Each person has taken exams at least once in a lifetime. Many and several times: at school, when entering college or university, and while studying. And on how we have developed long-term memory, success in learning and passing all kinds of exams and tests depends in many respects.
Psychologists interpret the concept of memory as a mental process responsible for the accumulation, storage and reproduction of knowledge, skills and abilities. This human activity is characterized by many features, including the division into the following types: short-term, operational and long-term memory. When a person needs to remember any information, the short-term is primarily responsible for this. Its volume may be different. It depends on many factors: age, life experience, abilities, type of thinking, which is used to remember a certain amount of information.
For all that is postponed during training and preparation for exams, short-term memory is initially responsible . It is a kind of filter that filters out a lot of unnecessary and translates useful information into long-term memory. It is like an archive in which all the knowledge necessary for the student or student is laid out on shelves. What should be in a long-term storage, gets there by volitional efforts. Therefore, one has to either re-read the material many times in preparation for the exam, or memorize something.
There are many exercises and ways to make memorization more effective. Most scientists agree that long-term memory stores information from short-term after a certain time. That is why there is no point in learning tickets before the exam itself, it is better to distribute the preparation time for several weeks or months - so knowledge will be strong and informed.
The main processes of memory are memorization (in our case, arbitrary), storage (which is best achieved by repeating the material), reproduction (before the exam at the consultations we recall the contents of tickets) and recognition (with meaningful memorization, the connections that were preserved during memorization work). These processes are interconnected and more effective when the student is set up for a meaningful perception of the educational material.
So, how does long-term memory help you pass exams? All knowledge given by educators during the semester or academic quarter should be remembered consciously. At the same time, you can resort to the help of any associations, periodically repeat what you have learned, and perform additional tasks on the topic.
So that the memory does not disappoint on the exam, you should allocate time and study tickets according to a pre-compiled plan. Given the schedule of exams and the time for their preparation, it is worth distributing the amount of memorized material evenly, leaving time for breaks and rest. You don’t need to memorize a ticket by heart, read the material carefully enough (better aloud), draw up an approximate short answer plan and try to answer the question on this plan. Repeat ticket material is an hour later, and then - the next day. To consolidate the learned, it is again recommended to return to this ticket in about a week. It is advisable to pronounce the answer aloud, so not only visual, but also motor and auditory memory are involved. The more ways of remembering will be involved, the better the result.
It is good to use diagrams, tables, figures, moreover, compiled independently (that is, meaningful personally). The images that were prepared before the eyes, memory will helpfully present at the exam, and it will be much easier to reproduce the training material from these pictures and diagrams.
The main thing is not to bring the body to stress, memorizing tickets in the last days, forgetting about good nutrition, relaxation and healthy sleep. This does not lead to a positive result.