Aids to Memory/Section I

The poetical quotation on our title-page contains a truth of more depth and utility than the writer of it was perhaps aware of. He evidently alludes to the association of ideas which is constantly going on within the mind, and to the power which the mind has of recalling events connected with natural objects or localities presented to the eye. Scenes and circumstances which are imagined to be entirely obliterated from the mind by lapse of time often spring into memory with much of their early freshness. The sight of a single tree, or brook, or stile, has effected the result. Thus an idea that is once thoroughly received into the brain, and accidentally or intentionally associated with something else, is probably never really lost. The absence of the idea or object with which it is connected may cause it to be forgotten, but the remembrance only depends on the recurrence of the missing link. The following incident from St. Mark's Gospel, chapter xi., shows exactly what we mean by object memory:—"And on the morrow, when they ​were come from Bethany, He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find anything thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it. . . . . And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, behold, the fig-tree which Thou cursedst is withered away."

How frequently, in conversation, do we hear people say, "That reminds me!" Many interesting stories are frequently the sequels of a chance word dropped by some one at a social party. We all know the duty of a theatrical prompter, and the value of a "cue" to a performer. In fact, the ordinary methods of memory are based on the association of ideas, for nothing can be remembered without it. They, however, depend on accidental or forced associations, which are more or less uncertain in their character. By constantly repeating words or ideas, they may be temporarily held in the mind; but knowledge thus gained, like water poured into a sieve, soon escapes.

A ludicrous story is told of a certain landlady and her gentleman lodger. The landlady trusted more to memory than to memorandums in making out her lodger's weekly bills, and the gentleman himself was astonished to find such a heavy weekly charge for "fagots," as he imagined the word to be. But one day this item was marked 2s. 6d., and his sense of justice impelled him to ring the bell for an explanation. "How is it," said he, "I find half-a-crown charged for fagots? It is totally impossible I could have burnt so many in such a short time." "Lord bless you, sir!" replied the landlady, "it isn't for fagots I've charged you half-a-crown, but for forgets. You see, sir, I can't think of all the things you have had ​when I make out your little bill, and so I lump them all together the next week, and call them forgets."

The knowledge of the child, as well as that of the profoundest scholar, is derived from the reception into the mind of a host of sensible, external impressions. The number and nature of these impressions constitute the difference between the child and the man. Let us analyse the child's knowledge. There was a time when he knew nothing—not even the alphabet, that great introduction to all learning. As his faculty of attention or concentrativeness began to be exercised, his mind struggled for development, and the foundations of his mental world were laid. His earliest impressions were derived from the articles of furniture around him, and especially from those things in constant use. He saw, let us suppose, a chair, a stool, or a table. Each of these objects conveyed a certain impression, either of size or form, revived again and again by the repeated sight of the object. Had the object been taken out of the room, he would soon have forgotten all about it. But his parents often had occasion to call it a chair, a stool, or a table. The two ideas (or those attached to the word and to the object) rapidly becoming associated, a definite conception of the object would arise in the mind whenever the name or the thing itself was presented to it. As his vocabulary increased, so did his conversational powers. Could we trace, in like manner, the gradual development of ideas received from books and teachers, we should still derive the fact that the "association of ideas" is the principle upon which memory is based.

The science of memory or mnemonics is, after all, a very simple one. It consists in using the knowledge already acquired as a means whereby to acquire fresh knowledge. Its motto is, "Learn everything well by combining one thing with another." Its effect is the prevention of mental weariness and unnecessary brainwork. Our first practical exercise will be that of ​learning couples of simple, familiar ideas, so that a word being mentioned shall suggest the associated word. This practice will ensure facility in the future applications of the science.

These words have no direct connection with each other, and would require a greater mental effort to learn by the common process of repetition than by the principle of the association of ideas. In order to apply the latter method we will construct sentences combining or associating two ideas.

The first couple of words is bell and corkscrew. A bell strikes by means of a clapper; hence we can imagine a corkscrew substituted for the clapper. The next words are portmanteau and sawdust; these again are easily connected. The sentences containing the various associations might therefore be as follows:—

The imagination must be exercised, and a clear mental picture of each association drawn. Now, on a word in either column of Exercise 1 being given, the corresponding word will readily be remembered.

Take a piece of paper ruled with single lines, and fold it double. Write down a dozen simple words; turn the paper over, so that what has been written cannot be seen, and write a dozen more words on the same lines. Then open the paper, and associate each couple of ideas. Fold the paper again so that only one list of twelve words is seen, and read from memory the corresponding words.

Repeat this experiment until the lists can be committed to memory in one reading. No attempt should be made to repeat the couples of words consecutively, as the method of remembering a series of ideas will be explained further on. The only object sought to be attained here is the cultivation of the power of mental association; therefore do not proceed to the next section until the instructions given in this one have been successfully followed.