APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY THE TRAINED MEMORY _Being the Fourth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the Applications ofPsychology to the Problems of Personal and Business Efficiency_ BY WARREN HILTON, A. B. , L. L. B. FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE LITERARY DIGEST FOR The Society of Applied PsychologyNEW YORK AND LONDON1920 COPYRIGHT 1914BY THE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY PRESSSAN FRANCISCO (_Printed in the United States of America_) CONTENTS Chapter I. THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY FOUR SPECIAL MEMORY PROCESSES II. THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION WHAT EVERYONE THINKS CAUSES OF FORGETFULNESS SEEING WITH "HALF AN EYE" THE MAN ON BROADWAY WAXEN TABLETS NOT HOW, BUT HOW MUCH REMEMBERING THE UNPERCEIVED SPEAKING A FORGOTTEN TONGUE LIVING PAST EXPERIENCES OVER AGAIN THE "FLASH OF INSPIRATION" THE TOTALITY OF RETENTION POSSIBILITIES OF SELF-DISCOVERY "ACRES OF DIAMONDS" III. THE MECHANISM OF RECALL THE RIGHT STIMULUS "COMPLEXES" OF EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF RECOLLECTION "COMPLEXES" AND FUNCTIONAL DERANGEMENTS AUTOMATICALLY WORKING MENTAL MECHANISMS TWO CLASSES OF "COMPLEXES" THE SUBCONSCIOUS STOREHOUSE IV. THE LAWS OF RECALL THE LAW OF INTEGRAL RECALL WHAT ORDINARY "THINKING" AMOUNTS TO THE REVERSE OF COMPLEX FORMATION PROLIXITY AND TERSENESS THE LAW OF CONTIGUITY LAWS OF HABIT AND INTENSITY APPLICATIONS TO ADVERTISING EFFECT OF REPETITIONS RATIO OF SIZE TO VALUE RISKS IN ADVERTISING V. THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING THE SKILLED ARTISAN HOW THE ATTENTION WORKS IRON FILINGS AND MENTAL MAGNETS THE COMPARTMENT OF SUBCONSCIOUS FORGETFULNESS MAKING EXPERIENCE COUNT HOW HABITS ARE FORMED VI. THE FALLACY OF MOST MEMORY SYSTEMS PRACTICE IN MEMORIZING INADEQUATE TORTURE OF THE DRILL REAL CAUSE OF FAILING MEMORY THE MANUFACTURED INTEREST MEMORY LURE OF A DESIRE VII. A SCIENTIFIC MEMORY SYSTEM FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IMPORTANCE OF ASSOCIATES "CRAMMING" AND "WILLING" BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THOUGHT-REPRODUCTION METHODS OF PICK SCIENTIFIC PEDAGOGY HOW TO REMEMBER NAMES FIVE EXERCISES FOR DEVELOPING OBSERVATION INVENTION AND THOUGHT-MEMORY THREE EXERCISES FOR DEVELOPING THOUGHT-MEMORY HOW TO COMPEL RECOLLECTION FORMATION OF CORRECT MEMORY HABITS NOW! PERSISTENCE, ACCURACY, DISPATCH MEMORY SIGNS AND TOKENS THE MENTAL COMBINATION REVEALED THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER I THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY [Sidenote: _Four Special Memory Processes_] You have learned of the sense-perceptive and judicial processes by whichyour mind acquires its knowledge of the outside world. You come now to astudy of the phenomenon of memory, the instrument by which your mindretains and makes use of its knowledge, the agency that has power toresurrect the buried past or power to enfold us in a Paradise of dreamsmore perfect than reality. In the broadest sense, memory is the faculty of the mind by which we(1) _retain_, (2) _recall_, (3) _picture to the mind's eye_, and (4)_recognize_ past experiences. Memory involves, therefore, four elements, _Retention_, _Recall_, _Imagination_ and _Recognition_. THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER II THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION [Sidenote: _What Everyone Thinks_] Almost everyone seems to think that we retain in the mind _only_ thosethings that we can voluntarily recall; that memory, in other words, islimited to the power of voluntary reproduction. This is a profound error. It is an inexcusable error. The daily papersare constantly reporting cases of the lapse and restoration of memorythat contain all the elements of underlying truth on this subject. [Sidenote: _Causes of Forgetfulness_] It is plain enough that the memory _seems_ decidedly limited in itsscope. This is because our power of voluntary recall is decidedlylimited. But it does not follow simply because we are without the power todeliberately recall certain experiences that all mental trace of thoseexperiences is lost to us. _Those experiences that we are unable to recall are those that wedisregarded when they occurred because they possessed no specialinterest for us. They are there, but no mental associations orconnections with power to awaken them have arisen in consciousness. _ [Sidenote: _Seeing with "Half an Eye"_] Things are continually happening all around us that we see with but"half an eye. " They are in the "fringe" of consciousness, and wedeliberately ignore them. Many more things come to us in the form ofsense-impressions that clamorously assail our sense-organs, but noeffort of the will is needed to ignore them. We are absolutelyimpervious to them and unconscious of them because by the selection ofour life interests we have closed the doors against them. In either case, whether in the "fringe" of consciousness or entirelyoutside of consciousness, these unperceived sensations will be found tobe sensory images that have no connection with the present subject ofthought. They therefore attract, and we spare them, no part of ourattention. Just as each of our individual sense-organs selects from the multitudeof ether vibrations constantly beating upon the surface of the body onlythose waves to the velocity of which it is attuned, so each one of us asan integral personality selects from the stream of sensory experiencesonly those particular objects of attention that are in some way relatedto the present or habitual trend of thought. [Sidenote: _The Man on Broadway_] Just consider for a moment the countless number and variety ofimpressions that assail the eye and ear of the New Yorker who walks downBroadway in a busy hour of the day. Yet to how few of these does he paythe slightest attention. He is in the midst of a cataclysm of soundalmost equal to the roar of Niagara and he does not know it. Observe how many objects are right now in the corner of your mind's eyeas being within the scope of your vision while your entire attention isapparently absorbed in these lines. You see these other things, and youcan look back and realize that you have seen them, but you were notaware of them at the time. Let two individuals of contrary tastes take a