TRAINING THE MEMORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24417, 1 October 1940, Page 4

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 had been possessld 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 aa 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 forgot what they tried to learn was because they had already made up their minds that they were uh- “ able to remember: therefore, a confident attitude of mind was necessary to bring to a task of learning. The greater the store of memories in the mind the greatei the power Of acquiring new ones. The subconscious mind was the storehouse of memories, golden or otherwise, according to man’s perceptions and experiences. Ii was the servant with the perfect memory."