HOW to STUDY

EFFECIWELT
WHIPPLE

LEST WE FORCT 9C"

 HOW TO STUDY
EFFECTIVELY

BY

GUY MONTROSE WHIPPLE

PROFESSOR OF EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Author of "Manual of Mental and Physical Testa," "A Guide to High-School

Observation," "Questions on General and Educational Psychology,"
"Questions in School Hygiene," "Problems in Educational
Psychology," Editor of the Yearbooks of the National
Society for the Study|of Education, etc.

PUBLIC-SCHOOL PUBLISHING Co.

Bloomington, Illinois
 Copyright, 1916
By PUBLIC-SCHOOL PUBLISHING CO.

First 1,000 copies printed July, 1916

3,000 copies printed Sept., 1916
5,000 copies printed Dec., 1916
10,000 copies printed July, 1917
10,000 copies printed Aug., 1919
10,000 copies printed Aug., 1921
10,000 copies printed Mar., 1923
 INTRODUCTORY
Not long ago I was asked by a group of high-
school students to present to them some suggestions
on the technique of studying, with the idea that
better knowledge of the methods by which school
work could be prepared might increase their
efficiency as students. A
survey of the available
literature seemed to warrant the conclusion that,

despite the existence of a number of books upon the

art of study, there was still room for another
treatment that should be limited to the direct laying
down of a series of rules or maxims, with just
sufficient explanatory comment to make them
readily intelligible and serviceable for the needs of
the average high-school or college student. I judge
that many students in our high schools and colleges
are not now working under the best possible
conditions, and that they would be glad to increase
their efficiency, if only they knew how to do it. The
rules which follow are intended to help these
students. Most of the suggestions could also be

profitably kept in mind by elementary-school

teachers, whose business it should be as early as
possible to develop right habits of study in their
pupils.
4 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
While it is true that much of what is presented in
the school calculated to appeal directly to the
is

native interests of students, to elicit their curiosity,

and to challenge their attention, it is equally true
thatmost studying is real work, and that most boys
and girls have to acquire the art of studying as
they have to acquire many other habits and skills
necessary to success in life. Moreover, conditions
in many elementary schools are unfortunately such
as to promote only the most superficial kind of
studying, to put a premium upon the mere
committing to memory of words, to permit fickle
and ill-sustained attention and the avoidance of hard
intellectual work. Students in both high school
and college have been studying, it is true, for years,
but too often they have not been studying efficiently,
have not formed right habits of mental work, and
indeed, do not even know how to go about the
development of an adequate method or plan for such
work. They are often unable to recognize as such
the problems set before them, nor do they have clear
ideas as to the methods by which problems should
be solved. Neither do they know fully how to deal
with those 'lessons' that must be 'learned' more or
less verbatim. For by 'studying' I mean to include
the 'getting of lessons/ like learning a list of words
in spelling, as well as studying in the sense of
solving problems and making an investigatory
examination and critical survey of a topic.
In what follows I propose no universal remedy
for these ills. The fundamental differences between
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 5

stupid children and bright children will remain

whether they are taught to study or not. No scheme
of instruction will bring all students to the same
level of proficiency. But the proficiency of each
student be increased by teaching him to use
may
more skillfully what brains he has. Thus, Breslich*,
for example, shows that a weak section studying

only at school, but under careful supervision, may

be brought up to the performance of a strong section
allowed to study at school without supervision, plus
an hour and a quarter a day at home. Granting that
these results are typical, how much time must have
been wasted in the studying of the strong pupils?
Efficiency is the watch-word of modern industrial
life. The school, after a sort of brain factory.
all, is

Its material is found in the subject-matter of the

various studies and in the mental operations of its
students. Studying is the method by which subject-
matter is converted into ideas that shall be effective
in thesubsequent life of the students and by which
at same time the mental capacities of the
the
students shall be drilled and trained. It is safe to
say that failure to guide and direct study is the
weak point in the whole educational machine. There
is more than a fanciful analogy in the parallel

between scientific management in modern industry

and control of the technique of study in the modern
school. The elimination of 'waste motion' in the

*See Suggestions For Further Reading, appended to the text, for refer-
ences to books and articles dealing with studying.
6 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

factory must be paralleled by the elimination of

'waste motion' in the school. The chief source of
this waste lies in the process of studying.
 THE RULES
1. Keep yourself in good physical condition.

