How to Study and Teaching How to Study Part 15

Impressions are not stored away in the brain, and afterward recalled, in an isolated state, or independently of one another. On the contrary, they are more or less intimately related as they are learned, and recall always takes place through a.s.sociation of some sort. "Whatever appears in the mind must be _introduced;_ and, when introduced, it is as the a.s.sociate of something already there."

[Footnote: James's _Talks to Teachers,_ p. 118.]

The breakfast I ate this morning recalls the persons who sat around the table; memory of one of those persons reminds me of a task that I was to attend to to-day; that task suggests the fact that I must also go to the bank to get some money, etc. Thus every fact that is recalled is marshaled forth by the aid of some other that is connected with it, and which acts as the cue to it. This is so fully true that there is even the possibility of tracing our sequence of ideas backward step by step as far as we wish. "The laws of a.s.sociation govern, in fact, all the trains of our thinking which are not interrupted by sensations breaking on us from without," says James.

[Footnote: _Ibid._]

_How method of memorizing may be improved._

Since any idea is recalled through its connection with other ideas, the greater the number and the closeness of such relations, the better chance it stands to be reproduced. Improvement in one's method of memorizing, in other words, must consist mainly in increasing the number and closeness of a.s.sociations among facts. A list of unrelated words is extremely difficult to remember; every additional relation furnishes a new approach to any fact; and, the closer this relation, the more likely it is to cause the reproduction.

_1. By more of less mechanical a.s.sociation._

Even the simplest a.s.sociations, that are largely mechanical, may be important aids to memory. For example, it is much easier to learn the telephone number _1236_ by remembering that the sum of the first three numbers forms the fourth than by memorizing each figure separately. _Teacher_ is a word whose spelling often causes trouble; but when _teach_ is a.s.sociated with _each_, which is seldom misspelled, the difficulty is removed. _There_ and _their_ are two words whose spelling is a source of much confusion; but it is overcome when _there_ is a.s.sociated with _where_ and _here,_ and _their_ with _her, your, our,_ etc. _Sight, site,_ and _cite_ are still worse stumbling-blocks in spelling; but the difficulty is largely overcome when _sight_ is firmly a.s.sociated with _light_ and _night, site_ with _situation,_ and _cite_ with _recite._ The a.s.sociation of the sound of a word with its meaning is an important help in remembering the meanings of some words, as _rasping,_ for example. Professor James, I believe, tells of some one who forgot his umbrella so often that he practiced a.s.sociating _umbrella_ with _doorway_ until the two ideas were almost inseparable. Then, whenever he pa.s.sed through a doorway on his way out of doors, he was reminded to take his umbrella along. While there might be some disadvantages in this particular a.s.sociation, it forcibly suggests the value of a.s.sociation in general.

The various mnemonic systems that have been so widely advertised have usually been nothing more than plans for the mechanical a.s.sociation of facts. Sometimes, to be sure, it has been more difficult to remember the system than to memorize the facts themselves; yet they, too, give witness to the value of a.s.sociation.

I once asked a thirteen-year-old girl, in a history cla.s.s, when Eli Whitney lived. She gave the exact month and day, but failed to recall either the year or the part of the century, or even the century. Her answer showed plainly that her method of study was doubly wrong; for she not only offended against relative values in learning the month and day while forgetting the century, but she revealed no tendency to a.s.sociate Whitney's invention with any particular period of history.

Even cross-questioning brought no such tendency to light. She was depending on mere retentiveness to hold dates in mind. The habit of memorizing facts in this disconnected way is common among adults as well as children, and as a remedy against it the student should form the habit of frequently asking himself the question, "With what am I a.s.sociating this fact or idea?"

In contrast with a.s.sociations that are more or less mechanical, there are vital a.s.sociations that are possible in all studies containing rich subject-matter.

_2. By close thought a.s.sociation.

(1) Through attention to the outline._

Early a.s.sociation of the princ.i.p.al ideas, or early recognition of the outline of thought, is perhaps the most important of these. One can proceed sentence by sentence, or "bit by bit," in memorizing as in thinking, adding one such fragment after another until the whole is learned. But the early recognition of the main ideas in their proper sequence is far superior. These essentials give peculiar control over the details by grouping them in an orderly manner and furnis.h.i.+ng their cue so that the whole is more easily memorized. This is true even in the case of verbal memorizing, as is evidenced by a certain minister quoted by Professor James. "As for memory, mine has improved year by year, except when in ill-health, like a gymnast's muscle. Before twenty it took three or four days to commit an hour-long sermon; after twenty, two days, one day, one-half day, and now one slow a.n.a.lytic, very attentive or adhesive reading does it. But memory seems to me the most physical of intellectual powers. Bodily ease and freshness have much to do with it. Then there is great difference

Thus early attention to organization is a large factor in memorizing, as in study that aims princ.i.p.ally at comprehension of the thought.

Where good organization is wanting,--as in tracing lessons in geography, and other mere tests of facts,--this aid to memorizing is lacking, and one must depend more upon brute memory power. On the other hand, where the portions of one's knowledge have become so closely interrelated and so well organized that they form a well-knit system of thought, one's ability to remember may be surprising.

