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The Fifth Lesson: The Cultivation of Attention.565
Mental Drill in Attention.
Exercise i. Begin by taking some familiar object and placing it before you,
try to get as many impressions regarding it as is possible for you. Study its
shape, its color, its size, and the thousand and one little peculiarities about
it that present themselves to your attention. In doing this, reduce the thing
to its simplest parts—analyze it as far as is possible—dissect it, mentally, and
study its parts in detail. The more simple and small the part to be considered,
the more clearly will the impression be received, and the more vividly will
it be recalled. Reduce the thing to the smallest possible proportions, and
then examine each portion, and mastering that, then pass on to the next
part, and so on, until you have covered the entire field. Then, when you
have exhausted the object, take a pencil and paper and put down as nearly
as possible all the things or details of the object examined. When you have
done this, compare the written description with the object itself, and see
how many things you have failed to note.
The next day take up the same object, and after re-examining it, write
down the details and you will find that you will have stored away a greater
number of impressions regarding it, and, moreover, you will have discovered
many new details during your second examination. This exercise strengthens
the memory as well as the Attention, for the two are closely connected,
the memory depending largely upon the clearness and strength of the
impressions received, while the impressions depend upon the amount of
attention given to the thing observed. Do not tire yourself with this exercise,
for a tired Attention is a poor Attention. Better try it by degrees, increasing
the task a little each time you try it. Make a game of it if you like, and you
will find it quite interesting to notice the steady but gradual improvement.
It will be interesting to practice this in connection with some friend,
varying the exercise by both examining the object, and writing down their
impressions, separately, and then comparing results. This adds interest to
the task, and you will be surprised to see how rapidly both of you increase in
your powers of observation, which powers, of course, result from Attention.