How to study (based on psychological understanding of memory): I have written each concept and at the end of the definition/logic I have put “USE: …” this is how to apply that concept to studying/memory ALL THESE CONCEPTS ARE RELATED SO READ THEM ALL (IT’LL TAKE A WHOLE FIVE MINUTES) AND I GUARANTEE IF YOU USE THEM WELL YOU WILL NOTICE Connectionism: Our brains memory functions are the result of the CONNECTIONS between neurons. When information is stored it is stored as a particular pattern of neurons which overlaps with other similar concepts. For example, while we can clearly distinguish between cats and dogs, they are both small (typically), furry, four legged animals so there is some overlap in the connection between them. If given a reaction-time test for dogs after thinking about cats you would likely respond quicker than if you were told to identify a soda bottle because the CAT region is still partially activated. USE: CONNECT WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING WITH AS MANY IDEAS AS POSSIBLE; PARTICULARLY THOSE INVOLVING MEMORIES YOU HAVE (BECAUSE WE ALL THINK ABOUT OURSELVES MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR BEST RETRIEVAL CUE)!!! Retrieval Cues: When we study we form connections between the concept we are trying learn and other related information. These objects are all CONNECTED. If we are studying family, for example, we may associate it with father, mother, siblings, home, love (in a perfect family haha), etc… there is certainly a difference between a sister and a family, but they are RELATED. On the inverse, if we think about sister, we will activate the connected idea of family. We may also connect it to personal memories about our own family (one of the best retrieval cues possible). In a tougher example (since most exams aren’t that simple) when I learned about sensation and perception and sound location I thought about movies and how when watching a video it actually seems like the sound is coming from different areas of the screen (despite the fact the sound is all coming from the same speakers); this is an example of a retrieval cue. USE: THE MORE CONCEPTS/MEMORIES YOU CAN CONNECT WITH WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO LEARN, THE BETTER YOUR ODDS OF REMEMBERING AT EXAM TIME!!! Contextual Cues: Apart from what we are ACTIVELY trying to remember, we take in a lot of background information too. To illustrate: when you are studying for an exam you are likely nowhere near as stressed as during the test. When test time comes we are in panic mode and can’t think of an answer that we KNOW we knew the night before. The second you leave the room you remember what you couldn’t during the test. This is because after the anxiety of the exam we are out of that mood and in one more similar to the one we were in when studying. In this case MOOD was a contextual cue: something we weren’t trying to study, but which got connected with our memory. This also applies for how hungry we are, sound we hear in the background, which room we study in, and many other things. USE: STUDY IN DIFFERENT ROOMS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES, AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF HUNGER, AND IN DIFFERENT EMOTIONAL STATES; THE MORE BACKGROUND DETAILS THAT ARE PRESENT, THE BETTER THE CHANCES THAT ONE OF THOSE WILL BE PRESENT AT EXAM TIME AND GIVE YOU THAT LITTLE EDGE!!! Spacing Effect: I am sure almost everyone who has been in school has crammed for an exam; while this beats not studying, there are better ways. Think about what was discussed above: you will have less variety in contextual cues and you will be rushing and fail to think ACTIVELY about the information. The spacing effect is the increase in memory performance when studying is spread across time. This is called distributed repetition as well. When you space your studying out several things happen: you are able to form more connections, there is less interference (a concept I do not have the time or energy to explain; basically information you previously encountered or encounter after studying impact your memory), your dreams serve as an effective means for strengthening the connection between concepts (again dreaming is too complex to explain briefly, but the bottom line is that dreams are just your brains way of condensing information and randomly activating and strengthening memories) and there are far greater contextual cues due to the variety of moods and settings. USE: DO NOT CRAM!!! SPREAD YOUR STUDIES OUT OVER TIME AND YOU WILL REMEMBER MORE WHILE NOT ADDING ANY