day's outing together. Both may have during the day practically identical sensory images; buteach one will come back with an entirely different tale to tell of theday's adventures. [Sidenote: _Waxen Tablets_] _All sensory impressions, somehow or other, leave their faint impress onthe waxen tablets of the mind. Few are or can be voluntarily recalled. _ Just where and how memories are retained is a mystery. There aretheories that represent sensory experiences as actual physiological"impressions" on the cells of the brain. They are, however, nothing buttheories, and the manner in which the brain, as the organ of the mind, keeps its record of sensory experiences has never been discovered. Microscopic anatomy has never reached the point where it could identifya particular "idea" with any one "cell" or other part of the brain. [Sidenote: _Not How, but How Much_] For us, the important question is not _how_, but _how much_; _not themanner in which, but the extent to which_, sensory impressions arepreserved. Now, all the evidences indicate that _absolutely everyimpression received upon the sensorium is indelibly recorded in themind's substance_. A few instances will serve to illustrate theremarkable power of retention of the human mind. Sir William Hamilton quotes the following from Coleridge's "LiterariaBiographia": "A young woman of four- or five-and-twenty, who couldneither read nor write, was seized with a nervous fever, during which, according to the asseverations of all the priests and monks of theneighborhood, she became 'possessed, ' and, as it appeared, by a verylearned devil. She continued incessantly talking Latin, Greek and Hebrewin very pompous tones, and with most distinct enunciation. Sheets fullof her ravings were taken down from her own mouth, and were found toconsist of sentences coherent and intelligible each for itself but withlittle or no connection with each other. Of the Hebrew, a small portiononly could be traced to the Bible; the remainder seemed to be in theRabbinical dialect. " [Sidenote: _Remembering the Unperceived_] The case was investigated by a physician, who learned that the girl hadbeen a waif and had been taken in charge by a Protestant clergyman whenshe was nine years old and brought up as his servant. This clergyman hadfor years been in the habit of walking up and down a passage of hishouse into which the kitchen door opened and at the same time reading tohimself in a loud voice from his favorite book. A considerable number ofthese books were still in the possession of his niece, who told thephysician that her uncle had been a very learned man and an accomplishedstudent of Hebrew. Among the books were found a collection of Rabbinicalwritings, together with several of the Greek and Latin fathers; and thephysician succeeded in identifying so many passages in these books withthose taken down at the bed-side of the young woman that there could beno doubt as to the true origin of her learned ravings. Now, the striking feature of all this, it will be observed, is the factthat the subject was an illiterate servant-girl to whom the Greek, Latinand Hebrew quotations were _utterly unintelligible, _ that _normally shehad no recollection of them, that she had no idea of their meaning_, and finally that they had been impressed upon her mind _without herknowledge_ while she was engaged in her duties in her master's kitchen. Several cases are reported by Dr. Abercrombie, and quoted by ProfessorHyslop, in which mental impressions long since forgotten beyond thepower of voluntary recall have been revived by the shock of accident ordisease. "A man, " he says, "mentioned by Mr. Abernethy, had been born inFrance, but had spent the greater part of his life in England, and, formany years, had entirely lost the habit of speaking French. But whenunder the care of Mr. Abernethy, on account of the effects of an injuryto the head, he always spoke French. " [Sidenote: _Speaking a Forgotten Tongue_] "A similar case occurred in St. Thomas Hospital, of a man who was in astate of stupor in consequence of an injury to the head. On his partialrecovery he spoke a language which nobody in the hospital understood butwhich was soon ascertained to be Welsh. It was then discovered that hehad been thirty years absent from Wales, and, before the accident, hadentirely forgotten his native language. "A lady mentioned by Dr. Pritchard, when in a state of delirium, spoke alanguage which nobody about her understood, but which was afterwarddiscovered to be Welsh. None of her friends could form any conception ofthe manner in which she had become acquainted with that language; but, after much inquiry, it was discovered that in her childhood she had anurse, a native of a district on the coast of Brittany, the dialect ofwhich is closely analogous to Welsh. The lady at that time learned agood deal of this dialect but had entirely forgotten it for many yearsbefore this attack of fever. " [Sidenote: _Living Past Experiences Over Again_] Dr. Carpenter relates the following incident in his "Mental Physiology":"Several years ago, the Rev. S. Mansard, now rector of Bethnal Green, was doing clerical duty for a time at Hurstmonceaux, in Sussex; andwhile there he one day went over with a party of friends to PevenseyCastle, which he did not remember to have ever previously visited. As heapproached the gateway he became conscious of a very vivid impressionof having seen it before; and he 'seemed to himself to see' not only thegateway itself, but donkeys beneath the arch and people on top of it. His conviction that he must have visited the castle on some formeroccasion--although he had neither the slightest remembrance of such avisit nor any knowledge of having ever been in the neighborhoodpreviously to his residence at Hurstmonceaux--made him inquire from hismother if she could throw any light on the matter. She at once informedhim that being in that part of the country, when he was but _eighteenmonths old_, she had gone over with a large party and had taken him inthe pannier of a donkey; that the elders of the party, having broughtlunch with them, had eaten it on the roof of the gateway, where theywould have been seen from below, whilst he had been left on the groundwith the attendants and donkeys. " "An Italian gentleman, " says Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, "who died ofyellow