Spencer and Darwin were examples of men whose ideas were thus organized. Neither of them possessed phenomenal memories to start with; but their observations so generally found a group of close relations to sustain them, and these groups were a.s.sociated with one another in such a close and orderly way, that the outline of the whole could be easily surveyed, and any fact could be quickly reproduced, just as any book can be speedily found in a well-organized library.

Thus, as we grow older, if the organization of our knowledge is improving, the power of reproducing it will likewise be increasing.

_(2) Through comparisons._

Comparisons are another means of establis.h.i.+ng valuable thought connections. Study by topics, also, furnishes special opportunity for comparisons. "It is generally better," says James Baldwin, "to learn what different writers have thought and said concerning that matter of which you are making a special study. Not many books are to be read hastily through." [Footnote: James Baldwin, _The Book Lover,_ p. 43.]

Koopman likewise declares, "A single trial will prove to any student the superiority, in interest, of the topical and comparative over the chronological and consecutive method of studying history." [Footnote: Koopman, _Mastery of Books,_ p. 43.] Again, "The student who has not known the pleasure of reading _all_ the works of an author, as a study in personality, has a great source of enjoyment still before him."

[Footnote: _Ibid.,_ p. 44.]

Many persons have the feeling that it is a moral duty, after having begun a book, to read it through. Here is the recommendation that our reading for a time "converge to one point"; that we find, for example, what several psychologies have to say on one topic, such as memory, rather than read one psychology from cover to cover. The value of comparison for thoroughness has already been emphasized. Its value from the view-point of memory is great, not only because it insures more lasting impressions due to increased interest, as just suggested, but also because each new comparison, while reviewing, also establishes new and closer a.s.sociations among old ideas.

_Memorizing of Kipling's "Seal Lullaby."_

According to the above, we can best memorize by establis.h.i.+ng whatever a.s.sociations seem interesting and reasonable. Take, for instance, Kipling's Seal Lullaby:--

Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, And black are the waters that sparkled so green.

The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow; Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!

The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee, Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.

The music of the rhythm leads one to read it aloud from time to time.

The first two lines are an announcement of bedtime; the next three tell where the resting place is, and the last three give a.s.surance of safety--that is the outline. Any one has often observed how black the waters become as night approaches, and the picture is vividly recalled as the first couplet is read. "Combers" is almost a strange word, but its use makes its meaning reasonably clear. Is there a cradle of some sort? And a good pillow, too? Is there any tenderness indicated on the part of the mother? Any pet names applied? What dangers might cause uneasiness? Which is the most beautiful part? What lullabies of our childhood does this recall? How does this one compare in beauty with "Rock-a-bye-baby"? Let us sing each, in order to judge. What marked contrast is there between the two, in the latter part?

I first ran across this lullaby in company with two friends, to each of whom it was entirely new. It appealed to us so strongly that we read it aloud several times and talked it over. We considered some questions such as the above, and compared it with "Rock-a-bye-baby,"

disagreeing somewhat in our opinions. When we left it, each of us nearly or quite knew it by heart, although we had scarcely thought of trying to memorize it. In this way the a.s.sociation of ideas with one another, particularly with things that have been long cherished, is a very valuable aid to memory.

_Where the fault in cramming lies._

To some persons this method of memorizing through a.s.sociation of ideas will seem very slow. It must be acknowledged that there is a more rapid way, called _cramming._ Every mature student has found that, under great pressure, he can commit to memory the substance of thought, and even the words, for an astonis.h.i.+ng amount of matter. The difficulty is, however, that it will hold only up to a certain hour, the hour after examination, for example; then it goes so rapidly that one can fairly feel it slipping away. Such rapid memorizing is a witness to the value of very close attention in study; but the rapid escape is testimony to the necessity of a closer a.s.sociation of facts.

Owing to undue haste the ideas are crowded into the memory without becoming intimately related, or tied together, in numerous ways. Then, when some part is forgotten, as is sure to happen, the other parts, being unrelated to it, offer no cue for its reproduction. Thus one part after another is lost; and, even though the ideas are closely related by nature, the lack of appreciation of such relations.h.i.+p on the part of the student allows the whole to escape as rapidly as mere lists of facts. To be firmly remembered, either a great amount of drill is necessary, or else the ideas must be _a.s.similated_, and a.s.similation cannot be hurried in this manner.

_The princ.i.p.al means of making mechanical memorization less prominent._

The ordinary plan of study, by which memorizing precedes thinking, results, as we have seen, in crowding out thinking by leaving little time and energy for it. Memorizing thus becomes a subst.i.tute for thinking, and makes study an extremely dull task. This is an inversion, however, of the true order. If thinking is made to precede conscious attempts to memorize, the nouris.h.i.+ng character of study is a.s.sured, and direct attempts at memorizing become largely unnecessary, because most of the memorizing has already been accomplished unconsciously. In other words, _memorizing then becomes a by-product of thinking, instead of a subst.i.tute for it._ We often regret the prominence of memorizing in study, and here is probably the princ.i.p.al means of reducing it. There will be less of it, to the extent that we do more thinking; and there will be far more thinking if we put thinking first in time, thereby making it first in importance.

