Spy School

by Denis Bukin

  March 5, 1955

  Didn’t get to sleep tonight. Got called into the office for my first assignment in the middle of the night. A man disappeared, 58 years of age. Bernstein. I’ve seen him around the department a few times. Looks like all the instructors knew Bernstein.

  Secret documents that our troops captured in Berlin in 1945 have disappeared from the archive. Bernstein was responsible for their safekeeping. I think the two disappearances are related, and this relationship has to be explained. I was tasked with collecting information on Bernstein: who he communicated with, where he spent his time, who he was intimate with and if he had any close friends. I’ll report back to my supervisor. According to him, Bernstein could have stolen the documents and gone underground. Or Bernstein could have died or been kidnapped over access to these documents. The second would be better. I’m having trouble suspecting Bernstein. He looked so harmless.

  I wonder what was in those documents. I’m curious. I definitely have to get to the bottom of this.

  ★ Train your brain – Dice. Level 2

  Try adding in more dice, with different colours. Only look at them for 10 seconds.

  Exercise

  Get comfortable, close your eyes and recreate from memory a place you visit often. It can be your favourite coffee shop, an office or a concert hall. Recall the layout of the place. Recall the walls, the floor, the ceiling. How is the furniture arranged? What objects are on the tables and shelves? Imagine yourself sitting at your usual place. What can you see? Try to see the same setting from a different angle: take a different seat, stand on the table or lie down on the floor. What can you see now?

  11 March 1955

  Today, I met with my handler, in secret. I’m going to work on the case of the secret documents directly. We met on Gogol Boulevard, on a bench. During my lunch break. He told me about how we will keep in touch. When I have something to report, I have to come to this square on Tuesday or Friday, to this bench. I can’t come to the KGB, yet – I could be being watched. That’s not too bad, but there’s no reason to draw attention to myself.

  It was pretty funny, there was a huge puddle under the bench, and we both sat down on the bench, trying not to get our feet wet and pretending not to know each other.

  I told him everything I had found out about Bernstein. It turned out to be a long story. My boss would ask a question if he didn’t understand something. Then I went back to work and my boss stayed on the bench.

  ★ Train your brain – Crossword 5×5

  Now draw squares 5x5 on the crossword puzzles. Remember the location of darker cells and recreate them as shapes so it will be easier for you to perform the exercise at higher levels, when the matrix is bigger.

  Even if you can do the task without much effort, repeat the exercise several times. Reinforce the skill.

  Recalling the forgotten

  In some cases, an intelligence officer may have to deal with a member of the public who accidentally witnesses a dramatic event. These types of events can shock someone so much that they only remember one minor detail, forgetting the rest. This can happen, for example, in the case of an armed attack: a witness will only remember the weapon aimed at them and will not recall anything about the attacker’s appearance. The goal of an intelligence officer is to help the witness recall what they saw and heard. The most effective method for achieving this is to return the person to the situation they’ve experienced:

  • Meet with your informant in a relaxed atmosphere. Get them comfortable and ask them to close their eyes. Ask questions that will help them to immerse themselves back in the situation in their imagination.

  • The informant should recall as many details of the incident as possible. Start with the basics. Where did it happen? Under what circumstances? What did the location look like? How was it lit? Was it cold or hot? Windy? What noises and sounds could a witness hear? What did it smell like? Where was the smell coming from? When did the event occur? What preceded it? What led the witness to this place?

  • After recreating the circumstances, start moving towards the event itself in small steps. What happened? How did the witness react to it? What did they feel and think? What happened then? Gradually, step by step, you will come to the information you need. Now, immersed in the situation, they will once again be able to see or hear what needs to be recalled.

  To make this method work, it is important to focus the witnesses’ memory on the restoration of their feelings and experiences, not of the facts. Remember to use all five senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste.

  You may find an instance where you yourself need to recall something important. Your actions in this case would be the same: return to the situation and recall all the feelings and emotions you had.

  Recalling a situation through recreation is not necessarily tied only to imagination. If possible, it makes sense to return to the place of the event (preferably at the same time of day) and to try to recollect there.

  Exercise

  You can use any instance at home in which you’ve lost a particular item to train recollection. Think back to the last time you were holding the object. What were you doing? How did you use it? Who was at home with you? Who were you talking to? What happened before that? What was your mood? Maybe you were in a hurry, or you were bored? What were you thinking about? How did you use the lost item, and what happened after that? Where did you go with it?

  Check the places where you used the lost item and the places where you went after that. If you succeeded in recreating the situation, you will find the missing item much faster than if you had turned the whole house upside down trying to find it.

  If someone else has lost an item, perform this exercise with them. If you find the item, be proud of yourself! You helped someone else train their recollection!

  ★ Train your brain – Pairs, 4×4

  Keep on training your working memory. Add in two more of each suit until there are four rows of four cards.