Your mental efficiency depends on the efficiency

of your central nervous system. This system suffers
like any other part of your body from inadequate

exercise, insufficient sleep, ill-digested food, or

confinement in ill-ventilated rooms.
More students sleep too little than sleep
Sleep.
too much. From the averages of the six best
authorities we may recommend the following
duration of sleep:
Age 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Hours 12.3 11.5 11.2 11.0 10.5 10.2 9.8 9.6 9.25 9.0 8.75 8.5

Exercise.Remember that exercise, particularly

in the form of outdoor recreation and games, is
valuable not merely for requiring strength, and
skill, but also for stimulating the digestive,
circulatory, and excretory systems of the body to
the more active supplying of nutrition and removal
of waste products. Further, that exercise carried on
under pleasant auspices affords a useful antidote
for mental weariness and monotony.

2. Attend to, remove or treat physical defects that

often handicap mental activity, such as defective)

eyesight, defective hearing, defective teeth, adenoids,
obstructed nasal breathing.
8 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
Vision: Thirty per cent, of school children have
defective vision. In high school and college the
percentage is larger. Consult a competent oculist
ifyou have difficulty in seeing clearly objects at a
distance (like writing on the blackboard) or if you
experience, eye ache, twitching of the eyelids,
inflamed lids, headache, nervous irritability, nervous

dyspepsia and similar symptoms of eye-strain, after

use of the eyes at close range, even though you see
the printed page quite clearly.
Defective teeth seriously affect the work of
students, because (a) the mastication of food is
inadequate; (b) the neglected cavities afford a
breeding ground for scores of varieties of bacteria
(including the germs of serious infectious diseases,
like diphtheriaand tuberculosis) (c) the pus which
;

develops often finds its way into the blood and

alimentary canal and thus pours into the body
millions of noxious germs and produces general
bodily ailments, like intestinal catarrh, anemia,
lowered vitality and other general disturbances
which appear to be in no way connected with the
local disturbances in the teeth; (d) the pain of
toothache acts directly to distract attention and
indirectly to induce various reflex nervous irritations.
When we consider that one or more defective teeth
are found in 90 per cent, of school children, the total
loss of efficiency in school work attributable to this

single cause is truly startling.

Adenoids are enlargements of spongy tissue in the
upper part of the throat just where the nasal
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 9

passages open into it. They are found in some ten

per cent, of school children, particularly of children
from 3 to 16 years of age. They interfere with
breathing, clog the Eustachian tube and thus induce
hardness of hearing, mouth-breathing, snoring,
projecting teeth, stunted bodily growth and
imperfect development of the bones of the nose and
jaw. In some persons they cause a peculiar sort of
mental sluggishness, or stupidity, with inability to
control and direct attention for long to a difficult
mental task. They can be removed by a relatively
simple operation and with marvelously beneficial
results to both mind and body.
3. See that external conditions of work light,
temperature, humidity, clothing, chair, desk, etc.,
are favorable to study.
A quiet place for work that shall be reasonably
free from interruption and from distracting conver-
sation is greatly to be desired. Too many students
have to do their home work under conditions that
are far from ideal. Study, at least when it is begun,
demands active attention. In order to get attention
upon work, must be withdrawn from other
it

matters. Every happening in the room in which you

are working makes a claim for your attention. A
portion of the energy you exert in attending to your
work has to be expended to shut out these distracting
claims. Clearly, then, if you can work in a room in
which these outside appeals are reduced to the
minimum, you will gain that more energy to devote
to your tasks.
10 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
As you get older, your capacity to direct
all your

