How should you study for an exam? Does it matter if the test is essay or multiple choice?

As the academic trend of more and more standardized testing continues, many students have started to look for study tips to make the process less painful. And while there may be some unique tricks, the perhaps best-known ones are also the ones usually under-utilized. The two simple habits of getting a good night’s rest before an exam and quizzing yourself over the material are the most reliable ways to ensure better test performance.

To begin, good test performance isn’t just about what your brain is doing during wake, but also the consolidation and reorganization of memories that happens during sleep. In 2006, Walker and Stickgold published a review of the evidence demonstrating that during sleep, memories are more deeply encoded such that they can be retrieved at a later time. Research supports the hypothesis that during sleep, memories of the day are transformed into a deeper encoded form, which can be more easily accessed and integrated into other previous knowledge. This ability to contextualize new information within previous experiences or knowledge allows for incorporated networks that can help us address multi-faceted problems, such as when taking an essay exam. Additionally, a lack of sleep can actually be detrimental not only because studied material isn’t assimilated as well, but also because sleep deprivation leads to difficulties with attention. Both total sleep deprivation and sleep restriction affect the ability to maintain vigilant attention, a skill absolutely necessary for any sort of exam (Lim & Dinges, 2008). Thus adequate sleep before an exam prevents disrupting mind wandering and has the added benefit of helping consolidate previously studied information.

 

Me in philosophy class freshman year- thank god it wasn't during an exam...

Another strategy for preparing for exams is to use the practice effect. Psychologists have recognized the practice effect for decades now, demonstrating that practicing testing or quizzing yourself improves your ability to call that information to mind later (Sutterer & Awh, 2015). Essentially, when studying it is in best practice to constantly test yourself, or have others make up test questions for you. Beyond the obvious benefit of realizing which subjects aren’t as well engrained, research has shown that testing helps make memories more accessible to be called upon later. This technique can be used both for essay tests (by outlining responses to potential prompts) and for multiple-choice exams. Although the practice effect might require taking some time to meet with a study partner or group and quiz each other, the benefit of such a habit will certainly lead to improved testing scores.

By combining the practice effect with a sufficient night’s sleep, students can better prepare for all sorts of exams they may experience in their academic careers. In the case of these techniques, it doesn’t matter what kind of exam is given, or what material is covered. Although study habit can be difficult to form, sleep and self-testing will lead to a better performance than could be achieved by staying up all night to cram by re-reading notes.

Works Cited

Lim, J., & Dinges, D. F. (2008). Sleep deprivation and vigilant attention. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1129(1), 305-322.

Sutterer, D. W., & Awh, E. (2015). Retrieval practice enhances the accessibility but not the quality of memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1-11.

Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2006). Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 57, 139-166.