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Chapter - 07

The Laws Of Association And The Chain Method

We have seen that the pictorial association of ideas fails when it comes to abstract ideas. Of course, it fails grievously when it is no longer a question of nouns but of qualifying adjectives. The concepts "hot" and "eager" can be expressed visually only indirectly through nouns to which they are related so closely that to recall the one is to recall the other. We must, therefore, have various methods of connecting ideas to choose from, and we want, above all, to take into consideration those persons whose imaginations are unable to make mental pictures of thought-connections. The advantage of mastering a variety of methods of making connecting links between mental concepts is obvious.

Whenever you hear the name Columbus, you immediately think of the discovery of America; and when you hear of the discovery of America you think of Columbus. The same thing holds true when you hear the date 1492, for all three concepts are so closely connected in the minds of educated Americans that recalling one immediately recalls the others.

When conversation turns to the League of Nations, most people immediately think of President Wilson, and again the reverse of this holds true. When you hear the words St. Helena you immediately think of Napoleon, and when the Declaration of Independence is mentioned, of Thomas Jefferson.

From these examples it is apparent that there are concepts which are so closely connected (that is, associated in our minds) that one habitually calls forth the other. Even the ancients recognized the importance of such connections for every sort of memory. Aristotle laid down four fundamental laws applying to thought-association:

1. Likeness (similarity)
2. Contrast
3. Contiguity in space
4. Contiguity in time

We call these connections association-laws. What is meant by association-laws can be explained by a simple example:
The connection between the 20th Century Limited of the New York Central Railroad and the Broadway Limited of the Pennsylvania Railroad is likeness-association because both belong among the fastest trains in the country, both are Pullman trains, and both run between New York and Chicago.

The association between either of these trains and any freight train is contrast-association since no greater antithesis can be imagined than the streamlined luxury train and the stodgy-looking freight train carrying coal or other bulky goods.

When the east-bound 20th Century Limited meets its west-bound counterpart, the association is through contiguity in space since they are both in approximately the same spot. That they are not actually contiguous is naturally beside the point.

If the Broadway Limited left New York at the same time that its counterpart left Chicago, the association would be through contiguity in time. If for some reason or other the traveling time of one of the two trains is to be remembered, the traveling time of the other (which, of course, would have to be known beforehand) would furnish a check. Perfect coincidence in time is naturally as unnecessary as "actual contiguity." It is sufficient for the application of association-laws if the time of traveling is approximately the same for both trains.

Modern psychology and philosophy have extended these ideas in certain respects and narrowed them in others, but we can disregard fine theoretical distinctions because this book has been written for practical use and for the practical work of the mind.

Books of modern times dealing with association-laws, for instance those by Loisette and Poehlmann, are divided as follows in respect to the differences in concepts from a purely practical point of view:

1. Synonyms. Words of similar meaning such as lady, woman, wife or zealous, eager, industrious.

2. Similarity of sound. Words which may rime, but not necessarily, such as wall, fail, call, mall, bail, pall, or haste and taste, or Carolina and Evalina.

3. The whole and a part. For instance, man and eye, room and chair, book and page.

4. Things of the same species. For instance, rose and carnation (both are flowers), cannon and bomb (both are offensive weapons), chair and table (both are furniture).

When this association-law should be employed we think: "Both are . . ."

5. Species and kind. For instance, human being and Indian. Every Indian is a human being, but not every human being is an Indian. Furniture and table; every table is a piece of furniture but not every piece of furniture is a table. Weapon and pistol; every pistol is a weapon, but not every weapon is a pistol.

6. Cause and effect. For instance, alcohol and drunkenness. Drinking alcohol leads to drunkenness. Sun and heat; the sun radiates heat. Murder and retribution; committing murder is the cause of retribution.

7. Contrasts. For instance, man and wife, light and dark, industrious and lazy, etc.

8. Matching pairs. For instance, penholder and pen-point, student and book, wall and picture, etc.

9. Subject and quality. For instance, sun and hot, stone and heavy, grandfather and old. Under this association-law we relate persons or things with qualities which are peculiarly their own.

It is obvious that this compilation can be extended, but the cited examples are sufficient for practical purposes. But there is one more association-law which should be added because it plays an important part in everyday life and especially because I have found it eminently helpful in memorizing facts. It is this:

10. The accidental association of a concept, which can be either objective or subjective.

The association is objective in the case of all historical events, notably in the examples I quoted at the beginning of this chapter—Napoleon and St. Helena, Columbus and the discovery of America.

Had Napoleon fallen in the Battle of Waterloo, he would never have gone to St. Helena and no association between the two concepts could be made. But since he was exiled to this lonely island, and since every educated person knows about this exile of his, so close an association exists between the two concepts that the thought of one always calls forth thought of the other. The same thing happens in the case of Columbus and the discovery of America. So here we are concerned with accidental associations that are objective; that is, those that are valid for everyone, not only for the readers of this book.

