Use Psychology to Become a Stronger Person—and a Better Student
Throughout this text, we will offer evidence-based suggestions that you can use to live a happy, effective, flourishing life, including the following:
- Get a full night’s sleep. Unlike sleep-deprived people, who live with fatigue and gloomy moods, well-rested people live with greater energy, alertness, and productivity.
- Make space for exercise. Aerobic activity not only increases health and energy, it also is an effective remedy for mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
- Set long-term goals, with daily aims. Successful people take time each day to work toward their goals, such as exercising or sleeping more, or eating more healthfully. Over time, they often find that their daily practice becomes a habit.
- Have a “growth mindset.” Rather than seeing their abilities as fixed, successful people view their mental abilities as like a muscle—something that grows stronger with effortful use.
- Prioritize relationships. We humans are social animals. We flourish when connected in close relationships. We are both happier and healthier when supported by (and supporting) caring friends.
Psychology’s research also shows how we can learn and retain information. Many students assume that the way to cement new learning is to reread. What helps even more—and what this book therefore encourages—is repeated self-testing and rehearsal of previously studied material. Memory researchers Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke (2006) call this phenomenon the testing effect. They note that “testing is a powerful means of improving learning, not just assessing it.” In one of their studies, English-speaking students recalled the meaning of 40 previously learned Swahili words much better if tested repeatedly than if they spent the same time restudying the words (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008). Many other studies, including in college classrooms, confirm that frequent quizzing and self-testing boosts students’ retention (McDaniel et al., 2015; Trumbo et al., 2016).
As you will see in Modules 31–33, to master information you must actively process it. Your mind is not like your stomach, something to be filled passively; it grows stronger only with effort. Countless experiments reveal that people learn and remember best when they put material in their own words, rehearse it, and then retrieve and review it again.
The SQ3R study method incorporates these principles (McDaniel et al., 2009; Robinson, 1970). SQ3R is an acronym for its five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve,2 Review. We have organized this book in a way that facilitates your use of the SQ3R study system.
To study a module, first survey, taking a bird’s-eye view. Scan the headings, and notice how the module is organized. Before you read each main section, try to answer its numbered Learning Target (for this section: “How can psychological principles help you learn, remember, and thrive, and do better on the AP® exam?”). Roediger and Bridgid Finn (2010) have found that “trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning.” Those who test their understanding before reading, and discover what they don’t yet know, will learn and remember better.
Then read, actively searching for the answer to the question. At each sitting, read only as much of the module (usually a single main section) as you can absorb without tiring. Read actively and critically. Ask questions. Take notes. Make the ideas your own: How does what you’ve read relate to your own life? Does it support or challenge your assumptions? How convincing is the evidence?
“ It pays better to wait and recollect by an effort from within, than to look at the book again.”
William James, Principles of Psychology, 1890
Having read a section, retrieve its main ideas: “Active retrieval promotes meaningful learning,” says Karpicke (2012). So test yourself. This will not only help you figure out what you know, the testing itself will help you learn and retain the information more effectively. Even better, test yourself repeatedly. We offer many self-testing opportunities throughout each module—for example, in the Check Your Understanding sections. After answering the Test Yourself questions there, you can check your answers in Appendix E at the end of this text and reread as needed.
More learning tips To learn more about the testing effect and the SQ3R method, view the 5-minute animation “Make Things Memorable,” at tinyurl.com/HowToRemember.
Finally, review: Read over any notes you have taken, again with an eye on the module’s organization, and quickly review the whole module. Write or say what a concept is before rereading to check your understanding. The Module Review provides answers to the learning target questions along with helpful review questions. The Unit Review offers Key Terms and Key Contributors, along with AP® Exam Practice Questions. In addition to learning psychology’s key concepts and key people, you will also need to learn the style of writing that is required for success on the exam. The sample grading rubrics provided for some of the Free-Response Questions (essay-style questions) in the module and unit reviews will help get you started.
Four additional study tips may further boost your learning:
Distribute your study time.
One of psychology’s oldest findings is that spaced practice promotes better retention than massed practice. You’ll remember material better if you space your time over several study periods—perhaps one hour a day, six days a week—rather than cram it into one week-long or all-night study blitz. For example, rather than trying to read an entire module in a single sitting, read just one main section and then turn to something else. Interleaving your study of psychology with your study of other subjects boosts long-term retention and protects against overconfidence (Kornell & Bjork, 2008; Taylor & Rohrer, 2010).
Spacing your study sessions requires a disciplined approach to managing your time. At the beginning of this text, Richard O. Straub explains time management in a helpful preface.
Learn to think critically.
Whether you are reading or in class, note people’s assumptions and values. What viewpoint or bias underlies an argument? Evaluate evidence. Is it anecdotal? Or is it based on informative experiments? (More on this in Module 6.) Assess conclusions. Are there alternative explanations?
Process class information actively.
Listen for the main ideas and sub-ideas of a lesson. Write them down. Ask questions during and after class. In class, as with your homework, process the information actively, and you will understand and retain it better. As psychologist William James urged a century ago, “No reception without reaction, no impression without . . . expression.” Make the information your own. Relate what you read to what you already know. Tell someone else about it. (As any teacher will confirm, to teach is to remember.)
Also, take notes by hand. Handwritten notes, in your own words, typically engage more active processing, with better retention, than does verbatim note taking on laptops (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014).
Overlearn.
Psychology tells us that overlearning improves retention. We are prone to overestimating how much we know. You may understand a module as you read it, but that feeling of familiarity can be deceptively comforting. By using the Check Your Understanding questions, you can test your knowledge and overlearn in the process.
Memory experts Elizabeth Bjork and Robert Bjork (2011) offer simple, scientifically-supported advice for how to improve your retention and your grades:
Spend less time on the input side and more time on the output side, such as summarizing what you have read from memory or getting together with friends and asking each other questions. Any activities that involve testing yourself—that is, activities that require you to retrieve or generate information, rather than just representing information to yourself—will make your learning both more durable and flexible. (p. 63)