  Setting and memory

  Memories are often tied to the settings in which they are made. It is much easier to recall the events of school when you are back in the classroom where you spent several years, rather than working in an office. Settings, feelings, sounds and smells can all be associations that help you to draw the past out from memory.

  This is more than just an interesting fact. Have you ever been unable to remember the correct answer in an exam, but had it come to mind immediately after you got home? One reason for this may be incorrectly organized memorization. For a student who studied for an exam in pyjamas, sitting in bed with a cup of hot chocolate, the best way to take the exam would be in pyjamas, leaning on pillows and holding a cup. Obviously this isn’t possible so it is better to prepare for an exam by sitting at a desk, focused and concentrating.

  The setting of learning must match the proposed recall setting. Keep that in mind as you prepare for assignments.

  Exercise

  To train episodic memory (the memory of events), it is useful to recall the recent past. What happened to you today? How did you wake up? What was your mood? What did you dream about?

  Try to remember where you were. What were you doing? Who did you meet with? What were they wearing? What were you talking about? How did you feel when talking to them? Whom did you call and why? What did you eat? What sounds could you hear? Exactly how much money did you spend throughout the day?

  Change up the order of recall: on one day, remember the events of the day from morning to evening, on another, reverse the order. Start by recalling one day, then two, three days or all week. Try to remember your day from a week ago. If you perform this exercise every day, you will be able to accurately remember what happened to you in your chosen time slot within a couple of hours. This is a valuable skill in the case of detection.

  Test yourself

  What does the investigation into the missing classified documents aim to determine? (You may choose more than one answer)

  A) Bernstein’s
current whereabouts

  B) The contents of the stolen documents

  C) Bernstein’s possible motives

  D) The circumstances of the theft of the documents

  E) The present location of the documents

  2

  CASE OFFICER

  Agent recruitment

  Recruitment of new agents is an extremely serious matter. Recruiting operations are planned well in advance of their implementation. The circumstances and connections of a prospective agent and the potential of access to interesting information are all evaluated. A candidate’s personal attributes and suitability to intelligence work are also established.

  Depending on the situation, an agent may be recruited for a short period, for the duration of an operation or long term. They may be brought in gradually or offered a large assignment at once. Sometimes agents are recruited under a ‘false flag’, keeping the real employer hidden. Thus, a young and ambitious employee can be hired by an intelligence service under the cover of a competitor.

  The basis for recruitment – an agent’s motivation – can also vary. An agent can work for money, for a higher post, or simply for an ideal. Sometimes agents are recruited by blackmail.

  Recruitment is sealed with a non-disclosure contract, which has no legal force, but binds the agent morally and can be used as compromising evidence. Sometimes, instead of a non-disclosure contract, the agent can sign a contract for money. After recruitment, an agent is assigned a pseudonym under which they appear in all intelligence documents. This confidentiality is used to protect the source of operative information.

  Recruitment is carried out by a case officer – a smart analyst, a sharp psychologist and a perceptive judge of people. They often know how to persuade and inspire people. It is he or she who comes in contact with the future agent, gains their confidence, negotiates working conditions and secures cooperation.

  The three principles of mnemonics

  Mnemonics are devices that can help develop your memory to enable you to remember facts or large amounts of information.

  There are many different mnemonics, but they are all subject to three principles.

  1. The use of association

  Associativity is a fundamental feature of the psyche. The brain is a perfect machine for building connections between different images and concepts. Memory contains a long and complex chain of associations. If you think of Christmas, at once you imagine a Christmas tree, carols and presents. If a person is thinking about childhood memories, a Christmas tree can bring back thoughts of Santa Claus, gifts and hanging out your stocking. Someone more pragmatic might think of the expense of gift-giving. Someone more religious may think of the Gospel narratives of Jesus’s birth.

  You already know that the secret of a good memory is not so much remembering as extracting information. It’s easier to remember something if it is tied to what you already know. With the help of an association chain, it will be easily recalled when necessary.

  Hence the first principle of mnemonics: to remember something, tie it to something that is familiar to you so that you can recall it easily.

  2. Coding information with images

  You already know how important imagination is for a good memory. Images are easier to remember than words and numbers. Hence the second principle of mnemonics: convert the information you need to remember into pictures.

  The first and the second principles of mnemonics are used together. For example, if you need to remember the exact code for an automatic luggage locker being used as a dead letter box: 855411. Perhaps you will need this code a few years from now.

  Imagine the numbers in the form of pictures (the principle of coding information through images) and link the images together (the principle of association). The number 8 looks like a plump woman. ‘5’ is a unicycle with one wheel and a seat, ‘4’ is a chair and ‘1’ is a broom. A woman (8) rides on two unicycles (55). One is not enough for her, because she’s heavy. In order to keep the unicycles together, she has tied them to a chair (4), on which she sits. But the unicycles are difficult to balance, so, like a tightrope walker, she uses two brooms to stay up (11). She is heading, of course, to the train station, which has luggage storage lockers. Imagine this picture vividly, and the code will not be erased from your memory.

