--Original published at Madison's Blog

In high school, my study habits were not very efficient. I was able to get good grades just by remembering notes and details from class, not from putting in study time. This ended up being a blessing in disguise, since now in college studying is key, and my study skills are underdeveloped. I am a visual learner, and I can remember pictures or videos more easily than words describing a situation. In high school, teachers would go out of their way to find pictures to put in the power points for students to look at. Now, it is mainly the student’s responsibility to make sure they understand the concepts from class. The notes you take in class are the notes you need to study from, so good note taking is essential. For the first exam, I studied the power point slides in great detail, and referred to the book notes as needed. The book gave more examples of definitions or theories that were sometimes essential to learning the concepts. I studied the material for days, and looking back, I think my studying was inefficient since I couldn’t recall some information when the exam time came. I need to work on studying smarter, not harder for exams. It will benefit me, and save me the stress of setting aside hours to study for one exam for one class. To better prepare for the next exam, I might make flash cards of the material, so it is easy to lightly study while on the go. It can make learning the concepts less of a struggle in the last days before the exam.

--Original published at Emily Garvin's Psych Blog

One of the topics we will discuss related to memory is study habits. For this post, critique your current study habits. Discuss what do you do well and what do you need to improve. In particular, I want you to discuss how you studied for the first exam in this class and share any changes you might make for the second exam to improve your preparation. We will see how closely your ideas reflect what the research says about improving your memory for learned information:

To prepare for exams I use many different study methods. My studying tends to vary depending on the curriculum and class that I am studying for. I tend to study with flash cards, practice problems, recopying notes in different colors, and rereading certain parts of the chapter that I didn’t fully understand. For example, when preparing for my first psychology exam I started studying about a week before the test day. I started by making flash cards of important vocabulary words of each chapter covered. Then, I reread my notes from class and made color coordinated mind maps of important concepts. I proceeded to quiz myself daily on the terms and important information in the mind maps by covering up one part of the map and trying to remember what went there. Lastly, I tested myself by completing the practice test and sets of practice problems. Whatever questions I got wrong on the practice test I would go over and try to find a way to better recall that information.

To improve my studying habits for the next exam I would probably start my whole process earlier. I would make the flash cards and mind maps earlier. This way I could potentially have more time to take the practice exam and probably do more chapter practice problems. Along with better time management I would probably try to adjust my ways of studying. Perhaps research suggests that studying is more effective at a certain time of day. I am interested to see which study methods the research project as most effective.

--Original published at MelanieBlevins

For this weeks first impression post, I am choosing to analyze my studying habits. In High School, I found it easy to study the night before an exam and still get the grade I wanted. I mostly memorized what was on the study guide and then forgot what I had learned two weeks later. During my first semester of college, I got a light taste of how college tests were administered and I knew I needed to change my studying habits; although I am still trying to figure out how to do so.

On the first Gen Psych exam, I definitely did not do as well as I wanted to. To prepare for the exam, I tried to use all the resources Ian had offered to the class, such as the practice test, practice questions, study guide, etc. However, I squeezed all of that information into my brain during the days leading up to the exam instead of learning it one step at a time. While taking the test I found that my brain was confused and mixed up a lot of the information I had crammed to learn. Also, I was not prepared enough to apply what I had learned. I memorized all of the information in my notes, but I did not question myself about how it could be applied to different scenarios. This made it difficult to answer some of the written response questions thoroughly.

With this in mind, I have started studying my notes after class the day we take them, as well as one day on the weekend. If the information is learned over time, it gives my brain time to learn the information and find ways to apply it in everyday life. Then, once the test has arrived, I will be less overwhelmed with information and studying will be a review process instead of a learning process. I hope to use what I have learned from the first exam, as well as what we learn in class about memory, in order to change my study habits and become a more successful student.

--Original published at Max'sPHY105blog

First this first impression post, I choose to respond to option 1, the one about my study habits. I have different means of studying for exams. It really depends on what kind of exam I am taking. As a math major, I have exams in which I must be practicing the material in order to be prepared for the exam. I also have exams in which I need to read over and review the material to be prepared for the exam. This is how I primarily prepared for the first exam of this psychology course. I read over the chapters from the textbook and reviewed the notes I took in class. I feel that I do a good job of taking notes in class and reviewing them in order to prepare for an exam. Looking over the textbook readings also allows me to recall important information for the exam. In preparation for our first psychology exam, I also took the practice exam provided by the professor. This allowed me to get a feel for what the exam would be like.

