Good Study Habits Part 1: Choosing a good place to study

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Good Study HabitsPart 1 Choosing a good place
to study

• By David Lewis

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Not all studying spaces are equal.

• In fact, trying to study in some places is simply
  a waste of time.
• You can determine how good your regular studying
  space is by answering a few basic questions

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• In your regular studying space, are there any of
  the following?
• Games, toys and/or Videogames
• Television
• Lyrical music
• Other people (who arent studying)
• The Internet
• If you answered Yes to any of these, then you
  should find a new place to study.

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Games

• Games, toys and videogames are great for
  relaxation, but terrible for studying.
• Games usually require your full attention, so any
  attempts to focus on other things are greatly
  reduced.

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Television

• A common misconception amongst students is that
  it you can study effectively while watching
  television. However, viewing television requires
  a lot of focus.
• Therefore, turning off the television will
  greatly improve studying efficiency.

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Lyrical Music

• It is very common for students to listen to music
  while studying, but they are often listening to
  the wrong kind of music.

• Lyrical music (containing vocalizations) can
  often be distracting, while non-lyrical music can
  improve your focus by keeping you stimulated.

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Other People

• One of the most common distracters when studying
  is other peoples voices.
• Even if you are not actively listening to other
  people, simply hearing their voices can easily
  prevent any memorization.

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The Internet

• A big problem for students who study using their
  computer is the urge to visit other websites.
• Sometimes it is best to restrict internet access
  to yourself, or simply print out the required
  study material.

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Other Distracters

• There are many other distracters that can be as
  much of a problem if not more so.
• In general, anything in your environment that
  takes your focus away from the studying material
  should be removed.
• Some examples are
• Pets
• Visual Art (i.e. Posters)
• Strange/loud sounds

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Studying and Your Brain

• The reason why the previous findings are probably
  true is
• Your brain has different parts.
• Each part can only handle a small amount of
  information once.
• For example, your brain has only one language
  center, which is why it is hard to listen to two
  conversations at the same time (or listen to
  someone while reading).
• Focus on one thing at a time!

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Divided Attention

• When attention is divided amongst many things,
  your ability to store information about these
  things into your memory is greatly reduced
  (Craik, F., Naveh-Benjamin, M., Govoni, R.,
  Anderson, N. 1996).
• Here is an example

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Try to remember the following sentences

• The researchers examined the effects of divided
  attention at encoding and retrieval.
• They studied free recall, cued recall, and
  recognition memory in 4 experiments.
• Lists of words or word pairs were presented
  auditorily and recalled orally.

• What did you just read? Write down as much as you
  can remember.

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Now try to remember these sentences

• Similarities between languages can have a number
  of different origins.
• In the simplest case, universal properties may be
  due to universal aspects of human experience.
• For example, all humans experience water, and all
  human languages have a word for water.

• What did you just read? Write down as much as you
  can remember.

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In Conclusion

• Whenever you are choosing a studying space, try
  to find one as free from distractions as
  possible.
• Common distractions are
• Television
• Games
• Lyrical Music
• Other people
• The Internet
• If you cant find a good place, then make one!