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Chapter 06: The Acquisition of Memories and the Working-Memory System
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The operations through which we gain new knowledge, retain that knowledge, and later use that
knowledge are often divided into three categories. Which of the following is NOT one of those
categories?
a. retrieval c. deliberation
b. acquisition d. storage
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: The Route into Memory
OBJ: 6.1 MSC: Remembering
3. Which of the following is NOT an attribute of working memory (sometimes called short-term
memory)?
a. unlimited storage capacity
b. drawn on by a wide range of tasks
c. easily accessible
d. contents closely associated with the current focus of attention
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Updating the Modal Model
OBJ: 6.1 MSC: Remembering
5. The modal model asserts that information processing involves at least two kinds of memory:
working memory and long-term memory (LTM). Working memory
a. has the same capacity to hold items as LTM.
b. differs from LTM in how easily one can access the stored items.
c. uses the same rehearsal mechanisms as LTM.
d. has no discernible effect on functioning outside the laboratory.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.1 MSC: Understanding
6. The modal model asserts that information processing involves at least two kinds of memory:
working memory and long-term memory. Long-term memory is
a. theoretically unlimited in capacity.
b. the active component of working memory.
c. not susceptible to forgetting.
d. limited in duration.
ANS: A DIF: Easy
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.1 MSC: Remembering
7. According to the modal model of memory, words presented early in a list are easier to remember
than words presented later because
a. they are still residing in working memory at the time of the test.
b. participants are particularly alert at the beginning of the list presentation.
c. the early words receive more of the participants’ attention than the later words.
d. the early words suffer from less interference than the later words.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.1 | 6.3 MSC: Understanding
9. Which of the following is NOT considered a modern change to the modal model of memory?
a. Sensory memory is not emphasized.
b. Short-term memory is now called working memory.
c. Working memory refers to a process more than a storage system.
d. Working memory and long-term memory are considered the same construct.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Updating the Modal Model
OBJ: 6.2 MSC: Remembering
10. The modal model has seen some revision in recent years, but a few key components remain. Which
of the following is NO LONGER an accepted aspect of the modal model?
a. Working memory is used only for temporary storage of information.
b. Working memory and long-term memory are considered separate memory processes.
c. Working memory is fragile and easily disrupted.
d. Working memory is limited in capacity.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.2 MSC: Understanding
11. Working memory (WM) has been likened to a desk space that holds the current information for a
short period of time. This analogy is problematic in what way?
a. The desk analogy is too static: WM is capable of more than simply short-term storage.
b. WM is more like a filing cabinet with a specific number of slots into which information
can be put.
c. The size of WM varies across individuals, but a desk never changes size.
d. There is no problem with this analogy.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.2 | 6.5 MSC: Evaluating
13. When asked to recall a list of 25 words, participants are likely to remember only some of them.
The words they can recall are likely to include
a. approximately the last 12 words on the list.
b. the first few words on the list and also approximately the last 6 words on the list.
c. approximately the first 12 words on the list.
d. words drawn from positions scattered throughout the list.
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.3 MSC: Applying
14. Jose is asked to remember the order of a previously presented list of words. Compared to an
immediate recall test, what effect would you expect a 20-second delay of white noise to have on
memory performance?
a. It would have no effect on memory, compared to an immediate recall test.
b. It would decrease memory for early words and improve memory for words presented later
in the list.
c. It would improve memory for early words.
d. It would improve memory for recently presented words.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.4 MSC: Applying
15. In list-learning experiments, participants’ performance in the pre-recency portion of the curve will
be improved by
a. employing more common, familiar words.
b. presenting the list of words more quickly.
c. employing a longer list of words.
d. distracting participants for a moment just after the list’s end.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.4 MSC: Remembering
16. A sudden, loud noise often has the impact of distracting participants long enough to clear the
contents of working memory. Imagine that participants hear a list of the names of 20 different
fruits, followed by an unexpected loud noise. The effect of the noise will be
a. a diminished primacy effect but no impact on how well the other words in the list are
remembered.
b. diminished performance for the entire list.
c. a diminished recency effect and a diminished primacy effect but no impact on how well
the other words on the list are remembered.
d. a diminished recency effect but no impact on how well the other words in the list are
remembered.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.4 MSC: Applying
17. An experimenter reads a list of 30 words to a group of participants at the rate of one word per
second. This is immediately followed by a free-recall test. A second group of participants hears the
same 30 words presented at the faster rate of two words per second. We should expect that the
group hearing the slower presentation will show improved memory performance for the
a. pre-recency portion of the list, but there will be no impact on the recency effect.
