The Student’s Survival Guide

Critical Thinking

Memory

The Student’s Survival Guide

Abstract

        To be a good student requires many things, first you have to want to be a good student and make a conscious effort to do so. Another way is by evaluating how you study, the time of day, how long, and techniques used to remember what you’ve learned. As we move up the ladder into high school and beyond we are faced with more challenges and many more responsibilities. Those study sessions are a little more difficult now, time becomes more of a factor and maybe those study habits we had in eighth grade don’t apply any longer. Our mind can receive new information with little effort on our part but processing and storing that information for later use requires us to be more proactive in our thinking. As important as it is to develop good external study habits it is equally important to develop your brain and practice good mental study habits. As the things we learn get more difficult, complicated and more important to us it is to our advantage to understand how the mind works and processes information. This can result in more productive study sessions, better retention of information and much better recall. This paper looks at how the mind processes information, stages of memory and ways in which students can sharpen their study skills.

Introduction

        Going back to school, it has not been the easiest thing I’ve ever done by no means. It is however something that I needed to do and looking back it is something I always knew I would eventually have to do. In today’s world with technology reshaping our lives so rapidly and the job market being redefined almost daily it is almost a requirement if one is going to compete and stay competitive. My first realization of this fact came after a lay off from my first job, which I held for 15 years. I had to retrain myself and learn new skills to compete in my field. After a while I decided to switch my career and had to take training classes at night and distant learning courses. Through each step I had to remember what it was like to be a student once more and function in a learning environment. Now as a student in a university, this is my biggest step so far and I am truly learning what it means to go back to school. After so many years being out of a true classroom environment with lectures, quizzes and papers to write I am calling on all my resources to stay focused and learn good study techniques. There are the few blessed among us that studying comes easy and they remember everything, then there are those of us who can’t seem to get organized, are easily distracted or for whatever reason have trouble. Me being older and out of school longer may or may not be a factor, but it still comes down to being disciplined in your studying and following solid learning techniques. One step in the learning process is teaching yourself how to remember what you learn. Know how the memory processes work and the tricks and techniques to use to retain and recall the information when you need to. I have been asked to submit a chapter for a book titled “The Student’s Survival Guide to College”. The chapter is Three Steps to a Terrific Memory. The following is that chapter.

Three Steps to a Terrific Memory

        The word student loosly translated from its Latin roots means “one who directs zeal at a subject”. My Interpretation is more like one who is intent on learning something they know little or nothing about. As a student we all want to learn something new, we all need to be taught and to benefit from this teaching we all must remember what we learn so we can apply our new found knowledge and live a fuller life. Every student has at least one thing in common, that is we must study, practice, rehearse, and use our minds to learn, remember, recall and perform whatever our educational objective is.


        The whole process starts in our mind and how we choose to use it. Do we want to learn everything we possibly can or just a little? Do we thirst for more or give up after a little while. How do we use our mind to get the most out of our learning? How do we motivate ourselves, retain what we learn and recall it at will.


        First let’s look at how memory processes function. Initially when you receive information it follows three operations; input, storage and retrieval. What is it you desire to learn? Are you ready to accept new imformation? This is where it all starts as input is received and enters the memory system. Stay alert because attention operates at this stage and selects information to be further processed. From here the raw information data is encoded into a sound, a visual image or a meaning that can be processed in the next stage of memory.


        Now you have this information, where do you put it and how do you keep it? You don’t know how long you will need it, when you will need it and how many times you may have to call it up. Some information may need to be retained for long periods or permanently while other information may only be stored briefly.

Stage Theory of Memory

        The stage theory of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Baddeley, 1999) is a model which assumes that we all store information in three separate but linked memories each with a different interval. One only very briefly, a second for no more than 30 seconds unless renewed and a third which is more permanent. The last two are the ones you will most likely call on more often as a student. Information must follow this order so to get to the third stage it must first go through stages one and two. That is why the memory stores are thought of as linked. These three stages of memory are known as the sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory.


        Getting back to our three operations of receiving information, we know the information is encoded meaning the information is represented in a way that we can identify it in our mind by a sound, a visual or a meaning. We then process it further; this is where the memory stages come in. If it is something unimportant or a distraction it will not get beyond the short-term memory. However if we need to hold on to this information for an unspecified length of time we will hold it in our short-term memory for future reference. There are methods we can apply to temporarily store this information but be aware, information can be lost from short-term memory in less than half a minute unless we do something to keep it alive. This is the critical step but there are ways in which we can accomplish this. In a classroom situation the most obvious is to write down everything of importance so you can refer to it later. Taking good notes is imperative also highlight or underline important passages in your textbook. Beyond that is to use something called rehearsal. Information can be renewed in short-term memory by mentally repeating it or rehearsing it the way an actor might rehearse the lines in a script. This method of rehearsal can help you burn something into your memory for much longer periods of time. Say the words, see the words, and hear the words, whatever helps to make it stay in your memory. The human mind responds to sounds so transforming information to sounds that we can remember is sometimes a good way to retain facts.

The Information Processing Model

        Another good method of keeping things in short-term memory longer is by chunking information, which is putting your information into units of memory that you can reconstruct. By chunking words and numbers into groups of three or four but no more than seven you may have an easier time of remembering larger bits of information. These are two ways to keep information in your short-term memory longer so that eventually you can move it into your long-term memory for permanent storage. The key is to use whatever method works best for you, sometimes word association works where you associate a word or a name or maybe a date with someone or something personal in your life. For instance you might take the first letter of each word in a list and associate that letter with the name of someone you know. This is one way of passing information into long-term memory called elaboration where you create associations between new memories and existing memories.

Conclusion

        As you can see these methods are not only ways to store and retain information but also ways in which you can retrieve the information. The more you practice these methods the easier they will be and the better your memory will be.


        In review, to be a successful student you must first be motivated to learn and be willing to do whatever is necessary to devote yourself to your studies. Choose a time and a place where you can study with no interference. Have a daily study schedule and stick to it. Pay attention in class and take notes. To learn you must first receive the information and avoid distractions that interfere with receiving information and the memory process. Also learn and use the techniques discussed in this chapter to help you improve your memory. As you improve you will grow more confident and that will in turn have a positive effect in everything you do.

References

Lahey, Benjamin B. (2007) Psycology: an introduction, Ninth Edition, McGraw Hill
http://www.ohlone.edu/org/orientation/studytechniques.html
http://www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/story.php?article_id=689
http://www.studygs.net/concen.htm
http://www.dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch07/stages.mhtml
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/memory.html