Whether exam season is approaching or you’re just looking to find a few extra tips or tricks to studying better, there’s a lot of hacks on the internet that are motivated for clicks and ad revenue. The problem is that a lot of them lack scientific research that can back up their claims. Below are a few tips or methods that might aid or hinder your learning, as far as the current research might tell us.
Chewing Gum
You’ve probably heard a teacher or friend recommend you chew gum while you study and during a test to help your memory; I certainly have on multiple occasions. But, I’ve always wondered if it actually helped and how.
For several years, there’s been research done on the effects of the sense of smell on memory. It was discovered the nerve signals beginning in the nose are directly routed to the limbic system in the brain, the centre most linked with emotion and memory. That’s why a certain smell can send you back to your childhood. In this way, it’s possible chewing gum can have a similar effect, with the piercing mint or other vibrant flavour triggering memories.
Another possible reason for chewing gum increasing memory is the act of chewing, or masticating, can increase physiological arousal or alertness. This would then cause your attention, learning, and memory to improve. Other theories include chewing gum helping ease stress or increasing the amount of glucose available for the brain to burn, improving performance.
While there are many theories for the why, does it actually work. There has been some research showing that chewing gum improves attention and test performance, whereas other studies have found only a weak relationship between chewing gum and better memory and test scores. One study even showed that the effects of chewing gum begin to wear off in about 15-20 minutes.
Final Verdict: You might get a tiny boost on test day, but don’t rely on this one to help.
Listening to Music
We all love to listen to music. You’re probably even listening to music while reading this. From since I was younger, I’ve always heard that listening to classical music, especially Mozart, is supposed to help you learn and be smarter. However, it’s not necessarily only classical music that benefits your learning. Some studies have found that the enjoyment of the music listened to is more important than the genre of music. Studies done in the 1990’s identified the “Blur effect” that concluded that contemporary pop music, such as made by the band Blur, was improving students learning as much or more than classical music did.
However, some research has suggested that music that has a faster tempo and is louder, such as heavy metal or punk rock, can have a detrimental effect to learning. Plus, it was found that music that causes more disturbances to thought, such as music with lyrics, also hinders learning. These findings support the popularity of lo-fi beats and soundtracks that are on the slower side and are more chill.
In the end, as long as you enjoy the music you’re listening to, it’s generally on the softer side, and doesn’t have lyrics, you’re likely to either not hurt your learning and might even benefit.
Final Verdict: Opt for low-fi, soundtrack, or classical music without lyrics while studying for the best possible outcomes.
What Time of Day is Best for Studying?
Most people have a chronotype, or the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time based on your circadian rhythms. Some common names for certain chronotypes are early bird or night owl, which you’ve probably heard people claim they are. An analysis of American survey data showed that adolescents had the chronotype that was later in the day than any other age group. In contrast, our chronotype generally shifts to earlier in the morning as we age.
Our chronotype also has an effect on our cognitive abilities. As our circadian rhythm changes our body temperature throughout the day, it also affects our memory. When our body temperature increases, our short-term memory is hampered, while our long-term memory may benefit. There was another study done on airplane cabin crew that were experiencing chronic jet lag that was disturbing their circadian rhythm. It found that the disturbances produced cognitive deficits in the crew after several years. This is likely part of the reason for the recent efforts by high schools to push back start times to be later in the morning to align better with their circadian rhythms.
The bottom line, however, is trying your best to align your sleep and your time of studying with your circadian rhythm and chronotype. If you feel most alert in the morning, you’re more likely to perform better if you study at that time rather than when you’re less alert. If you’re a teenager and a night owl, studying later in the day may give you better results. There’s no single time that can be prescribed for everyone at which they will perform their best, so experiment a little and figure out what time is right for you.
Final Verdict: Try to figure out what kind of chronotype you are, find the best time of studying for you, and stick with it for best results.
Conclusion
By all means, developing your best methods for studying is a unique and individual process. However, experimentation with things that have been proven to generally benefit learning could be worthwhile and give you better performance in your exams or just general knowledge. Finally, if you don’t have some level of enjoyment while you’re studying, it will be more difficult for you to learn. So, don’t sacrifice a method that might be a bit more fun for something that is supposedly better, since you might not even study at all.
Happy Studying!