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

Scrambled Books

New on the scene is a novel type of self-education that might be dubbed "the paperback teaching machine." It consists of a set of material within the covers of a rather bulky book, with introductory information which must be learned fairly well. The student procedes from the descrip­tive portion to a question, and following it are several answers. Based upon what the student thought was implied by the introductory material, he selects an answer; this refers him to a page farther back in the scrambled
book. There he learns whether he was right or not, and if not, he is told why he was not. He must return and choose another answer. If the next one happens to be right, he is told to go on to another part of the book for the next situation. It is impossible to slide through an unmarked book without unusual luck or the right knowledge.