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arbitrary learning is impossible or simply very difficult, the end result is the same: it is not the best way to go, not if there is any choice in the matter. Thus, in teaching the alphabet, we try to make it into a tune, using the natural constraints of rhyme and rhythm to simplify the memory load. People who have learned to use computers or cook by rote are probably not very good. Since they do not understand the reasons for their actions, they must find tasks arbitrary and strange. When something goes wrong, they don’t know what to do (unless they’ve memorized solutions). Although rote learning is at times necessary or efficient—so that emergency procedures for things like high-speed military jet aircraft are handled quickly, automatically when the need arises—on the whole, it is most unsatisfactory.

MEMORY FOR MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS

Most things in the world have a sensible structure, which tremendously simplifies the memory task. When things make sense, they correspond to knowledge that we already have, so the new material can be understood, interpreted, and integrated with previously acquired material. Now we can use rules and constraints to help understand what things go together. Meaningful structure can organize apparent chaos and arbitrariness.

Remember the discussion of mental models in chapter 2? Part of the power of a good mental model lies in its ability to provide meaning to things. Let’s look at an example to show how a meaningful interpretation transforms an apparently arbitrary task into a natural one. Note that the appropriate interpretation may not at first be obvious; it, too, is knowledge and has to be discovered.

A Japanese colleague, call him Mr. Tanaka, had difficulty remembering how to use the turn-signal switch on his motorcycle’s left handlebar. Moving the switch forward signaled a right turn, backward a left turn. The meaning of the switch was clear and unambiguous, but the direction in which it should be moved was not. Tanaka kept thinking that because the switch was on the left handlebar, pushing it forward should signal a left turn. That is, he was trying to map the action “push the left switch forward” to the intention “turn left, ” which was wrong. As a result, he had trouble remembering which switch direction should be used for which turning direction. Most motorcycles have the turnsignal switch mounted differently, rotated 90°, so that moving it left signals a left turn, moving it right a right turn. This mapping is easy to learn (it is a natural mapping). But the turn switch on Tanaka’s motorcycle moved forward and back, not left and right. How could he learn it?

Mr. Tanaka solved the problem by reinterpreting the action. Consider the way the handlebars of the motorcycle turn. For a left turn, the left handlebar moves backward. For a right turn, the left handlebar moves forward. The required switch movements exactly paralleled the handlebar movements. If the task is reconceptualized as signaling the direction of motion of the handlebars rather than the direction of the motorcycle, the switch motion can be seen to mimic the desired motion; finally we have a natural mapping. At first, the motion of the switch seemed arbitrary, indirect, and difficult to remember. With the proper interpretation, the switch motion is direct and logical, and, as a result, easy to learn and to use. A meaningful relationship can be indispensable, but you have to have the right one. 14

Without the proper interpretation, it was difficult to remember the switch directions. With it, both the remembering and the performance of the task became trivial. Note that Tanaka’s interpretation of the switch movement did not explain anything. It simply let him relate the proper direction to move the switch with the direction in which he was turning the motorcycle. The interpretation is essential, but it should not be confused with understanding.

MEMORY THROUGH EXPLANATION

Now we come to a different, more powerful form of internal memory: understanding. People are explanatory creatures, as