Now let us take this example: If your suitcase were stolen in the San Francisco railroad station, you personally would form an association between the two concepts suitcase and San Francisco railroad station. The thought of one would call to mind the thought of the other, but this association would hold true only for you and would not exist for others.

Enough of theory. For the application of these association-laws, as you will see, is not a theoretical matter at all, but an eminently practical one. To prove my point, I present a great array of concepts, to which we shall apply association-laws by joint effort. But, for your own sake, use the association-laws I suggest only after you have tried to find the suitable ones yourself. It is often doubtful which law to apply. Man and wife can be considered under "matching pairs" as well as under "contrasts." Which one is the better depends upon the context in which these words appear. So it is not absolutely necessary for you to choose the association-law I myself choose. However, it is necessary for you to choose the law that actually suits the two words. You will soon see why.

We begin with school and child and easily find the association-law of "matching pairs." Then take child and memory. "The whole and a part" suits this idea best, because memory is, of course, a function of the brain. Memory and mnemotechny: "cause and effect," for mnemotechny helps to develop the memory. Mnemotechny and knowledge: "the whole and a part," since mnemo-techny is a branch of the whole field of knowledge. Knowledge and student: "matching pairs,' because the student should apply himself to gaining knowledge. Student and lecture hall: again "matching pairs,' since the student spends much of his time in the lecture hall. Lecture hall and acoustics: "subject and quality,' because good acoustics are usually found in lecture halls. Acoustical and visual: "contrast,' because we know that people are apt to be either acoustical (ear-minded) or visual (eye-minded). Visual and book: "matching pairs,' for the eye-minded learns best from reading a book.

And now, start with the word school and recall what idea you associate with it. I am absolutely sure that the word child occurred to you and I am just as sure that you will connect the concept memory with the word child without even thinking about it. In short, you are able to build up the whole series of concepts from memory without any conscious effort on your part to impress the words on your mind.

This result is, of course, based on the hypothesis that you have chosen your association-laws as I requested, instead of merely reading those I suggested. But if you did not heed my advice, you cheated yourself of the pleasure and surprise of repeating effortlessly this entire series.

The reason why this experiment was so successful, although you did not "learn" the words in sequence, was because you were unconsciously forced, in your search for the association-law, to concentrate on the two important concepts in question though only for a short while. Because this short while was correctly utilized it was sufficient to impress the words in your memory without effort and in fact without intention on your part.

From this you can see what far-reaching consequences this experiment promises for your memory.

But for the present it is enough for us to realize that this method can be used to great advantage in making addresses, without constantly referring to a manuscript. Nothing is more exasperating than reading an address from a manuscript. You can learn the right method for delivering an address entirely from memory, using merely a few cue words as aids to memory.

The words which we have just impressed on our minds with the help of association-laws were not chosen at random, but can serve as cue words for the introduction of an address on "The Cultivation of the Memory." This address might run as follows:

"Modern school methods for training the memory leave much to be desired. In school the child is almost always told what he must learn without having been taught how he should learn it. And too little attention is paid to the fact that the memory functions differently in different pupils. Consequently not only general aids but individual helps which must be given if pupils are to learn anything are overlooked. Such aids to learning are provided in superior degree by mnemotechnical methods since they not only facilitate study in individual cases, but by and large help develop everyone's memory. More attention should be paid to these methods outside school, too; this especially should hold true for those who follow professions for a livelihood.

"All knowledge is worthwhile not only for its own sake but for the subject matter it furnishes the mind, and therefore we should, of course, not be indifferent as to whether or not this matter is remembered systematically and logically. It follows that no student should neglect acquainting himself with the basic principles of mnemotechny and applying them to his profession. Quite aside from all other benefits it is a matter of common sense for him to find out what advantages they may afford him in the lecture hall and in his classes. If he is acoustical (ear-minded) the sound waves which reach his ears will make a deeper impression than they will on the visual (eye-minded) student. The former will therefore benefit more by attending lectures, preferring them to study from books, while with the latter the opposite is true."

When you read this list of words and the address in which they are used, the great help this method offers will not be quite apparent to you. But let a few days elapse without looking again at the chain of words or the address. After two or three days test yourself, find out how many of the words and how much of the address you still remember. You will be amazed when you see for yourself that you remember considerably more than you are accustomed to demand from your memory. If you again wait for a few days, say a week, and once more test your memory, you will find that you can recite the chain and the address from memory without a mistake.

