TRAINING THE MEMORY

Evening Star, Issue 23688, 23 September 1940, Page 10

TRAINING THE MEMORY

The subject discussed at the Practical Psychology Club last Thursday evening was ‘ Training the Memory.’ It was stated that memory was really the stock in trade of one’s mental life. Experiences were valuable only when held in the memory. Every man who had ever attained a high place in life bad been possessed of a retentive memory In reality there was no such thing as a memory; there were only memories. Memory was a name given to a whole group of different mental activities having the same practical result of recalling something past. Perception and memory were practically one, the latter being simply a permanency or recurrence of a perception, clear or otherwise. Psychology recognised three ways of influencing—by repetition, by arousing deep interest, and through the experience of intense emotion. At birth man had no memory. It was aroused when new impressions mingled with those already in his possession. These related principles of recall were known as association. A good memory was the result of proper grouping or association of experiences. Power of attention and

interest built up a sound memory. Forgetting of the unimportant took place automatically. The mechanical remembering of learning by heart was of little use in adult life. To acquire the meaning of a book or a lecture or anything was what held good. Learning by heart helped logical remembering in one way only—by increasing the power of willed concentration. The reason why many people forget what they tried to learn was because they had already made up their minds that they were unable to remember ; therefore a confident attitude of mind was necessary to bring to a task of learning. It was important to note that the fact that one could not recall something at will did not necessarily mean that it was really lost to the 'mind. It had become part of the permanent structure of the mind, making new acquisitions of knowledge possible. This was termed the apperceptive system The greater the store of memories in the mind the greater the power of acquiring now ones. The subconscious mind was the store bouse of memories, golden or otherwise, according to man’s perceptions and experiences. It -was the servant with the perfect memory.