b. words at the end of the list and diminished performance for the pre-recency portion of the
list.
c. entire list.
d. words at the list’s end, but there will be no improvement for the words earlier in the list.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult
REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.4 MSC: Applying
18. Early estimates of working-memory capacity relied on the digit-span task. The data indicate
working memory capacity to be ________ items.
a. 10 to 14 c. around 20
b. 2 or 3 d. around 7
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Remembering
19. A participant who is asked to recall a series of numbers chooses to think about the numbers as
though they were years (e.g., 1, 9, 9, 7 becomes “The year I turned 16”). The participant is
organizing information into the memory unit known as a(n)
a. sentence. c. image.
b. chunk. d. package.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Applying
20. When thinking of a list of digits in terms of racing times, one person is found to report up to 79
digits. This suggests that this person
a. has a larger working memory than most other participants.
b. is well practiced at memory retrieval.
c. can remember this information due to a unique chunking strategy.
d. does not show the primacy or recency effect.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Understanding
21. Which of the following does NOT correlate with working-memory capacity?
a. reading ability
b. reasoning skills
c. following directions
d. making an eye movement toward a cue
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Understanding
22. When recalling a list of letters (e.g., T, O, D, F, P, A, E, G ), participants may group the letters into
syllables for future recall (e.g., TO, DIF ). Which of these answers is a potential problem for this
strategy?
a. The chunking process requires resources, and this makes rehearsal more difficult.
b. The process of converting letters into syllables uses resources that often interfere with
memory recall.
c. Syllables are often nonsensical, and so they can disrupt the recall task.
d. The use of syllables extends the primacy and recency effects.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: The Function of Working Memory
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Applying
23. When using the digit-span task, the capacity of working memory is estimated to be
a. approximately one chunk.
b. approximately three chunks.
c. approximately seven chunks.
d. unlimited.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Digit Span OBJ: 6.5
MSC: Remembering
25. Peter has a higher working memory capacity than Josh. Given previous correlational evidence,
who would you expect performs better on intelligence tests?
a. Peter c. We cannot tell.
b. Josh d. They are equally intelligent.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Operation Span
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Applying
29. Within working memory, “helpers” like the visuospatial buffer and articulatory rehearsal loop
a. can take over some of the lower-level analyses ordinarily performed by the central
executive.
b. can provide verbal, but not visual, analysis of the memory items.
c. provide short-term storage of items likely to be needed soon by the central executive.
d. preserve the items to be remembered in their initial sensory form (e.g., visual stimuli are
preserved as visual images).
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: The Working-Memory System
OBJ: 6.6 MSC: Evaluating
30. You are watching TV when a commercial advertising a new pizza place in town comes on. You
decide you want pizza and try to memorize the phone number given in the commercial. Just as you
are about to dial, your cell phone rings and you talk on the phone for a few minutes. What is most
likely to happen after you finish your call?
a. You definitely remember the phone number for the pizza place, so you call and order.
b. Out of habit, you call your favorite pizza place (whose number you have memorized),
forgetting you wanted to try the new place.
c. You think you remember the number and try calling, and you are correct.
d. You have forgotten the phone number and must rewind your DVR to retrieve it.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: Two Types of Rehearsal
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Applying
31. Participants in an experiment were asked to keep track of the most recent word they had heard that
started with a “G.” Therefore, participants should report “gravy” after hearing the sequence “girl,
grump, hat, scissors, whistle, pen, radio, bed, foot, glass, lantern, gravy.” Later, participants are
asked to report back all the “G ” words they heard. Then we would expect
a. good recollection of all the words because participants were able to concentrate their
attention on the task and rehearsed only one word at a time.
b. poor recollection of all the “G ” words because the situation invites maintenance rather
than elaborative rehearsal.
c. good recollection of “grump,” since this word was in the participants’ thoughts for a long
time (while they were waiting for “glass”).
d. poor recollection of the early words in the list but good recollection of the words in the
middle of the list.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Two Types of Rehearsal
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Analyzing
32. The strategy of maintenance rehearsal involves
a. the repetition of the items to be remembered and the simultaneous consideration of the
items’ meaning.
b. a focus on the associations between the items to be remembered and other thoughts and
ideas.
c. paying attention to the order of items, independent of their meaning.
d. the repetition of the items to be remembered, with little attention paid to what the items
mean.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Two Types of Rehearsal
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Remembering
33. For most recall tests, the transfer of items into long-term storage is best facilitated by ________
rehearsal.
a. maintenance c. recency
b. elaborative d. primacy
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Two Types of Rehearsal
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Remembering
34. Week after week, Solomon watched his favorite TV show. He never planned to memorize the
characters’ names and he never took any steps to memorize them. Nonetheless, he soon knew them
all. This sort of learning is called
a. elaborative. c. accidental.
b. intentional. d. incidental.