The Practical Application Of The Chain Method

In order to show how the chain method may be applied to one of the greatest speeches ever delivered in this country, I have selected the famous address Patrick Henry made at the convention in Richmond, Virginia, on March 23, 1775, on the eve of the Revolution.

On that day Patrick Henry had moved the adoption of a resolution "that this colony be immediately put into a posture of defense." Some of the delegates, notably Colonel Richard Bland, Mr. Nicholas, and Colonel Harrison, were opposed to the resolution. Henry then took the floor and began his famous speech by pointing out that "different men often see the same subject in different lights." "We are apt," he asserted, "to shut our eyes against a painful truth." And he asked, "What there has been in the conduct of the British ministry to justify these hopes" of better relations, which had been advanced by the gentlemen mentioned above. He continued:*

(1) "I ask, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?

No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.

(2) "And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty, and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted?

(3) "Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated ; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne.

*The paragraphs have been numbered and certain words underlined in order to facilitate comparison with cue words which are given on later pages.
 
(4) "In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained,—we must fight! I repeat it, sir,—we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us.

(5) "They tell us, sir, that we are weak,—unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of Hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

(6) "Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.

(7) "Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone: it is to the
vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged.  Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable. And let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

(8) "It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Let us try to remember this marvelous speech by using the chain method. To make the task easier and to show how to proceed in order to remember these eight paragraphs, I have numbered them, and I have underlined the cue words; now I shall enumerate these cue words in order to remind us of the leading thoughts in the address. While you read this chain, you can check the cue words with the respective paragraphs of the speech to which they belong:

(1) martial array
any enemy in this quarter bind us
(2) argument
anything new
supplication
(3) we have done everything
petition — slight
remonstrate — violence
supplicate — disregard
prostrate — contempt
(4) no room for hope
inestimable privileges
noble struggle
we must fight
(5) when shall we be stronger
totally disarmed
irresolution
bound us hand and foot
(6) we are not weak
three millions of people are invincible
(7) not alone
the strong — the brave chains are forged
(8) there is no peace
our brethren are already in the field
life — slavery
liberty — death
Before we try to repeat the speech, we ask ourselves whether we know exactly which thought each of the cue words represents, and how each thought is linked to the following thought. Let us try the first paragraph together:

The speaker asks, "What means this martial array?" Only two answers are possible. This martial array is meant either for us or for a different enemy. The fact that Great Britain has no other "enemy in this quarter" of the world rules out the second possibility, and only the first one is left. Therefore, these armies have been sent over to this country "to bind upon us those chains."

The second paragraph asks what means are possible to oppose the British. "Shall we try argument?" asks the speaker. Answer: "We have tried that for the last ten years." "Is there anything new?" (that we have not tried) Answer: "Nothing." Therefore, only the last question remains: "Since everything has been in vain, shall we resort to supplication?"

You will notice that I have selected the words "petition-remonstrate—supplicate—prostrate" as cue words for the third paragraph because all of them are repeated. In the first part of the paragraph they are used as verbs; in the second part they are used as nouns. Observing this piece of rhetoric helps us to remember them.

If you follow the reasoning for the remaining paragraphs, you will see that you can repeat the contents of the speech, so far as reproduced in this book, in less than twenty minutes. And it will stay in your memory for years and years. Of course, we shall use the many cue words indicated here only if we intend to repeat the address verbatim. If we content ourselves with the leading thoughts, we should use not more than one cue word or phrase for each paragraph, and the chain would be like this:

(1) any enemy in this quarter
(2) argument
(3) we have done everything
(4) no room for hope ... we must fight
(5) when shall we be stronger?
(6) three millions of people
(7) the strong — the brave
(8) there is no peace — liberty or death

The more in detail we wish to remember the original, the more cue words are necessary, and no general rules can be given as to their number. Although we used about thirty cue words to repeat all the thoughts in this speech, we could make the same number suffice for remembering the contents of an entire book, if we limited ourselves to a general resume of it.

How hard we can work in developing our memories for speeches is best stated by Bertrand Lyon in his book Improve Your Memory, when he discusses Roscoe Pound of the School of Law at Harvard University. As is well known, Pound not only could speak for hours at a stretch without using notes but was able, without preparation, to recall his speeches verbatim, including exact dates, names, and quotations, whenever he found it necessary. But more important than these remarkable facts is the explanation Pound himself gave of his extraordinary memory. When a journalist associated with the "American Magazine" suggested, during an interview, that this famous memory might be a natural gift, Pound answered: "Nonsense! I remember because I must. í worked to develop my memory."

These few words, uttered by a man who knew more about the functioning of our memory than most of his contemporaries, prove more conclusively than anything else the fact which I have emphasized again and again in the preceding chapters. It is, namely, that our memory, like a muscle in the human body, can be developed and strengthened by proper training.

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