CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY DR. E. C. BRAGG - Trinity College

meaning. Here is the reason why they say, "A liar must have a good memory."
He learns the particulars by rote. He who tells the truth of events learned them
by association. Here is the reason why writing out a sermon will aid to
memorizing it. Its logical relations will also be committed. Utilize all the mental
faculties to associate the newly-acquired knowledge with that which you
already possess. Notice how this law, coupled with the last, helps in theme
writing and sermon composition using time passage and repetition and
association. This is like my sermon vat for soaking sermons. Reading up on a
subject as much as possible, filling the mind with the subject, writing down all
the thoughts possible, letting time elapse, and going over again, new ideas will,
spring forth. The law of association is like that of attention and interest,
studying and learning with mental activity, rationalizing, discriminating, and
thinking. Here is the reason why a poem should be learned as a whole, not by
stanza; get the connection, so Bible memorizing should be not by verse but by
paragraph (complete thought).
2. Retention
We cannot add anything here to our study as to how we retain. That recollection
which now floods the mind with familiar scenes, thoughts, reminiscences,- where was
it five seconds ago, before we recalled it to awareness or consciousness? How does
the mind retain its vast store of impressions? When one thinks of the multiplied
thousands of memory tracts needed for the simplest daily tasks and work, the
accumulated impressions of a lifetime, plus the acquired learned material of school
and reading, a little insight is gained in how rich this treasure house is, but it seems
that the actual mechanism of retention, as in all the thought processes, eludes and
maybe always will elude the searcher.
It is well to keep in mind in this consideration of retention, that material learned
need not be within the range of recall to still be retained in the mind as lasting
material. Much that we learn is forgotten as far as recollection is concerned, but its
value is not lost. It remains as mental enrichment, cumulative knowledge, which
makes for greater understanding. How much of the actual schooling of a doctor or
engineer is forgotten; yet that same forgotten material leaves its residue in the mind!
They are what we call "trained" and so better able to tackle the problem than others.
The only problem attached to retention which can engage our attention is that of
forgetting, and how to keep from forgetting. Why do we forget? Once written, why
does the record fade? There are three causes of forgetting:
a. Poor learning or weak impressions (which we have been studying)
b. Decay through the passage of time
c. Interference caused by retroactive inhibition, concussion, or repression
The first we can to a great degree control by better degree of impression. The
second, the passage of time causing a natural decay, is open to some question. Would
time itself erase an impression if new impressions did not intervene to partially
obliterate the old? If time itself does wear away with the years an impression, we can