When it comes to studying, I do well in terms of how I study. In that I mean, I study what I need to study and I don’t study things I already know, and I have found ways to study that work for me and my mind. I make flashcards and study guides that I can read over and I take good notes. However, the issue with my study habits is that I do not devote much time to studying. I tend to not start studying til a night or two before, and I find myself trying to memorize 3 chapters of material in one or two nights. I know that the more efficient way to study and memorize material is to read through the notes and material everyday as I am learning it so that when an exam comes I do not have to cram. For the first exam in Psych 101, I had all the proper materials I needed in order to study- lecture notes, book notes, and flashcards but I decided to not start studying til the night before, which made it hard to study effectively.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this weeks TED talk. I thought the speaker did an excellent job of conveying her message about how subjective our memories are. The stories that were presented during the talk made me think critically about how much we as human beings rely on our memories. Our memory is crucial for us to be able to do so many different things, but ,as the speaker said, our memories could easily be false. Suggestion is a powerful device, and I dislike the idea that my memories could be so easily tampered with. Personal displeasure aside, I do understand the importance of this research. The more we come to terms with the possible falsehood of our memories, the closer we can come to the truth. Now, I do not personally think that we as a society should  use such suggestive methods to change someone’s memories for their own benefit, such as planting  false memories of them enjoying vegetables. I think that understanding the possible falsehood of memories is important for matters such as court cases, but I do not believe that changing a portion of someone’s identity is a morally correct choice. Using suggestion to make someone like vegetables, which will allow them to become healthier, is taking that person’s freedom of choice from them. To me,  I think having the freedom to choose one’s preferences is an invaluable part of being human, and altering someone’s memories to change their choice is not ethical no matter the benefit they gain.

Do you want to improve your study habits and memorization skills, so you can do better on exams? I always want to do better on exams and I usually tend to make satisfactory grades on them; however, my studying methods could use some improvement. When I study for tests I review the notes I have taken in that class, study any homework assignments, complete any available study guides, and read the textbooks for that intended class. I usually do well in these areas but the hardest ones for me, and the ones I need improvement in, include completing the study guides accurately and reading information from the textbook(s).  Completing the study guides are more challenging for me because if I answer the questions incorrectly, and am not given the correct answers before the test to fix my mistakes, I may study the incorrect information and that will negatively affect how I will do on exams. Reading material directly from textbooks is also tough for me because there is usually so much info to cover in them. And for certain subjects, such as science and history courses, it is especially difficult for me to discern what is and is not significant to study.

For my first psychology exam in General Psychology 101C I did not do as well as I wanted. The reason for this is because I did not study every day, and even though I understood a lot of the information discussed in class, I did not keep up with it. There was information on the test that was not discussed in class; however, my psychology teacher did warn the class about this fact. In order to prepare for my next psychology exam, I will see a tutor if I am struggling on a certain subject and spend more time before the test comes to study the information discussed in class and stated in the textbook. I enjoy my psychology class a great deal, and I want to do whatever I can in order to do well in it.

In the TED talk the speaker, Elizabeth Loftus, discusses how her job is to study when people remember events or “think” they can recall an event to full extent. Studying when people forget is opposite of what Loftus finds truly important when discussing memory. She goes on to state how there is an even bigger problem in society when people tend to “think” they can recall memories — that can potentially  hurt the individual being accused.

For instance, there are 300 innocent people being convicted due to false memories. With rapidly advanced technology, DNA can help us prove that the individuals did not commit the crimes they are being charged for. People are more likely to believe the victim because we rely on memory to help us recall events. Though, society has the wrong idea of how memory works and how strongly we can rely on it. False memories are common and should be investigated thoroughly to prevent innocent individuals from being hurt.

Loftus, continues by discussing misinformation from witnesses and secondary sources in general.  In the 1990s therapy resulted in huge problems of extreme memories that did not actually occur.  Where do the bizarre memories come from? Dream interpretation, hypnosis, and more psychobabble therapy tactics that the general public seem to find attractive. Loftus and her team conducted an experiment that involved development of false memories by actually planting false memories into the minds of their subjects. This allowed Loftus to test out her theory and also apply is to current circumstances that needed immediate evaluation.

Personally, I do not believe that memory should be tampered with. Not by others or the individual. Memory should be left to function on its own. If a person experiences traumatic events throughout their life, those events should not be repressed or altered into another memory. Tricking the brain is like tricking reality. Your mind and perceptions are your reality, so to falsify memory is to falsify the way you perceive life.

