THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING

[Illustration: TESTING THE MEMORY WITH PROFESSOR JASTROW'S MEMORY
APPARATUS PRIVATE LABORATORY, SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY]

[Illustration: Decorative Header]


CHAPTER V

THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING


[Sidenote: _The Skilled Artisan_]

Attention is the instrumentality through which the Laws of Recall
operate. Wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or unconsciously, every
man's attention swings in automatic obedience to the Laws of Recall.

Attention is the artisan that, bit by bit, and with lightning quickness,
constructs the mosaic of consciousness.

Having the whole vast store of all present and past experiences to draw
upon, he selects only those groups and those isolated instances that
are related to our general interests and aims. He disregards others.

[Sidenote: _How the Attention Works_]

The attention operates in a manner complementary to the general Laws of