Overview
How to Use Your Mind is Harry Kitson’s practical psychology of studying, written for students and teachers who want to replace passive memorization with more deliberate habits of learning. Kitson treats attention, motivation, memory, concentration, reading, review, and environment as skills…
This title is catalogued in Reference & Language. Its reading profile is Medium and Moderate, with themes including learning, practical knowledge, psychology, ideas, self development.
One-Page Summary
How to Use Your Mind is Harry Kitson’s practical psychology of studying, written for students and teachers who want to replace passive memorization with more deliberate habits of learning. Kitson treats attention, motivation, memory, concentration, reading, review, and environment as skills that can be trained. The central idea is simple: studying is not merely the amount of time spent in front of a book. The quality of attention and the method used to process information determine how much is actually learned. The book therefore encourages students to understand why they are studying, organize material, test themselves, and avoid habits that create the illusion of productivity without durable memory.
Some specific psychological claims and educational practices reflect the science of the period and have since been updated, but the practical emphasis on active engagement remains recognizable. The book is best read as a historical study-skills manual—an early attempt to turn learning into something that could be observed, analyzed, and improved systematically.
Key Themes
Learning: This title is tagged with learning as one of its main themes.
Practical knowledge: This title is tagged with practical knowledge as one of its main themes.
Psychology: This title is tagged with psychology as one of its main themes.
Ideas: This title is tagged with ideas as one of its main themes.
Self development: This title is tagged with self development as one of its main themes.