ANS: D DIF: Easy
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Applying
35. Which of the following exemplifies the memory effects of repeated exposure without intention to
remember?
a. Irv is unable to describe the appearance of his wristwatch even though he has owned it for
years and looks at it many times each day.
b. Mary is unable to recall the name of her first-grade teacher.
c. Tony is unable to remember his high school algebra even though he did well in his algebra
courses.
d. Samantha has managed, with some effort, to learn the names of all of her classmates.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Applying
36. Based on the composite depth of processing data presented in this book, how does the intention to
memorize influence how well we learn?
a. It influences learning only with shallow processing.
b. It influences learning only with deep processing.
c. The intention to memorize adds nothing to our ability to learn.
d. It improves our ability to learn, regardless of the depth of processing.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Analyzing
37. Which of the following groups is most likely to remember the material it is studying?
a. Group 1 intends to memorize a series of words and, while studying, repeats the words
mechanically over and over again.
b. Group 2 intends to memorize a series of words and, while studying, pays attention to the
exact appearance of the words.
c. Group 3 has no intention of memorizing the words and searches the list for spelling errors.
d. Group 4 has no intention of memorizing the words and attempts to determine how the
words are related to one another.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.7 | 6.8 MSC: Evaluating
40. A student wishes to memorize an essay so that he will be able to recall the essay’s content later on.
Which of the following is likely to be LEAST helpful to him?
a. making certain that he understands the argument contained within the essay
b. thinking about why the essay is organized in the way that it is
c. reading the essay aloud over and over again
d. trying to construct a paraphrase of the essay’s content
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Understanding and Memorizing
OBJ: 6.7 MSC: Applying
41. Reading your notes, or the textbook, over and over again is NOT recommended as a study strategy
because
a. it is an elaborate way to learn information.
b. it encourages deep processing.
c. it is a passive form of learning.
d. you should also be using a highlighter to identify important material.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Cognitive Psychology and Education
OBJ: 6.7 | 6.8 MSC: Evaluating
42. Data indicate that, all things being equal, recall performance will be best if materials are encoded
with ________ processing.
a. shallow c. deep
b. intermediate d. sensory
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.8 MSC: Remembering
43. Which of the following is an example of a question that leads to deep processing?
a. What is the meaning of the word “tantalizing”?
b. Are there more vowels or more consonants in the word “brain”?
c. Can you think of a word that rhymes with “elephant”?
d. How many syllables are there in the word “convenient”?
ANS: A DIF: Easy
REF: Incidental Learning, Intentional Learning, and Depth of Processing
OBJ: 6.8 MSC: Applying
44. Deep processing may lead to improved memory performance because it facilitates retrieval. How
exactly does this happen?
a. Deep processing forms many connections between the current item and previous
knowledge.
b. Deep processing causes items to be kept in working memory.
c. Deep processing encourages the use of mnemonics.
d. Deep processing forms fewer retrieval paths, making the correct path easier to access.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: The Role of Meaning and Memory
Connections
OBJ: 6.8 | 6.9 MSC: Analyzing
45. A participant is trying to memorize the word “parade.” To help herself, she thinks about the word
within a complicated sentence: “From their third-floor apartment, they had a great view of all the
bands, the cowboys, and the floats in the Thanksgiving parade.” This learning strategy will
produce
a. fine memory performance, but similar performance could be achieved with simpler
sentences as long as they require the participant to think about the meaning of the word.
b. poor memory performance because the complicated sentence draws attention away from
the target word.
c. excellent memory performance because the sentence involves a great deal of maintenance
rehearsal.
d. excellent memory performance because the strategy requires attention to meaning and
provides many memory connections.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Role of Meaning and Memory
Connections
OBJ: 6.8 | 6.9 MSC: Applying
46. Which of the following most accurately represents the probability an item will be retained (most
likely > least likely)?
