ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies some of the principles inherent in memory. The fundamental psychological law of memory is, of course, based upon association of ideas, and the investigations of retention and recall are attempts to ascertain under what conditions associations are firmly established with the least expenditure of time and energy. Stated in its simplest psychological terms the law of association is, that if two ideas have been in the mind simultaneously or in immediate succession the recurrence of one of them tends to bring the other in its train. Adults are prone to think that memory is a matter of age. Children, they say, remember easily but maturity causes forgetfulness. Memory in children improves with age, though periods without improvement have been observed. These exceptions seem to occur when the development of organs and functions produces excessive drain upon the vitality.
