Assimilative Memory; or, How to Attend and Never Forget

The author presents a systematic method of memory training built on the principle that learning improves when attention and active thinking create associative relations rather than rote repetition. He distinguishes sensuous or rote memory from assimilative memory, explains the two stages of memory (first impression and revival), and defines attention as the will directing intellectual activity. The book offers step-by-step techniques and exercises for preventing mind-wandering and memorizing names, sequences, numbers, dates, prose and verse, and other facts, including analytic substitutions, decomposition/recomposition, and unification strategies. Practical examples and drills accompany guidance aimed at forming habits of attention and thinking to make recall more reliable.