It’s exam time. The libraries complete their capacity with a mixture of teenagers preparing the EBAU, university students closing the course and opponents in the final stretch before passing the acid test. The study method is something proper and characteristic of the person, so much so that it will be difficult to find two identical strategies. Beyond the tricks that apply to each one, science has sought to shed light on the complex issue of learning.

Studying is almost synonymous with memorizing. And not only that. Thinking requires memory and the knowledge base that is accessed by using it. You cannot apply what you know if there is nothing to apply.

Memory has many subdivisions and types. The acquisition of new knowledge is mainly divided into short-term and long-term memory. Short-term, or working, memory lasts a few seconds and has minimal storage capacity. In the context of an exam it can be used to remember some last minute detail as long as it is being repeated mentally. Otherwise, the content will vanish in a few seconds. Another trick to remember better is to compress the information. It is easier to store 23, 45, 65 and 77 than 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 7 and 7, since the former implies four units of information and the latter eight.

If the objective is robustness, quantity and temporal durability, what matters is long-term memory. Apparently it is a bottomless bag where everything fits and indefinitely. The process of memorizing includes three components: information encoding, that is, learning the information; storage of this in time, and recovery of stored knowledge. Any success in the act of remembering requires that all three stages be intact. The key to good learning is to improve encoding processes and use techniques that guarantee effective recovery.

The coding is selective. Thus, learning everything studied the first time is almost impossible and the most salient will be fixed first. The trick to coding well is to archive the information with many different paths to access it. In this way, if when trying to recover it through the main path it is not remembered, there will be others that do and, therefore, it will be possible to access the saved information. A couple of classic examples are grouping information into acronyms or creating sentences that summarize the content.

Another way to create pathways is by associating new information with what is already known. For example, if you have to learn the autonomous communities and you have traveled to one of them, link the name of the same with the memory of the trip. Creating mental images of what is studied is another strategy with supporting evidence to retain information.

But good encoding does not guarantee subsequent recall. The key here is to develop effective clues to make the information accessible. The effectiveness of the recovery signals lies in their coding specificity, that is, in having designed specific alternative paths for each information. Thus, if studying a particular war conflict generates a mental image of a fairly standard battle, it will not be very helpful in remembering what that conflict was about.

Tests aren’t just useful for finding out how much you know about something. Evaluating what one knows is much more useful for learning than re-studying what has been studied. Numerous investigations have shown that the more demanding the information retrieval process is, the greater the benefit for its retention. That is, the greater the effort to remember, the greater the consolidation of what has been learned and in the long term. That is why rereading the content is not the best way to strengthen memory. Better to take a multiple choice test or, even better, a written one.

A concrete strategy with evidence that supports it is, at the end of each study day, to complete a short answer writing test. Having the help of another person to explain what they have learned in the form of an oral exam is another very good idea to also overcome the negative part of the effort to remember thanks to external support.

The scientific literature also reveals that questioning yourself during the study is equally useful for learning. Thus, generating plausible explanations, trying to answer the reason for the questions read will make it better remembered later.

Deliberate practice refers to the act of consciously and actively practicing a skill with the intention of improving comprehension and performance of the skill, for example, making text comments at home that serve as simulations of the actual test. The grace lies in not doing for the sake of doing or in focusing on what is already known. It really is about putting an effort into attending to the required details and completing what does not go well or, directly, does not even come out, even if it takes a long time. And repeat, repeat and repeat.

It is very easy to neglect deliberate practice and fall into automatism. The good thing is that you don’t need to practice many hours a day to get its benefits, a couple are more than enough.

Trying and failing to retrieve the answer is really helpful in learning. People remember things better and longer if they are subjected to challenging tests that force them to fail.

So, in the self-assessments at the end of the study, better include some difficult questions where failure is guaranteed or a very demanding study partner. Trying to give an answer about something you don’t know and, most likely, failing it will help you learn better when studying that content. A pre-study test will be helpful in this regard.

