Developing Effective Study Skills W. Larry Williams Ph.D., B.C.B.A.-D. Behavior Analysis Program Department of Psychology

OBJECTIVES OF THIS TALK Quick review of what we mean by studying and Human Behavior The role of Attention The nature of learning Verbal (cognitive) Behavior Arranging for effective studying Details on how to increase efficiency Details on how to allow yourself fun consequences for meeting behavioral goals Details on how to record and document progress and your improved study skills

Study Goals You Should Consider Adopting Being able to study at a level that allows you to complete courses with the highest grade possible. Getting your “study” behavior so strong and regular that it happens without much negative thinking or issues. Developing your attending skills so that you get the same results from less time studying Being able to “have it all” sufficient study activity to “Master” material, and still “have a life”.

Attention: What is it? It’s pretty well accepted that before we participate in any activity and that activity results in a repertoire change we must first “discriminate” it’s availability and begin to participate (attend). We are only talking about those behaviors we engage in while being awake and conscious. (not dreaming, not comatose) Once we are effected (become aware of) by specific events (stimuli) we may then begin to behave towards those events and our repertoire may be effected due to Operant Conditioning ( consequences strengthen voluntary performances or Pavlovian Conditioning arbitrary antecendent events through pairing, become able to elicit unlearned reflexes that are physiological ( e.g., eye blink, knee jerk, Anxiety!)

What Behavioral Psychology has Demonstrated about Attention What is “Attention Span”? It is modifiable! Two concepts regarding distraction ( IE., weakening of attending) Pavlovian or Classical antecedent stimulus features Sensitization (scary movie effect on creaking floor) Operant (Skinner) consequences of behavior analysis of distraction Momentary distraction from a task ( e.g., a siren goes by , we stop work, and then we go back) Competing stimulus control ( starting or adding another task from the one you are doing). Attending to other things than the material you are reading ( e.g., self talk, imagery, rehersals, day dreaming, imagining, etc.)

Studying is Behavior and it Competes With the World Around You When we study, we are essentially engaging in what behavior analysts refer to as Verbal Behavior. This is typically private activity ( Reading materials, attending to graphics, symbols, numbers, self talk about those things, imagery, feelings, etc.) that has been learned over many years of doing those activities “out loud” with our care givers and learning to do them privately (IE. The development of Cognition, or Thinking). It is possible to “Cram” for a test, but long term and generalizable (what you actually know) repertoire change and maintenance requires that we Behave (engage in the specific behavior) correctly over several instances and be reinforced for this activity.

Making Studying Part of Your Routine Pick a spot at Home and On Campus Only study there! Don’t engage in ANY other behaviors in these spots Only the material for that subject is present. Arrange for white noise or some neutral music (e.g., Classical) Caution!! Establish a Record keeping system Cumulative records by course What’s a cumulative record? Timer and quantity of material completed ( pages, questions solved)

The Cumulative graph Same axes as the frequency but the ordinate ( the count) score for any data t is _________ on to the value of the previous data point ( IE. the score “accumulates”. A record of all occurrences to date. When a given tally is zero, the graph line is ____________ (can never be a value lower than the last data point) Change in the slope shows us changes in rate (acceleration or deceleration) ADDED HORIZONTAL

CUMMULATIVE GRAPH

CUMMULATIVE GRAPH Each sessions data is added to the last Zero responding is a flat line

Making Studying Part of Your Routine Set Goals for the amount and type of study per week you will have to do for each of your courses. Different courses may require different “study behaviors” as well as different amounts of time. ( what is actually necessary will change as the semester unfolds). Arrange to study materials you find hard or don’t like BEFORE materials you are good at or find more interesting Monitor your attending behavior while studying: If you realize that you have been “day dreaming” stop everything and take a 2 minute break ( get up and walk around, get a drink of water etc.) Make sure to record these instances. ( we look for them to decrease over time) If outside interference happens ( someone shows up and is trying to interact with you) stop studying until it is corrected and record what happened. (IE stop the timer and Leave)

Recording Your Data All of your data will be time spent working and / or pages read or questions solved or completed. You record time studying each day including week ends. If no studying happened you record nothing but you graphs will show a horizontal line ( flat line) for that time. Get a large Piece of fine graph paper. ( 2X3 ft.) Record each course on that big chart. ( IE. Allot each course the same space on the graph. Time will be the horizontal axis and show the whole semester. ( Each Day) Round your data up or down into15 minute intervals.

Recording Your Data If you want, use a separate sheet of smaller ( 10 X 12 inches) paper for each of your courses / responsibilities). You add the time you spent studying on any given course cumulatively every day to the previous time spent studying on that course. This gives you the total amount of time spent studying for each course to date. Indicate quizzes and exams right on the graph You may use Microsoft excel to do all of what I have described ( recommended)

  Cource 1 Course 2 Course 3 Date UNR HOME Total CUM 25-Aug 0.25 1 0.5 26-Aug 2 3 1.5 27-Aug 1.25 3.5 28-Aug 1.75 5.5 2.25 29-Aug 3.75 6.5 3.25 30-Aug 7.5 4.25 31-Aug 4.75 9.5 5.25

Deciding What to do Given Your Data Are you spending a lot of time on only a few courses and ignoring others? Are you putting in hours on all courses? Are some courses requiring more work than others? Is your study time for any given course getting smaller? (IE. are you able to cover more material in the same time.?) Are you getting results for the less desirable course by working on them BEFORE your favorites?

Maintaining your System Arrange weekly reinforcers ( favorite foods, technical toys, Movies, activities you really like) to maintain your performance. Remember to have one mid week too. This requires a “baseline” rate of studying, then awarding yourself favorite activities or things only if you study the amount you determine from the baseline rate. Increase the weekly goals slowly, and only if previous goals were met Do this together with exercise!!!! You can’t concentrate as easily if you are not healthy. All the studying you do keeps you sitting

QUESTIONS ?

larryw@unr.edu E-mail me to get this and a pre prepared Excel File to get you started