The Trained Memory

The Trained Memory

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Title: The Trained Memory Being the Fourth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the
Applications of Psychology to the Problems of Personal and Business Efficiency
Author: Warren Hilton
Release Date: February 22, 2006 [EBook #17829]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
THE TRAINED MEMORY
_Being the Fourth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the Applications of Psychology to
the Problems of Personal and Business Efficiency_
BY
WARREN HILTON, A.B., L.L.B. FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF APPLIED
PSYCHOLOGY
ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE LITERARY DIGEST

FOR
The Society of Applied Psychology NEW YORK AND LONDON 1920
COPYRIGHT 1914 BY THE APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY PRESS SAN FRANCISCO
(Printed in the United States of America)

CONTENTS

Chapter
I.
THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY FOUR SPECIAL MEMORY PROCESSES
II. THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION WHAT
EVERYONE THINKS CAUSES OF FORGETFULNESS SEEING WITH "HALF AN
EYE" THE MAN ON BROADWAY WAXEN TABLETS NOT HOW, BUT HOW
MUCH REMEMBERING THE UNPERCEIVED SPEAKING A FORGOTTEN
TONGUE LIVING PAST EXPERIENCES OVER AGAIN THE "FLASH OF
INSPIRATION" THE TOTALITY OF RETENTION POSSIBILITIES OF
SELF-DISCOVERY "ACRES OF DIAMONDS"
III. THE MECHANISM OF RECALL THE RIGHT STIMULUS "COMPLEXES" OF
EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF RECOLLECTION "COMPLEXES" AND
FUNCTIONAL DERANGEMENTS AUTOMATICALLY WORKING MENTAL
MECHANISMS TWO CLASSES OF "COMPLEXES" THE SUBCONSCIOUS
STOREHOUSE
IV. THE LAWS OF RECALL THE LAW OF INTEGRAL RECALL WHAT
ORDINARY "THINKING" AMOUNTS TO THE REVERSE OF COMPLEX
FORMATION PROLIXITY AND TERSENESS THE LAW OF CONTIGUITY LAWS
OF HABIT AND INTENSITY APPLICATIONS TO ADVERTISING EFFECT OF
REPETITIONS RATIO OF SIZE TO VALUE RISKS IN ADVERTISING
V. THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING THE SKILLED ARTISAN HOW THE
ATTENTION WORKS IRON FILINGS AND MENTAL MAGNETS THE
COMPARTMENT OF SUBCONSCIOUS FORGETFULNESS MAKING
EXPERIENCE COUNT HOW HABITS ARE FORMED
VI. THE FALLACY OF MOST MEMORY SYSTEMS PRACTICE IN MEMORIZING
INADEQUATE TORTURE OF THE DRILL REAL CAUSE OF FAILING MEMORY
THE MANUFACTURED INTEREST MEMORY LURE OF A DESIRE

VII. A SCIENTIFIC MEMORY SYSTEM FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IMPORTANCE
OF ASSOCIATES "CRAMMING" AND "WILLING" BASIC PRINCIPLE OF
THOUGHT-REPRODUCTION METHODS OF PICK SCIENTIFIC PEDAGOGY
HOW TO REMEMBER NAMES FIVE EXERCISES FOR DEVELOPING
OBSERVATION INVENTION AND THOUGHT-MEMORY THREE EXERCISES
FOR DEVELOPING THOUGHT-MEMORY HOW TO COMPEL RECOLLECTION
FORMATION OF CORRECT MEMORY HABITS NOW! PERSISTENCE,
ACCURACY, DISPATCH MEMORY SIGNS AND TOKENS THE MENTAL
COMBINATION REVEALED

THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY
[Illustration: Decorative Header]

CHAPTER I
THE ELEMENTS OF MEMORY
[Sidenote: Four Special Memory Processes]
You have learned of the sense-perceptive and judicial processes by which your mind
acquires its knowledge of the outside world. You come now to a study of the
phenomenon of memory, the instrument by which your mind retains and makes use of its
knowledge, the agency that has power to resurrect the buried past or power to enfold us
in a Paradise of dreams more perfect than reality.
In the broadest sense, memory is the faculty of the mind by which we (1) retain, (2)
recall, (3) picture to the mind's eye, and (4) recognize past experiences.
Memory involves, therefore, four elements, Retention, Recall, Imagination and
Recognition.

THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION
[Illustration: Decorative Header]

CHAPTER II
THE MENTAL TREASURE VAULT AND ITS LOST COMBINATION
[Sidenote: What Everyone Thinks]

Almost everyone seems to think that we retain in the mind only those things that we can
voluntarily recall; that memory, in other words, is limited to the power of voluntary
reproduction.
This is a profound error. It is an inexcusable error. The daily papers are constantly
reporting cases of the lapse and restoration of memory that contain all the elements of
underlying truth on this subject.
[Sidenote: Causes of Forgetfulness]
It is plain enough that the memory seems decidedly limited in its scope. This is because
our power of voluntary recall is decidedly limited.
But it does not follow simply because we are without the power to deliberately recall
certain experiences that all mental trace of those experiences is lost to us.
_Those experiences that we are unable to recall are those that we disregarded when they
occurred because they possessed no special interest for us. They are there, but no mental
associations or connections with power to awaken them have arisen in consciousness._
[Sidenote: Seeing with