Okay, so, I’ve just finished my first exam in cognitive psychology, and boy, was it a journey! Let me tell you all about it.
First off, I started by gathering all my materials – textbook, notes from the lectures, and those scribbled reminders I wrote to myself during the study sessions. Then I dived deep into it. One thing that I did which really seemed to help was asking myself “why” questions as I was studying. Like, instead of just memorizing something, I’d ask myself, “Why does this happen?” or “Why is this important?” I found out that it really helped things stick in my brain. It’s like my brain was more engaged or something.
Another thing I did was to distribute my study sessions. Instead of just one giant session at the last minute, I broke it down into smaller chunks over several days. I remember reading somewhere that it’s way better for remembering stuff long-term. And you know what? It felt less overwhelming that way, too.
Then I got into the thick of it. I read through my notes from those first few lectures, where we talked about how cognitive psychology is basically the study of how our brains work when we think, learn, and remember stuff. We also touched on speech perception, which is all about how we understand spoken words.
I also tried something I found online. I’d study a bit of info, think about how it all fits together, and then quiz myself by writing down everything I could remember. Sounds kinda simple, but it really worked. It’s like testing your memory makes it stronger.
Oh, and those flashcards! I made a bunch of them with terms like “Donder’s Experiment” and “Unobservable mental processes.” They were super helpful for quickly going over the key concepts. Those flashcards were lifesavers, I’m telling you. They made going over all the terms and definitions way easier.
Wrapping Up
So, that was pretty much my strategy. Asking “why” a lot, spreading out my study time, and using those flashcards. And you know what? I think it all paid off. I felt pretty good walking out of that exam. Of course, I won’t know for sure until I get my grade back, but I’m feeling optimistic. I’m pretty sure all that “why” questioning and spreading out my study time made a big difference. So, yeah, that’s my experience with my first cognitive psychology exam. It was tough, but I learned a lot, not just about the subject, but also about how I learn best. And hey, if you’re studying for something similar, maybe some of these methods could work for you too!
