William Emer Miller

“ It is a common failing among children, as well as adults, to be unable to remember numbers easily. The reason is simple. Numbers have no meaning, they convey no impression to the mind which can be retained.
Words convey the picture of objects, thoughts and actions which you can visualize. Numbers are cold, inanimate things which have no life nor interest, they do not present a picture and are not easily retained. ”

“ The ability to recognize and remember people, without regard to their name, is based upon just this kind of an observation and study of them. Observation is the resulting mental image after the removal of the object from view. Your ability to observe people is measured by what you can definitely recall about them when they are gone. Recognition of them will be based upon the memory of just these points mentioned and in turn the memory, of course, can be no more distinct than the impressions made upon the brain while the person was before you. ”

“ The important thing is not that the child has easily learned a list of words which he can repeat forward or backward, but the fact that he has experienced the memory value of a definite mental operation. The learning of the list is merely the exercise through which the process of visualization is applied to the memory. The child may possess the knowledge, but practice is the only way to make it most useful. ”

“ The law of association is wonderful in its operations, and the principles upon which it operates can be relied upon to help in cases where it seems almost impossible to make a picture impression. The thoughts you think when you see the face will return when you see it again, just as the conversation and other circumstances do. In trying to remember names that are difficult to picture, think intently about them, silently ask and answer questions about the person or his name, think of the peculiarity and just how it is spelled. ”

“ When you meet a stranger his face becomes a picture impression upon the brain, the first impression of the name is made by the ear, but it can easily and quickly be made into a mind's eye picture which will be many times more available. ”

“ Under no circumstances allow yourself to neglect the review. Each review adds new strength to the impression. Only strong impressions can be recalled at will. Make it a part of your business to remember the names of the people to whom you are introduced. Know every customer; if the list is a long one, do not expect to learn them all in a week, but do not let a day pass without fixing definitely in your mind the names of several. Children should learn the names of every scholar in the room and of all the teachers in the school. ”

“ It is often the case that children have advantages of travel and see many things that older people have not. Many of these advantages, however, are wasted because the child does not review these interesting things which he has seen. Children are seldom interested in remembering. Parents should preserve the child's memory of important sights and circumstances by asking him to carefully revisualize the scene—to see it again in the mind's eye. Thus can the impression be deepened and the child's memory and appreciation of the thing be made to continue throughout his life. ”

“ The first requirement of memory is to make a strong impression upon the brain, and this we have seen is accomplished by visualization. We concentrate the strongest of our senses upon the thing we wish to remember and thus make the strongest impression. ”

“ A much larger number of names will suggest faces which have become fixed in your mind by your having seen their pictures in magazines, papers, cartoons, etc.; men who are active in politics and the accomplishments of the present day. These you can connect in the same way; use the known face as the name picture; see the two faces together; put your mind to the comparison, make it active, feel interested. When meeting strangers do not allow your mind to be dormant, make it work, this is imperative.
A dormant mind is impregnable; an active mind is absorbent. ”

“ While children do not have to remember names as much as adults do they should have the principles well in mind and be trained in the use of them. They should form the habit of paying attention to the names and remembering them. Parents should require them to call the people they meet by name and to realize the value of being able to do so. Almost every one can remember faces of strangers more easily than they remember names. This is because of the difference in strength of the two senses [Pg 93] used in making the impressions. The eye nerve carries the picture of the face to the brain. ”

“ The Hare and the Tortoise
A hare boasted loudly to a tortoise of her speed in running, at the same time giving him a look of scorn because of his slowness.
"Let us have a race," answered the tortoise. "I will run with you five miles, and the fox over yonder shall be the judge."
[Pg 60] The hare with a scornful smile agreed, and away they started together.
Soon the hare left the tortoise far behind, and feeling a little tired, lay down on a tuft of grass that grew by the way. "If that slow-coach passes, I shall see him and easily catch up with him again," she said to herself, and fell asleep. ”

“ If you are in a crowd and see a friend whose attention you wish to attract, you wave your hand or handkerchief. Children like to see "the wheels go 'round," and we never lose the fascination which motion has for us. A person lacking in the power of concentration will fix his closest attention upon the moving picture or object.
Just as the motion picture is more attractive than the old style stereopticon, so motion introduced into the visual pictures for memory purposes will increase the impression upon the brain and increase your ability to recall it. ”

“ Ideas are only of value because of the profit which comes from their continued use. Prove their worth to your utter satisfaction and then by continuous effort make them a part of the mental makeup. Become thoroughly familiar with these principles and see that the child knows just how to proceed in the use of them. Remember it is the visual faculty you are cultivating for great future usefulness, not merely learning a list of words. ”

“ Besides being the strongest of all the senses, sight is the most accurate. Psychological tests have shown the eye to be mistaken only eighteen per cent of the time, and the ear, which is the second sense in strength, is mistaken thirty-four per cent. Note that your sense of sight is especially endowed with the power to make the strongest, and at the same time, the most accurate impression upon your brain. The first step in memory improvement is to learn the proper use of this sense in impressing upon the brain those things which you wish to recall. ”

