes a large part of
what is known as true education, that is, education which
teaches one to think instead of to merely memorize certain
things taught in books or lectures. The well rounded man
mentally is he who has developed his memory on all sides,
rather than the one who has developed but one special
phase of the faculty. It is true that a man's
interest and occupation certainly tend to develop his memory according
to his daily needs and requirements. But it is well
that he should give to the other parts of his
memory field some exercise in order that he may not
grow one sided. As Hallick has said, many persons think
that memory is mainly due to sight, But we have
as many different kinds of memory as we have senses.
To sight, the watermelon is a long, greenish body, but
this is its least important quality. Sight alone gives the
poorest idea of the watermelon. We approach the vine where
the fruit is growing, and in order to decide whether
it is ripe, we tap the rind and judge by
the sound. We must remember that a ripe watermelon has
a certain resonance. By passing our hands over the melon,
we learn that it has certain touch characteristics. We cut
it open and learn the qualities of taste and smell.
All this knowledge affords by the different senses must enter
into a perfected memory image. Hence we see that many
complex processes go to form an idea of a thing.
Napoleon was not content with only hearing a name. He
wrote it down, and, having satisfied his eye memory as
well as his ear memory, he threw the paper away.
In this book we shall point out the methods and
processes calculated to round out the memory of the student.
As a rule, his strong phases of memory need but
little attention, although even in these a little scientific knowledge
will be of use. But in the weaker phases, those
phases in which his memory is poor, he should exert
a new energy and activity to the end that these
weaker regions of the memory may be cultivated and fertilized
and well stored with the seed impressions which will bear
a good crop in time. There is no phase, field,
or class of memory that is not capable of being
highly developed by intelligent application. It requires practice, exercise, and work,
but the reward is great. Many a man is handicapped
by being deficient in certain phases of memory, while proficient
in others. The remedy is in his own hands, and
we feel that in this book we have given to
each the means whereby he may acquire a good memory
along any or all lines.