Long Term Memory

Every student knows the what its like to look at a test question, remember learning abut it in class, but fail to come up with the answer. Often times, it after the student has turned in the exam and walked out the door before they can recall the solution. This can be the most frustrating parts of taking a test, but fortunately, psychologists have identified key strategies that can make a huge difference in improving memorization during study sessions. It all has to do with the way our brains encode, stores, and retrieve information. By learning specific study strategies such as repetition, association, and high-level rehearsal, a student can discover how to turn short-term memory into long-term memory in order to increase the efficiency of

These include spaced practice, overlearning, and repetition. While using the spaced practice method, it is important to plan your study time over a long period. It is the opposite of cramming right before a test. This allows the information to consolidate and also leads to the information being better organized in your long-term memory. Overlearning is exactly what it sounds like. This is when you continue to go over the material even after you feel that you have it memorized. While taking a test, your bodies stress levels go up and cause you to struggle with retrieving information you could easy recall during more calm situations. Overlearning help to prevent this. Then there is repetition that is key to learning anything new. In order to master anything, repetition is a must. A good thing to remember about repetition is write, recite, and think. Doing those things over and over while making transferring information to your long-term memory much

These help you make associations with the material of focus. These are specifically useful when trying to memorize information that lacks good structure. The devices provide a way for your brain to organize it. Acronyms are words composed of the first letters of others words, which will help you recall list of information. NASA and FBI are examples of acronyms. Acrostics are often called catchphrases. They are a sentence made up of words beginning with the first letters of other words. This is useful with information that wont produce an easily remember acronym. They are also helpful for memorizing steps in a process, causes and effects, and key points for essay questions. For example the acronym NASA could be turned into the acrostic No Astronaut Stays Around. Lastly, associations can help to link difficult and complex information to easy more recallable information. This can help trigger memory during an exam. An example of this could be used when trying to distinguish between latitude and longitude. You could see the “n” in longitude and associate that with the direction “north” helping you remember that longitude runs from north the