How to use your mind - A psychology of study
Harry D. Kitson’s How to Use Your Mind (1916) is a fascinating early manual on applied psychology for students. Kitson was a professor of psychology at Indiana University, and his book was written to help college students develop effective habits of study, concentration, and memory.
In courses in Methods of Study in which the book is used as a class text, the instructor should lay emphasis not upon memorization of the facts in the book, but the application of them in the study. He should expect to see a parallel with progress through the book, and improvement in the mental ability of the students. Specific problems may well be arranged based on the subjects of the curriculum, and students should be urged to utilize the suggestions immediately.
The subjects treated in the book are those that the author has found in his experience with college students to constitute the most frequent sources of difficulty, and under these conditions, the sequence of topics followed in the book has seemed most favourable for presentation. With other groups of students, however, another sequence of topics may be found desirable; if so, the order of topics may be changed.
For example, in case the chapter on brain action is found to presuppose more physiological knowledge than that possessed by the students, it may be omitted or may be used merely for reference when enlightenment is desired upon some of the physiological descriptions in later chapters. Likewise, the chapter dealing with the intellectual difficulties of college students may be omitted with non-collegiate groups.
The heavy obligation of the author to several writers will be apparent to one familiar with the literature of theoretical and educational psychology. No attempt is made to render specific acknowledgements, but special mention should be made of the large draughts made upon the two books by Professor Stiles which treat so helpfully bodily relations of the student. These books contain so much good sense and scientific information that they should receive a prominent place among the books recommended to students. Thanks are due to Professor Edgar James Swift and Charles Scribner's Sons for permission to use a figure from ''Mind in the Making"; and to J. B. Lippincott Company for adaptation of cuts from Villiger's ''Brain and Spinal Cord." The author gratefully acknowledges helpful suggestions from Professors James R. Angell, Charles H. Judd and C. Judson Herrick, who have read the greater part of the manuscript and have commented upon it to its betterment.
The obligation refers, however, not only to the immediate preparation of this work but also to the encouragement which, for several years, the author has received from these scientists, first as a student, later as colleagues.
Some contents:
II. Note Taking 26 Uses of Notes. Lecture Notes — Avoid Verbatim Reports. Maintain Attitude of Mental Activity. Seek Outline Chiefly. Use Notes in Preparing Next Lesson. Reading Notes — Summarize Rather Than Copy. Read With Questions in Mind. How to Read. How to Make Laboratory Notes — Content. Form. Miscellaneous Hints.
III. Brain Action During Study 43 The Organ of Mind. Gross Structure. Microscopic Structure. The Neurone. The Nervous Impulse. The Synapse. Properties of Nervous Tissue — Impressibility, Conductivity, ModifiabiHty. Pathways Used in Study — Sensory, Motor, Association. The study is a Process of Making Pathways in the Brain.
IV - formation of Study-habits 57 Definition of Habit. Examples. Inevi- tableness of Patterns in Brain and Nervous 13 14 CONTENTS System. How to Ensure Useful Habits — Choose What Shall Enter; Choose Mode of Entrance; Choose Mode of Egress; Go Slowly at First; Observe Four Maxims. Advantages and Disadvantages of Habit. Ethical Consequences.
V. Active Imagination 76 Nature of the Image. Its Use in Imagination. The necessity for Number, Variety, and Sharpness. Source of "Imaginative" Productions. Method of Developing Active Imaginative Powers: Cultivate Images in Great Number, Variety, and Sharpness; Actively Combine the Elements of Past Experience.
VI. First Aids to Memory — Impression 85 Four Phases. Conditions of Impression: Care, Clearness, Choice of Favorable Sense Avenue, Repetition, Overlearning, Primacy, Distribution of Repetitions, (Inferences Bearing Upon Theme-writing), "Whole" vs "Part" Method, "Rote" vs "logical" Method, Intention.
VII. Second Aids to Memory — Retention, Recall AND Recognition 110 Retention. Recall. Recall Contrasted With Impression. Practise Recall in Impression. Recognition. Advantages of Review. Memory Works According to Law. possibility of Improvement. Connection With Other Mental Processes.
It’s very much in line with the “mental efficiency” literature of the early 20th century.
📘 Overview of the Book
- Purpose: To teach students how to study more effectively by applying psychological principles.
- Audience: Primarily college students, but also anyone interested in improving mental discipline.
- Style: Practical, instructional, and rooted in psychology rather than abstract philosophy.
🔑 Study notes
- Habit formation: Kitson emphasizes that study success depends on building consistent habits.
- Attention and concentration: He explains how to focus the mind and avoid distractions.
- Memory techniques: The book covers mnemonic devices and the psychology of recall.
- Reading strategies: How to read actively, analyze, and retain information.
- Examinations: Practical advice on preparing for and taking exams.
- Mental hygiene: The importance of rest, exercise, and balanced living for intellectual work.
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