ADDITIONAL STUDY TIME (AND YOU SAVE YOURSELF SOME SERIOUS STRESS)!!! Organization: Structuring your notes and the information you study into a system YOU CREATE is a very effective tool: you know what relationship you see between objects and how you would group them together. When you connect these topics each one serves as a retrieval cue for the other so by activating just one concept you are studying, you have better chances of remembering everything else. USE: COME UP WITH A WAY OF CATEGORIZING WHAT YOU ARE STUDYING; WHETHER IT BE GROUPING CONCEPTS OR COMING UP WITH SOME HEIRACHY OF FUNCTION!!! AND THE BEST FOR LAST!!!! The Testing Effect: In a study by Roediger & Karpicke they examined the testing effect. The premise is simple: “periodic retrieval of information is an effective means of long term retention;” let me show you what it means… The study was comprised of two groups of participants: a study group and a test group STUDY GROUP: They were presented with a piece of information to study (i.e. an advanced paper on photosynthesis) that they were not previously trained in. They were give five minutes to study the information, then a short break, then another five minutes, break, study, break for a total of four, five-minute, blocks of studying. (Abbreviated: S-S-S-S) TESTING GROUP: They were presented the same piece of information as the study group. They were given five minutes to study, then a break, then tested (told to write down everything they remembered), then a break, then tested again, break, test for a total of one, five-minute, study session and three, five-minute, test sessions. (Abbreviated: S-T-T-T) ***Participants were NOT given any feedback on their tests as to which areas were correct or not*** TEST!!!: Both groups were then given one final test FIVE MINUTES after final phase of initial part: S-S-S-S: Avg Score 80% S-T-T-T: Avg Score 70% I know it doesn’t seem like anything but keep going here (though the fact that the test group only studied 5 minutes and retained 70% is still pretty impressive to me) FINAL TEST!!!: ONE WEEK LATER both groups were tested again: S-S-S-S: Avg Score 40%!!!! S-T-T-T: Avg Score 60%!!! ***DO THE MATH!!! The group that had four study sessions went from 80% five minutes after studying (and I doubt you will ever be able to study an entire exam of material in 20 minutes and make it there within five) to 40% one week later: OUCH!!! The group that only studied for five minutes and was asked to write down all they remembered went from 70% five minutes after part 1 to 60% one week later: ALMOST ALL THEIR MEMORY WAS STILL ACCESSIBLE A WEEK LATER!!!*** USE: CREATE A STUDY GUIDE AND FILL IN ALL THE ANSWERS, THEN PRINT OUT BLANK COPIES AND FILL THEM IN FROM MEMORY: IT WORKS BEST IF YOU JUST DO SHORT-ESSAY QUESTIONS ON YOURSELF AND MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY KNOW THE INFORMATION AND ARE NOT JUST RECOGNIZING THE ORDER OF QUESTIONS. BONUS: YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE THESE PARTICIPANTS DID NOT- YOU CAN SEE WHAT AREAS YOU STRUGGLED WITH AND GO BACK AND RE-LEARN THEM TO TRY TO CREATE BETTER RETRIEVAL CUES FINAL POINT: I am a fairly intelligent guy, but I am no genius. However, I am in the Honor’s Program, have made Dean’s List every semester of college, have a 3.80 GPA while taking two-majors AND finding time to DJ and hit shows on weekends. I study less than most people I know and probably average 90% on all my exams. I was very fortunate to have Dr. Chrobak (who received his Ph.D. in human memory) my freshman year in college and I have been listening to his advice on studying the whole time and the RESULTS DON’T LIE!!! There are some other concepts that are helpful and I have the references available for every concept I discussed but I feel a 3 foot facebook post would scare the shit out of all my friends haha. If you have any questions lemme know. I am more than willing to help. I believe by understanding how memory works I was given the cheat codes for studying. Beyond that, I still remember the majority of information I have learned in college; even from two years ago. If you are paying money to be in school and hope to use your degree for more than a picture to hang over a hole in the wall, why not actually remember it so that whether your exam is today, tomorrow, next month, or a year from now, with just a quick refresh of your retrieval cues that YOU created, you can ace that shiz like the boss you are!!!
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 01:27:36 +0000
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