fever in New York, in the beginning of his illness spoke English, in the middle of it French, but on the day of his death only Italian. " Striking as these instances are, they are not unusual. Everyone onreflection can supply similar instances. Who among us has not at onetime or another been impressed with a mysterious feeling of having atsome time in the past gone through the identical experience which he isliving now? [Sidenote: _The "Flash of Inspiration"_] On such occasions the sense of familiarity is sometimes so persistent asto fill one with a strange feeling of the supernatural and to inclineour minds to the belief in a reincarnation. The "flash of inspiration" which, for the lawyer, solves a novel legalissue arising in the trial of a case, or, for the surgeon, sees himsuccessfully through the emergencies of a delicate operation, has itsorigin in the forgotten learning of past experience and study. [Sidenote: _The Totality of Retention_] Succeeding books in this _Course_ will bring to light numerous otherfacts less commonly observed, drawn indeed from the study of abnormalmental states, indicating that we retain a great volume ofsense-impressions of whose very recording we are at the time unaware. In other words, all the evidences point to the absolute totality of ourretention of all sensory experiences. They indicate that everysense-impression you ever received, whether you actually perceived andwere conscious of it or not, has been retained and preserved in yourmemory, and can be "brought to mind" when you understand the propermethod of calling it into service. A vast wealth of facts is stored in the treasure vaults of your mind, but there are certain inner compartments to which you have lost thecombination. [Sidenote: _Possibilities of Self-Discovery_] The author of "Thoughts on Business" says: "It is a great day in a man'slife when he truly begins to discover himself. The latent capacities ofevery man are greater than he realizes, and he may find them if hediligently seeks for them. A man may own a tract of land for many yearswithout knowing its value. He may think of it as merely a pasture. Butone day he discovers evidences of coal and finds a rich vein beneath hisland. While mining and prospecting for coal he discovers deposits ofgranite. In boring for water he strikes oil. Later he discovers a veinof copper ore, and after that silver and gold. These things were thereall the time--even when he thought of his land merely as a pasture. Butthey have a value only when they are discovered and utilized. " "Not every pasture contains deposits of silver and gold, neither oilnor granite, nor even coal. But beneath the surface of every man theremust be, in the nature of things, a latent capacity greater than has yetbeen discovered. And one discovery must lead to another until the manfinds the deep wealth of his own possibilities. History is full of theacts of men who discovered somewhat of their own capacity; but historyhas yet to record the man who fully discovered all that he might havebeen. " [Sidenote: _"Acres of Diamonds"_] You who are a bit vain of your visits to other lands, your wide reading, your experience of men and things; you who secretly lament that solittle of what you have seen and read remains with you, behold, your"acres of diamonds" are within you, needing but the mystic formula thatshall reveal the treasure! THE MECHANISM OF RECALL [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER III THE MECHANISM OF RECALL [Sidenote: _The Right Stimulus_] Somehow, somewhere, all experiences, whether subject to voluntary recallor not, are preserved, and are capable of reproduction when the rightstimulus comes along. And it is a law that _those experiences which are associated with eachother, whether ideas, emotions or voluntary or involuntary muscularmovements, tend to become bound together into groups, and these groupstend to become bound together into systems_. [Sidenote: _"Complexes" of Experience_] Such a system of associated groups of experiences is technically knownas a "complex. " Pay particular attention to these definitions, as "groups" of ideas and"complexes" of ideas, emotions and muscular movements are terms that weshall constantly employ. You learned in a former lesson that mental experiences may consist notonly of sense-perceptions based on excitements arising in the memorynerves, but also of bodily emotions, the "feeling tones" of ideas, andof muscular movements based on stimuli arising in the motor nerves. _Groups consist, therefore, not only of associated ideas, but ofassociated ideas coupled with their emotional qualities and impulses tomuscular movements. _ All groups bound together by a mutually related idea constitute a single"complex. " Every memory you have is an illustration of such "complexes. " [Sidenote: _The Thrill of Recollection_] Suppose, for example, you once gained success in a business deal. Yourrecollection of the other persons concerned in that transaction, of anyone detail in the transaction itself, will be accompanied by the fasterheartbeat, the quickened circulation of the blood, the feeling oftriumph and elation that attended the original experience. [Sidenote: _"Complexes" and Functional Derangements_] Complexes formed out of harrowing earthquakes, robberies, murders orother dreadful spectacles, which were originally accompanied on the partof the onlooker by trembling, perspiration and palpitation of theheart, when lived over again in memory, are again accompanied by allthese bodily activities. Your memory of a hairbreadth escape will bringto your cheek the pallor that marked it when the incident occurred. The formation and existence of "complexes" explains the origin of manyfunctional diseases of the body--that is to say, diseases involving noloss or destruction of tissue, but consisting simply in a failure on thepart of some bodily organ to perform its allotted function naturally andeffectively. [Sidenote: _Automatically Working Mental Mechanisms_] Thus, in hay fever or "rose cold" the tears, the inflammation of themembranes of the nose, the cough, the other trying symptoms, all arelinked with the sight of a rose, or dust, or sunlight, or some otheroutside fact to which attention has been called as the cause of hayfever, into a complex, "an automatically working mechanism. " And thevalidity of this explanation