energies upon your mental work, even against

distraction, ought to increase. A profound
philosopher in the midst of his meditations would
never notice the little noises and movements that
immediately distract the attention of the kinder-
garten child. However, the difference between the
child and the philosopher is largely one of degree
of how much gunpowder, as some one has expressed
it, would have to be exploded under his chair to

wreck his train of thought. This getting used to

distractions is a good thing to acquire, but still there
are usually enough of them without deliberately
placing yourself in conditions that will increase their
number.
Light should never shine directly into your eyes.
Don't face a window or brightly lighted wall. Don't
let an artificial light hang in the immediate range of

your eyes unless they are protected by an eye-shade

or by a suitable shade on the lamp. Nor should the
illumination be so directed as to be reflected directly
from paper or books into your eyes. The direction
of illumination should be predominantly from above
and for desk work from a point to the front of, and
to the left of, your body, in order that shadows shall
not be cast on your work by your head or by your
hand (in right-handed persons). For reading, when
the book is held in the hands, the light may be placed

above and somewhat behind, whether on the right

or left is then indifferent. An ideal illumination for
desk work at night may be secured by a single small
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 11

electric lamp (perhaps 8 candle-power) under an

opaque reflector, arranged to flood the desk with
light, but to be itself invisible to your eye. The
cutting off of illumination from the remainder of
the room is restful and assists, by lessening distrac-
tions, in concentrating attention upon the work
before you.
A temperature between 65 and 68 degrees is
conceded to be favorable to most workers. Beyond
70 degrees, particularly under artificial heating,
flushing of the face, headache and other signs of
discomfort are apt to appear. This discomfort is
usually more a consequence of low humidity than
of high temperature. In the winter, therefore, any
sort of device that will add moisture to the air
(evaporation from pans of water over furnace or on
steam or hot-water radiators, etc.) will lessen the
dryness of the indoor air (often exceeding that of
the Desert of Sahara) and comfort the skin and
mucous membranes of the body. Recent experi-
mental studies show also that the keeping of air in
motion by fans will remove the discomfort felt in
ill-ventilated rooms to an extent not usually
dreamed of.
Tight clothing, particularly tight neckwear, in-
terferes with mental work directly by its discomfort
and indirectly by impeding respiration and circula-
tion. A tight collar checks the flow of venous blood
from the head and tends toward flushing the face
and increasing blood pressure in the eyes and the
brain.
12 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
The study desk and chair should be of a height
to fit your needs. Too low a desk encourages stoop-
shoulders, a contracted chest and a congested head.
Too high a desk is uncomfortable for your arms and
brings the work too near your eyes. A little ex-
perimenting, especially with the height of the chair
relative to the desk, will often make a wonderful
difference in the comfort with which study can
proceed. \

The equipment of your desk should be such as to

bring the various 'tools' of study conveniently
before you. Have these 'tools' of study (pencils,
erasers, ruler, pen and ink, blotters, dictionaries,
drawing pads of paper and the like) in good
sets,
condition and so placed as to be at hand when
wanted, but out of the way when not wanted. High-
school and college students who can afford it ought
to buy a typewriter, have a simple stand for it, and
do as much of their work as possible upon it. A rack
that will hold heavy books, like dictionaries used in
translation work, at a reading angle of 45 degrees
is another useful desk device.

4.Form a place-study habit.

Have a particular place a particular desk, a
particular chair at which you study. Do your
studying there unless special conditions warrant
doing it elsewhere. At least, don't permit yourself
to do anything but work at this particular place.
Don't ever loaf or read novels or newspapers in the
chair dedicated to study. This advice may strike
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 13

you as a bit far-fetched. By no means. Once get

this place-study habit formed and you have only to
take your place to start up the studying attitude.

