What is Your Advice for Studying for a Psychology Final?
It is an important skill to recognize the limits of our study tools and resources - I am proud of you for reaching out for help and asking for new ideas.
Especially if we care about a subject, which I suspect you might enough to ask a question like this, it is hard for it to not feel natural or easy or like our strength.
I want to share that not every psychology course I took throughout my almost ten years of studying it was my highest grade. Not every course felt natural or made the most sense to me. And/or sometimes we just don’t have the capacity to excel at a course because other things are going on in our lives. All of those things are valid. I just want to make space for the feelings that might be coming up because your grades aren’t maybe where you hoped them to be.
I also want to acknowledge that technology has certainly changed since I was taking undergraduate psychology courses and so the Quizlet online flashcards I used may be far out dated. But I do believe flashcards are a great tool for psychology exams. There are lots of theories and terms and in some regards, for final exams, it is a memorization game. There are other repetition/recall/recognition type study strategy for psychology though besides flashcards!
‘To-Try’ One
One new way to study I would suggest is to turn each chapter into a memory game. Match the term to the definition by flipping over cards two at a time like you would for the normal ‘Memory’ game (this is true for theories and their theories, parts of the brain and it’s function, emotions and sensations, etc. - whatever the topic is!). I would suggest keeping the chapters separate at first, and then because it is a final exam, mix up the chapters, adding in pairs from each so your brain recognizes them outside of their groupings by chapter.
‘To-Try’ Two
Another suggestion is to find a different way to study - try YouTube videos for topics and listen to someone explain it differently than your professor or even watch them draw out lessons (animations or doodles). It might be helpful for you to relisten to a lecture if you can and draw out your notes. Color code them, attach photos, doodle yourself. Anything that adds a visual and aesthetic element that might pop up for you as you take the final exam. Mind map on a white board or online using an application like Miro.
‘To-Try’ Three
Try to teach the chapter(s) to someone else. If there is someone in your class that is willing to join you, you can offer to review one chapter to them and have them teach one chapter to you. They say one of the best ways to retain and know the information inside and out is to explain it to someone else. If you can buy someone lunch in exchange for going through main topics of all chapters, that might be superstar teacher level!
One last lead might be to ask your professor or TA about any study guides or resources. They may even hold office hours which might be particularly helpful if you have specific questions or topics you want to cover.
Remember, for multiple choice final exams, your ability to whittle down the choices is a huge advantage. Just because you don’t know one or two of the choices doesn’t mean you can’t deduce the answer. You want to be able to recognize and recall, but you don’t have to have every single piece of a theory memorized. Don’t give yourself impossible standards as you enter into the final.
As much as the studying has to happen, so does the circumstances for you to do well. This means sleeping enough, eating enough (and eating things that make you feel energized and sustained), moving your body, and feeling connected. Don’t neglect these things as they will support your brain health and learning abilities! (even if it feels counterintuitive to spend time away from the textbook).
My last suggestion, before the exam, is to make sure to do one thing that makes you feel accomplished! In play therapy we call this mastery play, when a child sorts toys by colors or completes a task that they know they can finish in a session, which gives a boost of confidence. Adults never really grow out of this. So it can be something playful, but it can also be finishing washing a sink full of dishes or putting away the stack of laundry on the chair or sending an email that’s been on your to-do list all week. Something that tells your brain “yes” we can do things and do them well.
Best of luck on your exam!
Til next Sunday,
Dr. Sydney Conroy
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