of the regular recurrence of attacks ofthis disease is sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that a paper roseis likely to prove just as effective in producing all the symptoms ofthe disease as a rose out of Nature's garden. Another striking illustration of the working of this principle isafforded by two gentlemen of my acquaintance, brothers, each of whomsince boyhood has had unfailing attacks of sneezing upon first arisingin the morning. No sooner is one of these men awake and seated upon theedge of his bed for dressing than he begins to sneeze, and he continuesto sneeze for fifteen or twenty minutes thereafter, although he has no"cold" and never sneezes at any other time. [Sidenote: _Two Classes of "Complexes"_] Obviously, if absolutely all mental experiences are preserved, theyconsist altogether of two broad classes of complexes: first, those thatare momentarily _active in consciousness_, forming part of the presentmental picture, and, second, all the others--that is to say, all pastexperiences that are _not at the present moment before the mind's eye_. There are, then, _conscious_ complexes and _subconscious_ complexes, complexes of _consciousness_ and complexes of _subconsciousness_. [Sidenote: _The Subconscious Storehouse_] And of the complexes of subconsciousness, some are far more readilyrecalled than others. Some are forever popping into one's thoughts, while others can be brought to the light of consciousness only by someunusual and deep-probing stimulus. And _the human mind is a vaststorehouse of complexes, far the greater part buried insubconsciousness_, yet somehow, like impressions on the wax cylinder ofa phonograph, preserved with life-like truth and clearness. Turn back for a moment to our definition of memory. You will observethat its second essential element is Recall. Recall is the process by which the experiences of the past are summonedfrom the reservoir of the subconscious into the light of presentconsciousness. We necessarily touched upon this process in a previousbook, in considering the Laws of Association, but here, in relation tomemory, we shall go into the matter somewhat more analytically. THE LAWS OF RECALL [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER IV THE LAWS OF RECALL [Sidenote: _The Law of Integral Recall_] Law I. The primary law of recall is this: _The recurrence orstimulation of one element in a complex tends to recall all the others. _ In our explanation of "complex" formation we necessarily cited instancesthat illustrate this principle as well, since _recall is merely areverse operation from that involved in "complex" formation_. [Sidenote: _What Ordinary "Thinking" Amounts to_] For example, in running through a book I come upon a flower pressedbetween its pages. At once the memory of the friend who gave it to mesprings into consciousness and becomes the subject of reminiscence. Thisrecalls the mountain village where we last met. This recalls the factthat a railroad was at the time under process of construction, whichshould transform the village into a popular resort. This in turnsuggests my coming trip to the seashore, and I am reminded of a businessappointment on which my ability to leave town on the appointed daydepends. And so on indefinitely. Far the greater part of your successive states of consciousness, or evenof your ordinary "thinking, " commonly so-called, consists of trains ofmental pictures "suggested" one by another. If the associated picturesare of the everyday type, common to everyone, you have a prosaic mind;if, on the other hand, the associations are unusual or unique, you arehappily possessed of wit and fancy. [Sidenote: _The Reverse of Complex Formation_] These instances of the action of the Law of Recall illustrate but onephase of its activity. They show simply that groups of ideas are sostrung together on the string of some common element that _the activityof one "group" in consciousness is apt to be automatically followed bythe others. But the law of association goes deeper than this. It entersinto the activity of every individual group, and causes all the elementsof every group, ideas, emotions and impulses to muscular movements, tobe simultaneously manifested. _ [Sidenote: _Prolixity and Terseness_] There is no principle to which we shall more continually refer than thisone. Our explanation of hay fever a moment ago illustrates our meaning. Get the principle clearly in your mind, and see how many instances ofits operation you can yourself supply from your own daily experience. So far as the mere linking together of groups of ideas is concerned, this classifying quality is developed in some persons to a greaterdegree than in others. It finds its extreme exemplar in the type of manwho can never relate an incident without reciting all the prolix andminute details and at the same time wandering far from the originalsubject in pursuit of every suggested idea. [Sidenote: _The Law of Contiguity_] Law II. _Similarity and nearness in time or space between twoexperiential facts causes the thought of one to tend to recall thethought of the other. _ This is the Associative Law of Contiguity considered from the standpointof recall. The points of contiguity are different for differentindividuals. Similarities and nearnesses will awaken all sorts ofassociated groups of ideas in one person that are not at all excitablein the same way in another whose experiences have been different. Law III. _The greater the frequency and intensity of any givenexperience, the greater the ease and likelihood of its reproduction andrecall. _ [Sidenote: _Laws of Habit and Intensity_] This explains why certain groups in any complex are more readilyrecalled than others--why some leap forth unbidden, why some come nextand before others, why some arrive but tardily or not at all. This is how the associative Laws of Habit and Intensity affect the powerof recall. * * * * * [Sidenote: _Applications to Advertising_] There is no department of business to which the application of theseLaws of Recall is so apparent as the department of advertising. The mostcarefully worded and best-illustrated advertisement may fail to pay itscost unless the underlying principles of choice of position, selectionof medium and size of space are understood. The advertisers inmetropolitan newspapers and magazines of large circulation are