Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/174



In speaking of this phase of memory we use the word “fact" in the sense of “an ascertained item of knowledge,” rather than in the sense of “a happening,” etc. In this sense the Memory of Facts is the ability to store away and recollect items of knowledge bearing upon some particular thing under consideration. If we are considering the subject of “Horse,” the “facts” that we wish to remember are the various items of information and knowledge regarding the horse, that we have acquired during our experience—facts that we have seen, heard or read, regarding the animal in question and to that which concerns it. We are continually acquiring items of information regarding all kinds of subjects, and yet when we wish to collect them we often find the task rather difficult, even though the original impressions were quite clear. The difficulty is largely due 168