The new era., 1910-02-10

service the in which 1t is situated and to which
its support it should be able to show how the
theoretical work of the laboratory can be applied to
the bettering of human conditions
The agricultural and the engineering experiment sta
tons the university have been attempting to give the
practical of the state information in regard to the
best of preventing wastes and of obtaining the
greatest efficiency in the various fields OF their endeavo
similar attempt is being made by the department of
psychology of the university to show to the schoomen
of the state how they save time and how they can
regulate the environment of the school to get the
greatest results with the least possible expenditure of
energy.
All knowledge is based fundamentally upon memory
quite obvious that if the economical meth
DDS of learning discovered and applied tremendous
wastes In the schoolroom will be saved 1t is striking
fact that most students who come to the university do
not know how to properly memorize their material They
lose very large amount OF time that might be saved
greatly to their advantage If they had the simple know
edge of how to about their work before them What
of the university student is undoubtedly
even to greater degree the pupils in the public
schools 1t clear that If the teachers knew what
the best method by which the pupil could memorfze
material and could train that pupil in such meth
of memory highly beneficial results would be
plished. sr.
Working along this line, years ago the depart
ment of psychology at Illinois instituted series of
experiments to determine far possible the exact
concerning what is technically know the idea
tona of school children and the relation Of these
types the memorizing of different kinds of material
By the deatonal type the psychologist understands the
sort OF mental imagery IN which person thnks-for
example, If child recalls in Imagination bird he may
do by having mental picture OF the bird WIS.,
ible object he recall the bird in terms of the
song that 1t sings. 1t is further possible that he may
not, thinking of the bird 1t mentally
song that he merely the word, bird, written
hear it spoken attempt to it himself.
II he actually the bird in his minds he is said
to have concrete visual imagery. If he hears the
that 1t sings mentally he is said to have audi
imagery. he not the bird but the word he
said to have verbavisionary imagery and II instead
of seeing the hearing it he simply has
tai of pronouncng the word he is said to have
verbal-motor imagery
1t is then possible for the person in his ordinary
thinking employ either concrete imagery In which he
recalls the actual object presented through OF
his to employ verbal imagery in which latter
he does not recall the object at all, but in which
recalls the printed symbol for that object either
visual, auditory motor terms. 1t is possible also
have only visual auditory imagery
have concrete motor imagery we'll person. for
example, in mentally recalling foot race may think
OF the he ready for the starting sig
nal he may think of the starting signal. finally.
he may think of the muscular sensations which in
running In this latter he would think o
the runner in terms of concrete motor imagery
Probably the football player in recalling expert
of the game in which he has taken part.
the plays the spectator does from the grand
stand. but recalls them in terms Of the movements
which he makes in executing them.