SelfDefinition.Org
Practical Memory Training
'Theron Q. Dumont'William Walker Atkinson
(1916)
Lesson 13 The Law of Association (Continued)
CONTIGUITY IN SPACE. The second form of association of contiguity, is that of contiguity in space. In this case the link is that of position, rather than that of sequence or order in time. In this second form of contiguity, we link the impression of an object to the impression of the object immediately connected with it in position. For instance, if I recall the impression of my writing desk, it is very easy for me to proceed to recall the impression of the chair in front of it; from thence my memory travels to the rug under the desk and chair; thence to other chairs and rugs; thence to the decorations of the room, etc. Or, taking another turn, it may proceed from the desk to the objects upon it, the ink-stand, paper-weights, desk-clock, calendar, etc. In short, the memory acts as a mental eye, traveling over the impressions of space which it finds stored together within it. The secret, of course, is that it is simply reproducing the actual movements of the eye, in the original case.
The mechanism of the memory is especially adapted to recalling impressions stored away in this manner. You will find it very hard to remember and describe the contents of a room which you visited yesterday, if asked to do so, if you attempt to grasp the entire picture of the room at once. But, if you will begin by recalling some particular point or part of the room, you will find your memory easily and naturally traveling from that point to another, and so on, until you will have reproduced a very fair picture of the room as a whole. As you proceed, in this way, you will be surprised to find how easily little details of the furnishing of the room, apparently unnoticed by you, will present themselves in consciousness. It is simply another form of getting hold of the "loose end" of memory.
In my personal classes I often ask a student to reproduce in detail the picture of some room, shop, or other place, which he has not visited for many years. Fixing upon the place, the student will usually complain that he has lost all recollection of it, and will be ready to give up the task in despair. But, I persist, and insist upon his finding a starting point. Frequently, if the place is a room in a house, I ask him to place himself in imagination at the door of the house—the front door, before it is opened to him. Then, I ask him to imagine the door as being opened to him. Then, he tries to form a mental picture of the hall. From this point, the task grows in interest. His face brightens up, and he begins to recite, with growing interest and confidence, the hall carpet, or tiles; the hall chairs, table, or other furniture, if any. Frequently he interrupts himself to describe the features and characteristics of the person who opened the door for him. Then he approaches the closed door of the room in question. Before this he could not have told you the color, wood, and general appearance of this door, had you offered him a reward of a hundred francs. But now, started on his mental trip, he is able to give me all these details, and often, even to describe the lock and door-knob.
Then the student, in memory, enters the room. He sees the long-forgotten piano in the corner, then the old-fashioned marble-top table in the centre of the room, with the glass-covered vase of wax flowers reposing thereupon. Then he sees the marble mantelpiece, with its ornaments (!) spread over it. Then the old fashioned wallpaper, and the family portraits on the wall in their oval frames (he may recall the familiar picture on the easel, of that period, as well). Next come the haircloth chairs and "sofa," and the still older "what-not" in the corner, filled with odds and ends of the bric-à-brac of the period. Even the colors of the wallpaper, and the carpets and draperies are recalled, though a few moments before they had been apparently totally lost to memory. If the room has been the scene of some sentimental happening (and such are the scenes usually selected for the test by pupils of middle-age, at any rate) long forgotten memories of words, tones, perfumes, articles of dress and adornment, the flutter of eyelashes and the pouting of lips—ah! these memories were deeper than we had thought—all of these impressions will come into consciousness. The "loose end" of association being furnished, memory does the rest without much effort.
I once had a pupil, now a prominent retired merchant, who was able in this way to recall in detail the articles sold in the shop in which he had worked as an apprentice nearly a half-century before. He admitted entire ignorance of these things, at first questioning, though he was able to form a dim picture of the exterior of the shop. I pressed him up, and insisted that he picture himself entering the door of the shop. He did so, and then began the interesting recital. He was able to visualize the various shelves and compartments, with their contents, and in many cases was able to state the prices of many articles of merchandise handled in the shop. So rapt did this successful man become, that he seemed lost in a dream, oblivious to the scene in the class room. He had been able to reach the subconscious records of his mind, and to discover and recognize that which he sought.
Again, I have been called upon to aid persons in remembering where they had placed certain papers, etc., which they reported as having been mislaid or lost. I proceeded precisely in the way just described. Bidding the person to cease "trying" to remember, I would lead him easily to the scene in which his last memory of the thing was placed. Dropping all mention of the article in question, I would ask him to describe from memory all the details of the room, the furniture, receptacles, decorations, etc. Then I would lead him to describe the adjoining rooms, and sometimes the entire house, shop, or office, as the case may be. As a rule, in the midst of some portion of the recital, he would exclaim, excitedly, "I have it! I placed it back of those books, for safe keeping!" or something of that kind. The association of space-contiguity had awakened the association of time-contiguity—taking him from A to M, he was able to remember just what actions he had performed at M, which he could not remember from his memory of A. Do you get the principle?