I once saw Kipling's _Seal Lullaby_ presented to seven-year-old children. The teacher read it aloud from the blackboard, then the cla.s.s read it. Then the cla.s.s set to work to memorize it, a line or two at a time. This was a good example of bad method, for adults as well as for children. If they had planned first to _enjoy_ the poem by trying to read it several times aloud with expression, by talking it over, ill.u.s.trating it and singing it, the memorizing would have taken care of itself. As it was, their teacher's haste to have it _learned,_ amounted to a direct advocacy of the principle of cramming; for they were attempting to memorize through force rather than through a.s.sociation of ideas. One reason older students practice cramming to such an extent is that they have never been fully taught a better method; the schools have never fully stood for a better method of memorizing.

So long as memorizing is put first in time, and therefore in importance, those persons who have quick memories will be held up as the ideal students, whether they have higher abilities or not. Quick memories, however, are poor educators indeed unless they are coupled with unusual earnestness and energy. With all cla.s.ses of students, therefore, the thinking should habitually precede attempts to memorize.

_Examples of improvement in memory through closer attention and better method._

From all that has been said, it is plain that _how_ to memorize is closely bound up with the question _when_ to memorize. We are now ready to appreciate the statement that good memorizing is really good thinking, and that improvement in memory is mainly improvement in attention and in method of thinking.

This is in general true, even in spite of some opinions to the contrary. Thurlow Weed, the journalist and politician, for example, greatly increased his ability to remember, and attributed the improvement to an increase in his general power of memory, due to its exercise. He relates his experience in the following words:--

My memory was a sieve. I could remember nothing. Dates, names, appointments, faces--everything escaped me. I said to my wife, "Catherine, I shall never make a successful politician, for I cannot remember, and that is a prime necessity of politicians."

My wife told me I must train my memory. So, when I came home that night, I sat down and spent fifteen minutes trying silently to recall with accuracy the princ.i.p.al events of the day. I could remember but little at first; now I remember that I could not then recall what I had for breakfast. After a few days' practice I found I could recall more. Events came back to me more minutely, more accurately, and more vividly than at first. After a fortnight or so of this, Catherine said, "Why don't you relate to me the events of the day, instead of recalling them to yourself? It would be interesting, and my interest in it would be a stimulus to you."

Having great respect for my wife's opinion, I began a habit of oral confession, as it were, which was continued for almost fifty years.

Every night, the last thing before retiring, I told her everything I could remember that had happened to me, or about me, during the day, I generally recalled the dishes I had had for breakfast, dinner, and tea; the people I had seen, and what they had said; the editorials I had written for my paper, giving her a brief abstract of them. I mentioned all the letters I had sent and received, and the very language used, as nearly as possible; when I had walked or ridden--I told her everything that had come within my observation.

I found I could say my lessons better and better every year, and instead of the practice growing irksome, it became a pleasure to go over again the events of the day. I am indebted to this discipline for a memory of somewhat unusual tenacity, and I recommend the practice to all who wish to store up facts, or expect to have much to do with influencing men. [Footnote: Quoted by James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p.

665.]

Professor James comments on this experience as follows:--

I do not doubt that Mr. Weed's practical command of his past experiences was much greater after fifty years of this heroic drill than it would have been without it. Expecting to give his account in the evening, he _attended_ better to each incident of the day, named and conceived it differently, set his mind upon it, and in the evening went over it again. He did more _thinking_ about it, and it stayed with him in consequence. But I venture to affirm pretty confidently...

that the same matter, casually attended to and not thought about, would have stuck in his memory no better at the end than at the beginning of his years of heroic self-discipline. He had acquired a better method of noting and recording his experiences, but his physiological retentiveness was probably not a bit improved.

[Footnote: James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 666.]

Again, as to the memorizing of facts by actors, Professor James says:--

What it has done for them is to improve their power of _studying_ a part systematically. Their mind is now full of precedents in the way of intonation, emphasis, gesticulation; the new words awaken distinct suggestions and decisions; are caught up, in fact, into a preexisting network, like the merchant's prices or the athlete's store of records, and are recollected easier, although the mere native tenacity is not a whit improved, and is usually, in fact, impaired by age.

It is a case of better remembering by better thinking. Similarly when schoolboys improve by practice in ease of learning by heart, the improvement will, I am sure, be always found to reside in the _mode of study of the particular piece_ (due to the greater interest, the greater suggestiveness, the generic similarity with other pieces, the more sustained attention, etc., etc.) and not at all to any enhancement of the brute retentive power. [Footnote: _Ibid._, p.

664.]

_The prominence of drill._

It still remains to consider the extent to which mere repet.i.tion or drill should be prominent. Some help toward an answer may be found in certain recent investigations into the value of drill, and in certain recent improvements in method.