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Preface
Introduction
1. The Big Picture
2. Techniques of Studying
3. Examinations
4. Thinking Process
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1. The Big Picture
2. Techniques of Studying
3. Examinations
4. Thinking Process
Resources
Exam Help ArticlesAdd URL
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3. Examinations
A station stop not a destination | Just before taking exams | Your mental radar | Making use of your radar | The conditioned reflex | Memory training | Serendipity | Essay exams | Objective exams | Federal civil service examinations | Getting information about other exams | Interviews and oral examinations | After the examination
Serendipity
The late W. B. Cannon of Harvard, in an interesting little book called "The Way of an Investigator " (W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 1945) observed that he sometimes came upon solutions to very difficult problems when he had long since set them aside as impossible to solve. The solutions seemed to flash into his mind. Dr. Cannon made inquiries and found that other people had the same experience. We can make use of his observation.
It seems that the business of making connections among neurons can sometimes be consciously forced and sometimes not. "Thinking too hard" may somehow block the very thing sought. Upon turning away from the matter a few moments, the needed connection may slip into place and the recollection of a name may come. There is more to mental processes than our humble analogy of radar implies. It is exceedingly complex, and very troublesome to investigate. We will try to clarify some features of the mental process again later, but this mention is made because serendipity is allied with memory.
