Part 13 (1/2)
7 MEMORY DEVICES
Many devices have been invented for training or using the memory, and not a feorthless ”systems” have been imposed by conscienceless fakers upon uninforo back to the funda out of these laws There is no ”royal road” to a good memory
THE EFFECTS OF CRAMMING--Not a few students depend on cra If this method of study would yield as valuable permanent results, it would be by far the most sensible and economical method to use; for under the stress of necessity we often are able to acco upon us
The difficulty is, however, that the results are not permanent; the facts learned do not have time to seek out and link themselves to well-established associates; learned in an hour, their retention is as epheave them to us
Facts which are needed but temporarily and which cannot becoe
The lawyer needs , which not only are valueless to him as soon as the case is decided, but would positively be in his way He may profitably cram such facts But those facts which are to become a permanent part of his mental equipment, such as the fundamental principles of law, he cannot craical chain which will not leave their recall dependent upon a chance cue Cra a recitation or an exa can take the place of the logical placing of facts if they are to be re when recalled
REMEMBERING ISOLATED FACTS--But after all this is taken into consideration there still ree nuical syste with some system, their connection is not very close, and we have more need for the few individual facts than for the syste such facts other than by connecting theical associations Such facts as may be typified by the multiplication table, certain dates, events, naements of various kinds--all these need to be remembered accurately and quickly when the occasion for them arises We must be able to recall them with facility, so that the occasion will not have passed by before we can secure them and we have failed to do our part because of the lapse
With facts of this type the ood icalto naturally related associates We can, however, take advantage of the three lahich have been given If these methods are used faithfully, then we have done e can in the way of insuring the recall of facts of this type, unless we associate the a thread around our finger to reing it
We are not to be too ready to excuse ourselves, however, if we have forgotten to e; for our attention may have been very lax e recorded the direction in the first place, and we may never have taken the trouble to think of theand the time ere to perforenious devices have been invented to assist the memory No doubt each one of you has sos committed to you, or some much-needed fact which has a tendency to elude you You er or place your watch in the wrong pocket; but if not, you have invented some method which suits your convenience better While iven exploiting mneeneral principle: namely, that of _association of ideas_ in the mind They all make use of the same basis for , from the commonest event which occurred last hour to the most abstruse bit of philosophy which we may have in our minds They all tie the fact to be remembered to some other fact which is sure of recall, and then trust the old fact to bring the new along with it when it again comes into the mind
Artificial devicesthe class of facts which have no logical associates in which we can relate the that if we should use the saly unrelated facts that we do in working out the device andthe association in it, we should discover hidden relations for most of the facts ish to remember, and we should be able to insure their recall as certainly and in a better way than through the device Then, also, we should not be in danger of handing over to the device various facts for which we should discover relations, thus placing thee where they belong
8 PROBLEMS IN OBSERVATION AND INTROSPECTION
1 Carefully consider your oers of memory and see whether you can decide which of the four types of brain you have Apply siroup of school children whom you have a chance to observe Be sure to take into account the effects of past training or habits ofand also that of school children for failures in recall caused by lack of proper associations Why is it particularly hard to commit what one does not understand?
3 Observe a class in a recitation or an examination and seek to discover whether any defects of memory revealed are to be explained by lack of (1) repetition, (2) recency, (3) vividness in learning
4 Make a study of your own class and also of a group of children in school to discover their iven in section 5 of this chapter
5 Observe by introspection your method of recall of historical events you have studied, and note whether _ies_ form an important part of your memory material; or does your recall consist chiefly of bare _facts_? In how far does this depend on your _ the facts in the first place?
6 Carefully consider your experience fro your lessons Does the material learned in this way stay with you? Do you _understand_ it and find yourself able to _use_ it as well as stuff learned during a longer interval and with more time for associations to form?
CHAPTER XII
THINKING
No word is more constantly on our lips than the word _think_ A hundred ti or that Any exceptional power of thought classes us aeneration It is in their ability to think that men stand preeminently above the animals
1 DIFFERENT TYPES OF THINKING
The ter_, is employed in so many different senses that it will be well first of all to co as to its various uses Four different types of thinking which we shall note are:[5] (1) _chance_, or idle, thinking; (2) thinking in the for; and (4) _deliberative_ thinking