Tag: cramming

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To Cram, or Not to Cram

By Jenna Kinney

Have you ever found yourself the night before a huge exam cramming in hours of studying when you could have started days ago? Or have you spread your studying out when preparing for a huge exam? I would guess that most people would agree with the first question even myself would agree with ending up in that situation before a huge exam. But which method is more effective to receive the greatest outcome from the exam that you are preparing for? First is to know these are both cognitive processes the first one being massed practice and the second one being distributed practice. Distributed practice is establishing a time to practice and engage with the material you are studying, and you do this over many different times not just once. Massed practice is when the material you are studying is done repeatedly within a short period of time, and is only done once (6). Now the big question is which one is better?

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Don’t Ignore the Voices: They Could Be Helpful *insert suspenseful music*

By Joseph Contezac and Darlene Valdez

If you go in any coffee shop or public place on a college campus other than the library, you will see students studying and chatting with their friends. But is chatting while you study preventing you from remembering key info on that test you are studying for? Though studying with a partner has been shown to actually help with remembering information, simply chatting about everyday things while you study is a distraction that is anything, but helpful to your academic success. Due to the amount of media we consume and how readily available it is, millennials have adopted “strategies” for multitasking. Millennials in general, are all about multitasking, especially when the amount of work you have is not equal to the amount of time you have to do it. Focusing more on chatting and studying, it is important to note the reasons why this might be affecting your ability to remember key material. It all comes down to the concepts of divided attention, and the distinction between on-topic and off-topic conversation.

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Slow and Steady Wins the Race—Distributed vs. Massed Practice

By Keely Smith and Melanie Hernandez

Picture this. It is late August. Tomorrow is the day that you leave your hometown to move into your college dorm. You cannot contain your excitement. You are going to your dream school. This is the moment you have waited for all summer. But, you realize that you are a little worried. Numerous questions run through your head. What if college is much harder than high school? What if you do not get the same good grades that you always used to? What if you do not maintain the GPA you need in order to keep your scholarship? What if you disappoint your parents? If this sounds like you, then you have found your way to the right blog—we are here to offer you Cognitive Psychology’s best advice for successful learning and studying in college.

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