Dreams Quote by Damion Searls
““Rorschach’s body could activate his vision: “When, for example, I am unable to call up Schwind’s painting Falkenstein’s Ride as a memory image but I know how the knight is holding his right arm (‘knowing’ here as a nonperceptual mental image), I can voluntarily copy the position of this arm, in my imagination or in reality, and this immediately gives me a visual memory of the picture that is much better than without this aid.” This was, he reiterated, precisely the same as what happened in his schizophrenic patients: by holding his arm the right way, he had “hallucinatorily called forth, so to speak, the perceptual components of the visual image.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Art of Perception, Damion Searls, 2015
Using bodily posture to trigger mental imagery can enhance memory retrieval, especially for complex visual scenes.
In simple terms: Body posture can boost visual memory.
Key Takeaway
Leverage physical cues to improve recall.
Themes
memory
embodiment
visualization
Mood
curious
analytical
Type
psychological
practical
When to use this quote
- studying
- art analysis
- therapy
- creative work
Key Concepts
cognitive psychology
embodied cognition
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you use posture to remember a concept?
- What limits this technique?
A Different Perspective
May not work for abstract concepts without clear physical analogs.
![“He purchased that great canvas also bearing the likeness to his beloved, for he could not bear another to look upon what he dreamed each night...but as he now had enjoyed the quite singular pleasure of his wife's true form revealed to him, he knew he would have [it] returned... At one time he had…” quote by Linda Berdoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d80/linda-berdoll-69813_dreams_he-purchased-that-great-canvas-also-bear_1276657.jpg)
![“There are two kinds of visual memory: one when you skillfully recreate an image in the laboratory of your mind, [...]; and the other when you instantly evoke, with shut eyes, on the dark innerside of your eyelids, the objective, absolutely optical replica of a beloved face, a little ghost in…” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e09/vladimir-nabokov-198_memory_there-are-two-kinds-of-visual-memory-one_112730.jpg)
