Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-06-15
mEMoRIZING NAMES
'"e >'"p'e- Trick in Connecting tho
Name with the Face,

Secretary Shaw ,ha.ted with a.,
correspondent OF dowp-east name,
a"oct remembering tho names Of nor
sons whom he meets -or the FIRST tin,o
He regrets that he is LOSING tbt f,c,,It,,
under the custom in mis- ot,,ce. 90 ~
announcement by name Of visitors nv
ms private secretary before admittin,
'heii' py which the sccretary's mind
te.s no framing in caIching onto and
holding these elusive designations. Hc
always advises his young friends no
says, TO form habi. of remembering
names. for there Is nothing more
pleasing or fiattering than to be called
D" name. particularly il the acuuaint-
ance has been brief or Interrupted"
Inc announcement Of the visitors
rame before the latter is admitted he
explains. gives the mind no chance to
discover the identity Of the visitors.
The more exercise the brain has in re-
calling names the better 1t is for the
memory" All of which shows that
the secretary has not been unaware or
Cnarprcciat tive OF one or the tricks
familiar to politicians.
Most persons have rctentive memo
ries for faces and :ar less for the
names that designate tho faces. Prob
ably this is due to the artifciality Of
II ames; their total lack Of relation to
the face; their mere unrelated arbi-
trarincss. No two Smiths look alike,
and there are millions Of Smiths. We
readily remember and identify Smiths
features. but his name has slipped off
tho memory. Anyhow, whatever the
psychologist cause. the TACT remains,
often to the annoyance, sometimes to
the modification. of the forgetful one
and the chagriE of the forgotten one.
1t is very embarrassing to have for
gotten name at a moment when an
introduction is essential to good man
ners. and there is 4 sense of humli-
alton in being obliged u ask the name
and apologize for forgetting it.
While some fortunate persons are
endowed with memory that retains
faces and names and the relation Of
one to the other. any memory can be
trained by a simple process into reten-
tiveness and Identification. 1t involves
nothing more than an application Of
the method by which Oriental priests
drill their pupils i'll memoriZing those
parts of their rituals which are not
committed to writing. The first word
CT a sentence is repeated four times by
the class; then the second in conncc-
ton with the first four times. the third
with the first and second four times.
and so on through The sentence. One
with that defect Of memory. thrust
suddenly into political work, mortified
by his inability to recall names. sensi-
hlc of the detrimcnt In his work causc1
by it. bethnught himself of tn"
Buddhetic method and. when intro
duced mentally repeated several tmrs
during the talk. the visitors name.
associating it with lis face and rect
denCe His experience justified inc
method. Tho process fastened |"
name. face and recidencc 80 firmly IN
memory that after an interval 'f yctrf
Pc found no difficulty il salut'n" ms
chance caller by namc, D r"coc'H on
that carried with 1t. as the fotaf|
saws. a mild but effertive natttrv. W.
pass this along to ether young me-
who are troubled with memories to
which names do not stick readily.