a. deep > shallow > maintenance > deep elaborate
b. deep elaborate > deep > shallow > maintenance
c. maintenance > shallow > deep > deep elaborate
d. deep > deep elaborate > shallow > maintenance
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Elaborate Encoding Promotes Retrieval
OBJ: 6.8 MSC: Analyzing
47. Imagine you are shown the word “DOG” and asked one of the following questions about that
word. According to the principles of elaborative encoding, which of the following questions is
going to lead to the best memory performance?
a. Does it fit into the sentence, “The ________ wags his tail”?
b. Does it contain an “A”?
c. Does it fit into the following sentence: “The speeding car swung around the corner, music
blaring, and screeched to a halt before seeing the ________”?
d. Does it rhyme with “LOG”?
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Elaborate Encoding Promotes Retrieval
OBJ: 6.8 MSC: Applying
48. A physician has just read an article about a recently invented drug. Which of the following is
LEAST important in determining whether the physician will remember the article later on?
a. The physician read the article carefully to determine whether it was persuasive.
b. The physician realized how suggestions within the article could be integrated with other
things she already knew.
c. The physician expected to need the information later on and therefore employed a
maintenance memorization strategy that she believed had helped her memorize material in
the past.
d. The physician quickly saw that the new drug might have multiple uses, so she thought
about several circumstances in which she might use it.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: Understanding and Memorizing
OBJ: 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.10 MSC: Applying
49. It is difficult to predict what an individual will remember for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
a. individuals will engage in a variety of mnemonic techniques, some more successful than
others.
b. memory acquisition depends on previous knowledge, and everyone has different
knowledge.
c. encoding strategies should be adjusted to match testing strategies, but individuals do not
always know what the testing strategy will be.
d. it is difficult to test memory.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Study of Memory Acquisition
OBJ: 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.10 MSC: Evaluating
51. A helpful analogy for the encoding and retrieval process in long-term memory is
a. cataloguing. c. collating.
b. stacking. d. rummaging.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: The Role of Meaning and Memory
Connections
OBJ: 6.9 MSC: Analyzing
52. If a participant is asked to remember a previously experienced event, the relevant memory must be
accessed via
a. deep processing. c. a retrieval path.
b. elaborative processing. d. the memory index.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: The Role of Meaning and Memory
Connections
OBJ: 6.9 MSC: Understanding
55. Although mnemonics can be helpful for remembering a small number of specific items (like a
grocery list), they do have some drawbacks. One such problem is that
a. using a mnemonic involves a trade-off of attention so that less attention is available for
making the many memory connections that can help one understand the material.
b. mnemonics only work when remembering up to seven items.
c. mnemonics are particularly difficult to remember when specific information is being
tested.
d. the recall of all items by mnemonics is slow.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Mnemonics OBJ: 6.10
MSC: Evaluating
57. The memorizer plays an important role in memory acquisition. Which of the following is LEAST
likely to have an effect on long-term memory?
a. prior knowledge of the memorizer
b. the situation in which the memorizer learned the material
c. the rehearsal strategy the memorizer used
d. the IQ of the memorizer
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: The Contribution of the Memorizer
OBJ: 6.10 MSC: Analyzing
58. Several researchers have compared brain activity during the learning process for words that were
later remembered or forgotten. Which of the following is NOT consistent with their findings?
a. Increased activity in the hippocampus was associated with better retention.
b. Increased activity in the prefrontal cortex was associated with better retention.
c. Exposure to an item is enough for retention.
d. Learning is an active process.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: The Need for Active Encoding
OBJ: 6.11 MSC: Remembering
59. According to fMRI evidence, which of the following areas is/are critical to the successful encoding
of words?
a. amygdala
b. medial temporal lobe
c. prefrontal cortex
d. medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Need for Active Encoding
OBJ: 6.11 MSC: Remembering
60. Researchers have used fMRI to evaluate the neural areas that are correlated with successful
memory creation. They measured brain activity during encoding, gave participants a memory test,
and then
a. erased their memories.
b. measured neural activity for items that were elaborated.
c. compared active neural areas across men and women.
d. measured neural activity during retrieval.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Need for Active Encoding
OBJ: 6.11 MSC: Understanding
ESSAY
1. Imagine you are staring at a photograph of a man’s face and trying to memorize it for later. Using
the modal model, describe how the visual information will be processed and eventually stored in
memory.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: Updating the Modal Model OBJ: 6.1 | 6.2
MSC: Applying
2. Why is the term “working memory” now preferred over “short-term memory”?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
3. Describe the serial position curve and its relevance to the modal memory model. Include in your
answer a description of the procedure, traditional findings, and the manipulations that contribute to
its significance.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Difficult REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.3 | 6.4 MSC: Evaluating
4. Differentiate between the free recall procedure and the operation span task. Relate the differences
in procedure to the memory systems each test measures.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Easy REF: Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: One Memory or Two?
