Many students think about how to best spend their time while studying. But what we can do before study can be important too—especially if you want to improve your memory of what you have learned.
Exercise
Before you study, doing cardiovascular exercise (有氧运动) may help you better remember what you learn. High-intensity exercise (高强运动) may be especially helpful. In a 2018 study, published in the journal Physiology and Behavior, researchers found that a group of young people who did 15 minutes of high-intensity training remembered more words.
Some studies suggest the importance of different kinds of exercise. It seems that both long, slow cardiovascular exercise and high-intensity exercise have different effects on memory. Researchers have suggested combining the two to get the best effects for your memory.
Location
Location is also important for improving your learning. While it is good to have a desk or a special study area, some research suggests that changing where you study could help you remember more of what you study.
Our memories sometimes depend on things in our environment. For example, a book might remind you of something interesting or strange you learned while reading it.
"Environmental Context and Human Memory," a famous study on memory, dealt with the question of memory and our surroundings. Researchers Smith, Glenberg and Bjork found that environmental context played a big part in how well people remembered words. The researchers noted that subjects who learned from a list remembered an average of 15.9 words, while subjects who learned in two different contexts remembered an average of 24.4 words.
Be sure to plan your location before you start to study.
Pre-study test
Students often study with a test in mind. They think the test is the final step to show how much they have learned. But taking a pre-study test is also important.
In 2018, researchers found that students who took a test before learning new material did much better after studying the material. The research was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
So, try to take a pre-study test.
We have explored three things you can do before study to improve your learning. In the future, we will explore things you can do during and after your study sessions to improve your learning.