5. Form
a time-study habit.
When work follows a regular schedule
school
there can be discovered a natural sdhedule for
studying. For most persons there is a real advan-
tage in doing mental work by schedule, in setting
aside given periods for study and in following this
schedule rather closely. For one thing, you are not
likely then to get behind in your work. And again,
a tendency appears to be developed in the nervous
system of turning to mental work at times ingrained
by habit.
Whether this time-study habit should be more
specific, so that a particular subject is studied at a
given day and hour (geometry, daily at 11; Latin,
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 p. m.) is open
to question. I doubt that the nervous system can

be trained to habits of working with particular

subjects at particular hours. However, many stu-
dents are convinced that such a plan is valuable be-
cause of the advantages of pursuing daily work
methodically, of laying out a program and sticking
to it.

Whether, again, different people are by nature so

constituted as in general to do mental work best at
different portions of the day, so that A
is a "morning

worker/' B an "afternoon worker," C an "evening

worker," is also open to question. Habit would
appear to play a considerable role here. I think that
14 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
most evening workers could become morning
workers if they had to. Several of the writer's
friends think they do creative and constructive
work better late in the evening and 'hack' work
better in the day time. By preference they would
write an essay at night and revise it in the morning.

6. When possible prepare the advance assignments

in a given subject directly after the day's recitation
in it.

is a special case under Rule 5 "Form a time-

This :

study habit." The reasons for it are these (a) The :

mind is 'set* or 'tuned up' for the particular sub-

work in physiology
ject; there is a special fitness for
or history or whatever thework may have been, and
this 'swing' should be utilized.* (b) The assign-
ment for the work to follow is fresh in mind, (c)
The study of a given topic is separated from the
recitation on that topic by an interval probably

twenty-three hours or more. As is explained below

(Rule 25) two impressions of a given material are
more effective for permanent memory when separ-
ated by an interval. It follows that the transposed
order study x, then at once recite x, which is so
much favored by students on account of the benefit
of 'recency* cannot be recommended for the best
permanent results.

7. Begin work promptly.

Observation of high-school students! shows that

*There danger of loss of 'swing' through being bored. The ac-

is little
tual material studied will be different from that dealt with in the recitation.
tSee Breslich, Reference 1, page 105.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 15

even when they know that only a short period is

available for studying a given lesson, nearly every

one is slow to start. Some of them take ten or
fifteen minutes to go through the motions of getting
started. Here is a woeful waste of time. Get before

yourself the ideal of a quick'get-away/ Reduce

your starting time from minutes to seconds. One
help to this is to:

8. Take on the attitude of attention.

Get your materials laid out before you. Take
your pen or pencil. Sit up straight. Open your
book. Carry out all the 'motions' of getting to
work. If you have drilled yourself well, this will be
enough to start you to work. The beginning is often
the hardest point; once begun, you can keep on
without much effort.
9. Work you work: Concentrate.
intensely while
You are not likely to remember what you deal
with half-heartedly. Vivid impressions are most
lasting. Ideas flow most rapidly when you work
'at white heat/ Put as much 'steam' into your
work as into your play. Don't dawdle. When
E. B. Andrews was President of Brown University
he used one phrase in his Chapel prayers that might
well voice the attitude of all good students: "Help
us to apply ourselves with unremitting assiduity."
Note, too, that this means be attentive in class as
well as in your home work.

10. But don't let intense application become flus-

ter or worry.
16 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
You can be intent without being anxious, earnest
without being flustered. There is a kind of hurry
that "defeats its own end." In especial, don't worry
because you can't keep pace with the best student in
your class. No two of us are alike. Do your best
and admit your limitations if others learn faster,
recite more readily and secure higher marks.