the oneswho have most at stake. But whatever the field to be reached, it is wellto bear in mind certain facts based on the Laws of Recall that have beenestablished by psychological experiment. Most advertisers have a general idea that certain relative positions onthe newspaper or magazine page are to be preferred over others, but theyhave no conception of the real differences in relative recall value. When the great cost of space in large publications is considered thefinancial value of such knowledge is evident. By a great number of tests the relative recall value of every part ofthe newspaper page has been approximately determined. It has beenfound, for example, that a given space at the upper right-hand corner ofthe page has more than twice the value of the same amount of space inthe lower left-hand corner. [Sidenote: _Effect of Repetitions_] Many advertisers adopt the policy of repeating full-page advertisementsat long intervals instead of advertising in a small way continually. Laboratory tests have shown, on the contrary, that a quarter-pageadvertisement appearing in four successive issues of a newspaper isfifty per cent more effective than a full-page advertisement appearingonly once. It does not follow, however, that an eighth-pageadvertisement repeated eight times is correspondingly more effective;for below a certain relative size the value of an advertisementdecreases much more rapidly than the cost. There are, of course, modifying conditions, such as special sales of department stores, whereoccasional displays and announcements make it desirable to use eitherfull pages, or even double pages, but the great bulk of advertising isnot of this character. [Sidenote: _Ratio of Size to Value_] Every year in the United States alone six hundred millions of dollarsare expended in advertising the sale of commodities, and for the mostpart expended in a haphazard, experimental and unscientific way. Theinvestment of this vast sum with risk of perhaps total loss, or evenpossible injury, through the faulty construction or improper placing ofadvertisements should stimulate the interest of every advertiser in thework that psychologists have done and are doing toward the accumulationof a body of exact knowledge on this subject. [Sidenote: _Risks in Advertising_] THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING [Illustration: TESTING THE MEMORY WITH PROFESSOR JASTROW'S MEMORYAPPARATUS PRIVATE LABORATORY, SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY] [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER V THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING [Sidenote: _The Skilled Artisan_] Attention is the instrumentality through which the Laws of Recalloperate. Wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or unconsciously, everyman's attention swings in automatic obedience to the Laws of Recall. Attention is the artisan that, bit by bit, and with lightning quickness, constructs the mosaic of consciousness. Having the whole vast store of all present and past experiences to drawupon, he selects only those groups and those isolated instances thatare related to our general interests and aims. He disregards others. [Sidenote: _How the Attention Works_] The attention operates in a manner complementary to the general Laws ofRecall. It is an active principle not of association, but of_dissociation_. You choose, for example, a certain aim in life. You decide to become theinventor of an aeroplane of automatic stability. This choice henceforthdetermines two things. First, it determines just which of the sensoryexperiences of any given moment are most likely to be selected for yourconscious perception. Secondly, it determines just which of your pastexperiences will be most likely to be recalled. Such a choice, in other words, determines to some extent the sort ofelements that will most probably be selected to make up at any momentthe contents of your consciousness. [Sidenote: _Iron Filings and Mental Magnets_] From the instant that you make such a choice you are on the alert forfacts relevant to the subject of your ambition. Upon them youconcentrate your attention. They are presented to your consciousnesswith greater precision and clearness than other facts. All facts thatpertain to the art of flying henceforth cluster and cling to yourconscious memory like iron filings to a magnet. All that are impertinentto this main pursuit are dissociated from these intensely activecomplexes, and in time fade into subconscious forgetfulness. [Sidenote: _The Compartment of Subconscious Forgetfulness_] By subconscious forgetfulness we mean a _compartment_, as it were, ofthat reservoir in which all past experiences are stored. _Consciousness is a momentary thing. _ It is a passing state. It isephemeral and flitting. It is made up _in part of presentsense-impressions_ and in part of past experiences. These pastexperiences are brought forth from subconsciousness. Some arevoluntarily brought forth. Some present themselves without our consciousvolition, but by the operation of the laws of association anddissociation. Some we seem unable voluntarily to recall, yet they mayappear when least we are expecting them. It is these last to which wehave referred as lost in subconscious forgetfulness. As a matter offact, _none_ are ever actually _lost_. [Sidenote: _Making Experience Count_] All the wealth of your past experience is still yours--a concrete partof your personality. All that is required to make it available for yourpresent use is a sufficient concentration of your attention, _aconcentration of attention that shall dwell persistently and exclusivelyupon those associations that bear upon the fact desired_. The tendency of the mind toward dissociation, a function limiting theindiscriminate recall of associated "groups, " is also manifested in allof us in the transfer to unconsciousness of many _muscular activities_. [Sidenote: _How Habits Are Formed_] As infants we learn to walk only by giving to every movement of thelimbs the most deliberate conscious attention. Yet, in time, thecomplicated co-operation of muscular movements involved in walkingbecomes involuntary and unconscious, so that we are no longer even awareof them. It is the same with reading, writing, playing upon musical instruments, the manipulation of all sorts of mechanical devices, the thousand andone