STUDY TIP #2

Let’s compare two of my students (whose names have obviously been falsified): Absorbed and Erratic. [Read more…] about Switch Tasks

STUDY TIP #2 (continued)

It should be clear that learning depends both on what we know and what we don’t know. [Read more…] about Fitting New Information Into Your Head

STUDY TIP #3

Note taking isn’t just in class. It should start before class and end after class. It is more than writing down what’s said. [Read more…] about Restructure Your Notes

STUDY TIP #4

We owe much of our early understanding about learning and memory to Hermann Ebbinghaus. In the late 1800s, he memorized lists of words, sounds and non-words, while keeping meticulous notes. Ebbinghuas found (unsurprisingly) that the longer he studied something, the better he remembered it. [Read more…] about When In Doubt, Overlearn

STUDY TIP #5

Humans are very context sensitive. Use a highly efficient system. We don’t try to remember everything everywhere. We don’t store complete scenes or detailed accounts. We store the recipe, not the meal. [Read more…] about Match Task And Goal

The cororna virus is coming. Try to avoid both extremes: “it’s nothing” and “we’re all going to die.” There are several things we don’t yet know. We don’t know how many people will be infected worldwide. We don’t know how many people will be infected in the US. We don’t know how contagious it is. And we don’t know how fatal it is.

The corona virus outbreak of 1919 (dubbed COVID-19) is a problem whose size is not yet clear. It might be easily handled or it might be catastrophic. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is a “public health emergency of international concern.” [Read more…] about COVID-19