There have been a number of ingenious memory systems offered the public which have been based upon this principle of association—contiguity in space. The pupil is instructed to place the things to be remembered, in an imaginary room—one thing in this corner, the next thing adjoining it, another thing in the centre; etc. While a somewhat clumsy method, and ill-adapted to the requirements of these times, these systems are not without interest, and are more or less efficacious. The student is advised to try them out for practice, and general development of memory of contiguity in space, and its associative power. Select a dozen things to be remembered, and then place them in their positions in an imaginary room—your own room, for that matter. Then, after visualizing them in that position several times, try to reproduce the scene from memory, traveling from one point to another in imagination. You will find that you can reproduce these placed things in much the same manner as you can your impressions of things actually occupying the space, but probably in a degree less clear and distinct. This method has its good points, but it has also its limitations.
In this connection, you may find it interesting to be informed as to the historical origin of these systems. The tale is a true one, and very interesting in itself, not only as an incident of memory power, but also as illustrating an important principle. The scene of the story is laid in ancient Greece, about five hundred years before the Christian era. The hero of the story is one Simonides, a famed poet.
Simonides of Ceos
The poet was invited to a great banquet given in honor of the victor in the Olympian Games. Several hundred persons were in attendance, including some of the greatest persons of the place. In the midst of the long feast, Simonides was called out by a messenger. Before his return, the supports of the ceiling gave way, and the heavy structure was dropped directly upon the guests in the banquet hall, crushing them to a pulp.
After the debris was removed, and the work of removing the bodies was commenced, it was discovered that it was impossible to identify the greater number of the bodies. There was great grief among the friends and relatives of the deceased persons, and much confusion resulting from the failure to identify the bodies for the purpose of religious services and burial. Simonides offered the services of his wonderful memory, as an aid to identification, which were gladly accepted, for his fame was great. He plunged himself into a state of mental concentration, until he was able to clearly visualize the banquet room picture as it had been impressed upon his mind while seated at the great table. Beginning at the point where his own vacant chair was found, he called out the name of the man who had been seated at his right, then the next man, and so on all around both sides of the great series of tables The men were all known to him in person, and his task was made easier on this account. The recorded story informs us that he was able to call off every name and place correctly, his work being verified by such of the bodies the features of which were recognizable. The grateful families were able to mourn over and then intern their dead without fear of mistaken identity. This tale is a matter of Grecian history.
The sequel is interesting. Simonides, and those who knew of his feat, were impressed with the idea of a plan of mnemonics, or memory system, based upon a large banquet room, and the poet soon perfected such a system. He is often referred to as the "Father of Mnemonics." His system was a simple one, being merely the mental picture of a large building, of many rooms, alcoves, corridors, etc. Each room, or place, had its appropriate name or number. This building and its divisions were thoroughly memorized, until the impression became indelibly impressed on the mind. Each room was then divided into squares, which were likewise memorized in the same way. The things to be remembered, were then identified with these rooms, and squares, by association of place in the memory, the process being made possible by repeated impression of the associated thing and place, simultaneously. For many years, this system, and its amplifications formed the basis of the numerous memory systems of ancient Greece and Rome.
Nor has the influence of this idea passed away. Even in modern times, we find its traces in many newly discovered (?) memory systems, which are often sold at a high price, and the purchasers bound to secrecy regarding the wonderful discovery and art! Its technical name, among students of mnemonics is the "Topical System." The entire history of the subject of memory is filled with interesting instances of the application of this Topical System to the work of memorizing names, things, etc. This principle may be employed to advantage in committing to memory short lists, etc., but in greater things it is cumbersome and unwieldy. It is found as hard to commit these systems to memory, and to associate them with the things to be remembered, as it is to commit them to verse and remember them in that way—another favorite device, by the way. But, as I have said, it has its place. Moreover, it "comes natural" for us to count off things on our fingers, in the work of memorizing them. A list of five, or ten things, may be easily memorized by associating each thing with one of the fingers. And so on—the student may work out many applications for himself.
I have found many pupils who were able to apply successfully a simple variation of this Topical System, aided by imaginative visualization, which I have taught for many years in my classes. Originally, I mentioned it merely as an interesting experiment for practice, but I soon discovered its possibilities in the case of students and others. It is very simple, and consists merely in taking a list of articles to be remembered, and then visualizing them as arranged in a pile, stack, pyramid, etc. The memory easily recalls them in this form, where it may fail to do so with the items separated. This, particularly, where the "eye memory" is stronger than the "ear memory," which is often the case, though quite as often the latter is the stronger.
Here is an application: You are asked to purchase twelve different articles at a shop. You will possibly find it difficult to recall them with certainty, if you try to remember them without association. But if you will form the mental picture of the first article forming the base of a pile, the second article being placed above it, and so on to the end—and will impress this picture on the mind—you will be able to call over the list correctly when you arrive at the shop. If your ear memory is stronger, the repeated calling aloud the names of the articles will impress the list on your mind, as every child knows from experience. A combination of calling the names aloud, and the mental picture, is quite an improvement upon either separate method.