Information Processing System (IPS)
Sensory memory
This form of studying involves attempting to recall information without the help of notes/slides/text and is regarded as one of the most effective forms of study.
Retrieval practice
The testing effect
Name at least 2 useful pieces of information you might find in a syllabus.
-instructor office hours
-assignment weights
-exam/project dates
-course policies
Myth: Different students have different learning styles and they learn best from information presented in a matching style.
There is no evidence to support the claim that they learn better when styles match.
People generally learn best when encountering information in multiple forms.
"Whether you believe you can or not, you're right." - Henry Ford
Beyond accurate self-assessment, why do people with growth mindsets tend to achieve more than those with fixed mindsets?
The belief changes their behavior; they're more willing to persist through challenges and pursue them and more willing to do things that will help them improve.
The process of repeating information to yourself over and over in order to keep it from fading out of working memory.
Though there are ways to make them more effective, strategies like rereading, copying notes, underlining, and highlighting aren't generally effective study strategies because they don't typically involve...
Active/effortful/elaborative processing.
Giving at least two reasons, explain why reducing or eliminating distractions is useful for learning.
Distractions reduce the amount of attention paid to material (reducing the amount of information making it into working memory).
Distractions occupy working memory space, often even after focus leaves them.
Shifting between different tasks incurs task-switching costs.
Myth: Testing is only actually useful for assessing knowledge.
Testing is very useful for learning! It helps solidify learned information and makes it easier for the brain to recall the information later.
List two common causes of procrastination.
Lack of conscientiousness
Performance anxiety/perfectionism
Lethologica (also known as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon) is a state in which someone cannot quite recall the information they're looking for, but is certain they know it. This reflects an error what process of the IPS?
Retrieval
Aurora, Rory, and Alyss all spend 5 total hours preparing for an upcoming midterm. Aurora spends 5 hours the night before, Rory spends 20 minutes across 15 separate days studying, and Alyss spends 1 hour across 5 separate days.
They all ace the test. If they were to see the same questions again on their final exam, order them in terms of who you would expect to remember the most.
Aurora < Alyss < Rory
After rereading the textbook, Icarus is feeling confident in his knowledge of the material. He then fails on the exam the next day. Why was his confidence misplaced?
While rereading, the information given to him by the text was in his working memory. Because he was rereading, however, he likely wasn't actively processing the info so it never transferred to long term memory.
Myth: Procrastination is useful because we do our best work when under high pressure.
We may feel most motivated under high pressure, but performance is generally best when under moderate amounts of pressure.
Additionally, procrastinating usually prevents us from dedicating the amount of time necessary to creating a quality product.
Betty does not believe older individuals can learn how to use technology. This demonstrates what kind of mindset?
Fixed mindset
After reading for a while, Li realizes he doesn't remember any of what he just read. Name the stage(s) of the IPS that the words on the page made it into as well as the stage(s) the words did not.
Made it: sensory memory
Did not make it: working and long term memory
Name at least 2 reasons surfing social media during a study break can be detrimental to learning.
-It prevents the working memory from taking a break!
-Information will occupy space in working memory
-It's really easy to continue past when the break was supposed to be over
Harrison knows he needs help in his art course and has decided to try to get some. What is the next step of Help-Seeking Harrison should engage in?
Assessing options
Myth: Learning should be easy.
If learning is easy, we probably aren't engaging in enough active processing to move information effectively into long term memory.
It may feel easy in the moment, but we won't be able to remember it later.
There are technical advantages to each.
However, the format doesn't matter as much as the amount of processing that goes into the note taking; translating ideas into your own words and not copy word-for-word.
HM is a famous psych patient who had his hippocampus (a part of the brain) removed. After the surgery, he could still remember things he already knew but he could not form new memories. This suggests the hippocampus is involved in which part of the IPS?
Encoding
-Memories consolidate while we sleep
-A lack of sleep decreases cognitive efficiency (and our ability to pay attention)
-Exercise increases blood flow to the brain which increases cognitive efficiency
-Brains need energy to function
-Alcohol impairs encoding processes
Achilles just received his exam back and he's decided to do an error analysis. What information is he looking for and what will he do with it?
-Exam performance
-Specific types of questions he got wright/wrong
-Content vs process errors
-All these inform future study plans
Myth: Kids who grew up with phones and the internet are better at multitasking because they've been doing it their whole lives.
Multitasking requires the brain to do something it's incapable of doing. Multitasking is actually just switching back and forth between different tasks and each switch costs time and energy.
Incorporating the phrase, "neurons that fire together, wire together," explain why active processing of information is essential to learning.
Memory is stored in the connections between neurons. When two neurons are activated at the same time, they form a connection; neurons that fire together, wire together. This connection makes them more likely to activate at the same time again in the future. Therefore, we need to be activating our neurons in order to cement memories and that requires active thinking about them.