23 science-backed study tips to ace a test _ greatist

7/28/2019 23 Science-Backed Study Tips to Ace a Test _ Greatist

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02/03/2013 23 Science-Backed Study Tips to Ace a Test | Greatist

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byShana Lebowitz 2 months ago Happiness

23 Science-Backed Study

Tips to Ace a Test

Tis the season to start studying. All over the country, students in high school, college, and grad school

are going into panic mode, wondering how theyll manage to remember an entire semesters worth of

information before the big final. Luck ily, weve got some advice to make those freak-outs a thing of the

past. From talk ing out loud to tak ing gym breaks, here are 23 ways to (gasp) get psyched about

studying and ace those exams.

Remember Your Stuff

Study when sleepy. Bedtime stories are for wimps. Instead of reading The Berenstein Bears, try

studying for a few minutes right before hitting the hay. During sleep, the b rain strengthens new

memories, so theres a good chance wellremember whatever we reviewright before dozing

off[1]. (Just try not to bring work into the actual bed, since it can make it harder to get a good nights

sleep.) And though bedtime is primo study time, it might also help to crack open the books after

cracking open those eyes in the A.M. in the morning, the brain still has lots of room to absorb new

information.

Space it out. A relatively new learning technique called spaced repetition involves breaking up

information into small chunks and reviewing them consistently over a long period of time. So dont try

to memorize the entire periodic table in one sitting instead, learn a few rows every day and review

each lesson b efore starting anything new.

Tell a tale. Turning the details you need to rememberinto a crazy storyhelps make the information

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more meaningful. For example, remember the order of mathematic operations PEMDAS this way:

Philip (P) wanted to eat (E) his friend Mary (M) but he died (D) from arsenic (AS) poisoning.

Move your butt. Research suggests studying the same stuff in a different place every day makes us

less likely to forgetthat information. Thats because, every time we move around (from the library to

the coffee shop, or the coffee shop to the toilet seat), we force the brain to form new associations

with the same material so it becomes a stronger memory.

Switch it up. Dont stick to one topic; instead, study a bunch of different materialin one sitting. This

technique helps prepare us to use the right st rategy for finding the solution to a problem. For example,

doing a bunch of division problems in a row means every time we approach a problem, we know itll

require some division. But doing a series of problems that require multiplication, division, or addition

means we have to stop and think about which strategy is best.

Put yourself to the test. Quizzing ourselves may be one of the best ways toprepare for the real deal.

And dont worry about breaking a sweat while trying to remember the name of the 37th U.S. president

(fyi, its Nixon): The harder it is to remember a piece of information in practice mode, the more likely

we are to remember it in the future.

Write it out. Put those third-grade penmanship lessons to good use. Research suggests we store

information more securely when we write it out by hand than when we type it. Start by recopying the

most important notes from the semester onto a new sheet of paper.

Make me wanna shout. Reading information out loud means mentally storing it in two ways: seeing it

and hearing it[2]. We just cant guarantee you wont get thrown out of the library.

Stay Focused

Come together (right now). Group work doesnt fly with everyone, but for those who benefit from a

little team effort, a study groups the way to go. Pick a few studious pals and get together every few

days to review the material. Put one person in charge of delegating tasks (snack duty, music

selection) and keeping the group on target with its goals.

Treat yo self!A healthy holiday cook ie, a walk around the b lock , five minutes of tweet-time: whatever

floats your boat. Knowing theres a li ttle reward waiting for us at the end of just a few pages mak es it

easier to beat procrastination while slogging through a semesters worth of notes.

Drink up. Sorry, not thatkind of drink. Instead, hit the local coffee shop for somethingcaffeine-filled;

theres lots of research suggesting coffee (and tea) keeps us alert, especially when nothing seems

more exciting than the shiny gum wrapper on the library floor[3].

Take a time out. Taking time to plan is one of the most important skills a student can have. Dont

just start the week with the vague goal of studying for a history exam instead, break up that goal

into smaller tasks. Pencil it in on the calendar like a regular class: For example, allot every day from

1 to 3 p.m. to review 50 years worth of info.

Gimme a break. The KitKat guys said it, and so does science: Taking regular breaks can boost

productivity and improve our ability to focus on a single task[4]. For a real productivity boost, step

away from the sc reen and break a sweat during a midday gym sesh.

Work it out. Get stronger and brainier at the same time. Research has found just half an hour of

aerobic exercise can improve our brain-processing speedand other important cognitive abilities. Jog

a few laps around the block and see if you dont come back with a few more IQ points.

Daaaance to the music. As anyone whos ever relied on Rihanna to mak e it through an all-night study

session knows, music can help beat stress. And while everyones got a different tune preference,

classical music in particular has been shown to reduce anxiety and tension. So give those b iology

notes a soundtrack and feel at least some of the stress slide away.

Nix the net. Weve all been there, facing the siren call of a friends Facebook wall on the eve of a

giant exam. If a computers necessary for studying, try an app (such as this one) that blocks the

Internet for a short period of time and see how much more you get done.

Say om. Just before staring at a piece of paper for three hours, stare at a wall for three minutes.

