Friday, May 8, 2020

Preventing Sleep Impaired Mental Function - 1817 Words

Everyone has done it before: putting off studying for that exam until the last minute, then pulling out the caffeine for an all-nighter to cram as much information into their heads as they can. Cramming is the act of taking in massive amount of information in a short period of time just before an examination.When we cram for exams, the causes are usually because we lose interest in studying, have another large pile of work to worry about, or plainly play around too much – not being serious. However, there are consequences for cramming late at night. Harvard Medical School associate professor Seung-Schik Yoo’s research suggests that â€Å"lack of sleep impairs mental function [and] leaves students vulnerable to long-term permanent damage†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦This happens because students are not realizing the importance of review, thereby succumbing to cramming and studying a lot longer than needed. The best way to not forget our facts is to keep the mem ory fresh regularly. We do so by implementing study habits and incorporating different techniques in order to retain learned material. One way to accomplish this is to know when the next exam is, and from there we spread out how much time we will commit to study leading up to the exam. Nate Kornell, an associate professor of cognitive psychology, stated that â€Å"learners would profit from taking advantage of the spacing effect, both in classrooms and during unsupervised learning†¦ because spacing does not take more time than massing, it simply involves a different distribution of time† (Kornell). Spacing involves wisely planning out our time earlier before the day of the exam. An example includes the strategy of looking over notes after class and studying for half an hour each day, which is better than having to actually start studying the day before the exam for hours. Distributing time to study is key, because we avoid the problem of overworking and agitating ourselv es by studying all of the information. In addition, we allow the information to be stored long-term, which is advantageous for retrieving information when we need it. Most of all, testing ourselves regularly is another crucial practice that can reduce cramming. Scientist Sean Kang’s

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