11. Do your work with the intent to learn and to

remember.
Laboratory experiments with memorizing under
different conditions show very clearly that one of
the most important conditions of good memory is
the taking of the attitude of 'intent to remember'
when the materials to be learned are presented.
Closely allied with this is the attitude of 'confi-
dence' in one's ability to remember what one is
learning. An illustration may be seen in the fol-
lowing incident. I once had occasion to read aloud
a list of words to a student enough times so that he
them correctly. I repeated the process
<:ould recite
with a second and with a third student. I then dis-
covered to my amazement that I was unable to
recite the list by heart myself. Here not only the
most charitable, but also the psychologically correct
explanation, is that I never intended to learn the list

myself. I had repeated it mechanically and not in

the memorizing attitude.

12. Seek a motive or, better, several motives.

Some school subjects are intrinsically interesting.
You would rather study them than not. Without
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 17

urging you find them interesting. But other sub-

jects, or even the favored subjects under certain
conditions, are not intrinsically interesting. If at-
tention is given to them, it is because a motive or
incentive is found that can be attached to them.
Among the most obvious incentives are recognition
of the value of the subject to you in the future,
anxiety not to fail in anything you undertake, long-
ing to be a credit to your parents, resolve to 'get
your money's worth' out of your investment in
schooling, ambition to beat your classmates, to beat
your own previous .record, to maintain a good repu-
tation, competition for grades, prizes, honors, sense
of duty, love of the approval of teachers, parents and
friends, necessity of graduating to get a better start
in life, fear of various penalties, etc. Our motives
are mixed, some are remote, others immediate.
Some them are felt to be higher and worthier
of
than others. The fundamental point is that to do
your best work, you need strong incentive. Skillful
teachers know how to develop and appeal to many
motives, but you can help yourself by deliberately
seeking for motives for your own work. Moreover,
many a task begun under artificial compulsion
comes in time to be itself directly attractive.
13. Get rid of the idea that you are working for
the teacher.
The teacher's real function is to supply the ma-
guide your application and test your per-
terials,
formance, not for the teacher's sake, but for your
18 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
sake. Remember that you are really working for
yourself when you are studying.
Whoever watches students in the preparation of
their tasks must be struck with the extent to which
the form and quality of their work is dictated by the
attitude and demands of the teacher of each subject.
Miss X on neat papers and gets them. Miss
insists
Y be looked up, and
insists that all references shall

they are looked up. Mr. Z. is found to be keen on

the knowledge of idioms, and they are known in his
class, though his references may not be looked up
nor his papers rendered in neat form. Admittedly,
you can hardly be blamed for thus controlling your
work in some measure through motives of exped-
iency: your immediate object is to get good grades.
What I urge is that beyond these lesser details you

should see clearly that in the larger view your

work is, after, all, primarily done for yourself, not
for your teachers.
Don't apply for help until you have to.
14.

Don't give up the problem after the first failure to

solve it, but "try, try again." You learn by your
own and progress through your own failures.
effort
the teacher's province, of course, to give aid
It is
to students, but the best aid to mature students
comes through suggestions, hints, queries "Where
do you think the trouble lies?" "Have you tried this
method?" "Do you see any connection between this
problem and that?" "Read over such and such a
page again," etc.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 19

15. Have a clear notion of the aim.

Understand definitely what the task is not
merely how many examples or pages or lines of
translation you are to do, but what the purpose of
the assignment is, by what methods you are sup-
posed to work, what aspects of the lesson are salient
and essential, what things, if any, should be learned
verbatim, what you should 'look up* outside the
textbook in short, what this particular piece of
work is for. Naturally, it is the teacher's business
to be sure this aim is made clear in assigning the
lesson. Unfortunately, too little attention is paid by
many teachers to steering the student's work on the
coming lessons.

