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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
Exam Help ArticlesAdd URL
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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
The Curve of Learning
A sudden, impressive, sharp event is not quickly forgotten. It is often reviewed, over and over, mentally. If all our work were translated into impressive events, dramatically induced, we would probably remember them much longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to "live into" the situations described in most textbooks, unless they happen to lend themselves to this method.
* J. A. McGeoch and W. T. McDonald, Am. J. Psychol. 43, 1931.
If the material is so far removed from your needs that you see no value in it aside from a possible answer to an exam question, you will have to accept the situation, and avoid arousing an inhibiting hostility to it. By revolting against it you lower your chances of remembering it.
Even if a majority of classmates believes something to be useless, the group as a whole might inhibit itself in taking only the short-range view by voting it unnecessary. If you cannot see the reason for something, it is proper to ask the professor why it is required. If his explanation is not convincing, he himself may begin to reflect upon it, and come to a conclusion about it that will modify the extent to which that subject matter is
REPETITIONS AND TIME
Fig. 5. Curve of performance
* Adapted from several sources, including data from E. L. Thorndike, Adult Learn «£(Macmillan Co., New York, 1936) and from M. C. Sand, "Effect of length of list upon retroactive inhibition," Archiv. Psychol. 238, 5-48, 1939.
covered. There is always plenty of other material than can be substituted in place of a portion for which no near or distant justification can be found.
How can one learn material which is not impressive or dramatic? By several methods:
A. Repetition is exceedingly helpful, particularly when a few minutes or an hour separate the attempts. (See Fig. 5.)
B. Multiple angles: Approaching a topic from a new angle sometimes attacks the subject better and fixes its position. Write what was only read. Recite what you have read and written. Dramatizing a scene is an extremely good method. Drawing an original diagram to relate things to one another (as R to S, or S to T) is quite helpful.
C. By taking an imaginary exam, perhaps with the help of a classmate, you can test yourself. Write out answers to review questions at each chapter's end.
D. By teaching someone else, or working with a classmate after you both have worked for a long time independently, you will heighten your interest and retention.
E. One can also look for the things which are so often asked for on
examinations, as gained by experience: analogies, comparisons, definitions, lists, associations, opposites, evaluations, causes and effects, pros and cons, series of steps, erroneous ideas set apart from newer evidence, questions raised by the professor, and problems which have been solved or which await solution.
Upon examining the curve of learning, it is immediately apparent that the quantity added gets smaller each time. Repetition is still profitable, but the profit decreases. This is an example of the Law of Diminishing Returns. How can we personally utilize this law?
