How to Make the Most of Your Study Time

A good memory comes in particularly handy when studying for a test. Alan Brown, a psychology professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and author of “The How to Study Book” (Sheldon Press) offers these tips for students:

* Try to study orally if you are an auditory person. Say the information aloud. If you are visual, make a diagram or outline. If you are kinesthetic, make the learning more active by copying and recopying your notes.

* Find a study location that has an optimal amount of background noise and activity. If it’s too quiet, you will doze off. If it is too distracting, your attention will wander to what is around you.

* Plan frequent short breaks. Don’t try to study for too long a stretch (more than an hour).

* If you are studying for a test, try to make your study conditions resemble the test conditions. Studying is like a dress rehearsal for a play, except the play is the test. For example, practice writing down answers--just thinking or saying the answers won’t be as effective because you won’t be doing this on the test. Don’t study in your pajamas; you won’t be wearing those during the test, will you?

* When you have long lists to learn, the best way is to make acronyms as cue words: “Roy G Biv” is the colors of the spectrum (in order): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; “HOMES” is the great lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.