16. Before beginning the advance work, review

rapidly the previous lesson.
The reasons for this rule are fairly obvious, (a)
The subject-matter is familiar and hence not diffi-
cult to attend to. Your work starts off easily, (b)
The reviewing is directly useful to deepen the im-
pression of the reviewed material. It aids you

greatly in recalling that material later on. (c) The

mental activity used in the reviewing serves to
'warm up* your mental processes for the studying
to follow, (d) The subject-matter thus reviewed
will have numerous points of contact, numerous
'hooks' upon which the new material can be fast-
ened. The reviewing helps, in other words to "as-
sociate the new to the old," which is one of the most
fundamental maxims in all learning.
20 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
17. Next make a rapid preliminary survey of the

assigned material.
This rule is not applicable to all subjects, but for
work in language, history, geography, physiology
and the like, and even in most forms of mathematics,
this preliminary canter over the ground gives a
useful notion of the 'lay-out' of the whole task and
frequently economizes time otherwise lost in the
earlier part of the lesson in struggling over points
that are explained in the later part. The prelimin-
ary survey also helps to hold the material together
in amore unitary whole. It should never, of course,
replace the careful study that is to follow: it is
only preliminary to that.
Find out by trial whether you succeed better
18.

by beginning with the hardest or with the easiest

task when you are confronted with several tasks
of unequal difficulty.
Individuals differ in this respect. Many find that
anticipation of the more pleasurable, easier task to
follow lightens the more difficult and less pleasur-
able task. It is a distinct satisfaction to say:

"There, that's done, now for something easier."

Others, especially those who 'warm up' slowly and
do their best work only after they have been men-
tally active for a period, can probably defer the
harder task to some advantage. A lengthy stint
with portions of unequal difficulty can be done then
by 'cleaning- up* the easier portions first and then
making a final spurt for the remainder.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 21

19. In general, use in your studying the form of

activity that will later be demanded when the
material is used.
You will use
your knowledge of spelling ninety-
nine times in a hundred in the writing of words in
sentences. In accordance, then, with this rule it
would be better to learn your spelling by writing the
words than by learning them merely orally in fact,
;

it would probably be still better to learn them by

writing them in actual sentences than to learn them

merely by writing them in lists or columns. Young
pupils need to know their multiplication tables for
use in actual arithmetical work it follows that these
:

tables will be really learned only when they can be

used in actual problems. Teachers are often sur-
prised to discover that pupils who have learned the
multiplication tables fairly well as tables still cannot
multiply rapidly and accurately when they try to
solve examples. Again, conversational French or
German is to be employed presumably in talking:
let it be learned aloud, then, rather than
by silently
perusing a textbook or by writing dozens of French
or German sentences from dictation. Similarly,
students who sometimes complain that they "know
that stuff but can't answer questions on it" would
do well to do their reviewing of it by asking them-
selves questions about it and practising the giving
of answers.

20. Give most time and attention to the weak

points in your knowledge or technique.
This rule seems almost too obvious to mention,
22 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

yet it is one that is frequently infringed against,

because human nature takes most satisfaction in

doing what is easiest. Thus, most children in tak-
ing piano lessons spend their time in playing over
and over simple 'pieces' that they have already
learned to do fairly well, but have to be constantly
urged to devote time to the fingering of difficult
runs and to the important exercises with scales. In
school work, similarly, teachers and. texts often de-
vote too much time to what is easy: the child has as
much drill in "two times two are four" as he does in

"eight times seven are fifty-six," despite the fact

that the latter connection is probably several dozen
times more difficult to master. Mature students are
competent enough own weaknesses
to detect their
and to seek by special exercises to fortify them-
selves at these points. If your translation of Ger-
man is interfered with by irregular verbs, spend an
extra half-hour a day for several weeks on the con-

jugation of these verbs. If your exercises in physics

come out wrong because of mistakes in arithmetic,
take the trouble to remedy this defect by special
practice in number work.
21. Carry the learning of all important items be-
yond the point necessary for immediate recall.

Adequate learning means permanent acquisition.

