Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use ItAtkinson, William Walker
Science
Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use It
Atkinson, William Walker
Memory
Many teachers have followed plans similar to that just related. A number
of small articles are exposed, and the pupils are trained to see and
remember them, the process being gradually made more and more difficult.
A well known American teacher was in the habit of rapidly making a
number of dots on the blackboard, and then erasing them before the
pupils could count them in the ordinary way. The children then
endeavored to count their mental impressions, and before long they
could correctly name the number up to ten or more, with ease. They said
they could "see six," or "see ten," as the case may be, automatically
and apparently without the labor of consciously counting them. It is
related in works dealing with the detection of crime, that in the
celebrated "thieves schools" in Europe, the young thieves are trained in
a similar way, the old scoundrels acting as teachers exposing a number
of small articles to the young ones, and requiring them to repeat
exactly what they had seen. Then follows a higher course in which the
young thieves are required to memorize the objects in a room; the plan
of houses, etc. They are sent forth to "spy out the land" for future
robberies, in the guise of beggars soliciting alms, and thus getting a
rapid peep into houses, offices, and stores. It is said that in a single
glance they will perceive the location of all of the doors, windows,
locks, bolts, etc.
Many nations have boys' games in which the youngsters are required to
see and remember after taking a peep. The Italians have a game called
"Morro" in which one boy throws out a number of fingers, which must be
instantly named by the other boy, a failure resulting in a forfeit. The
Chinese youths have a similar game, while the Japanese boys reduce this
to a science. A well trained Japanese youth will be able to remember the
entire contents of a room after one keen glance around it. Many of the
Orientals have developed this faculty to a degree almost beyond belief.
But the principle is the same in all cases--the gradual practice and
exercise, beginning with a small number of simple things, and then
increasing the number and complexity of the objects.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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