The Relation of Quickness of Learning to Retentiveness

THE author has suggested in the preface of his book two dominant motives, first, to present the general experimental material upon memory with special reference to this specific topic: "The Relation of Quickness of Learning to Retentiveness;" secondly, to discuss the memory process from an educational point of view, trusting that the conclusions drawn from the experimental data may be of some practical use to the teacher. The general scope of the work may be shown by the chapter headings: Chapter I, On the Forms of Mental Activity; Chapter II, The Subdivisions of Memory in General with Special Reference to Their Relations to the Learning Process; Chapter III, The Relation of Length of Material to Time Taken for Learning and the Optimum Distribution of Time; Chapter IV, The Relation of Quickness of Learning to Retentiveness; Chapter V, The Educational Value of Psychological Research with Special Reference to Economy in Learning and Mnemonic Systems. Chapters I and II are largely devoted to the definition in the broader sense of the various aspects of the memory problem. This is not a mere compilation of the results of the work of different authors but the material is carefully analyzed and evaluated by the author with the statement of problems yet to be solved. Chapters III and IV, in the opinion of the reviewer, are by far the most valuable part of the book. In the first of these two chapters the author makes his greatest contribution. He gives the results of his own experiments covering a period of ten years and indicates and explains the various methods used by a series of eleven charts found in a pocket on the inside cover of the book. About all the other available experimental work upon this topic is carefully examined and several inconsistencies pointed out. "The curve of forgetting which has developed from Ebbinghaus' experiments upon nonsense syllables has given us what is sometimes known as Ebbinghaus Law." The results of the experiment were based upon his work with 24 nonsense syllables and covered but three experiments. Those for 36 nonsense syllables were based on only two experiments. With Ebbinghaus there was a relative increase of repetitions with an increase in the number of syllables memorized, while with some of the more modern investigators, such as Meumann and V. A. C. Henmon, the results show that there is a relative decrease in the number of repetitions with an increase in the number of syllables (p. 52). "The 'Once Per Day Method' on the whole appeared the most economical, but because of certain notable exceptions and the great amount of individual differences, Dr. Lyon concludes that the problem in its final analysis be stated "not in what is the most economical method of learning but what is the most economical method for Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown and how can they find this method out." The Educational Value of Psychological Research with Special Reference to Economy in Learning and Mnemonic Systems is the title of Chapter V. This contribution seems to add little to the value of the book. The author apparently believes that there is of necessity and always will be considerable difference between the problems and methods of work of the pure psychologist and of the applied psychologist. It may even seem that in a few cases he sets up difficulties as we sometimes set up straw-men for the mere pleasure of knocking them down. It is of interest in this respect to note that experimental psychology is performing at present its best services in the fields of business, education, medicine and other applied work. The book as a whole is a distinct contribution to experimental psychology and in addition furnishes one of the best compilations of the available material upon memory. -"Journal of Applied Psychology," Volume 2.