Welcome to the Anime Psychologist, a safe
space where we get to explore psychology and mental health in and through anime. If this is a space you're looking for, please
do subscribe and comment below for more ideas Today we have Anya from Spy X Family to teach
us about Pomodoro, as well as other learning techniques and strategies from cognitive psychology
that can help you study and learn better. . Before we start talking about the different
learning strategies, let us do a quick check-in about
how you are doing with your studying
right now. I get easily distracted. I feel like I’m not learning no matter how
hard I study. I get easily overwhelmed at how much I have
to learn. I find it hard to start studying. Nothing seems to be working! Help! Comment below how many of these "Tomatoes"
do you have? If you have lots of tomatoes, don't worry! Anya will help guide us. The following learning strategies might be
helpful to you. I have selected seven strategies, which my
clients and I persona
lly find useful. These have some good evidence backing them
up. Meaning, there have been cognitive psychology
studies that show that these can help improve learning for certain students. We have... Pomodoro
Elaborative Interrogation Self-Explanation
Imagery-use Practice Testing
Distributive Practice, And Interleaved Practice POMODORO
In the late 1980s, an Italian university student named Francesco Cirillo created the Pomodoro
Technique. It was a way to manage time. Its name comes from the Italia
n word for "tomato"
because Cirillo started using a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to monitor his work intervals. There are 8 simple steps to practicing the
Pomodoro: Step 1: Find a task you need to work on. Be specific. For example, you would like to start a report
or make improvements in a project. Step 2: Set a timer for 25 minutes. This entire 25-minute cycle is called one
"Pomodoro." Step 3: Start working on your task. Focus only on doing this task for the entire
25 minutes. Step 4: When the t
imer rings after 25 minutes,
take a 5-minute break. Relax, stretch, or get some coffee or a snack. Step 5: Repeat the 25 minute Pomodoro and
5 minute break cycle. Do this three more times. Step 6: After you complete four Pomodoros,
you can take a longer break, like 15 to 30 minutes. Step 7: Keep track of how many Pomodoros you
complete on a document. It helps you see your progress. Step 8: Continue this process until you finish
your task or reach your goal. If you prefer a digital way of trackin
g, I
recommend trying out the following Pomodoro applications which have been useful to my
clients ELABORATIVE INTERROGATION
If you have been around children, you may have observed them asking "why" a lot. Maybe, you were also like that when you were
young. Remarkably, this way of being curious, questioning
the world around us, can actually be a powerful way to learn. It's amazing what we can learn from children! Elaborative Interrogation is a learning strategy
that involves asking and answering
"why" questions. It's like we are giving ourselves a quiz. By asking "why", we make new connections to
the knowledge we already have. This can be as simple as asking, "Why could
this be true?", "why does this explanation make sense for me?", or "Why is this true
instead of some other explanation?" It's important that the question we ask ourselves
is clear and meaningful. Not only that, but we should also have some
access to knowledge that we can draw from. We're trying to retrieve or get inform
ation
from what we know in the past, and activating them as we learn this new information now. SELF EXPLANATION
Self explanation is also a learning strategy that encourages us to make use of knowledge
we already have. This is when we explain something in our own
words, very much like we are teaching someone else. By doing so, we get to reflect about what
we've learned. We also get to clarify what we have actually
understood. Doing this enhances our ability to retain
this information for the futu
re. Try the following self explanation challenge:
Try to give a TED talk about a topic you're studying while you're in the bathroom doing
your business. IMAGERY USE
Imagery Use is a learning strategy where we practice visualizing concepts. When learning new information, you create
vivid mental images or visual representations of the content. For example, if you're studying a historical
event, you can imagine the scenes, people, and details involved. This strategy engages our senses. You can ment
ally "see," "hear," "smell," and
even "feel" the content, making it more memorable and immersive. This enhances memory. There are research which suggests that the
brain is more likely to remember information that is associated with sensory-rich mental
images. Imagery Use also allows you to personalize
your learning experience by creating mental associations that are meaningful to you, and
only you. PRACTICE TESTING
This learning strategy makes use of what we call active recall. Instead of simply
re-reading or reviewing
your notes, practice testing requires you to actively retrieve information from your
memory. Practice testing can take many forms, such
as flashcards, self-quizzes, or sample questions. By practicing taking tests, you get to assess
your strengths and where your struggles of understanding are. It also helps you get used to taking tests. DISTRIBUTED AND INTERLEAVED PRACTICE
Distributed Practice is a learning strategy that involves spacing out your study sessions
over time
rather than cramming all at once. Instead of dedicating several hours to a subject
in a single day, you break your study time into shorter, regular intervals. How come this works? We have lots studies on what is called the
Distributed Practice Effect. There are two things under this. The spacing effects, or the learning advantage
of spacing out over massing learning. Then there are lag effects, or spacing them
out with longer time lags instead of shorter lags. Instead of learning back to back, h
aving for
example, a 1 or 30 day space in between learning, can help us keep this information longer (or
what we call retention). You might think that it's easier to forget
with this. However when we're talking about long-term
retention, or remembering what you've learned for a later time, this strategy works effectively. This is because there's this theory called
Deficient Processing. When we restudy the same material so close
to the first time we did, the second learning opportunity can suffer
. For example, you decided to take notes about
a lecture. After an hour, you decided to re-read them. You feel very confident that you have now
remembered the material because you can recall almost everything well. Only to be surprised a month later. Nothing actually stuck! This approach enhances long-term memory retention
and understanding because it allows your brain to slowly take in information over multiple
sessions, which strengthens your grasp of the material. INTERLEAVED PRACTICE, on the
other hand, involves
mixing in different subjects or topics within a single study session. Instead of focusing exclusively on one subject,
you switch between related or unrelated topics. This method challenges your brain to differentiate
and apply knowledge to various scenarios, which can improve your ability to discriminate
between concepts and promote deeper understanding. WHAT COULD A STUDY SESSION LOOK LIKE WITH
ALL THESE COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN PLACE? Before I give suggestions, remember th
at our
learning styles are all different. I recommend starting with your own style,
and finding ways to integrate or improve by adding or substituting the strategies here. Learning a "learning strategy" involves learning! So it takes time and practice to figure out
what are the best ways to study and learn that works well for us and that fits us. It should fit our neurodiverse or neurotypical
minds, our social and environmental limitations, and our time. The FRIEREN Strategy, inspired by our bel
oved
mage, Frieren. Do your rounds of pomodoro for one day, then
take practice tests the next time you return to study the same material around 5 days or
more. You can do this as frequently as you can. The longer time in between the better. Test your knowledge a month or even a year
later, how well can you remember the topics covered? The GOJO SATORU Strategy, inspired by our
attractive jujutsu. Do your pomodoro, while incorporating visual
elements. In between Pomodoro sessions, try learning
ano
ther topic or doing something that is different from what you're studying. The DETECTIVE CONAN Strategy. While studying or working, try to ask yourself
"Why" questions and answer them to the best you can. By the end of your study or work session,
explain to yourself what you know, like you are giving a conclusion about a case. I hope that helps. Please subscribe for more anime mental health
content. Until next time, take care fighting dreamers!
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