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Speaker 1: Association. In the preceding chapters, we have seen that in

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order that a thing may be remembered, it must be

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impressed clearly upon the mind in the first place, and

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that in order to obtain a clear impression there must

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be a manifestation of attention. So much for the recording

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of the impressions, but when we come to recalling, recollecting,

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or remembering the impressions, we are brought face to face

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with another important law of memory, the law of association.

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Association plays a part analogous to the indexing and cross

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indexing of a book, a library, or another system, in

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which the aim is to readily find something that has

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been filed away or contained in some way in a

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collection of similar things. As Kay says, in order that

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what is in the memory may be recalled or trought

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again before consciousness, it is necessary that it be regarded

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in connection or in association with one or more other

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things or ideas. And as a rule, the greater the

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number of other things with which it is associated, the

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greater the likelihood of its recall. The two processes are

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involved in every act of memory. We must first impress,

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and then we must associate. Without a clear impression being formed,

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that which is recalled will be indistinct and inaccurate, and

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unless it is associated with something else in the mind,

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it cannot be recalled. If we may suppose an idea

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existing in the mind by itself unconnected with any other idea,

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its recall would be impossible. All the best authorities recognize

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and teach the importance of this law of association in

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connection with the memory Abercrombie says, next to the effect

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of attention is the remarkable influence produced upon memory by association.

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Carpenter says, the recording power of memory mainly depends upon

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the degree of attention we give to the idea to

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be remembered. The reproducing power, again, altogether depends upon the

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nature of the associations by which the new idea has

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been linked onto other ideas which have been previously recorded.

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Ribo says, the most fundamental law which regulates psychological phenomena

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is the law of association. In its comprehensive character, it

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is comparable to the law of attraction in the physical world.

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Mill says that which the law of gravitation is to astronomy,

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that which the elementary properties of the tissues are to physiology.

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The law of association of ideas is to psychology. Stuart says,

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the connection between memory and the association of ideas is

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so striking that it has been supposed by some that

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the whole of the phenomena might be resolved into this principle.

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The association of ideas connects our various thoughts with each

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other so as to present them to the mind in

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a certain order. But it presupposes the existence of those

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thoughts in the mind. In other words, it presupposes a

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faculty of retaining the knowledge which we acquire. On the

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other hand, it is evident that without the associating principle,

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the power of retaining our thoughts and of recognizing them

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when they occur to us, would have been of little use,

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for the most important articles of our knowledge might have

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remained latent in the mind, even when those occasions presented

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themselves to which they were immediately applicable. Association of ideas

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depends upon two principles, known respectively as one the law

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of contiguity, and two the law of similarity. Association by

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contiguity is that form of association by which an idea

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is linked, connected, or associated with the sensation thought or

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idea immediately preceding it, and that which directly follows it.

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Each idea or thought is a link in a great

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chain of thought, being connected with the preceding link and

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the succeeding link. Association by similarity is that form of

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association by which an idea, thought, or sensation is linked, connected,

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or associated with idea, thoughts, or sensations of a similar

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kind which have occurred previously or subsequently. The first form

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of association is the relation of sequence, the second the

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relation of kind. Association by contiguity is the great law

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of thought as well as of memory. As k says,

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the great law of mental association is that of contiguity,

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by means of which sensations and ideas that have been

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in the mind together or in close succession tend to

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unite together or cohere in such a way that the

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one can afterward recall the other. The connection that naturally

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subsists between a sensation or idea in the mind and

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that which immediately preceded or followed it is of the

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strongest and most intimate nature. The two, strictly speaking, are

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but one, forming one complete thought. As Taine says, to

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speak correctly, there is no isolated or separate sensation. A

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sensation is a state which begins as a continuation of

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preceding ones and ends by losing itself in those following it.

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It is by an arbitrary severing, and for the convenience

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of language, that we set it apart. As we do.

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Its beginning is the end of another, and its ending

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the beginning of another. As Ribo says, when we read

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or hear a sentence, for example, at the commencement of

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the fifth word, something of the fourth word still remains.