OBJ: 6.5 MSC: Understanding
5. Describe and then evaluate Baddeley’s working-memory model. Name two cognitive phenomena
that are well explained by the model and one that is not.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
6. Compare and contrast maintenance and elaborative rehearsal by considering their effects on the
creation of memory connections.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: Entering Long-Term Storage: The Need for Engagement
OBJ: 6.7 | 6.8 | 6.9 MSC: Evaluating
8. Your friend is having a hard time in biology and would like some tips on studying for the class.
What advice would you give your friend? Include at least three suggestions based on the
information you have learned in this chapter.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
9. Describe how previous knowledge or ideas of the memorizer can impact memory and how this can
sometimes lead us to make memory errors.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
10. Bill is given a list of words to memorize for a later test. While he is encoding the words, his brain
activity is measured using fMRI. Describe the patterns of activity you would expect to see in Bill’s
brain for words he later remembers and those he later forgets.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: The Need for Active Encoding OBJ: 6.11
MSC: Applying
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and children, and strangers?” I answer, in this case, a man may
shew his dislike, that others may not be hurt by the bad example. But
he should delay the proper, home reproof, ’till his wife and he be
together alone.
THE
1. special duties of a wife may be reduced to two heads, To
know herself the inferior, and to behave as such. First, She must
know herself the inferior; she must be thoroughly convinced, that she
is not her husband’s equal, without which there can be no content,
either in her heart, or in her house. Where the woman counts herself
equal with her husband, (much more, if she count herself better) the
root of all good carriage is withered, the fountain thereof dried up.
Whoever therefore would be a good wife, let this sink into her inmost
soul, “My husband is my superior, my better: he has the right to rule
over me. God has given it him, and I will not strive against God. He
is my superior, my better.” Unless she has learnt this lesson
perfectly, unless she has it at her fingers ends, if her very heart does
not thoroughly agree thereto, there will be nothing between them but
wrangling, repining, striving: so that their life will be little else than a
continual battle, a trying for masteries. Let us grant, you have more
wit and understanding than him, more readiness of speech, more
skill in business. Yet consider; your servant may exceed you in all
these, as much as you do him. And yet you would be loath that your
servant should claim an equality either with him or you. Know then, a
man may be superior in place to him, who is his superior in gifts: and
know likewise, thou dost abuse the gifts of God, if thence thou
infringest thy husband’s superiority. Wherefore, with all thy
understanding, understand this, that God has made him thy governor
and ruler, and thee his inferior, to be ruled by him, and to submit to
him in all things. Though he be of meaner birth and smaller capacity,
tho’ he had no wealth or name before thou didst marry him, yet from
that hour the case is changed, and he is no longer beneath thee, but
above thee. Set it down therefore as a conclusion never to be called
in question. “My husband is my superior.”
CHAP. VII.
Some Application of the Whole.
AND
1. * first, this yields a good instruction to young, unmarried
people; not to rush unadvisedly into this state. A thing of so
difficult a nature, should not be hastily undertaken. If they get not first
their hearts full of grace, and their heads full of wisdom, they will find
their hands full of work, an house full of trouble, and a life full of woe.
Dost thou desire to be married? Unless thou wouldst meet with gall
instead of honey, see what wisdom, what patience, what grace fit to
govern, or fit to obey, thou findest in thyself. Get these against thou
comest to use them, or marriage will yield thee small contentment.
Vain youths will marry, before they have any power to practise, any
understanding to know their duties. But he that leaps over a broad
ditch with a short staff, will fall into the midst: and he that enters into
marriage without great grace, shall fall into disquietude and vexation.
Let unmarried people think of this, and be wise before pain teaches
them wisdom.
3. In a word. Know thy own duty, mark thy own failings, and thou
wilt not quarrel with thy yoke-fellow. There is no better means of
peace, than for every one to learn his own work, and labour to mend
his own faults. Have you then both been to blame? Repent both, and
strain not courtesy which shall begin. Hast thou been a foolish,
passionate, or an unkind husband? Not regarding thy wife’s good?
