Improving Memory and Study Skills: Advances in Theory and Practice

Divided into five main sections, 13 chapters deal with: (1) Fundamentals, including scientific findings concerning learning and studying, and the physiological and psychological basis of memory (2) Physical and emotional state when studying/taking exams (3) How best to store and remember information (4) Using the environment and things around us to help (5) Integrating the above. Improving Memory and Study Skills is based on the latest research, including that of the authors, on how students study, learn, and remember. The authors collectively have over 100 years of experience in teaching and research about how students can learn more efficiently. This text presents both the rationale and the methods that have led to a new and successful multimodal approach to developing memory and study skills. Not only is the book full of practical recommendations for both teaching and learning these skills. In addition, the scientific reasons for the suggested procedures are clearly laid out, and the explanations in turn are grounded in practical examples. Each of the 13 chapters is rounded off by a concise summary of the most salient points, and the book itself is completed by a comprehensive glossary, and full author and subject indexes.

Table of Contents:
Psychology of studying Evaluation Memory conditioning Social contexts Mental manipulations External aids Workable evaluations Task-specific manipulations Study-specific manipulations Study savvy

Review :
"Herrmann, Raybeck, and Gruneberg provide students and teachers alike with an innovative new approach to the cognitive processes involved in learning and memory. This book will be an invaluable resource for students who have yet to master the study skills necessary for success in higher education." Richard C. Atkinson, President of the University of California "IA timely book written by well-known experts in the field of applied memory research." Boris M. Velichkovsky, Professor, Department of Applied Cognitive Research, Dresden University of Technology, Germany "Improving Memory and Study Skills looks at how psychologists study the crucial processes of learning, studying, and memory improvement in higher education. By carefully examining the nature of the phenomena under consideration the contributors identify the latest scientific knowledge in the field. In doing so, they skillfully illuminate fundamental ideas for understanding (a) how information is stored in memory and retrieved; (b) how the world around a person, and physical and emotional states of a person, affect their performance; (c) how one improves one's memory and study skills. "Written in a lively style and full of up-to-date examples, Improving Memory and Study Skills offers plenty of advice to today's consumers of educational practice. It will undoubtedly become an essential resource for a broad array of students and their teachers. Improving Memory and Study Skills is a much-needed textbook and highly recommended to anyone who is seriously interested in information and practical guidance for memory improvement." Elke van der Meer, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany "This book is a treasure trove of references concerned with applied aspects of memory science, but it is also a self-help manual designed for readers who are not only looking for methods that will help them to improve their own memory skills, but are also hoping to understand why those methods are so effective. It is impossible to put this book down without wondering why it has taken so long for somebody to get around to writing it. "Congratulations are due to Douglas Herrmann, Douglas Raybeck, and Michael Gruneberg for having so worthily formulated, and attained, this most timely and useful objective." David J. Murray, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada