Part 12 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE IV--a.s.sOCIATIVE CONNECTIONS The diagram represents schematically the neural basis of the a.s.sociation of ideas.]

Now the only preventive of such an occurrence is to be found in the law of habit, for the block ordinarily occurs in case of paths or bonds not well established. We must _think together_ the things we wish to have a.s.sociated. Repet.i.tion is the key to the situation, repet.i.tion which is the significant thing in habit-formation, repet.i.tion which is the only way of coupling two things which we wish to have a.s.sociated together.

Of course, there is no absolute coupling of two ideas. One sometimes forgets his own name. When we are tired or ill, things which were the most closely a.s.sociated may not hang together. But those ideas hold together in the firmest way that have been experienced together most often in a state of attention. The diagram on page 147 ill.u.s.trates schematically the neural connections and cross-connections which are the bases of the a.s.sociation of ideas, the circles _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, _E_, and _F_ represent brain processes which give rise to ideas, and the lines represent connecting paths. Note that there are both direct and indirect connections.

SUMMARY. Sensation and perception give us our first experience with things; memory is revived experience. It enables us to live our experience over again and is therefore one of the most important human traits. The physiological basis of memory is in the brain and nervous system. Memory improves with practice and up to a certain point with the age of the person. It is better in girls than in boys. Good memory depends on vivid experience in the first place and on organization and repet.i.tion afterward. The person who learns quickly usually retains well also. Memory training is specific. The extension of the learning process over a long time is favorable to memory. Memory ideas are the basis of thinking and reasoning.

CLa.s.s EXERCISES

1. The teacher can test the auditory memory of the members of the cla.s.s for rote material by using letters. It is better to omit the vowels, using only the consonants. Prepare five groups of letters with eight letters in a group. Read each group of letters to the cla.s.s, slowly and distinctly. After reading a group, allow time for the students to write down what they recall, then read the next group and so proceed till the five groups have been read. Grade the work by finding the number of letters reproduced, taking no account of the position of the letters.

2. In a similar way, test visual memory, using different combinations of letters. Write the letters plainly on five large squares of cardboard.

Hold each list before the cla.s.s for as long a time as it took to read a group in experiment No. 1.

3. Test memory for words in a similar way. Use simple words of one syllable, making five lists with eight words in a list.

4. Test memory for objects by fastening common objects on a large cardboard and holding the card before the cla.s.s. Put eight objects on each card and prepare five cards. Expose them for the same length of time as in experiment No. 2.

5. Test memory for _names_ of objects by preparing five lists of names, eight names in a list, and reading the names as in experiment No. 1.

6. You now have data for the following study: Find the average grade of each student in the different experiments. Find the combined grade of each student in all the above experiments. Do the members of the cla.s.s hold the same rank in all the tests? How do the boys compare with the girls? How does memory for objects compare with memory for names of objects? How does auditory memory compare with visual? What other points do you learn from the experiments?

7. The teacher can make a study of the logical memory of the members of the cla.s.s by using material as described on page 184. Make five separate tests, using stories that are well within the comprehension of the cla.s.s and that will arouse their interest. Sufficient material will be found in the author's _Examination of School Children_ and Whipple's _Manual_.

However, the teacher can prepare similar material.

8. Do the students maintain the same rank in the separate tests of experiment No. 7? Rank all the students for their combined standing in all the first five tests. Rank them for their combined standing in the logical memory tests. Compare the two rankings. What conclusions are warranted?

9. You have tested, in experiment No. 7, logical memory when the material was read to the students. It will now be interesting to compare the results of No. 7 with the results obtained by allowing the students to read the material of the test. For this purpose, select portions from the later chapters of this book. Allow just time enough for the selection to be read once slowly by the students, then have it reproduced as in the other logical memory experiment. Give several tests, if there is sufficient time. Find the average grade of each student, and compare the results with those obtained in No. 7. This will enable you to compare the relative standing of the members of the cla.s.s, but will not enable you to compare the two ways of acquiring facts. For this purpose, the stories would have to be of equal difficulty. Let the members of the cla.s.s plan an experiment that would be adequate for this purpose.

10. A brief study of the improvement of memory can be made by practicing a few minutes each day for a week or two, as time permits, using material that can be easily prepared, such as lists of common words. Let the members of the cla.s.s plan the experiment. Use the best plan.

11. The cla.s.s can make a study of the relation of memory to school standing in one of the grades below the high school. Give at least two tests for logical memory. Give also the rote memory tests described on page 189. Get the cla.s.s standing of the pupils from the teacher. Make the comparison as suggested in Chapter I, page 15. Or, the correlation can be worked out accurately by following the directions given in the _Examination of School Children_, page 58, or in Whipple's _Manual_, page 38.

12. Let the members of the cla.s.s make a plan for the improvement of their memory for the material studied in school. Plan devices for learning the material better and for fixing it in memory. At the end of the course in psychology, have an _experience_ meeting and study the results reported.

13. Prepare five lists of nonsense syllables, with eight in a list. Give them as in experiment No. 3, and compare the results with those of that experiment. What do the results indicate as to the value to memory of _meaningful_ material? What educational inferences can you make? In preparing the syllables, put a vowel between two consonants, and use no syllable that is a real word.

14. A study of the effects of distractions on learning and memory can be made as follows: Let the teacher select two paragraphs in later chapters of this book, of equal length and difficulty. Let the students read one under quiet conditions and the other while an electric bell is ringing in the room. Compare the reproductions in the two cases.

15. From the chapter and from the results of all the memory tests, let the students enumerate the facts that have educational significance.

16. Make a complete outline of the chapter.

REFERENCES FOR CLa.s.s READING

COLVIN and BAGLEY: _Human Behavior_, Chapter XV.

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