How can we best study? Do we have to learn in a certain environment or does it not matter where you store the information in your brain? These are questions that many people ask themselves. How can I get the most out of my study time and how can I ensure that I can optimally recall what I have learned when I take that difficult test or exam? You can read it in this article.
Studying: easy or difficult
Some people learn more easily than others. These are often words that are spoken when someone has difficulty studying. Is that really the case? There is much difference in the possibility of learning. Can some people really learn better? Often it is not in the possibility of learning, but in the possibility and way in which you learn. Not everyone learns well and can optimally recall the information learned at the time if necessary.
Your brain
When you learn or study, what you have learned is stored in your brain or brain. Your brain makes associations with what you have learned. Your brain is incredibly complex and still has many mysteries. Little by little, scientists are unraveling the brain’s greatest mysteries. Not everything has been mapped out yet and much remains unknown. Recent research is providing more and more insights. Studying in a certain way can really make a difference.
Contextual learning: what is it?
What is the golden tip you need to know to study optimally? It is extremely important to learn in the context in which you take the test or exam. Are you taking the exam or test in an environment where there is a lot of noise? Therefore, learn in an environment where there is noise. If you take the exam in a quiet environment (this is probably the case), also study in an environment where it is quiet. The best way to learn is in an environment where it is not very quiet. There must be background noise. Think of an environment like the university library. This environment best matches the environment where you will take your exam. It is not recommended to study with music.
Music causes you to be too distracted and the context in which you learn is also not suitable for optimally retrieving the information when you take the exam. Of course, contextual learning does not only apply to taking exams. Outside of that, it is also very important to experience and learn in an environment that comes as close as possible to the actual situation. For example, consider learning your work by simply doing it. You learn in the environment where you ultimately do your work. You see, smell and hear your work. Your brain stores all factors and small details and makes associations. As soon as you start working again in the same context, you will end up in a certain mode and pick up your activity more quickly.
Other methods of studying better?
What about learning in your sleep? Is that possible? To immediately come up with an answer: no, that is not possible. You can’t study while you’re sleeping. Your brain needs rest at night. At night, what has been learned is, as it were, processed into a stable pattern. Your brain crafts all the information into a beautiful pattern, a pattern that is easy to retrieve. It is sometimes difficult to make an abstract phenomenon concrete.
Cognitive neuroscientist
Cognitive neuroscientists are studying these types of issues and coming up with new discoveries. You become a cognitive neuroscientist by studying psychology. It is a direction within psychology that deals with the anatomy of the brain, brain dysfunctions and discoveries within the domain of cognition and intelligence, for example.