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Association by contiguity may be separated into two subclasses, contiguity

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in time and contiguity in space. In contiguity in time time,

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there is manifested the tendency of the memory to recall

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the impressions in the same order in which they were received,

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the first impression suggesting the second, and that the third,

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and so on. In this way, the child learns to

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repeat the alphabet and the adult the succeeding lines of

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a poem. As Priestley says, in a poem, the end

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of each preceding word being connected with the beginning of

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the succeeding one, we can easily repeat them in that order,

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but we are not able to repeat them backwards till

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they have been frequently named in that order. Memory of

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words or groups of words depends upon this form of

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contiguous association. Some persons are able to repeat long poems

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from beginning to end with perfect ease, but are unable

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to repeat any particular sis, sentence, or verse without working

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down to it from the beginning. Contiguity in space is

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manifested in forms of recollection or remembrance by position. Thus,

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by remembering the things connected with the position of a

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particular thing, we are enabled to recall the thing itself.

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As we have seen in a preceding chapter. Some forms

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of memory systems have been based on this law. If

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you will recall some house or room in which you

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have been, you will find that you will remember one

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object after another in the order of the relative positions

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or contiguity in space or position. Beginning with the front hall,

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you may travel in memory from one room to another,

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recalling each with the objects it contains according to the

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degree of attention you bestowed upon them. Originally, k says

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of association by contiguity. It is on this principle of

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contiguity that mnemonical systems are constructed as when what we

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wish to remember is associated in the mind with a

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certain object or locality, the ideas associated will at once

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come up, or when each word or idea is associated

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with the one immediately preceding it, so that when the

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one is recalled, the other comes up along with it,

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And thus long lists of names or long passages of

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books can be readily learnt by heart. From the foregoing,

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it will be seen that it is of great importance

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that we correlate our impressions with those preceding and following.

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The more closely knitted together our impressions are, the more

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closely will they cohere, and the greater will be the

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facility of remembering or recollecting them. We should endeavor to

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form our impressions of things so that they will be

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associated with other impressions in time and space. Every other

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thing that is associated in the mind with a given

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thing serves as a loose end of memory, which, if

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once grasped and followed up, will lead us to the

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thing we desire to recall to mind. Association by similarity

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is the linking together of impressions of a similar kind,

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irrespective of time and place. Carpenter expresses it as follows.

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The law of similarity expresses the general fact that any

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present state of consciousness tends to revive previous states which

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are similar to it. Rational or philosophical association is when

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a fact or statement on which the attention is fixed

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is associated with some fact previously known to which it

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has a relation, or with some object which it is

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calculated to illustrate. And as Kay says, the similars may

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be widely apart in space or in time, but they

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are brought together and associated through their resemblance to each other. Thus,

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a circumstance of today may recall circumstances of a similar

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nature that occurred, perhaps at very different times, and they

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will become associated together in the mind, so that afterwards

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the presence of one will tend to recall the others.

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Abercrombie says of this phase of association, the habit of

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correct association, that is, connecting facts in the mind according

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to their true relations and to the manner in which

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they tend to illustrate each other, is one of the

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principal means of improving the memory, particularly that kind of

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memory which is an essential quality of a cultivated mind,

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namely that which is founded not upon incidental connections, but

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on true and important relations. As Beattie says, the more

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relations or likenesses that we find or can establish between objects,

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the more easily will the view of one lead us

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to recollect the rest. And as k says, in order

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to fix a thing in the memory, we must associate

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it with something in the mind already. And the more

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closely that which we wish to remember resembles that with

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which it is associated, the better it is fixed in

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the memory, and the more readily it is recalled. If

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the two strongly resemble each other, or are not to

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be distinguished from each other, then the association is of

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the strongest kind. The memory is able to retain and

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replace a vastly greater number of ideas if they are

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associated or arranged in some principle of similarity, than if

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they are presented merely as isolated facts. It is not

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by the multitude of ideas, but the want of arrangement

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among them, that the memory is burdened and its powers weakened.

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As Arnot says, the ignorant man may be said to

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have charged his hundred hooks of knowledge to use a

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rude simile with single objects, while the informed man makes

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each hook support a long chain to which thousands of

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kindred and useful things are attached. We ask each student

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of this book to acquaint himself with the general idea

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of the working features of the law of association as

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given in this chapter, for the reason that much of

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the instruction to be given under the head of the

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several phases and classes of memory is based upon an

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application of the law of association in connection with the

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law of attention. These fundamental principles should be clearly grasped

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before one proceeds to the details of practice and exercise.

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One should know not only how to use the mind

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and memory in certain ways, but also why it is

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to be used in that particular way. By understanding the

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reason of it, one is better able to follow out

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the directions