For week 5’s first impression post, we are presented with the topic of memory. For my blog in particular, I will be analyzing and critiquing my own study habits. Later in my post, I will also be critiquing my study techniques for the first exam that was taken and what changes I may make in order to improve my score for Exam 2. Next week (week 6) we will be learning about memory and helpful study techniques in class so that I would be able to compare my own memorization techniques to what research says about improving memory for learned information. Although I believe that I benefit from my study techniques, I am hoping that I am able to learn more from this upcoming week’s lectures. I am hopeful to find different ways to recall information that what I have been practicing thus far. I am quite interested in seeing how alike or different my techniques of studying will stand compared to official research. I am always up to learning new memory/study techniques, especially as classes get more and more difficult.

Overall, the typical way I study for any class is in an analytical process. I typically will color code concepts in clusters, highlight important concepts (again, with various color coding techniques), write out my notes, make flashcards, and sometimes I will make my own review sheet for the exam/test. It is tedious to write down information again and again, but it is quite helpful (I find) so that I will remember it. The colors that I use to color code certain subjects helps me relay back to the main point(s) for the specific concept being asked. Sometimes I will rewrite my notes completely, or put chunks of what is vital to remember on flashcards (again, color coded). I will flip through my flashcards religiously until I know the information that is needed. In other circumstances, I will sometimes make my own review for the test. If I know what types of questions are expected to be asked, I will go further into detail with each. I typically make the review 2-3 days before the exam so that I can have one full day in between before I look back at the review to answer the questions on it without freshly going over the material.

For this class’ first exam, I made few flashcards with main concepts on them. I did not use the flashcard technique for this first exam. Instead, the main method that I used for the first exam was going back through my lecture notes and highlighting the points that I needed to know. I highlighted and/or underlined the concepts that were important to remember and look back over. I also went through the study guide that was provided, and made my own review for the test. After completing the review, I again color-coded the concepts that were important to recall. I did decently well on the first exam compared to the class average, as well as the max/min of the scores. I could have definitely done better, though. If I were to of taken advantage of more of my typical study techniques I think that my score would of came back higher than what it was. I had other classes that I was also studying for (Cellular Biology in particular) that must be reviewed over every day for at least 30 minutes. I think that I need to make a breaking point so that my brain can have a slight ‘resting’ stage from one class to another, especially so when studying for exams. I believe that this will help me retain information better. Next time we have an exam, I will be better prepared. I have already started to make flashcards as we go through each chapter so that it will not be as tedious to get all the material written out in preparation for the exam. I also to plan out more time than what I had before for this exam; we were coming back from softball games in Tennessee and Mississippi. I should have done my homework in a different order than what I did, so that I could have studied more on the bus for the psychology exam. I believe that time management is my greatest hardship for studying.

When it comes time to study for an exam, I first plan which day I will begin studying, along with which days I will be able to study from that day until the exam, given I will have time to. Being an organized person (some might say overly-organized), I find planning to be essential when it comes to successful studying, especially if you plan to study more than one day before the exam, which I always try my best to do. This leads me to my next point, which is I usually start studying for an exam 3 days before it takes place. In addition, I will not study all the material in one day, but rather I spread the material out over the 3 days. Most of the exams I take for my biology courses, for example, cover what seems like an immense amount of material. In this case, what I like to do is study and make sure I understand and remember the first part of the material during the first day of my studying, doing the same for the second and final portions of the material during the second and final days of my studying. It is really helpful to study bits at a time, conquer these bits, and then move on to other bits. I am not the kind of student who is able to cram the day/night before nor do I stay up super late studying. By beginning my studies 3 days in advance and studying for 2 to 3 hours each day, I never have to worry about losing too much sleep or suffering from anxiety as a result of putting off my studying and having to worry about whether or not I will be able to get through all of the material. Another point, which I touched on earlier, is I do not stay up all night, let alone extremely late, studying for an exam. This has been the case for all of my life. My favorite professor even told my class about how the risks tend to outweigh the benefits when it comes pulling an all-nighter. I also am just the kind of person who tends to make stupid mistakes on tests as a result of not being able to really function properly when I am tired.

For certain classes, such as math classes and general/inorganic chemistry classes, I first review the conceptual material and equations, then work problems. For me, working problems before an exam is the best way of practicing the material and applying what I know. For other classes in which I need to memorize names, structures, and functions, I make flash cards. Finally, the most common thing I do when studying is make study sheets. By writing down major points and concepts based on what I know, I am practicing the very thing which will be asked of me on the test: to write down major points and concepts based on what I know and have learned. I also learned early on how important of a role taking breaks has on memory. What I mean by this is that it is best to study a certain amount of material, take a break from it, and then return studying by first trying to recall on your own what you know; I make sure to do this as well.

