8/13/2019 The More You Learn the Less You Know

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_ ~~ ~~ _ _ I~~~ ~_I IAwIns and Oats of Crammning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Europe's first universities appearedin the 12th century. The final exami-nation originated at about the sametime, and no doubt. the first studentsto take finals were also the firststudents to cram for them.Both the final exam and crammingretain some of the flavor of theirmedieval origins: the final bears ob-vious resemblances to the Inquisitionand the torture rack: theall-night vigilevokes images of burning the mid-night oil, and candles at both ends.Though the preponderance of pro-fessorial opinion and scientific studythrough the centuries has been anti-cramming---and occasionally schol-ars express wonder at the persistenceof the custom-the purpose of cram-ming is quite obvious. Without it.student life as we know it today couldnot exist. Cramming separates thediligent from the casual student andenables the latterto have fulfillingandamusing college careers. while thestudious consistently make the grades.Even conscientious scholars cramoccasionally-or at least, they claimto be cramming. even though every-one knows they have been readingtwo chapters a night since the first dayof class and typing their lecture notesonto 3 x 5 cards. 'Cramming' meansdifferent things to different folks.Let's define the terms. Crammingrefers to anv last-minute. last-ditcheffort to master an abundance of newmaterial. The word new- is key. Forthe purpose of this treatise. crammingis different from final reviessing, anylast-minute. last-ditch effort to or-ganize and brush up on previouslylearned material. An all-righter sanylast-minute. last-ditch effort of studv-ing or term-paper writing, as a resultof which the effortee sleeps less thanfour hours. (For our purposes, youneed not actually see the rosy-fingereddawn to qualify: it's the thought, orlack of it, that counts.)Nosw with a firm grasp on thedefinitions, let us state unequivocallythe facts of the matter:1. Cramming, despite its useful-ness as a social institution, is useless asa means of passing final exams.2. Final reviewing, on the otherhand. is an extremely useful studytool that works with moderate to highsuccess.3. All-nighters are a common andharmless tool for writing term papers.but all-nighters and exams go togeth-er like oil and water.If you insist upon cramming, as

defined, we offer you no encourage-ment. only a sincere-good luck and aprayer that your departure from theuniversity will be as painless andtrauma-free as possible under thecircumstances. Sorry. kid, it justdoesn't cut the mustard. Here's why.The Mechanics of Memory

The brain seems to have two mem-orv systems, short-term memnory andlong-term memory. Information inshort-term memory has this nastyhabit ofdissolving into nothingness in24 hours or less. Also, short-termmemory has a space shortage. Whensome new information comes in andthere's no room, some of the oldinformation gets bumped out, neverto be seen or heard from again.Cramming information into short-term memorv obviously won't do.The more you learn, the more youforget. The more you forget, the lessyou know. So why study?Your only hope is to arrange a fasttransfer from short-term memory tolong-term memory. a permanent stor-age vault with unlimited space capac-ity. The way to do that, apparently, isto rehearse the information severaltimes. This labels it as something youintend to keep. But if you're pushedfor time, the transfer may not reachlong-term memory in time. The scien-tific evidence indicates it takes awhilefor long-term memory to consolidatenew input. Some of the evidencesuggests that sleep helps the consoli-

dation (a point which has a bearingonthe wisdom of all-nighters). Somescientists theorize that dreams are thetransfer itself -- instant replavs of thedav's short-term memory holdings.broken down in smaller bits and ontheir way to cold storage in long-termmemory.Most crammers never get the mate-rial past short-term memory; it mayor may not hang around there longenough to do any good on the test.Several other facts about learningwork against cramming. One is theproblem of interference-when yo ulearn something new. it may causeyou to forget something old. If youstudy all night and then stop to talk toa friend on 'our wax to class, theconversation is new input that ma vinterfere with what you just memo-rized-expecially if it's still bouncingprecariously in short-term memory.Another fact is that it's far easier torelearn something you already knewonce than to start from the beginning.For many students the differencebetween a cram and a review isagoodset of lecture notes. Even if you don'tlook at vour notes until just beforetests, theconcentration and effort youexerted to listen and then write downwhat vou heard --- n your own words--means you learned it. Every u ord maynot be in long-term memory. but alarge chunk of it probably is, justwaiting for you to pluck it out.The most -scientific wav to study.then, would be to review vour notesand books the very last thing at night.Then go directly to bed (no inter-ference) and sleep on it. That shouldconsolidate the new information intolong-term memory. In the morningrecite once or twice to be sure it's allthere.

The professorial wisdom on cramn-ming is summed up by this advicefrom a campus psychologist: "I'm forcramming at the beginning. If yo ureally want to learn well, read thematerial three or four times at thestart of the quarter. If you learn itwellthen, you'll only have to review it.In the best of all possible worlds.everv student would follow this sageadvice. But then, in the best of allpossible worlds, every college studentwould study for the pure joy ofseeking knowledge and final examswould be unnecessary.

Staff writer Don Akchin had a suc-cessfuil college career and promptlYforgot everi zhing.IFicIr C r

The more youlearn,the more youforgetThe more youforg tthe less youknow.

So why study?by DON AKCHIN

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