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Preface
Introduction
1. The Big Picture
2. Techniques of Studying
3. Examinations
4. Thinking Process
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1. The Big Picture
2. Techniques of Studying
3. Examinations
4. Thinking Process
Resources
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2. Mechanics and Techniques of Studying
A methodical approach | The weekly schedule card | Why study? – Material rewards | Why study? – Non-material rewards | The wall calendar | The pocket date book | Sleep | Tools of the trade general | Tools of the trade specific | Go out for sports? | How detailed should class notes be? | Four methods of taking notes | Notebook inspection | Some note-taking hints | What is important? | What is not important? | Study old exams? | Working conditions | A typical study session | “Take ten!” | Retroactive amnesia | The curve of learning | The law of diminishing returns | The curve of forgetting | Hypnosis | Teaching machines | Reading-acceleration machines | Television | Scrambled books | Distractions enemies of retention
"Take Ten!"
Promptly at the end of fifty minutes, take a break. After ten minutes, just as promptly, return to work. What should you do during the break? Do something relaxing, not something exciting. Play some music, look out the window, lie down and rest your eyes — do anything which does not tend to wash away the memory of what you just studied. The ten-minute break can work in your favor if you control rather than abuse it.
Fig. 4. Effect of mental activity and of rest upon remembering
studied material
Figure 4 shows graphically the decline of retention (lower line) when the tested persons studied awhile and then were given some other mental task immediately for ten minutes. Compared with the upper line, there is a noticeable difference favoring an interval of rest at the end of ten minutes when both groups were tested again. The material learned was not meaningful material, and it is possible that the wide difference in the percentage remembered would not be as great for you during your study of ideas. Other types of material learned were also subject to the same tests, and the gap was less.*
