college – Cognition in Class

April 27, 2026April 28, 2026

Let’s Mix it Up: A Study Method That Actually Works!

How Interleaving seems harder, but works better.

By: Brailyn Zimmerman

Let me guess… you go to study for a test by rereading the same material, focusing on one subject for hours until it “feels” mastered, or doing the same problems over until you physically can’t, just to get to the exam and realize that all the cramming didn’t work as well as you thought.

It’s okay, you aren’t alone! Most of us study this way because it’s organized and productive, right? Cognitive psychology research suggests this may be one of the least effective ways to learn.

That disconnect is exactly why interleaving is such a game-changer. Mixing up different types of problems or topics during the study session instead of focusing on one at a time may feel harder in the moment, but research in cognitive psychology shows it actually leads to better learning and retention in the long run.¹

April 27, 2026April 28, 2026

How much Space? – Spacing Effect

By: Natallie Tobuk

Thinking back to my time as a freshman in college, I think that my advice to myself would be to rethink how I study for tests. I think that cramming for a test can be successful on occasion but doing it all the time will make your life more stressful than it needs to be. Procrastination was a method that I relied on throughout high school for assignments and even studying for tests and exams. Now that I have been in college for three years, I know that though I am a busy person, it is not effective and causes a lot of unnecessary stress. By rethinking how you study, you too can save yourself a lot of stressful nights and mornings by using the spacing effect to make your study sessions more effective.

April 26, 2026April 27, 2026

Study Techniques; Spaced v.s Mass Practice

By: Leon Danta

Introduction

Have you ever tried to intensely study for a long period of time without breaks? If so, do not worry, you are amongst many who believe that this is an efficient way of studying. As a first year freshman, I came into college with some knowledge about studying, but not as much as I know now. It can be overwhelming entering a new stage in your life, especially if no one in your family was interested in furthering their education. With your first lectures you may think to yourself: Am I taking notes right? What does that mean? Is this useful? I can’t push you to study a certain way as to each their own but, personally what I thought was the best way to study was to cram everything into one session right before a test, although the outcomes varied. Or even studying for a long amount of time with no breaks.

April 26, 2026April 27, 2026

Why Your Brain Loves Words and Pictures: Dual Coding Theory

By Cierra Crady

Introduction

As you can see, we see pictures with words and pictures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 times a year. We visualize what we see and/or imagine. For example, if we see words and can imagine what we read in a book or magazine, this is called the Dual Coding Theory.

How that works is that we have two brain systems:

Verbal System – Words, language, and/or written or spoken information
Non-verbal System – Images, mental pictures, and sensory pictures

April 26, 2026April 27, 2026

The Study Hack You Need: Chunking

By: Cole Smith

When I was in High School, I found myself studying for tests the night before and cramming all the material into one night study sessions. Once I got into college, I realized my prior study habits would not get me far , given how challenging the courses can be. Little did I know that the key to studying was actually something I had been doing since I was 6 years old! When you were a kid, did the story of your parents making you memorize their phone number or a street address by learning each part sound familiar? If it does, well then, you are already familiar with the concept of chunking! Splitting up the numbers in your parents’ phone number and memorizing each section, or by splitting up your street address and memorizing the number, street, and zip code separately, and then putting it all together, is a prime example of how chunking information works (1)!

April 26, 2026April 28, 2026

Understanding Versus Memorizing; Why Elaboration Is Better

By: Courtney Hart

Have you ever crammed for a test and immediately forgot what it is you learned afterwards. This is something I struggled with when first getting into college. I would study right before a test or some important assignment. I would get the topic down for the short period of time that I needed it but then when I try to recall it after a longer period. It was hard for me to remember, I used to blame my memory being bad, but I have come to realize it is just the way I was studying that was the problem. Well, that is because I was not trying to understand the information but just memorize it. One of the better ways to study is to understand. And that is exactly what the purpose of elaboration is. Elaboration is a technique that I learned that has helped me study and succeed within the learning environment.

April 26, 2026April 27, 2026

Not You Getting Distracted Again…

By: Mason Johnson

Introduction

You know those days where you tell yourself you’re going to be super productive, get all your work done, and finally stay focused… and then somehow you end up doing literally anything else? Yeah, same.

You sit down, open your laptop, maybe even have a snack ready, and within minutes, you’re checking your phone and giggling at random videos you didn’t even mean to tap on. Being a first-year college student is already a big adjustment, and trying to stay focused on top of that can feel impossible.

April 25, 2026April 27, 2026

Retrieval Practice: Learning that Lasts

By: Joshua Frenden

Introduction

Got a big test coming up? Need to learn something that you’ll be able to remember long term? Retrieval practice might become your new best friend. “Practicing retrieval yields significantly greater long-term retention of the studied materials than just restudying them” (Moreira et al., 2026). This method of retrieval is something that many, including myself, have found to be a very “effective… learning strategy” (Moreira et al., 2026). With the goal of “familiarity and recollection” in mind, retrieval practice might be the study method that you have been missing out on.

April 28, 2025April 28, 2025

“Why I Forgot Stuff During the Test After Studying Really Hard”

By Walter Medrano

Have you ever studied really hard for a test, but when you sit down to take it, your mind just blanks out and you notice that you’re not as confident as you were while studying? That’s happened to me more than once. I’d study in my dorm, feel super confident, and then get to the classroom and suddenly forget everything. I used to think it was just nerves or stress, but it turns out there’s actually a reason this happens, and it’s called the encoding specificity principle. It may sound scary at first but it’s actually pretty cool once you understand it.

April 27, 2025April 28, 2025

Studying hard but forgetting fast? Interference might be at fault

By Danika Apostolovich

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why you might have studied hard for an upcoming history exam, making sure you focus on the dates, people involved, and what countries might be involved within a war, just to completely blank and forget all of the details about what you studied when the exam is given out? This is especially frustrating when you know you put in the effort to do well on the test. Let me tell you, in college this especially gets hard when you have to balance so many different things on a daily basis.

Well Did you happen to also study for that spanish test that you have the next period after? As it turns out, the material from studying for that spanish test wound up interfering with your ability to accurately remember what you studied for the history exam.

This post will dive deeper into interference theory, specifically retroactive and proactive interference. So that when you are about to go on to your first semester of college, you can know how to avoid this unfortunate circumstance of forgetting info and instead replace it with better study techniques!