Chapter 3. Start Making Simple Memory Associations

Though you may not have realized it, you have already learned the fundamental principle of our memory system. Now you can easily make simple memory associations. The first five key words are ready in your mind to help you remember something else entirely. Let us start with something fairly simple—say, the five biggest cities in the world.

In order of size, the five biggest cities are London, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Moscow. In order to make memory associations, we fill each one on its proper hook, we get:

Alarm clock—London
Trousers—New York
Chair—Tokyo
Table—Berlin
Newspaper—Moscow
Our object is to associate each of these cities vividly with its key word and therefore with its number. Let me explain at once that the following memory associations are offered merely as sug­gestions, to help you get started in forming your own mental images. If some other picture occurs to you which you feel is a stronger association, don't hesitate to use it. Every mind is different, and the best association is the one that works best for you.

1. London(alarm clock). Towering over Londonis the big­gest clock in the world, Big Ben. Picture yourself climbing up the tower in order to wind up the clock for the night, setting the hands to one o'clock. The word Londonis written across the dial of the clock in Old English letters. London —alarm clock.

2. New York (trousers). How are you going to associate New York with trousers? Well, you bought your new trou­sers in New York. The trousers are made in New York by a New York tailor. (Although in general it is better to try to associate the item to be remembered with the key word rather than the number, in this case you can further strengthen the image by remembering that New York is two words.) New York—trousers.
3. Tokyo(chair). See a Japanese in a toque sitting on the chair. His big toe is stuck in the neck of a bottle of Tokay wine, and he is yelling, "Oh, my toe! It's in the Tokay— oh!" His toe is cut off and lying on the chair, but his toe is OK. Tokyo—chair.

4. Berlin (table). A group of burly Germans are sitting about a large German table, with a swastika painted on it. They are drinking German beer and singing songs written by Irving Berlin. Berlin—table.

5. Moscow (newspaper). Your newspaper, the Five-Star Final, is covered with moss, and a cow is lying on top of it, chewing at the moss and eating up the paper. This is a Moscow. The headline on the newspaper reads FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR MOSCOW. Moscow—newspaper.

Reread these associations, adding to them any details that make the images more vivid. Then reach for your pencil and fill in the following spaces.

Third city is…………………………
Second city is………………………..
Fifth city is…………………………..
First city is…………………………..
Fourth city is…………………………

If you hesitated over any of the cities, go back and concen­trate on that image until the picture is perfectly clear in your mind. When pictures tend to elude you, it is because they are not sharp and definite enough.

The picture of yourself setting the hands of Big Ben and the moss-cow pun on Moscow must have seemed pretty ridicu­lous when you came across them. But as I have pointed out, exaggeration will help you remember the images. The sillier the better. If you happened to be looking out of your window and saw a man playing a harmonica while he balanced an egg on the tip of his nose, you would never forget the picture. The more ludicrous, gruesome, or farfetched a picture is, the longer it will stay in your mind, and the stronger the memory associations.

This fact is most important to advertisers. They often take shrewd advantage of it to capture your attention and interest. Don't you have vivid memory associations of Sinclair Oil with a pic­ture of a hideous prehistoric monster, of the insecticide Flit, with Dr. Seuss' drawings of fabulous mosquitoes fleeing from the menace of the Flit gun, and of the Chesapeake Railroad with a kitten sleeping cozily in a comfortable sleeping-car berth? All of these pictures are highly improbable and exag­gerated, and in this lies their very appeal to your memory.

Now test yourself again to see how thoroughly you know the five largest cities. This time, write the number against the name of the city.

MOSCOW is No……………………
NEW YORK is No………………….
BERLIN is No………………………
LONDON is No……………………..
TOKYO is No……………………….

It was decidedly faster this time, wasn't it?

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