Research suggests meditation can reduce anxietyand boost attention span. While those studies

focus mostly on regular meditation, theres no harm in t rying it out for a few minutes to calm pre-test

jitters[5].

Doze off. When theres a textbook full of equations to memorize, it can be tempting to stay up all

night committing them to memory (or trying to). But all-nighters rarely lead to an automatic A in

fact, theyve been link ed to impaired cognitive performance andgreater sensitivity to stress[6]. In the

days leading up to a big exam, aim to get those seven to nine hours a night so sleep deprivation

doesnt undo all the hard work youve put in.

Own the Omegas. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in certain fish, nuts, andolive oil, are k nown for their

brain-boosting potential. One study found that eating a combination of Omega-3-and Omega-6 fatty

acids before an exam actually reduced test anxiety[7].

Feel free to inhale. Dusty old library again or spa day? Research has found that catching a whiff of

essential oils (like rosemary or lavender) can help calm students down before a big exam[8]. Skip the

frantic last-minute review and try a few minutes of aromatherapyinstead.

Practice your brain pose. Hardcore yogis tend to have better cognitive abilities especially

attention span than folk s less familiar with Down Dog[9]. A few daily sun salutations may be all it

takes to keep centered during finals period.

Learn what works. Some people are early birds; some are night owls; some prefer to study with a

pal; others need complete and total silence. Experiment to f ind whats most effect ive for you, and then
http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_8_52772http://greatist.com/happiness/does-aromatherapy-work/http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_7_52772http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_6_52772http://www.greatist.com/health/cooking-oil/http://www.greatist.com/nuts/http://greatist.com/tips/todays-greatist-tip-fight-stress-with-fish/http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_5_52772http://greatist.com/happiness/tips-sleeping-better/http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_4_52772http://greatist.com/happiness/can-meditation-make-smarter/http://selfcontrolapp.com/http://greatist.com/happiness/the-unexpected-stress-busting-power-of-music-030512/http://greatist.com/happiness/47-ways-to-boost-brain-power-now-021512/http://greatist.com/fitness/try-a-midday-workout-to-boost-productivity-021612/http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_3_52772http://greatist.com/happiness/stop-procrastinating-help/http://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_2_52772http://www.greatist.com/caffeine/http://greatist.com/happiness/stop-procrastinating-help/http://greatist.com/health/healthier-holiday-cookies/http://web.duke.edu/arc/documents/How%20to%20Form%20a%20Successful%20Study%20Group.pdfhttp://greatist.com/happiness/better-study-tips-test/#footnote_1_52772http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-haptics/digitizing-literacy-reflections-on-the-haptics-of-writinghttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=homepage&src=mehttp://uweb.rc.usf.edu/~drohrer/pdfs/Taylor&Rohrer2010ACP.pdfhttp://www.greatist.com/coffee/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=homepage&src=mehttp://www.mathsisfun.com/operation-order-pemdas.html


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stick with it!

What are your favorite study tips? Share in the comments below or tweet the author directly

@ShanaDLebowitz.

Works Cited

1. Memory for semantically related and unrelated declarative information: the benefit of sleep, the cost of wake. Payne,

J.D., Tucker , M.A., Ellenbogen, J.M., et al. Depar tment of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana,

United States of America. PLoS One 2012; 7(3) :e33079. []

2. When learning met memory. Macleod, C.M. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Ontar io. Canadian

Journal of Experimental Psychology 2010;64(4):227-40. []

3. Effects of caffeine on human behavior. Smith, A. Center for Occupational and Health Psychology, School of

Psychology, Cardiff University, UK. Food and Chemical Toxicology 2002;40(9):1243-55. []

4. Brief and rare mental breaks keep you focused: Deactivation and reactivation of task goals preempt vigilance

decrements. Ariga, A., Lleras, A. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States. Cognition 2011. []

5. An update on mindfulness meditation as a sel f-help treatment for anxiety and depression. Edenfield, T.M., Saeed,

S.A. Department of Psychiatric Medicine, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Psychology Research and Behavior Management 2012;5:131-41. []

6. Circadian and wakefulness-sleep modulation of cognition in humans . Wright, K.P., Lowry, C.A., Lebourgeois ,

M.K. Department of Integrative Physiology, Sleep and Chronobi ology Laboratory, University of Colorado, Boulder,

CO, 2012;5:50. []

7. Mixture of essential fatty acids lowers test anxiety. Yehuda, S,, Rabinovitz, S., Mostofsky, D.I. Department of

Psychology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan,

Israel. Nutritional Neuroscience 2005;8(4):265-7. []

8. The effects of lavender and rosemary essential oils on test-taking anxiety among graduate nursing

students. McCaffrey, R., Thomas, D.J., Kinzelman, A.O. Christine E Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic

University, Boca Raton, FL. Holistic Nursing Practice 2009;23(2):88-93. []

9. Long-term concentrative meditation and cognitive performance among older adults. Prakash, R., Rastogi, P., Dubey,

I., et al. Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Psychiatry, Ranchi, India. Neuropsychology,

development, and cognition 2012;19(4):479-94. []

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