YOUR MIND AND HOW TO USE IT/PART 7
CHAPTER VII.
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 re-presentation or presenting again to
consciousness that which has formerly been presented to it but which afterward
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
mentation, 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 chiefly 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, viz.: (1) The retention of
impressions and experiences; and (2) 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 a 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, viz.: (3) Recognition of the reproduced impression or
experience; and (4) localization of 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 recalled impression with
the original one. Recognition is really re-cognition—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 the 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; it will aid him in developing his powers
of memory.
In
this connection we should remember that attention 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
every one 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 horse 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 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 in 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. Elbringhaus,
who conducted a number of experiments along this line, reports that he could
memorize a stanza of poetry in about one tenth the time required to memorize
the same amount of nonsense syllables. Gordy states that he once asked a
capable student of the Johns Hopkins University to give him an account of a
lecture to which he had just listened. "I cannot do it," replied the
student; "it 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.
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