Any bit of needed for your life
information that is

work must be studied more than is sufficient barely

t recall it for the purposes of tomorrow's recitation

r next month's examination. Remember that all

 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 23

impressions tend to fade with time and that this

fading must be met by over-learning. If the process
of extracting a square-root needs to be perfectly
ready for use at the age of forty, it must be drilled
upon in the grammar grades far longer than is
necessary just to keep it in mind during the work in
the grammar-school arithmetic. Superficial learning
of spelling may answer for the immediate -test, but
is totally inadequate if the aim is to get the process
so automatic that all words in common use can be
written at any time in your life correctly and with-
out hesitation. Prom this it follows :

22. You must daily pass judgment as to the de-

gree of importance of items that are brought before
you, and lay special stress on the permanent fixing
of those items that are vital and fundamental.
Naturally, young children are in no position to
make these decisions. It is the business of their
teachers to accentuate these essential points and by
suitable emphasis and repetition to insure their
mastery. But many high-school and most college
students are mature enough to appraise the items
of knowledge and to select for careful learning those
that are valuable for them. These items might as
well be learned once for all when they appear.
At the same time, this rule does not mean that the
thousands of less fundamental items are not to be
thoroughly understood and attentively mastered as
they are encountered. The prospect that ten years
after
you graduate you will be unable to recall the
24 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
third person, singular subjunctive of anw or to give
a clear statement of Avogadro's hypothesis or to
demonstrate that the sum of the angles of a tri-
angle equal to two right angles does not prove
is

that you would better not spend time on them now.

If all the time and energy we spend studying the
thousands of facts that we are afterwards unable to
recall were time and energy thrown away, education
would be, indeed, a most ridiculous farce! In
reality, knowledge once known but not now re-
callable is by no means valueless.

(a) It may have had an immediate direct useful-

ness when learned, sufficient to justify learning it,

using it and then forgetting it. I take a

for a time
quarter of an hour to learn the main streets and the
general system of transportation in London, though
I expect to be there only one week in my life.

(b) Much of what we learn has value primarily

as preliminary instruction. It furnishes the tem-

porary scaffolding by means of which the permanent

structure may be laid. No doubt Latin, properly
taught, improves English composition, oral and
written. At thirty you will have forgotten your
Latin grammar, but you will probably speak better
English for having done the Latin translation for
which the grammar prepared you.
(c) Somewhat similarly, in order to understand
and to retain permanently the larger generalizations,
it is
necessary to assimilate a considerable number
of the detailed observations on which the general-
izations are built. Put quantitatively, one might
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 25

say that to make ten principles one's own, one must

firstacquire knowledge of a hundred or a thousand
concrete facts and illustrations. These examples
will be forgotten, but they will have done their
work by guaranteeing the memory of the principles
behind them. The particular experiences combine
to form a valuable mental acquisition.

(d) Knowledge once learned and now forgotten

can be re-learned in far less time than the original
learning. Some part, then, of the original labor is
still conserved in the nervous system, even though
actual recall is impossible.
(e) The
original labor of learning has taught you
where to go to get information of certain kinds and
by what methods to get it.
It would not, therefore, be entirely ridiculous if

a well-trained man were to boast "I have forgotten

:

ten times as much as you ever knew!"

23. When a given bit of information is clearly of

subordinate importance and useful only for the
time being, you are warranted in giving to it only
sufficient attention to hold it over the time in

question.
Contrary, then, to the notions of many teachers,
'cramming' or reliance on 'recency' is sometimes
perfectly legitimate. No lawyer has all his legal
lore 'on tap' perpetually. No clergyman knows at

every moment in his life all the details of theology

and scriptural exegesis that he pours forth so
fluently from Sabbath to Sabbath. No engineer
26 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
could elaborate a new bridge without 'sweating up'
on those phases of bridge designing that pertain to
his new problem. In so far, then, as the school aims
to train for life, it may properly seek to train this
ability to cram.

