Lesson 4 Memory: High and Low

The degree of impression upon the memory depends largely upon the attention bestowed upon the thing causing the original impression. Again, the degree of attention accorded a thing depends largely upon the interest that particular thing has for the individual experiencing it. As memory reproduces most readily the strong impressions made upon it, and as these strong impressions are the result of interested attention, it follows that one's interest may be gauged and measured by the character of the things most easily remembered by him. Common experience provides the correctness of this hypothysis.

We find persons whose memory is quite deficient along many lines, but who readily recall the most minute details of the things in which they are particularly interested. A man will remember the details of his business experience, usually. A woman will remember even trivial details concerned with the dress of other women, and the details of her own love affairs. Many a man has been embarrassed when asked if he remembers certain anniversaries when they occur—his wife, or sweetheart, has a distinct recollection of them, while the poor man has completely forgotten them. A religious person will remember many things about a sermon which has escaped the memory of the person not so religiously inclined. The explanation is that the attention followed the interest, and the impression on the memory was correspondingly strong.

An amusing illustration of this principle of memory is found in the recital of a tale or experience by a person of a petty and commonplace mind. The recital is found to be filled with an abundance of trivial, petty details, having no real connection with the case, and which serve to weary the hearer and to distract his attention from the main facts. One soon wearies of the "sez he, sez she," and "sez I", of these good folks. A recital of some trifling incident of a love affair, told by one rattle brained young girl to another in a crowded street-car, will amaze the intelligent person who is unable to escape the infliction, not only because of its waste of time, but also because of the wealth of unimportant detail which the memory of the "pin-headed" maiden has stored away and then reproduced.

The above principle is frequently illustrated in the court room, by the testimony given by a certain class of witnesses on the stand. They seek to embroider their story with a deep fringe of petty detail having no real relation to the point at issue. In fact, it is often found that they are unable to relate their experience unless permitted to tell it in their own way, reciting all the irrelevant side impressions in precisely the order in which they occurred. To force them to omit one or more of these petty details seems to interrupt the stream of memory. They must be allowed to recite it from A to Z, just as the school-child recites his alphabet.

This brings us to the consideration of another fact of primitive memory, i. e. that the most elementary form of memory is that of recalling a list of names, or objects, in the precise order in which they have been presented to the mind. As this is of almost a mechanical nature, rather than an intellectual feat, it is not surprising that we find that, as a rule, it is found easier of accomplishment by children and persons of little education, than among educated cultured persons. Nay, even the parrot is an adept at this form of memory exhibition, and, really, many of the spectacular exhibitions of this land of memory are but an enlargement of the memory powers of that imitative bird. There is no real intellectual power in the whole performance. And yet we are asked to admire and praise such deplorable exhibitions in the name of "memory".

The best authorities agree upon the above point, and the older writers were wont to illustrate the point by many examples from history and their own experience. For instance [Dr JM] Granville strenuously held that this land of memory "is not either a very exalted or an intellectual faculty. The lower animals and many idiots excel intelligent men in this quality." [1, 2]

[1. Joseph Mortimer Granville (1833-1900), author of The Secret of a Good Memory, published 1906 posthumously with J. W. Clarke. Page 20. Archive.Org ]

[2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mortimer_Granville ]

Gregorovius [3] recites the case of a Corsican who was able to repeat over 35,000 names after once having heard them, but who was lacking in intellectual qualities—he was a human parrot and nothing more.

[4. German historian (1821-1891). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Gregorovius ]

Kay says that this form of memory is "the very lowest form of memory, and fools and even idiots are sometimes found to manifest it in a very remarkable degree." [4]

[4. David Kay, The Science of Memory, 1902, page 14. He is quoting Granville, whose partial statement appears above.]

Watts mentions cases of persons having this form of parrot-memory developed to an amazing strength and extent, but whose intellect and judgment were very weak, in fact, in some cases "but one degree above an idiot." [5]

[5. Rev Isaac Watts (1674-1748), "The Improvement of the Mind". Google Books and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts ]

Farrar relates the instance of a poor creature in his father's parish, who though unable to give an intelligent reply to a single question, or to be trusted to feed himself, could, nevertheless, "remember the day when every person had been buried in the parish for thirty-five years, and could repeat with unvarying accuracy the name and age of the deceased and the mourners at the funeral." [6] This was possibly a higher order of memory than some of the similar cases, for the poor creature was undoubtedly filled with a morbid interest in funerals and graveyards, and his attention following his interest caused the deepest kind of memory impression.

[6. Original not located. Quoted by Fearon in Mental Vigor, as reported by George M. Gould in Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, 1956. See Google Books ]

Verdom recites the case of an idiot who "could repeat a sermon verbatim, indicating also where the minister blew his nose or coughed during the performance" [7] —this, of course, was pure parrot-memory.

[7. R. Verdon, as quoted by David Kay in Memory: What It Is and How to Improve It, 1888, from a footnote in the 1914 edition on pages 14-15. Archive.Org ]

The student of memory must remember that, scientifically-speaking, there is no such thing as Memory in the sense of a single faculty. Instead, each faculty, or set of faculties, has its own memory quality, and, consequently, a man may be deficient in one kind of memory, and at the same time have a highly developed memory along other lines. While it is true that the general improvement of the power of attention, association and recollection, tends to improve the memory regarded as a whole, it is also true that in order to develop any special phase of memory the student must apply the principles and methods designed for his special case, as I shall point out as we proceed. When this is once understood, the folly and futility of the "trick system" schools of memory become very apparent.