This point comes to support what has already been mentioned and known firsthand by any student that bingeing the day before the exam is not the best way to learn and pass. What works best to consolidate information in long-term memory is its distribution over time. Studying one hour a day for 10 days on a subject is much better than studying 10 hours of said subject in one day.

In a complementary way, interspersing both knowledge and skills related to a topic in the same session is better than studying in blocks. For example, to prepare for a math exam, which generally includes theory and problems, dedicate part of the study to theory and another part to problems. If combined with spacing, the next day the strategy will be repeated, but with a new type of content. Thus, if geometry was studied yesterday, today it may be time to learn about functions.

Many educational centers that carry out workshops for the preparation of the exam emphasize that students study focusing on preparing questions of the style of the future exam.

If it is known that a question requires exposing the line of thought of a Philosophy author, it is better to prepare well the answer to this question in the different authors than merely to learn about them. This will ensure success in that part of the test. The deliberate practice mentioned above is a good way to accomplish this task. Using previous exams is another useful resource.

According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, a simple trick to be more alert is to take 25 to 30 deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. After the last exhalation of the series, hold your breath with empty lungs for 15 to 60 seconds. Then inhale once and hold your breath until you feel the urge to breathe normally.

On the other hand, mental concentration follows visual. To start a task with great concentration, Huberman recommends staring at a spot on a wall or screen or object for 30 to 60 seconds before starting. After that, move on to the task at hand.

Animals and therefore people choose to do what they do because it is beneficial. Preparing for an exam offers the benefit of passing it and thereby moving on to the next course, graduating, or getting a job. But in the midst of the waves of books and daily notes, that goal appears very far away. It is necessary to reward yourself often to remain firm in the task. So, contrary to what it may seem, meeting friends one day a day after studying helps a lot to sink elbows.

For this trick to be especially efficient, it would be rewarding yourself if the study has been effective, although if at first it costs a lot to get down to work, the mere fact of trying it should already be rewarded. A trick for this is to set a timer, even for half an hour: it is known that in a short period of time you will get the reward of stopping studying along with the satisfaction of having met the proposed objective.

Once the study habit is consolidated, it is better that the prizes come intermittently, that is, that the reward does not come every time a learning objective is achieved. This is the most effective way to maintain behavior according to the literature on the subject.

When you want to get benefit from a practice, the first step is to carry it out. Studying is not usually an activity classified as entertaining and even less when it must be carried out in a mandatory manner and under stressful conditions. One trick is to make that activity as attractive as possible. Anything goes, from using a multitude of colored pens to enjoy the process of taking notes to wondering among colleagues, going through challenging yourself by setting a limited time to fulfill a purpose. The goal is to achieve that extrinsic motivation.

Emotions not only play a role when it comes to getting motivation. They are also useful for learning and memorizing: they make information more salient and better remembered. The limbic system of our brain, with the amygdala as the protagonist, is involved in emotions and memory formation. An emotion, of whatever value, triggers the spring of the system and “activates” the brain, making it more prone to the formation of a memory. Hence, very significant events in one’s life are recorded on fire or that an explanation in class that called attention is almost not necessary to study it later.

Humans emit, or stop emitting, behaviors based on environmental stimuli: crossing the street when the traffic light is green, opening the microwave when it has gone off, or going to work when the clock strikes 9:00. When it comes to studying, stimuli can be controlled to help develop this practice over others. For example, turning off your mobile or going to the library to have fewer distractions. There are people who for this reason prefer to study at night since, to put it in some way, the only thing they can do is study.

Stimulus control not only serves to “avoid temptation”, but also to make the desire to get down to work appear. Studying always in the same place and at the same time leads to the fact that, when you go to that place or arrive at that time, you jump into “study mode”. This is because both elements have been conditioned in the same way that a dog knows that he has to walk when he sees that he is taking the leash.

Numerous studies have reflected the benefits of the act of chewing on cognitive performance, especially in maintaining attention over time. Such an effect is accompanied by an improvement in mood and stress relief. A chewing gum when the concentration falls can be a good ally to continue with the study.

