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.