Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/77

Rh other things or ideas, and as a rule the greater the number of other things with which it is associated the greater the likelihood of its recall. The two processes are involved in every act of memory. We must first impress, and then we must associate. Without a clear impression being formed, that which is recalled will be indistinct and inaccurate; and unless it is associated with something else in the mind, it cannot be recalled. If we may suppose an idea existing in the mind by itself, unconnected with any other idea, its recall would be impossible.”

All the best authorities recognize and teach the importance of this law of association, in connection with the memory. Abercombie says: “Next to the effect of attention is the remarkable influence produced upon memory by association.” Carpenter says: “The recording power of memory mainly depends upon the degree of attention we give to the idea to be remembered. The reproducing power again altogether depends upon the nature of the associations by which the new idea has been linked on to other ideas which