14 
LAND & WATEK 
Memory 
By the Director of Instruction of the Pclman Institute 
(A reply to Mr. J. C. Squire). 
June jy, I<ji7 
) 
T DO uui .at, I the lists to defend Prof L«'f:"«Tf 1*^""?^ 
I he is long since dead and cannot defend »»"^^^f^\f-«'"^;^ 
I offer some criticisms of the arguments l^'«»gl .^<»^ ^J^ 
■ bv Mr. T. C. Squire in his attack on memory techn que . 
xfTh Jome ai these criticisms I find myself 'H^l^^^J^'^^ ^, 
Loisettes system is now an old one, and much progress has 
been made since his day. , „,nnni-r in 
Mr. Squire appears to be annoyed with tfie manner u 
which it is suggcl^ed we should remcmlHT the order o the 
lines in the Spectrum: violet, mdigo. blue, l^^J^'l: 
orange, and red. The f\rst letters of the ^^en words - 
«fcgn.r, and as a matter of fact that is how r}}^'-llf^^^;;^\X^, 
it in their memories. But Mr. Squne says . Anj, ?dy who 
could remember vibgyor could remember anything. i 
cannot take that view ; indeed, the bizarre "^t";^^ "fj^^^" 
word itself greatly assists us in recal ing it ^^'hen J-equ.rcd. 
Hence I agree tluit Loisette's system is i^«t necessary , but 
the m.//K,rf of it is not wrong on that account He ^^^^io- 
one called " intermediates " to connect the colour woids to 
gether ; thus — 
Blue blue sea sea green green 
Green green com npe corn ye«o«' 
This, indeed, is an intelligent use of tlie laws of ass<.ciat.*m 
and medical students especially, with great masse^ of dat.e 
i,rc-i)are for examination purposes, have employed it wiU 
I it Advantage. I hope 'Mr' Squire is not arguing on tie, 
t uUti^ th^t the SpLtrum catenation ,s unP«n^''"»ji- " 
If he is the weight of tcstimonv is against him. troi. 
ieima n ne of'the greatest authorities on the memory 
fmicS. has admitted freely that the ;• ----'"- J^"^'^^, 
in itself is not inconsistent with psycj.ology. 1 ^ /"^^/^'\;'^ 
easier to remember discrete and discomiected data by 
ring ng then Tnto artificial association with one ano her, no 
s xhological blunder is made, so long as the Ifn^^iple s not 
bused." {Tl^ Psychology of Lcarmng V- ^^^-^^^-^^J^t 
a u^ the principle sometimes, but that does not ^validate i 
Whit troubles Mr. Squire is that if he memoruscs the 
siH-ctum colours in the manner described, he bclieAes he will 
^T^M^\'^ think of -indigo" without thinking o 
• ,• .• " .,„ri " Wbie-i " He need not wonv- In- 
;;.SeSs d;^f outt'he "urse of time ; they serve 
Vld inred^^^^^^ purpose and disappear, except in those case. 
^ J" ' trnation has been formed and not used veiy Ire- 
t^. In that event the intermediates remain until coi. 
'. » ,,^f. has rendered their presence unnecessary. But 
Mrsoulres not vTrv logical in his objection to Loisettes 
metSl men Loisette offers a bad intermediate, as in 
Violet let go Indigo 
Mr Souirc savs the preposterous jingle of - let go Indigo let 
?.o iSo "wHll sound in his ears and spoil everything. Ihis 
U exceUent fooUng, of course, but the critic lays himself open 
to the ckin^e of^ inconsistency. He says in the opening 
to the c»a |, .. accustomed to remember 
paragraph of IS aruc ^^^^^^ ^^.^^^^.^^^ ^,^^^^ 
tl,c urdcM "f '.'7'\,-'^\'.\\^,,, and that Dover Street is nearer 
Down street is far he l)Hvna^ ^^^^.^^^ ^ ^^^^.^ 
'i'Z:'^^W^-^^' ^'- ^-^^ and starboard lights by 
n.flSn' hat pent wine is ' red.' and that ,f v.ju take too 
mSch oat you will not be ' right.' but will probably get left. 
He says it was an " absurd performance Not at all. It 
was a serviceable little scheme designed to avoid contusion 
and ensure recollection. It has" weaknesses no doubt I'or 
instance, in what sense is Down Street, farther rfou^H.^ And 
when Mr. Squire has fallen in love with white port, wU t not 
confuse hisfnnemonic for remembering the diftercnce between 
the port and starboard hghts, seeing that the statement 
■• port wine is red " is the basis of the thing ? 
. Since Loisette's day, mnemonics have found their 
right place, which is to aid in recalhng data tliat by reason 
of their intricacy and lack of relationship, are ^^'^^■whnRly 
dithcult to memorise. I wonder how long it would take. 
Mr Seniirc to learn the table of atomic weights, or the Bn- 
mingham metal gauge ; also, how long he qovdd retain t 
after he had once learned cither of the tables without any 
""'But the modern and truly psychological method of training 
memory is to awaken the interest I .n erviewed a man some 
tune ago who could not recall telephone numbc|^s, dates 
of orders, <,uantities, sizes and cvther details "t "f j?^ Jj"^ 
He complained bitterly of Ins bad ni<^'""'-v- » >t 1 J"' ^ Jj 
was a walking encyclopaedia of football data^ ."^.-'^ ^^^J 
everything, and could have given pomts to a Spo ts di . 
He was inicrcsicd in football, but not in business . for th ne 
he had a prodigious memory-for the latter none at all. 
Where your heart is, there is your memory also. 
J. W. BENSON 
LTD. 
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I do not say this is the wh-.le story. It 'sn't^ r>ut it is 
th m tUH- poL'r of all mental abilitv. 1 lave h^'fore me a 
■tter from one of the most distinguished philosophers of the 
av who says: " I never could remember any "clate, 
Sorv till I got an interest in a certain period, then all the 
hers- gradually centred round that." Such a confession has 
it? Jupliaites in every sphere of '^""^I'^'lgejind acbon^ 
Xaturallv, interest cannot do everything, and the most 
ent Elastic medical student, relies on ninemomca aids to 
recall tabular data. To train '^^VTfTshL^ mmerorv 
incorrcctlv phrases it) has gone out "« /f^f '"?; .^^^ ^^^y 
siss^veSrssrtis^^^ 
"Memor';tr"iing tr people in health often consists of tlic 
nrfctcc of exercises designed to bring the weaker memories 
nt the evS of the stronger memories. To arouse the . nter- 
S. to quiilln the power of S;erception to deep^^^^^^^ 
concentrate, and to strengthen the wiU-th^^V "^^^ ^^c modem 
methods of training memory. M"emome device on psycho 
logical lines, for difhcult tormuhe, are perm ss.blc but to 
confine the subject too much within ,^" ' . *'"^l'^^„v^,^^^^^^^ 
Loisette's fatal errors, and issues in diatribes such as mat 
""'^^^^ Si::-Pe.man Institute are open to all who 
definfte results we have achieved. 
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