Assimilative memory, or, How to attend and never forget / by A. Loisette.

  • Loisette, A. (Alphonse)
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Assimilative memory, or, How to attend and never forget / by A. Loisette. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    151/184 (page 139)
    name given him in the play. “You will remember it, sir,” said the tragedian, carefully pronouncing it for him, “ by the association of ideas. Think of Numbers—the Book of Numbers.” The Numitorius did think of it all day, and at night produced through “the association of ideas ” the following effect : Numito?rus—“ Where is Virginia ? Wherefore -do you hold that maiden’s hand ? ” Claudius—“ Who asks the question ? ” Numitorius—“ I, her uncle—Deuteronomy ! ” The actor should have correlated the word “ Numito- rius,” which he could not remember, to the word “ Uncle ” as the BEST KNOWN that preceded it, which he could remember, or to his “ cue ” the word “ Question ” thus : UNCLE [2] Nephew [i] You [i] You knew—NU-mitorius. Or, UNCLE [2] Niece [i] Neat [i] Neat and New [i] A new mitre o'er tis [i] NU-mitorius. Or, QUESTION [i] Wants to know [i] Know [i] Knew [i] knew my story [i] NU-mitorius. Or, QUESTION [i] Quest [i] Guessed [i] Knew [i] Knew a mighty Tory [i] NU-mitorius. Had the actor memorised either of these Correlations, he would not have forgotten Numitorius in his performance. In all similar cases mere In. by sound, like the word “ Num- bers” which Macready proposed, and which is really not a genuine In. by sounds is of little service to a poor memory. A Correlation would have been much better. To any conceivable Isolated Fact'' you can find a Best Known to which you can correlate it, and thereby always have it at command. This is true, even in cases of antici- patory memory. Instead of tying a string round your fin- ger to remind you to buy something when you get to the bazaar, and when you get there forgetting to notice the string or forgetting what the string was intended to remind you of, correlate the name of what you wish to purchase to the name of something you are sure to think of at the place you are going to, and memorise the Correlation. When you see the Best Known, the thing you correlated to it will at once occur to mind. I will add only one more illustra- tion :—A commercial traveller was in the habit of putting his watch under his pillow, and also in the habit of forget-