I feel that I do a good job studying for exams, but there are some areas that I feel could improve. For instance, I do not usually mark up my textbooks when I read them. I never really viewed this to be proper, but I now see how underlining important information helps me to remain focused if I read the chapter again. I might also try taking notes in the margins of the textbook. This could help me remember the meaning of what I have read. I also have not joined a full study group when I first came to college. For the first semester, I found that I did not need to do this, but for this psychology class, this might be a smart study strategy. This could help me gain more important information for the exam that I alone could not find. If else is interested in this, I am happy to do this. I have also been taking the chapter practice quizzes more often on a regular basis. This might help me be more familiarized with the textbook reading by keeping the material in my head until the next exam. I will always try my best. I just hope my best will allow me to pass this class.

--Original published at Sarah's Blog

For this week’s First Impression Post, I am going to discuss my study habits and how I studied for our first exam. I am not the best with study habits, but I have made progress between my high school years and this first semester working on study habits that are beneficial to me. I take notes on the readings from our textbook along with the notes from the lectures in class. For the first exam I tried reading through my notes from both the lectures and the readings, and I took the practice quizzes from the chapters a few times. I did not do as well as I would have liked to on the first exam, but I now know for the next exam that I want to try and make flash cards and start studying a little earlier than I did for the last exam. Another thing I would like to do for the next exam is to fill out the study guide in its entirety.  I followed along with it while I read through my notes for the last exam, but I would like to try and fill it out so all my information is in one location. The practice quizzes and the example exam were very beneficial in seeing how the questions would be worded, so I would definitely use those again in preparation for the next exam. I am anticipating that using the resources and new study tricks that I have learned will help me improve my grade on the next exam.

--Original published at Brittany's Thoughts

In high school, I never studied very much. Topics came easily to me, and I managed to almost be a straight A student just by doing my homework and paying attention in class. I came into college with no recent knowledge on what ways of studying work best for me. When I have studied in college, I had been provided a study guide, which I found beneficial because I could better aim my studying.

For the first exam, the only studying I did came from doing one of the practice question tests four times. I did not realize that the chapters were broken up into two different groups of practice questions. Even with that little amount of studying, I still managed to score above the class average and receive a passing grade on the exam. I found the questions beneficial, so I would do the practice questions for the next exam. I would also make sure that I did both of the sets of practice questions. Along with that, I should look back in the book or in my notes if I do not understand concepts or come along information that I could not remember. I have the hardest time with the information that is only in the book. I would also do the practice questions more times to see as many of the questions as possible and to see at least some of the same questions several times. Repetition is a key in learning, and it should benefit me remembering the information. Hopefully, these new study habits will improve my exam grades in the class.

--Original published at Anneka's Blog

I have always been a notorious studier as academics are important to me. Although sometimes I can overdue it to point where going to bed may be better. Studying goes back to the beginning: my notetaking. From the various learning methods, I am more a visual learner. On any readings, I take handwritten notes as writing it out helps me remember information more. Over the years, I have experimented with different writing styles. For my first semester of college, I tried an abbreviated version of Cornell notes where I just have an indentation on the left for the subtopics/question (I cut the summary review) and so far, that has been working for me. I also have color coordinated some basic topics such as vocab words, theories, and people so they are easier to spot when I am reviewing. I am still learning how to pinpoint key information. I try to study in advance of the test day ranging from a week before the actual test. Going through all my notes, sometimes using flashcards, taking practice quizzes are a part of my study routine. I have also found writing info out (on whiteboards mainly) and talking aloud helps too. Repetition is key for me. Some things I would like to work on is incorporating more review at the end of each week to study as I go. I started doing this prior, but I would like to reinforce this even more.

For specifically this first Psychology exam, my study habits were similar to what I listed above. I used my Cornell style for notes, took the practice exam, reviewed my notes, and made sure I knew the textbook information. I did not do as much of writing info out during review though. In addition, I used the review questions after each chapter section to review. This helped solidify what I learned after reading and taking notes. Given my exam score, these methods worked well, but I did miss some of the multiple choice and matching sections. I would like to study more in advance for the second exam as this unit has more brain terminology to remember. Flashcards may help with that more. I would also like to use the practice questions more. I did run through those questions a couple times, but I would like to utilize that more to know I fully understand the concepts. I am always looking for ways to refine my work and study habits to better improve. Hopefully next exam will go even better!

--Original published at Sierra's College Blog

For this week’s first impression post, I chose to discuss the first option, which dealt my own personal study habits. Since I was in elementary school, my parents had taught me the importance of studying and using different techniques. When I was really young, my mom would create practice tests for me, read through the material, and verbally quiz me. My dad would quiz me each night on spelling, and practice complicated problems. My parents encouraged me to make flashcards with words and definitions. I grew older, and I had learned to combine the study skills my parents had taught me with my own style. In high school and college, I had incorporated these study techniques into my daily routine. There were strengths to my habits, but there was also room for improvement.

