The Trained Memory

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The Trained Memory

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trained Memory, by Warren Hilton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
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
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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 "Half an Eye"]
Things are continually happening all around us that we see with but "half an eye." They are in the "fringe" of consciousness, and we deliberately ignore them. Many more things come to us in the form of sense-impressions that clamorously assail our sense-organs, but no effort of the will is needed to