The secret of the real difference between the lower, mechanical forms of memory, which I call "parrot-memory" on the one hand, and the higher, intelligent forms of memory, on the other hand, is found in an understanding of that great second principle of memory, which is known as "association," and regarding which I shall have much to say in this course of lessons.

In the lowest form of memory the only association between the stored away items is the association of sequence, or professional relation. The persons in whom this form of memory is well developed seem to instinctively link their received impressions only by the link of the order in which the impressions are received. They remember "c" only because they have remembered "b." The child who can glibly run over the multiplication table correctly, from "twice one is two" to "twelve times twelve is one hundred and forty-four," often finds it difficult to tell you off hand "how much is six times eight?" It is only after it has applied the multiplication table in actual work that new associations are set up, and new links of memory formed.

Mere mechanical memory of this kind brings with it no understanding of the things remembered—other associations are necessary for the latter mental action. And it is surprising to note at times to what an extent the "knowledge" of some persons is made of memories of this kind. The parrot-memory tends to develop the parrot mind. Many persons will repeat gravely, with an air of great wisdom, certain phrases, and expressions of opinion which they have read or heard, and often manage to "get away with it" as the current slang so aptly expresses it.

A little trouble, however, will reveal the astounding fact that these persons have no real conception of the true meaning of the phrases they use, and no clear grasp of the principles which they so positively announce as their own. They are in the same class with the persons mentioned by Stewart when he says, "I have known persons who having forgotten completely the classical studies of their childhood, were yet able to repeat with fluency long passages from Homer and Virgil, without annexing an idea to the words they uttered." [8]

[8. Dugald Stewart, Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, Volume 1, 1914. Google Books ]

In strong contrast to the lower form of memory to which I have just called your attention, is that other and higher form of memory which is the distinguishing mark of men of intellectual ability in any walk of life or human effort. In this higher form of memory not only is a single impression easily recalled, but along with it—bound to it with many ties and links of association—are other impressions, facts, bits of knowledge, which give the idea an intellectual and usable value. The truly educated man, the real efficient man in any line of work, has this form of memory highly developed, while he may be very deficient in the lower form of memory to which I have alluded. There is very little of the parrot about these persons.

To an individual with this higher form of memory well developed, each new idea or impression brings to his mind many other ideas or impressions related to the new one by some of the higher forms of association. He attaches the new idea to many of the old, and thus has added to his fund of available information. The principle of comparison, which lies at the foundation of all processes of reasoning, is thus called into play, and accordingly memory and intellect work together. Instead of the memory acting solely along the lines of the association of mere sequence or contiguity, it works more and more along those of the association of similarity.

This higher form of memory naturally leads to the development of what is known as constructive imagination. By constructive imagination is meant that form of imagination in which the mind brings before it the associated facts and ideas of experience, grouped together by the memory; and then proceeds to form new groups by an effort of the will aided by the imaging faculty. The inventive mind of an Edison gives us a splendid example of this form of mental activity, and a moment's thought will show you the important part played by the higher form of memory in such work. In the mind of an Edison every fact is linked to innumerable other facts by the laws of associative memory—give him the loose end of a fact, and sufficient time, and he will find something associated with it which will fit in the place he is holding ready for it. The same thing is true, in a less degree, of any man having a well developed memory of this higher class.

The constructive imagination is really an active phase of the higher memory. The memory reproduces the associated ideas it has had stored away. These are held in consciousness by an act of will. And, the inventive faculties proceed to form new combinations, improvements, changes, etc., until finally a new composite idea or image is formed, which then passes into the memory as a newly discovered or experienced fact. Instead of being impressed originally from the outside, the new image is built up to previously impressed facts, and then re-impressed as a whole. The impressions of the original bricks are built up into a new mental structure, and the latter is impressed on the memory by a distinct act of the will—but from the inside instead of from the outside.

Concluding the consideration of this particular phase of the philosophy of memory, I ask you to consider the following words of Cunningham, who repeats the ideas which have been held by all the great authorities from the days of Aristotle: "Imagination is just a form of memory. In all of our imaginings we are simply remembering—remembering not methodically but loosely—not according to old collocations and contiguities alone, but also according to the laws of resemblance and contrast. But still it is memory; memory furnishes the whole weft and woof for every web, however brilliant the coloring which imagination weaves." [9]

[9. Attributed to "Dr. J. Cunningham" in Memory, What it is and How to Improve It, by David Kay, 1888, in 1914 edition page 21, footnote 4. Archive.Org ]

I ask you also to consider the clear summing up by [David] Kay of the distinction between the operations of the two general classes of memory, as follows: "While vulgar minds are held in thraldom to the order and circumstances in which their perceptions were originally obtained, and can only reproduce them in the same manner, the cultivated mind sees the end from the beginning, and arranges his materials in the way best calculated to bring out the end he has in view, passing over, it may be, a number of details that are not essential to his purpose." [10]

[10. David Kay, Memory: What It Is and How to Improve It, 1888, from 1914 edition pages 26-27. Archive.Org ]

 

top of page

‍