^Tutorial 2 - The Link System\

Your second memory training exercise again involves memorising a list of
items in sequence, but this time we'll make the list more practical. Assume
you wish to memorise the following shopping list of fifteen items :

 Chicken, Melon, Scouring Pads, Shredded Wheat, Milk, Baked Beans, Shampoo,
 Runner Beans, Meat Pies, Car Polish, Evening Newspaper, French Loaf,
 Tea Bags, Soap, Eggs.

Of course, it's just as easy to jot down your shopping list on a piece of
paper as it is to try and memorise it.  But how many times have you reached
the supermarket or shops only to realise that you've left your list on the
kitchen table, or in the pocket of a coat which you decided not to wear
after all ?

Any way, let's assume for the moment that you wish to memorise the list of
items above.  You are going to memorise the list of items in sequence, using
the Link System.  Of course, it;s not important to know a shopping list in
sequence - you simply want to remember all the items.  But, if you don't
memorise the list in sequence, and particularly if it's a long list , how
else will you be sure you've remembered |all\ the items ?#

Actually, there $is\ another method of memorising all the items, using the
Peg System, but we'll come to that later !

O.K., let's make a start on memorising that shopping list. The first item is
^Chicken\. Before moving on to item two, consider for a moment how you can
be sure that you will remember the <first\ item in any Link. After all,
there is nothing to asssociate it to. The answer is to associate it to the
>subject\ of your Link - in this case the supermarket.

For example, picture yourself opening the supermarket door and millions of
chickens flying out, knocking you over. If you can picture that ridiculous
image, or a similar ludicrous picture, clearly in your mind for just an
instant, then you $will\ remember that first item on your shopping list.

An alternative method of remembering the first item of any Link is to think
of any item in the middle of the Link, and work backwards through your
associations. This >must\ eventually lead you to your first item.#

For the moment, let's assume that you know the first item, ^chicken\. The
second item is ^melon\.  Now, form a ridiculous association between
^chicken\ and ^melon\.  You might picture a chicken trying to lay a huge
melon insead of an egg, with a contorted expression on its face. This is
rather a crude picture, but one that is likely to stay in your mind.  See
that image, or a similar zany association between ^chicken\ and ^melon\ in
your mind's eye, |right now\.

Remember that the ludicrous associations suggested here are only
$suggestions\. If you come up with your own images then so much the better -
you are increasing your <Original Awareness\.

Now, continue with your Link. The next item is ^scouring pads\, so you
might picture yourself trying to clean some dishes with a ^massive melon\
instead of a scouring pad.  Next comes ^Shredded Wheat\.  To associate that
item to the previous one, you could picture yourself eating a bowl of
scouring pads soaked in milk, instead of Shredded Wheat.#

The fifth item is ^milk\.  You might picture yourself pouring from a milk
bottle, but instead of milk out come hundreds of Shredded Wheat.  See each
one of those Shredded Wheat squeezing itself painfully out of the bottle, so
that it bursts into a thousand pieces when it finally squeezes through the
neck of the bottle.

Next comes ^baked beans\. Imagine yourself piercing a can of beans with a
tin opener, when gallons of milk squirt out, soaking you from head to toe.
The seventh item is ^shampoo\. Picture yourself pouring some shampoo over
your head, but instead of shampoo, tons of baked beans come squirting out of
the bottle, until you are knee deep in them.

The next item is ^runner beans\, so associate that item to shampoo. You
could see yourself lathering your hair with shampoo, when dozens of runner
beans suddenly start sprouting out of your hair. See that association, or
one you thought of yourself, for just a split second. Remember, you don't
have to see the picture for a long period of time - you just need to see
it >clearly\ for a fraction of a second.#

You are now just over half way through forming your Link of fifteen items.
Before continuing, just pause and review the associations you have made so
far.  Look back over the associations suggested up to this point, and
consider how the five principles of $Out of Proportion, Substitution,
Exaggeration, Movement, and $Humour\ have been used in the suggested images.

O.K., let's continue with the ninth item in the Link, ^meat pie\. To form
a ludicrous association with runner beans, you might see yourself cutting
into a meat pie with a knife and fork. Suddenly a huge runner bean plant
sprouts out of the middle of the pie, so tall that it shoots right through
the ceiling.

Next comes ^car polish\. See yourself trying to clean a car with a meat pie,
instead of a tin of car polish. Picture yourself dipping a cloth into that
meat pie, and covering the car with dripping gravy. See that image clearly.

The eleventh item is ^evening newspaper\. A zany association here might be -
you open the evening newspaper to the middle pages, and an arm holding a
duster covered in car polish zooms out of the newspaper and polishes your
face, causing you to splutter and cough.#

Next, associate evening newspaper to ^french loaf\. For example, imagine
yourself trying to make sandwiches out of the evening newspaper, instead of
the french loaf. Then comes ^tea bags\. A ridiculous picture here could be -
you are trying to push a gigantic french loaf into a teapot.

The fourteenth item on your shopping list is ^soap\. See yourself perhaps
washing your face with tea bags, and getting into an awful mess. To complete
your Link, associate soap to ^eggs\. You could picture yourself eating a
bar of soap out of an egg cup for breakfast, instead of a boiled egg. As you
eat the soap out of the egg cup, your mouth fills up with soap suds !

If you have really seen all those crazy pictures in your mind's eye, you
will now know the shoopping list in sequence, both forwards and backwards.
As stated earlier, there's no reason why you would want to know the list
$in sequence\, but it's an extremely useful exercise in practising the
techniques of |Association\ and |Linking\.

Press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have memorised the fifteen
items in the imaginary shopping list.~