  A little advice – it is even better if the concepts are not only visual. Including sound, texture, smell and taste will help you to remember things more clearly. Remember Shereshevsky with his synaesthetic perception. If you imagine a tree, imagine it in detail: it has a large crown with young tender leaves, it smells of fresh sap and it has a warm rough bark on which droplets of sticky, bitter resin glisten.

  3. Emotional attitude

  People prefer to conserve energy and do not like doing extra work. The brain gives tasks priority depending on the strength of the emotions associated with them. For example, a predator represents a direct threat and causes fear – you have to either fight it or flee it. Extreme thirst would cause concern and forces us to search for water. The smell of rotten food causes disgust, which protects from possible poisoning. Events associated with strong emotions make us learn – avoiding predators’ trails, remembering the way to a water source and avoiding spoiled food.

  Emotions activate memory. If you ask the average person to recall events that occurred a few years ago, they will most likely remember milestones in their life: the birth of children, meeting or parting with a life-partner, moving, changing jobs or exciting travel. All of these events caused strong emotions when they occurred, and that’s why they are so memorable. The rest, as a rule, is erased from memory as something ordinary, not worthy of interest. In other words, you only remember what you need to remember, what you really care about.

  The third principle of mnemonics is: establish an emotional attitude towards the memorized information. Do you remember the locker code from the previous principle? Why do you think that is? Partly because you were surprised or confused by the comically absurd image of a woman riding unicycles tied to a chair, trying to keep her balance with two brooms. You will study mnemonic techniques. Do not be put off by their absurdity – it is good because it causes emotional responses, and thus allows you to remember well and recall quickly.

  Notes

  Associations

  The associations that we use for memorization can be very different.

  1. Similarity in appearance, function, spelling or sound. The bases for similarity can be:

  – The number 8 is similar to a plump woman, to glasses seen from above, or to the infinity sign;

  – A plane flies, which makes it similar to a bird, a parachute and a kite;

  – The Spanish word la bandera (meaning flag) contains the familiar word band. You will notice that flags in the Middle Ages consisted of a band or strip of fabric.

  2. Contrast: light and dark, salty and sweet, male and female.

  3. Cause and effect: clouds bring rain, fire creates heat and banana peel can cause someone to slip.

  4. Integration in time and space: the Kremlin is in Moscow, the Bronze Horseman is in Saint Petersburg, Leonardo da Vinci lived in the Renaissance.

  History confirms the importance of association for remembering. Many ancient texts – epics, legends, sagas, scientific treatises and collections of medical prescriptions – were created in verse form. Metre, rhyme, harmony and repetition – these associations between words helped our ancestors memorize the great texts.

  There is a rule in memory improvement: the more you know, the easier it is for you to remember. Someone with a vast system of knowledge can more easily connect new data to information they already have.

  Exercise

  The ability to quickly pick associations and tie a variety of things together is an integral part of any mnemonic. You can develop this skill by practising regularly. Try to link two different items that you can see. How can you connect a door knob and a paper clip? Is their curved shape similar? Or can you melt a pack of paper clips
to cast a knob? Or simply attach a paper clip to the knob?

  ★ Train your brain – Word pairs. Level 1

  Learning to make associations between words is important for all the mnemonics described in this book. Pay attention to this exercise.

  Below are a few pairs of words. You need to remember them.

  Make associations linking the words in each pair. Pick images to remember these associations. Close the book for 60 seconds.

  Once the time for memorization is up, say the words and their pairs out loud. How many did you remember?

  Watermelon/bat

  Helicopter/dress

  Tree/telephone

  Flowers/puddle

  Camera/coins

  Pillow/carrots

  Truck/teddy bear

  Magnet/paintbrush

  Keys/fork

  Cinder block/chair

  ★ Train your brain – Word pairs. Level 2

  Keep on developing skills in building associations. This list of word pairs is longer and trickier – have a go at memorizing them all! If you’re finding it too hard, try splitting the list in half.

  Commander/zebra

  Fish tank/cookery book

  Scissors/lime

  Tennis racquet/sunscreen

  Sponge/hammer

  Apple/wishbone

  Dinosaur/peanut butter

  Credit card/chocolate

  Rolling pin/screwdriver

  Toothpick/teapot

  Salt shaker/sword

  CD/bottle of soda

  Steak knife/bow tie

  Rubber band/pine cone

  Perfume/martini glass

  Lists of words

  The ability to memorize lists of words is a significant milestone in improving memory. Firstly, it will allow you to show off! You can impress your friends by repeating forty dictated words from the first to the last. Secondly, it will allow you to memorize a list of daily chores, the minutes of a meeting or a plan of your speech.