@biopsychbabe - Tumblr Blog

recall vs recogntion

so in this post a few days ago, one of the study tips I mentioned was ‘practise recall not recognition’, and I’ve since discovered that quite a few people don’t know what that means and why it helps, so I figured I’d explain!

WHAT IS RECOGNITION AND WHY ISN’T IT HELPFUL?

Recognition means teaching yourself to identify and acknowledge information that you’ve seen before. This means that, if you’re shown a piece of information in class, you’re able to recognise it and think, ‘hey - I know that!’.

The issue with this is that you don’t actually know and understand that piece of information; you simply know that you’ve seen or heard it before. In an exam context, unprompted, you won’t be able to rewrite that information - let alone expand on it - because it’s not in your head.

Examples of recognition-based study methods include:

Reading through notes

Highlighting or simply rewriting notes

Flashcards which just show the information

Reading a textbook

All of these are passive studying techniques, meaning that they’re not difficult and, in turn, that they’re not engaging your brain with the information that you’re trying to learn.

WHAT IS RECALL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Recall means training yourself to remember information unprompted; if somebody were to ask you (outside of your class) what x means, you should be able to tell them without checking your notes or textbook.

The importance of this is that it’s exactly how most exams work. Unless your education institute uses open-book format, you’re never going to have the information in front of you to ‘just check through’ when answering a question. In an exam situation, you have to be able to pull that information straight from your brain in order to write an answer and that is exactly why recall-based studying is so key to learning.

Examples of recall-based study methods include:

Practising past papers/exam questions

Question/answer style flashcards

Flashcard-based activities on sites such as Quizlet

Setting yourself mini-tests

Writing out everything you can remember, and then adding in the missing information using a different colour

Getting other people to test you

Some of these things do ultimately sound a little basic, but it’s something that I’ve been taught about a few times, and it’s honestly one of the biggest mistakes that students make when studying for exams! I really hope this post does a decent job at explaining the concept to anybody who hasn’t heard of it before, but if anybody has any questions or add-ons, feel free to message me or send an ask!

my blog

covid-69

broke: stanford prison experiments prove that humans are inherently cruel to others

woke: people from palo alto are just like that

covid-69

so it appears that people from palo alto really are just like that

samsstudygram

types of study breaks for every situation

if you realize you’ve been studying for hours: grab a snack to refuel your body and watch a sitcom to refuel your brain. then back to the books.

if you’re feeling stressed out: take some deep breaths, text your friends, maybe stare at a wall for a few minutes. gather yourself.

if you can’t seem to focus: get moving and get outside. take out the garbage, check your mail box, maybe walk your dog. just get moving and get fresh air. it’ll help bring you back.

if there’s something else going on in your life and you can’t get it off your mind: write down what’s going through your head, sort of like a diary entry. it’ll help you work things out.

if you’re just mentally and physically exhausted: set a timer for 25-30 minutes and take a nap. any longer and you’ll hit REM and you’ll wake up feeling just as tired. once you wake up, get some caffeine in you.

if the material is boring as hell: find another way to study. see if there’s a crash course video online about it or draw out what you’re trying to learn in diagrams and pictures to make it fun.

if people around you won’t shut up: listen to some music. soundtrack and classical music is always good because they won’t absorb you as much as music with lyrics. white noise (like ocean waves, rain sounds, etc.) also works.

if you only half understand a concept: call/message a friend who’s not in the class and try to teach the material to them. this will help you mentally work through the material and will help you remember it as well.

spillywolf-deactivated20190920

If courage isn’t the absence of fear but doing the right thing regardless of it, maybe confidence isn’t the absence of insecurity but knowing you have real worth despite it

oncemylove-deactivated20180625

this is beautiful

randomslasher

By this same token, maybe goodness isn’t the absence of bad thoughts or impulses, but the conscious choice to behave according to your moral ideals in spite of them.

ohardently

all the wrong questions #2 | lemony snicket

rivie-art

i hope you find your way in this world. i hope one day you find your home.

morecolorfulmetaphors

I know it’s trendy right now to say that adopting more of an eco-friendly lifestyle is pointless because the only way to save humanity is to destroy capitalism, but we should remember that many of those lifestyle changes help us build skills and social networks that would be important in a post-capitalism future.

For example, if we’re going to end reliance on factory farming, it would really help for more people to learn to garden and grow food. Same for other hands-on skills like cooking, crafts, home repair, tech repair, etc. Even small things like using re-usable water bottles and bags or thrifting/swapping items to cut down on waste would be regular features of a post-capitalist society, so making them more widely practiced now is a great thing.

Systemic changes are necessary for sure, but they *will* involve lifestyle changes too, and it’s important to do your part to create that from the ground up. We don’t get to a better system by destroying the old one, but by building up the new one. 🌱

koryos

you, a generalist unspecialized mouse or mouselike mammal:

- food goes from esophagus to stomach to intestine

- can eat and digest almost anything

- adaptable and can survive in many different environments

me, a specialized sanguivorous vampire bat:

- food goes from esophagus to intestine to stomach to intestine

- can only eat blood

- will die if I don’t eat for one night (unless someone vomits in my mouth)

- will die if there’s not enough humidity in the air

- will die if I exercise too much

- will become dehydrated if I drink too much

- constantly pissing so I’m not too heavy to fly

saintjehanne

Honestly, my goal in life is just to be a very warm person. I want to be as loving and as kind as I can be.

sometimes you win, sometimes you learn you’re a dumb bitch who can’t do basic chemistry.

#studyblr #studyspo #uniblr #chem #chemistry #chem 100

psychstxdies

Hey if you’re a studyblr majoring or minoring in psychology, neuroscience, chemistry, and/or biology (or similar), and/or are pre med (or pharm) can you like or reblog this? Trying to find more people to follow!!

biopsychbabe

double majoring in biology and psychology 🙋🏻‍♀️

hippocampus-studies

stem majors as study aesthetics

chemistry: neat, monochromatic notes, late night cups of tea, staying after class to ask the professor questions

mathematics: the sound of pencils scratching on paper, perfectionism at its peak, empty library halls with filtered light

physics: the buzz of excitement before the first lecture of the semester, messy handwriting on chalkboards, the relieved exhaustion after an exam is finished

psychology: flashcards and textbooks strewn across a desk, group study sessions with great music, reading scientific journals to learn more about what’s discussed in lecture

engineering: early morning study sessions with really good coffee, whispered jokes during lecture, putting homework off until the last minute but still managing to do okay

biology: notes full of color and highlights, spending hours watching videos on KhanAcademy but not really getting any work done, great study snacks

neuroscience: whiteboards full of terms and labelled diagrams, messy hair and tired smiles, a to-do list five miles long

astronomy: late nights with windows thrown open, daydreaming in class, doodles in the margins of textbooks

computer science: study sessions fueled by pizza and coffee, late nights with laptop screens as the only source of light, the feeling of pure joy when a program runs right

studyingstudent

Using Anki to take Book Notes

This is just a quick post - I’ve done an in depth post on Anki here - but thought I’d share how I use it to take book notes! I find that this is a more efficient way than taking book notes and making note cards separately - especially since I use Anki cards way more than I re-read book notes. I like to include a lot of information or diagrams from the book in each card, so when I’m studying the cards I retain more.