[originaltext] Did you ever have someone’s name on the tip of your tongue an

Did you ever have someone’s name on the tip of your tongue and yet you were unable to recall it? When this happens again, do not try to recall it. Do something else for a couple of minutes, and the name may come into your head. The name is there since you have met this person and learned his name. It only has to be dug out. The initial effort to recall prepares the mind for operation, but it is the subconscious activities that go to work to dig up a dim memory. Forcing yourself to recall almost never helps because it doesn’t loosen your memory; it only tightens it. Students find the preparatory method helpful in examinations. They read over the questions before trying to answer any of them. Then they answer first the ones of which they are most confident. Meanwhile, deeper mental activities in the subconscious mind are taking place; work is being done on the more difficult questions. By the time the easier questions are answered, answers to the more difficult ones will usually begin to come into consciousness. It is often just a question of waiting for recall to come to the memory.