I had some strong study habits throughout my life. I created notecards and took time throughout the week to prepare for a test. On the notecards, I wrote important information in lists or bullet points. Some notecards were for definitions, while others had practice problems on them. I studied these by myself and with my family. Also, my study habits included reading the information, taking descriptive notes, and rereading the notes and textbook. I tested my knowledge by verbally saying answers and taking written practice exams. I highlighted information that needed to be revisited. I studied in silence with no distractions, and in groups only after I thought I knew the material on my own. Little distractions and staying focused were important features to my study habits. Lastly, I studied for a specific time and would not “reward” myself or take a break until I completed the information.

I needed to improve on my study habits as well. I was taught at a young age through school some answers were black and white; no gray areas. This led me to struggle on application and inferring questions on exams. I had to improve on looking at the big picture, and relating learned information to other examples. In the past, I did not designate enough time to certain subjects, and too much time on others. Management of time and stress would create a more successful outcome for me as a well-rounded person.

For the first psychology exam, I used many of my personal study habits. Since the first class, I knew this course was going to be heavy and required many hours of work. I created vocabulary index cards to study a couple times a week, and multiple times right before the test. I read the chapters numerous times, took the practice exam twice, and took each chapter quiz at least ten times. This allowed me to encounter multiple questions, and reassess what I knew and what needed to be improved. Lastly, I took very detailed notes on the first chapter, but did not have enough time to spend on the fourth chapter. Even though I did well on the exam, there were changes and improvements that would need to be made for the second exam. I would look at the study guide more closely and take notes based on the central themes. I would specifically refer to the text, and study the people, important events, and main structures of the chapters. I would focus on dividing my time equally among the given chapters. Lastly, I would ask my professor questions I was uncertain about to better understand the larger concepts I was least confident in comprehending or retelling in my own words.

Overall, I believed my study habits were successful due to my upbringing; however, new techniques would strengthen my ability to adapt to different circumstances.

--Original published at Site Title

For this weeks first impression post, I chose to write about why I believe that there are certain memories that remain in our minds clear as day, no matter how much time has passed. From my own personal experience, I have found that my memories are linked to my emotions. By this I mean that however strongly I was feeling a certain emotion at a given time correlates with how strong my memories of those times are.

The examples that were given in the prompt, the assassination of President Kennedy and the terror attacks on 9/11, are two very traumatic events where the citizens of our country were feeling all kinds very strong emotions. Obviously, and fortunately, events like these do not happen everyday.  Therefore people don’t feel these types of emotions so strongly everyday, which is why we do not remember every little event as clearly as we do events such as these ones. I would be willing to bet that if you asked a group of random people about their strongest, most vivid memories, they would mostly be memories of times where these people were feeling extremely sad, scared, happy, and so on. Sure, there are some people who have extraordinary memories and can often remember small, unimportant events, but most people don’t remember every detail about their weekly trip to the grocery store. They do however seem to remember just about every detail of their wedding, the death of a loved one, the birth of their child, and other events like so where their emotions were stronger than they ever have been before. Examples such as these ones are why I believe that our memories are linked with our emotions.

To test this theory, I would simply propose to conduct a survey where we asked people to share with us their most vivid memory, and then to connect them with the emotion level of that individual at that time. Obviously, it is unethical to inflict emotions of pure fear on people, nor can we really control someone’s happiness, let alone mimic the happiness they felt on the day their child was born. Therefore, I believe that taking a survey of people who have experienced events of great impact would be the best option.

--Original published at Sidney's college blogs

For this week’s first impression post, I chose to write about how memory is related to study habits. For this first exam, I chose to go back through the notes from class and retype each of them. When I was finished typing those notes, I went through and typed the notes that I took that were not on the guide and put them where they needed to be. I did this in hopes that it would stick to my mind more with the repetition. Seeing the grade I received, this obviously did not work well for me for this exam.

For the next exam coming up, I plan to use the website Quizlet.com to create flashcards and use the learning techniques they have available. There is so much material that is learned in this Psychology course, so it makes it hard to narrow down what is needed to know. It also makes it hard to study all the information. Last semester I struggled in Biology, but I eventually found what worked better for me in that class. I would find videos online to watch about the different topics covered in class. I would then take notes on the videos as I watched them. I think I may need to find videos on certain things in this class as well to be sure that I understand the concepts. I also have a hard time associating people with their theories or experiments. I need to find a better way to remember those as well. I’m hoping that the flashcards will help me remember these better.

I’m ready to learn how to learn better for this class.