This point is obvious, but it cannot fail to be mentioned: a restful sleep is the best ally to establish what you have studied during the day. In addition, the lack of rest leads to problems with attention, concentration, memory, worse mood or greater ease of contracting diseases, all of which are incompatible with good study days.

And not only the night’s rest counts, the nap does too. Sleeping towards the middle of the day improves previous learning, whether it is related to perceptual skills, movement through space or new lexicon. The short break also helps restore fatigue due to performance as it occurs during the study. One of the investigations even revealed that listening to a previously studied melody during a nap helped its subsequent memory.

The time considered in the studies is usually one hour, exceeding it many times, and reaching from deep sleep phases to avoiding reaching these. The latter shows that a light sleep also helps in the consolidation of learning.

Caffeine has repeatedly been shown to decrease reaction time, reduce fatigue, increase alertness and attention, and have positive effects on mood. However, this substance cannot be considered a “pure” cognitive enhancer. Its action on alertness, mood, and concentration largely contributes to its cognitive-enhancing properties.

These benefits are achieved with moderate doses, from 40 to 400 mg daily, equivalent to between half and three coffees. As for energy drinks, a Red Bull, for example, contains 80 mg of caffeine, although they usually incorporate other stimulants such as ginseng or guarana.

Specific moments where the effectiveness of caffeine has been shown to prevent the drop in attention are after eating, during night work and during long-duration and not very stimulating tasks. The push of the mood is more intense towards the end of the morning. Repeated administration of a cup of coffee every several hours sustains improved mood throughout the day.

The positive effects of caffeine are more evident in fatigued people. However, it cannot compensate for the decrease in performance after a long term of sleep deprivation. In other words, the bad effects of sleep outweigh the good effects of caffeine in sleep deprivation. Therefore, it is better to sleep more than not to sleep and make up for it with a cup of coffee.

Consuming caffeine later in the day can increase the time it takes to fall asleep and reduce sleep quality. Keep in mind that it can take up to five hours to halve caffeine levels in the blood, although there are large variations from person to person. Smoking shortens the half-life of the substance in the body while taking oral contraceptives lengthens it.

A vast number of investigations relates the practice of physical exercise with the best mental performance. How should that exercise be? Better if it is an intense series. This is any practice that involves sweating and makes speech difficult. When does the cognitive benefit arrive? Mainly after practicing physical activity. Other data reveal that people with a better physical condition, that is, who exercise regularly, are associated with better cognitive performance.

What is improved? Above all, in memory and in more complicated tasks that involve executive functioning, such as solving problems or an exam. Among the proposed explanatory factors for this effect are the state of post-exercise activation, greater cerebral oxygenation or the segregation of neurotrophic factor. derived from the brain, a type of protein directly involved in neuronal growth.

At moderate levels, stress is beneficial for studying. However, when it escalates to certain limits it can lead to feelings of emotional blockage, insecurity, excessive worry or anxiety.

A useful technique is to try to take the situation into perspective, that is, to discuss the thoughts that fuel the discomfort. Three steps can be followed: examine the accuracy of the thought (“Am I really bad on the test?”); evaluate the magnitude of the consequences, if the thought were true (“what would happen if I fail? do I have an option to recover?”), and evaluate what is the use of thinking that way (“does it help me solve my problems?”). .

On the other hand, controlling your breathing is a simple way to cope with stress and manage increases in physiological arousal. In addition, it can be used at any time and place. Diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing is optimal in this case. With it, it is possible to produce relaxation by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and reducing muscle activation. To this we must add the distracting effect of thinking about how to do it correctly, helping to leave negative thoughts in the background.

To carry it out, it is enough to breathe in through the nose naturally for three seconds, feeling how the belly swells, and blow the air through the nose or mouth at the same time. Also add a small pause before each inhalation and exhalation. Avoid taking very deep breaths, as this could cause hyperventilation. Like any skill, it requires practice, so it’s better to start testing in calm situations and then get the most out of it if anxiety comes.

James Petrie, director of Secondary and Baccalaureate at the British School of Barcelona (BSB) Castelldefels and BSB Nexus, and Henry L. Roediger, professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences at the Washington University in St. Louis (USA).