other muscular activities that become what we call _habitual_. The moment one tries to make these habitual activities again dependenton the conscious will he encounters difficulties. "The centipede was happy quite, Until the toad, for fun, Said, 'Pray which leg goes after which?' This stirred his mind to such a pitch, He lay distracted in a ditch, Considering _how_ to run. " _All these habitual activities are started as acts of painstaking careand conscious attention. All ultimately become unconscious. _ They may, however, be started or stopped at will. They are, therefore, stillrelated to the conscious mind. They occupy a semi-automatic middleground between conscious and subconscious activities. THE FALLACY OF MOST MEMORY SYSTEMS [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER VI THE FALLACY OF MOST MEMORY SYSTEMS [Sidenote: _Practice in Memorizing Inadequate_] It is evident that if what we have been describing as the process ofrecall is true, then the commonly accepted idea that _practice_ inmemorizing makes memorizing _easier_ is false, and that there is notruth in the popular figure of speech that likens the memory to a musclethat grows stronger with use. So far as the memory is concerned, however, practice may result in amore or less unconscious improvement in the _methods_ of memorizing. _By practice we come to unconsciously discover and employ newassociative methods in our recording of facts, making them easier torecall, but we can certainly add nothing to the actual scope and powerof retention. _ [Sidenote: _Torture of the Drill_] Yet many books on memory-training have wide circulation whose authors, showing no conception of the processes involved, seek to develop thegeneral ability to remember by incessant practice in memorizingparticular facts, just as one would develop a muscle by exercise. The following is quoted from a well-known work of this character: "I am now treating a case of loss of memory in a person advanced inyears, who did not know that his memory had failed most remarkablyuntil I told him of it. He is making vigorous efforts to bring it backagain, and with partial success. The method pursued is to spend twohours daily, one in the morning and one in the evening, in exercisingthis faculty. The patient is instructed to give the closest attention toall that he learns, so that it shall be impressed on his mind clearly. He is asked to recall every evening all the facts and experiences of theday, and again the next morning. Every name heard is written down andimpressed on his mind clearly and an effort made to recall it atintervals. Ten names from among public men are ordered to be committedto memory every week. A verse of poetry is to be learned, also a versefrom the Bible, daily. He is asked to remember the number of the page ofany book where any interesting fact is recorded. These and _other_methods are slowly resuscitating a failing memory. " [Sidenote: _Real Cause of Failing Memory_] As remarked by Professor James, "It is hard to believe that the memoryof the poor old gentleman is a bit the better for all this tortureexcept in respect to the particular facts thus wrought into it, theoccurrences attended to and repeated on those days, the names of thosepoliticians, those Bible verses, etc. , etc. " The error in the book first quoted from lies in the fact that its authorlooks upon a failing memory as indicating a loss of retentiveness. The_real_ cause is the loss of an intensity of interest. _It is the failureto form sufficiently large groups and complexes of related ideas, emotions and muscular movements associated with the particular fact tobe remembered. There is no reason to believe that the retention ofsensory experiences is not at all times perfectly mechanical andmechanically perfect. _ Interest is a mental yearning. It is the offspring of desire and themother of memory. It goes out spontaneously to anything that can add to the sum of one'sknowledge about the thing desired. [Sidenote: _The Manufactured Interest_] A manufactured interest is counterfeit. When a thing is done because ithas to be done, desire dies and "duty" is born. In proportion as asubject is associated with "duty, " it is divorced from interest. [Sidenote: _Memory Lure of a Desire_] If you want to impress anything on another man's mind so that he willremember it, harness it up with the lure of a desire. Diffused interest is the cause of all unprofitable forgetfulness. Do notallow your attention to grope vaguely among a number of things. Whateveryou do, make a business of doing it with your whole soul. Turn thespotlight of your mind upon it, and you will not forget it. [Illustration: TESTING ABILITY TO OBSERVE, REMEMBER AND REPORT THINGSSEEN PRIVATE LABORATORY, SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY] A SCIENTIFIC MEMORY SYSTEM FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS [Illustration: Decorative Header] CHAPTER VII A SCIENTIFIC MEMORY SYSTEM FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS [Sidenote: _Importance of Associates_] We recall things by their associates. _When you set your mind toremember any particular fact, your conscious effort should be notvaguely to will that it shall be impressed and retained, butanalytically and deliberately to connect it with one or more other factsalready in your mind. _ [Sidenote: _"Cramming" and "Willing"_] The student who "crams" for an examination makes no permanent additionto his knowledge. There can be no recall without association, and"cramming" allows no time to form associations. If you find it difficult to remember a fact or a name, do not waste yourenergies in "willing" it to return. Try to recall some other fact orname associated with the first in time or place or otherwise, and lo!when you least expect it, it will pop into your thoughts. If your memory is good in most respects, but poor in a particular line, it is because you do not interest yourself in that line, and thereforehave no material for association. Blind Tom's memory was a blank on mostsubjects, but he was a walking encyclopedia on music. [Sidenote: _Basic Principle of Thought-Reproduction_] _To improve your memory you must increase the number and variety of yourmental associations. _ Many ingenious methods, scientifically correct, have been devised to aidin the remembering of particular facts. These methods are