Activity 5.2

Memory as Association

I found myself nodding along in awe to James' (1983) chapter on memory. Do not mistake me, I often enjoy James' character but find myself sort of updating things he says to be more applicable. In this chapter, I was amazed at how spot on James was about memory. I think my jaw literally dropped when I read the passage about cramming. People were cramming in 1892?

"In almost any subject your passion for subject will save you" (James, 1983, p. 67). When I wrote my blog post about my metaphor for learning one thing I really wanted to include was passion. The subject areas I have learned information for best have been those that I have been passionate about such as a Gender and Orientation class which resulted in my questioning of my everyday experience and how I defined myself as an individual.

There were a couple of excerpts in this chapter that I really thought were well written and thought provoking.

"Paths frequently and recently ploughed are those that lie most open, those which may be expected most easily to lead to results" (James, 1983, p. 59). This quotation actually reminded me of something Mary Ann said in class the other night after I had asked about how I was always taught the brain employs a "use it or lose it" theory. I believe Dr. Usher was discussing the stream of consciousness at the time and Mary Ann said that instead of getting rid of paths or roads altogether the paths unused become unkempt and hard to traverse.

A final quote that caught my eye in this chapter was: "The doctor, the lawyer...differ from other men only through the fact they know how to get at the materials for decision in five minutes or half an hour" (James, 1983, p. 70). Often I worry what I have gleaned out of my graduate education. Do I remember every topic I learned in every course? No, but as James elucidates I have learned the processes of finding this information.

One thing in this chapter I did question was, according to James, to memorize a sentence rather than hammering in the information you should analyze it and think about it. I had to think back to when I was in high school and participated in many plays. I would NEVER have been able to memorize my lines merely by analyzing and thinking about them. I think perhaps it would have aided me and perhaps I would've remembered them longer but I do not believe I would have been to memorize all those lines through that process.