Cry not, “She has been thus and thus;” but repent of thy own sin.
Seriously confess it to God. Beseech him to make thee a better
husband, that she may be a better wife. Hast thou been a brawling,
disobedient, or discontented wife? Ask thy heart before God, and
dissemble not. If so, clamour not against thy husband, exclaim not
against his passion or unkindness; but condemn thyself, and call
upon God, to make thee reverence and obey thy husband, as a
commander under him. Intreat him to make thee a better wife, that
he may be a better husband. Let each mend one, I mean himself,
and contention will cease. Pray each for yourself first, then for the
other: labour to see wherein you yourself have offended: and be not
skilful to cast the fault upon another, but to cast it out of yourself. So
shall your loves be sure, your lives comfortable, your deaths happy,
and your memories blessed for ever.
5. With regard to their spiritual good, your first labour of love is, to
present them to God in baptism. You are then to inure them to good,
to instruct and admonish them, to educate them in the knowledge
and fear of God, to season their minds as early as possible with the
fundamental truths of religion, and in such a manner as is best suited
to their capacity, to train them up in all holiness. Every instruction
should be seconded by example. Let them continually see, as well
as hear, how they ought to walk acceptably, and to please God. Be
peculiarly careful to set before your children the copies and patterns
of the virtues which you teach. And let them neither see nor hear any
thing from you, which you would not desire to have copied by them.
Even an Heathen, and none of the most virtuous, could say,
CHILDREN,
1. says the apostle writing to the Ephesians, (chap. vi.
ver. 1.) Obey your parents in the Lord. To which he adds,
Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with
promise, (with a particular promise annexed; for the promise
annexed to the second commandment, does not belong to the
keeping that command in particular, but the whole law:) that it may
be well with thee, and thou mayst live long upon the earth. And this
promise is by no means to be confined to the time of the Jewish
dispensation. On the contrary, there are not wanting many instances,
even in later times, of persons eminently dutiful to their parents, who
have been rewarded with eminent health and prosperity. Tho’ still it
is acknowledged, that this promise, as most others, may be
understood under the Christian dispensation, in a spiritual and more
exalted sense.
6. And yet we are to obey them only in the Lord: only so far as
consists with his authority over us. Therefore, if any of their
commands are contrary to the commands of God, in that case our
duty to God must be preferred. If therefore any parent should be so
wicked as to require his child to steal, to lie, or to do any thing
unlawful, the child offends not against his duty, tho’ he disobey that
command. Nay, he must disobey; otherwise he offends against an
higher duty, even that which every child of man owes to his Father
which is in heaven. Yet when it is necessary to refuse obedience, it
should be done in so modest and respectful a manner, that it may
plainly appear, not stubbornness but conscience is the ground of that
refusal. Let this appear likewise by your ready and chearful
compliance with all their lawful commands: as well knowing, that
wherever the command of a parent is not contrary to any command
of God, there the child is in conscience bound to obey, whether in a
weightier or lighter matter.
ST.thatPaultheyconfirms
1. his directions to masters by that consideration,
also have a master in heaven, and there is no respect
of persons with him. He regards no man’s outward condition: the
poor and the rich are the same to him, and the servant is as his
master. And the apostle, it seems, had learned of him, to be without
respect of persons. For he has the same care for servants as for
their masters, and is as large in his advices to them: nay, much more
so; probably considering, that they had fewer advantages of
education, and fewer opportunities of instruction. He is therefore
remarkably particular in his directions to these, which are given at
large in the epistle to the Ephesians, and to the Colossians. He gives
them farther directions in the first epistle to Timothy, and again in the
epistle to Titus. If we add hereto the advices given them by St. Peter,
we shall have a full account of the duties of Christian servants.
12. Yet all this time, beware that you do not act as men-pleasers,
as having no further design than to please men, to gain their
approbation or esteem, to be well-thought of and well-spoken of; or
to acquire any temporal advantage which may result from their
favour or good-will. Serve not with eye-service, (a certain
consequence of serving as men-pleasers) but to do just the same in
the absence of your master, as you do when under his eye. Let his
absence or presence make no difference in your industry and
activity. You may examine yourself by this rule: there is no surer
guard against self-deceit. Do I labour in the very same manner at
other times, as when my master is looking on? If I do not, I am no
better than a man-pleaser, I am a vile eye-servant in the sight of
God.