Chapter 36 This kind of repeated memory is the most meaningful

It’s not that memorizing repeatedly will have a good effect. Blind and mechanical rote memorization is not conducive to memory. What we need is witty memory, that is, to memorize according to our memory characteristics.For example, Professor Ibinghouse showed the students a long list of meaningless syllables for them to memorize, such as: "deyux", "qoli" and so on.As a result, he found that if the memory task was divided into three days, the students only needed to memorize it thirty-eight times, but if they had to memorize it all at once, it would take sixty-eight times-other psychological tests also obtained similar results. the result of.

This is a great discovery about the principle of memory, which means that if one person repeats the memorization continuously until the memorization is finally completed, and the other person makes appropriate intermittent pauses in the memorization process, then the former costs twice as much as the latter. time and energy. This characteristic of human thinking can be explained from the following two factors: First, our subconscious mind is active during the intervals between repeated memories, making our associations more reliable.Therefore, Professor James has a very wise conclusion: "We should learn to swim in winter and learn to skate in summer."

Second, by adopting intermittent memory methods, the brain will not feel tired.Mr. Richard Potain, as the translator of "Nights of the Arabs", can speak 27 authentic languages. He frankly said that each time he learns and practices a language, it will not exceed fifteen minutes , "Because, after more than fifteen minutes, my brain loses its freshness." Naturally, knowing this, no one waits until the eve of the speech to prepare, because if he does, he can only achieve half the efficiency. There are now also meaningful discoveries about how we forget.Psychological experiments have repeatedly verified that we forget more new knowledge in the first eight hours than in the subsequent thirty days.What an astonishing ratio!Therefore, when you attend a business meeting, PTA meeting or club meeting and give a speech, be sure to review the content of the speech again before you start, so as to help restore your memory.

Lincoln was well aware of the benefits of this approach, and used it often.At Gettysburg, the learned Eddie Ward Everett had preceded him in a speech, and toward the end of his long discourse, Lincoln "showed marked nervousness from listening to others."However, he immediately took out the speech and browsed it silently. By restoring his memory, he overcame his nervousness.