Power of Mental Imagery | Page 6

for articles of food.
Remember the rule: To the mind you are seeking to convince or
educate present your facts in as many different ways and as
realistically as possible, so that there may be a variety of images, each

serving as a clue to prompt the memory.
You can put this rule to practical use at once. Try it. You will be
delighted with the result.

HOW TO TEST YOUR MENTAL IMAGERY

[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV
HOW TO TEST YOUR MENTAL IMAGERY
[Sidenote: Finding Out Your Weak Points]
We suggest that you now test your own reproductive imagination with
a view to determining your points of strength or weakness in this
respect. And in doing so please bear in mind that the following
questions are not asked with a view to determining what you know
about the subject of the question, but simply how vividly--that is to say,
with what life-like clearness--the mental image is presented to your
mind, how close it comes to a present reality.
[Sidenote: Tests for Visual Imagery]
Go into a quiet room, close your eyes and try to bar from your mind
every distraction. Now then, ask yourself these questions:
VISUAL.--1. Can you remember just how your bedroom looked when
you left it this morning--the appearance of each separate article of
furniture and decoration, the design and color of the carpet, the color of
the walls, the arrangement of toilet articles upon the dresser, and so on?
Can you see the whole room just as clearly as if you were in it at this
moment? Or is your mental picture blurred and doubtful?

2. How clearly can you see the space that intervenes between your
house and some far-distant object? Have you a clear impression of the
visual elements that determine this distance?
3. Can you see a bird flying through the air? an automobile rushing
down the street?
4. Can you imagine a red surface? a green surface? Try each primary
color; which is most distinct to your mind's eye?
5. Can you see a smooth surface? a rough surface? a curved surface? a
flat surface? a cube? Does the cube look solid?
6. When you memorize a poem do you remember just how each word
looked on the printed page?
[Sidenote: Tests for Auditory and Olfactory Imagery]
AUDITORY.--1. Can you in imagination hear your door-bell ringing?
2. Can you form an auditory image of thunder? of waves breaking on a
rocky shore? of a passing street-car?
3. Can you mentally hear the squeak of a mouse? the twitter of a bird?
the breathing of a sleeping child?
4. Do these images come to you with the distinctness of reality?
5. Can you distinctly remember a voice you have not heard for a long
time?
6. Can you recall the tones of an entire selection of music played on the
piano?
[Sidenote: Tests for Imagery of Taste and Touch]
SMELL.--Can you distinctly recall the odor of strong cheese? of violets?
of roses? of coffee? of your favorite cigar? Is it clear to your mind that
it is the odor you are recalling and not the taste?

TASTE.--1. Can you remember just how butter tastes? an apple?
2. Try to imagine that you are sucking a lemon. Does it pucker your
mouth? Does it seem like a real lemon?
3. Can you imagine the taste of sugar? of salt? of pepper?
PAIN AND TOUCH.--1. Can you in imagination live over again any
past physical suffering?
2. Can you recall the feeling of woolen underwear? of bedclothes
resting upon you?
3. Can you re-experience a feeling of exhaustion? of exhilaration?
[Sidenote: Tests for Imagery of Heat and Cold]
HEAT AND COLD.--Can you imagine a feeling of warmth? of cold?
Does your recollection of the feeling of ice differ from your memory of
a burn?
Go through the above list of questions, carefully noting down your
answers. You will discover some personal peculiarities in yourself you
never dreamed existed.
Try these questions on other members of your own family. You will be
surprised at the varying results. You will perceive the reason for many
innate differences of ability to do and to enjoy.
[Sidenote: How to Cultivate Mental Imagery]
Think what an immense part imagination plays in the world of business,
and you will see how important it is to know your own type of
sense-imagery.
To some extent the power of forming mental images can be cultivated
so as to improve one's fitness for different kinds of employment. Such
self-culture rests upon improvement in the vividness of your
sense-perceptions. It suffices for your present purpose to know that to

cultivate your power of sense-imagery in any respect you must (1)
Keep the appropriate sense-organs in good condition, and (2) When
sense-perceptions of the kind in question come to