“ This is a natural mental operation but the lack of knowledge of its importance and consequently the failure to continue it after we have learned to read is one of the great causes of our forgetting what we read so easily. If you will see to it that your child visualizes what you read to him, and as he learns to read for himself stops occasionally to picture what he has read, he will develop a wonderful memory along this line. He will study easily, retain accurately and make more progress with less effort than any child who does not visualize and is forced to depend upon repetition. ”

“ In the exercises for cultivating the power of attention we used the method of change, or motion. It produced prolonged attention, which results in memory. Exaggeration [Pg 41] and the unusualness of the imaginary picture inspires that quality of involuntary attention which helps to produce concentration.
The quality of the stimulus to the attention is improved by introducing anticipation, pleasure, or their opposites. The clear, vivid, mind's eye picture creates a greater quantity of attention, and if the objects are familiar they add to the possibility of clear visualization. ”

“ We have already made a strong visual impression of the House, by seeing it in an Exaggerated, Moving, Unusual picture. We could make as strong an impression of the Clock in the same way, but to be able to recall the word following House, we must see the two objects together in the same picture. To see a large Clock standing alongside of the House, will make a strong impression. A stronger one may be made by exaggerating the size and proportion of the two objects. To further strengthen it you can use unusual motion, such as balancing a huge Clock on the edge of the House. ”

“ Children who have not yet learned to read will naturally form pictures in their minds as you read the story. When you wish to have the child learn the story or poem, the mind's eye picture will be of the greatest aid. Practice with some of the examples following; make clear pictures and review them several times; aid the child in understanding the words that he finds are difficult. ”

“ Second, the mind's eye photographs the picture so arranged by the imagination. The impression is made upon the brain when the picture is photographed. You may decide upon a good combination of the objects, but if you do not SEE the picture you will not remember. The impression is made upon the brain when the mind's eye actually sees the picture which your Imagination has constructed. Just as the photographer first arranges his group in the manner that he thinks will make the best effect, then presses the bulb and exposes the plate. ”

“ Traveling salesmen or others whose work takes them back to a city occasionally will find great help in keeping a written list of the names of those whom they have met in each city. Carry the book with you and as you are traveling towards the city, exercise your mind by going over the list and making a visual review of the faces and names of those whom you may expect to meet when attending to your business in this city. It will prove to be valuable to refresh your memory from time to time. ”

“ It is not unusual for children, after a little practice, to take a list of twenty words and visualize them in one careful reading, so that they can recall them in any order desired. Practice will do the same for all regardless of how difficult they may find the idea at first. All have the faculties, awaken them and make them serve. ”

“ It will be easier for some to make the Memory Pictures into a story, that is to see the Dishes thrown at the Wagon and fall off onto the Table where they are put into a Carpet and hung up on a Fence, which has a loaf of Bread on the top of a high picket. This story can continue indefinitely, as long as your imagination adds to it. There is a danger, however, in this kind of a picture; it is in the tendency to see more than two objects in each picture. The idea [Pg 25] may be continuous, the picture must never be. ”

“ When a player has completed his turn, has played all possible cards, or has been stopped, he will place one card face up on the table in front of him as a reserve pile. Each player is entitled to six reserve piles, each lying face up and side by side. When a player cannot make at least one play, he shall draw into his hand from the draw pile until he can play or until the draw pile is exhausted. Each plays in turn until some player has played all the cards from his hand, which entitles him to the game. ”

“ Most of the nervousness of talking in public is caused by the fear of forgetting. It is doubt of your ability to recall the points you wish to talk about. This is easily overcome by the use of your Hitching Posts. If you wish to make five points in a talk, make a picture to remind you of each point and hitch them in turn to the first five words of a list. Review the picture a couple of times, be sure that you can recall them easily; before you are to speak, review them again. ”

“ Effort is the price of increased mental power—the result will be secured in no other way.
Make lists of groceries, errands, etc., for the child to practice with. If he has no need of using the Hitching Posts now, deliberately make the need, so that he can form this valuable habit.
The Mind's Eye and the Story
An excellent time for the development of the child is "story time." Have him use his imagination and make mind's eye pictures while you are reading stories. The story book naturally becomes a picture book in the child's mind. ”

“ Progress by Practice
To recognize people accurately and to be able to call by name is a wonderful asset in business or in social life. Your children can have this advantage if you will see to it that they realize its importance and make a deliberate effort while young. They will easily form the habit and thank you for it all their lives. ”

“ Go through the twenty and see how many you can name; do this often for practice. Use this group every day until you are familiar with all. Enlarge the group by learning ten new ones each day. When possible have some one hold the pictures for you. Try always to improve the score and also to decrease the time necessary to name the group. If there is more than one person learning the names, make a game of the idea, each taking the picture which he names first, seeing who can get the largest number. ”