When studying for my first psychology exam, I divided the work into 3 days, as the exam covered 3 chapters. Each day, I would review what I read in a chapter in the book, along with my notes for the chapter. I next made a study sheet summarizing and relating important details from the chapter. Before starting on the next chapter the next day, I would review my study sheet and quiz myself. On the third day, I answered some of the questions found on the practice exam so as make sure I was prepared for the level of detail this exam would consist of. Since taking the exam and starting to learn the material which will be on the second exam, I think I may need to use flashcards this time. This is because one of the chapters is a very detailed one on the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. I will have to learn the complex names of many structures and what these structures do. I also think I should answer questions from the practice exam each day I study, specifically work on questions which relate to the chapter I already reviewed, instead of only looking at the practice exam on last day after I have covered everything.

Memories, from a philosophical view they can be seen as the key strands that tie a person together. It is what connects someone all the way through their lives, if their memories were to be lost some philosophers believe that they are not even the same person anymore. It seems outrageous that something so important in determining how people think and act can be fabricated so easily. The idea that some of the moments that define you could just have been planted or altered by someone else is frightening, and its implications are almost endless.

With Loftus’ experiments and research it appears that a great deal of people are easily susceptible to alterations in memory. It ranges from simple changes such as a  different color or additional object in a memory, but reaches the possibility of adding new memories from nothing simply by leading the subject. Just a few minutes, some substantial back story, a few believable lies, and suddenly you could remember laying back on the beach two years ago having the time of your life with your significant other. When in reality you hadn’t met them yet, you were working during that time, and you don’t even like the beach. The capabilities of this study truly scare me. I hold my memories very highly, because I do believe that my past experiences make me who I am today. What if some of those memories though, the ones that I cherish, or the ones that torment me weren’t even real? Would that mean that who I am now, was just a lie, a fraud that was created from a fake memory.

This is why even though I could see the beneficial outcomes that implanting memories could have for children, addicts, people who wish to better themselves,  and others I cannot put them over the cons. The horrifying idea that we could be built and altered not by our choices and the paths we take, but by someone who can cut into our memories and insert their own concepts, histories, memories, or even their own desires. In our lives we are influenced by so many outside sources some can be good, others can be bad, but this, this takes the chance out of everything. This is continuing with the intent of molding someone or at least an experience that someone had based off of personal opinions that may not even be right.

As I’ve mentioned before, I had Ian for my CI class last semester. He taught us many of the studying and memorizing tips we are going over now, and our CLs reiterated what he said and threw in some tips of their own. The tips and tricks worked as my test grades steadily rose in the class, and I was a moderately happy camper in the end.

Unfortunately, I have no self-discipline, and I’m a giant idiot. I didn’t study like I did at the end of CI class at the beginning of this semester; I studied like the beginning of last semester. I didn’t study on a weekly basis or in increments. I studied everything four days before the test, and I just read over my notes. I copied them over three times and skimmed some of the practice questions in the books. I knew the test was going to be very specific, but I was content in pretending it wasn’t going to be for the time being until I got actually saw the questions on the test and started internally screaming.

If I could go back in time and change my study habits for the last test, I would first punch my past self in the face. Then I would make sure I was reviewing and going over the material well before the test, so it’s processed better in my memory, and I’m not trying to cram so much information in my mind at the last second. I would go to this  handy website and make my own exams to simulate the testing environment. I’d still rewrite my notes again because frankly my notes are a mess, and it still engrains some of the basic information in my mind too. If I had long texts like books or plays for English classes, I would create mind maps of the chapters, and for German, I would do practice questions and practice tests. When I actually did these things last semester, it was less stressful and kind of fun to read over and learn everything.

A website I’ve used to find study hints and inspiration is the other blogging platform Tumblr. Tumblr also uses tags in the posts, and the tags “studyblr” and “studyspo” are used to give people tricks and motivation for studying. One of the bigger blogs with this theme is called Elk Studies. Elk Studies is ran by an eighteen year-old Irish girl who is very determined to become a zoologist one day, and she posts about her studying habits and the materials she uses to study. Her studying tips line up pretty nicely with what we have discussed in class. Cramming is frowned upon, aesthetic note-taking is appreciated, the Pomodoro Technique is loved, and printables are the latest craze. She uses color-coding and reiterates the importance of talking to professors and attending office hours. Good sleeping habits and what makes a good studying environment are also repeated  on her blog. Overall, it’s a great place to find what works best for you in terms of studying without feeling pressured to have to try anything. I highly recommend it even if you’re not on Tumblr.