based whollyon the principle that _that is most easily recalled which is associatedin our minds with the most complex and elaborate groupings of relatedideas_. [Sidenote: _Methods of Pick_] Thus, Pick, in "Memory and Its Doctors, " among other devices, presents awell-known "figure-alphabet" as of aid in remembering numbers. Eachfigure of the Arabic notation is represented by one or more letters, andthe number to be recalled is translated into such letters as can best bearranged into a catch word or phrase. To quote: "The most commonfigure-alphabet is this: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 t n m r l sh g f b sd j k v p o ch c g qu z "To briefly show its use, suppose it is desired to fix 1, 142 feet in asecond as the velocity of sound, t, t, r, n, are the letters and orderrequired. Fill up with vowels forming a phrase like 'tight run' andconnect it by some such flight of the imagination as that if a man triedto keep up with the velocity of sound, he would have a 'tight run. '" [Sidenote: _Scientific Pedagogy_] The same principle is at the basis of all efficient pedagogy. Thecompetent teacher endeavors by some association of ideas to link everynew fact with those facts which the pupil already has acquired. In the pursuit of this method the teacher will "compare all that is faroff and foreign to something that is near home, making the unknown plainby the example of the known, and connecting all the instruction with thepersonal experience of the pupil--if the teacher is to explain thedistance of the sun from the earth, let him ask, 'If anyone there in thesun fired off a cannon straight at you, what should you do?' 'Get out ofthe way, ' would be the answer. 'No need of that, ' the teacher mightreply; 'you may quietly go to sleep in your room and get up again; youmay wait till your confirmation day, you may learn a trade, and grow asold as I am--_then only_ will the cannon-ball be getting near, _then_you may jump to one side! See, so great as that is the sun's distance!'" We shall now show you how to apply this principle in improving yourmemory and in making a more complete use of your really vast store ofknowledge. Rule I. _Make systematic use of your sense-organs. _ [Sidenote: _How to Remember Names_] Do you find it difficult to remember names? It is because you do notlink them in your mind with enough associations. Every time a man isintroduced to you, look about you. Who is present? Take note of as manyand as great a variety of surrounding facts and circumstances aspossible. Think of the man's name, and take another look at his face, his dress, his physique. Think of his name, and at the same time hisvoice and manner. Think of his name, and mark the place where you arenow for the first time meeting him. Think of his name in conjunctionwith the name and personality of the friend who presented him. Memory is not a distinct faculty of mind in the sense that one man isgenerously endowed in that respect while another is deficient. Memory, as meaning the power of voluntary recall, is wholly a question oftrained habits of mental operation. Your memory is just as good as mine or any other man's. It is yourindifference to what you would call "irrelevant facts" that is at fault. Therefore, cultivate habits of observation. Fortify the observed factsyou wish to recall with a multitude of outside associations. Never restwith a mere halfway knowledge of things. [Sidenote: _Five Exercises for Developing Observation_] To assist you in training yourself in those habits of observation thatmake a good memory of outside facts, we append the following exercises: _a. _ Walk slowly through a room with which you are not familiar. Thenmake a list of all the contents of the room you can recall. Do thisevery day for a week, using a different room each time. Do it nothalf-heartedly, but as if your life depended on your ability toremember. At the end of the week you will be surprised at theimprovement you have made. _b. _ As you walk along the street, observe all that occurs in a space ofone block, things heard as well as things seen. Two hours later make alist of all you can recall. Do this twice a day for ten days. Thencompare results. _c. _ Make a practice of recounting each night the incidents of the day. The prospect of having this to do will cause you unconsciously toobserve more attentively. This is the method by which Thurlow Weed acquired his phenomenal memory. As a young man with political ambitions he had been much troubled byhis inability to recall names and faces. So he began the practice eachnight of telling his wife the most minute details of incidents that hadoccurred during the day. He kept this up for fifty years, and it sotrained his powers of observation that he became as well known for hisunfailing memory as for his political adroitness. _d. _ Glance once at an outline map of some State. Put it out of sightand draw one as nearly like it as you can. Then compare it with theoriginal. Do this frequently. [Sidenote: _Invention and Thought-Memory_] _e. _ Have some one read you a sentence out of a book and you then repeatit. Do this daily, gradually increasing the length of the quotation fromshort sentences to whole paragraphs. Try to find out what is theextreme limit of your ability in this respect compared with that ofother members of your family. Rule II. _Fix ideas by their associates. _ There are other things to be remembered besides facts of outsideobservation. You are not one whose life is passed entirely in a physicalworld. You live also within. Your mind is unceasingly at work with thematerials of the past painting the pictures of the future. You arecalled upon to scheme, to plan, to devise, to invent, to compose and toforesee. If all this mental work is not wasted energy, you must be able to recallits conclusions when occasion requires. A happy thought comes toyou--will you remember it tomorrow when the hour for action arrives?There is but one way to be sure, and that is by making a study of thewhole associative mental process. Review the train of ideas by which you reached your conclusion. Carrythe thought on in mind to its legitimate conclusion. See yourself actingupon it. Mark its relations to other persons. Note all the details ofthe mental picture. In other words, to remember thoughts, cultivatethought-observation just as you cultivate sense-observation to rememberoutside matters. [Sidenote: _Three Exercises for Developing Thought-Memory_] To train yourself in thought-memory, use the following exercises: _a. _ Every morning at eight o'clock, sharp on the minute, fix upon acertain idea and determine to recall it at a certain hour during theday. Put your whole will into this resolution. Try to imagine whatactivities you will be engaged in at the appointed hour, and think ofthe chosen idea as identified with those activities. Associate it inyour mind with some object that will be at hand when the set time comes. Having thus fixed the idea in your mind, forget it. Do not refer to itin your thoughts. With practice you will find yourself automaticallycarrying out your own orders. Persist in this exercise for at leastthree months. _b. _ Every night when you retire fix upon the hour at which you wish toget up in the morning. In connection with your waking at that hour, think of all the sounds that will be apt to be occurring at thatparticular time. Bar every other thought from your consciousness andfall asleep with the intense determination to arise at the time set. Byall means, get up instantly when you awaken. Keep up this exercise andyou will soon be able to awaken at any hour you may wish. [Sidenote: _How to Compel Recollection_] _c. _ Every morning outline the general plan of your activities for theday. Select only the important things. Do not bother with the details. Determine upon the logical order for your day's work. Think not so muchof _how_ you are to do things as of the _things_ you are to do. Keepyour mind on results. And having made your plan, stick to it. Be yourown boss. Let nothing tempt you from your set purpose. Make this dailyplanning a habit and hold to it through life. It will give you a greatlift toward whatever prize you seek. Rule III. _Search systematically and persistently. _ When once you have started upon an effort at recollection, persevere. The date or face or event that you wish to recall _is bound up with amultitude of other facts of observation and of your mind life_ of thepast. Success in recalling it depends simply upon your ability _to hitupon some idea so indissolubly associated with the object of search thatthe recall of one automatically recalls the other_. Consequently thething to do is to hold your attention to one definite line of thoughtuntil you have exhausted its possibilities. You must pass in review allthe associated matters and suppress or ignore them until the right onecomes to mind. This may be a short-cut process or a roundabout process, but it will bring results nine times out of ten, and if habituallypersisted in will greatly improve your power of voluntary recall. [Sidenote: _Formation of Correct Memory Habits_] Rule IV. _The instant you recollect a thing to be done, do it. _ Every idea that memory thrusts into your consciousness carries with itthe impulse to act upon it. If you fail to do so, the matter may notagain occur to you, or when it does it may be too late. _Your mental mechanism will serve you faithfully only as long as you actupon its suggestions. _ [Sidenote: _NOW!_] This is as true of bodily habits as of business affairs. The time to actupon an important matter that just now comes to mind is not "tomorrow"or a "little later, " but _NOW_. What you do from moment to moment tells the story of your career. Ideasthat come to you should be compared as to their relative importance. Butdo this honestly. Do not be swayed by distracting impulses thatinadvertently slip in. And having gauged their importance give free reinat once to the impulse to do everything that should not make way forsomething more important. [Sidenote: _Persistence, Accuracy, Dispatch_] If, for any reason, action must be deferred, fix the matter in your mindto be called up at the proper time. Drive all other thoughts from yourconsciousness. Give your whole attention to this one matter. Determinethe exact moment at which you wish it to be recalled. Then put yourwhole self into the determination to remember it at precisely the rightmoment. And finally, and perhaps most important of all, -- Rule V. _Have some sign or token. _ This memory signal may beanything you choose, but it must somehow be directly connected with thehour at which the main event is to be recalled. [Sidenote: _Memory Signs and Tokens_] Make a business of observing the memory signs or tokens you have beenhabitually using. Practice tagging those matters you wish to recall withthe labels that form a part of your mental machinery. Make it a habit to do things when they ought to be done and in the orderin which you ought to do them. Habits like this are "paths" along whichthe mind "moves, " paths of least resistance to those qualities ofpromptness, energy, persistence, accuracy, self-control, and so on, thatcreate success. Success in business, success in life, can come only through theformation of right habits. A right habit can be deliberately acquiredonly by _doing a thing consciously until it comes to be doneunconsciously and automatically_. [Sidenote: _The Mental Combination Revealed_] Every man, consciously or unconsciously, forms his own memory habits, good or bad. Form your memory habits consciously according to the lawsof the mind, and in good time they will act unconsciously and withmasterful precision. "'Amid the shadows of the pyramids, ' Bonaparte said to his soldiers, 'twenty centuries look down upon you, ' and animated them to action andvictory. But all the centuries, " says W. H. Grove, "and the eternities, and God, and the universe, look down upon us--and demand the highestculture of body, mind and spirit. " A good memory is yours for the making. But _you_ must make it. We canpoint the way. _You_ must act. The laws of Association and Recall are the combination that will unlockthe treasure-vaults of memory. Apply these laws, and the riches ofexperience will be available to you in every need. * * * * * The purpose of this book has been to make clear certain mentalprinciples and processes, namely, those of Retention, Association andRecall. Incidentally, as with every book in this _Course_, it containssome facts and instructions of immediate practical utility. Butprimarily it is intended only to help prepare your mind to understand ascientific system for success-achievement that will be unfolded insubsequent volumes.