24. Make
the duration of your periods of study
long enough to utilize 'warming-up/ but not so
long as to suffer from weariness or fatigue.
However you may become in making a
successful
prompt (Rule 7), you are likely to be in a bet-
start
ter 'swing' after five or ten minutes than after two
minutes. It would be unwise, therefore, to cut short
your work at the end of ten or fifteen minutes unless
the task were extremely hard, you were extremely
tired and you had come to a natural break in the
work. Easy work, especially when the task is
changing from minute to minute, can often be con-
tinued profitably for two hours or more with little
interruption. Hard work, with quick onset of
weariness, is best interrupted oftener, say every
fifteen or twenty minutes, by short breaks, say of
one minute, made at points that afford natural stop-
ping places. Walk about a bit. Open the window.
Get a brief change and relaxation, but do not do
other mental work.
It is impossible, then, to lay down any hard and
fast rule concerning optimal length of study, save to

say: (a) the maturer the student, the longer he

should be able to work; (b) the easier the subject
matter, the longer he should be able to work; (c)
the slower the student is to get 'warmed up/ the
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 27

longer he should continue at work. A special case

is indicated in the following rule :

25. When drill or repetition is necessary, distrib-

ute over more than one period the time given to a
specified learning.
It is not possible to state just precisely what is the
best possible way to distribute the time to be de-
voted to learning ('so much depends upon the vari-
ous conditions of work as indicated in Rule 24).
Obviously, a small task that can be learned in a few
minutes had better be learned in one sitting. Obvi-
ously, a difficult task requiring, say four or five
hours of labor, had better be learned in several sit-
tings. The present rule means that, in general, the
work of studying is more economical and efficient
when a given amount of time is divided into several
sittings than when it is taken in a single sitting.
Experiments show, for example, that more rapid
progress is made in learning to typewrite if the
practice is in two periods of thirty minutes each,
separated by a day, than if the practice is all under-
taken in one period of sixty minutes. Similarly, a
piece of piano music that can be learned by heart
in a single sitting of 120 minutes can be learned

equally well in less than 120 minutes if taken in

sittings of 15, 20 or 30 minutes each, separated by
intervals of several hours or days. Especially in
the case of college work, where conditions often
favor deferring application to certain courses until
a forth-coming 'quiz' compels extensive reading and
reviewing, there is an undoubted loss of efficiency,
28 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
because the same amount of labor expended in
shorter and more frequent periods of study would
ensure considerably greater permanence of the ma-
terial. The distributed learnings can be undertaken
with less fatigue, with less fluster and worry. More-
over, it is probable that during the intervals be-
tween these learnings some sort of 'organization' or
'incubation' of the material takes place. Many per-
sons find it profitable, for instance, to assemble data
for a paper or essay several days before they at-

tempt to write it, as experience shows that these

data 'come out' in better shape for having been al-
lowed to 'stand' for a time.

26. When you interrupt work, not only stop at a

natural break, but also leave a cue for its quick re-
sumption.
This is peculiarly important when undertaking a
relatively long bit of constructive work, like writing
an essay. At the moment you stop, you have fairly
clearly in mind the general perspective of your task.
What you have done is fresh before you what you ;

propose to do is more or less already in outline.

Everyone knows how 'cold' and even distasteful such
a piece of work can be when it is picked up after a
day or two devoted to other matters. To remedy
this, jot down memoranda before you leave it:
"Start next a discussion of so-and-so." "Pick up
point on page 4 for further treatment." "Look up
this and that in the encyclopedia," etc.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 29

27. After intensive application, especially to new

material, pause for a time and let your mind lie

fallow before taking up anything else.
The impressions just made are liable to be blurred
or 'swamped' by the second set, unless they have a
little time to settle down. It is a matter of common
experience that the details of a day spent in sight-
seeing in an environment full of novel impressions,
your first at a World's Fair, for example, are
day
peculiarly hard to remember. I once urged a Ger-
man friend who was visiting America for the first
time to meet some colleagues at my home in the

evening. He
declined courteously on the ground
that he had just spent a busy day in an intensive
study of the George Junior Republic and that un-
less he could spend a quiet evening at the hotel, he
would not carry home with him a clear memory of
the institution he had just visited. His attitude was
quite correct. His evening at the hotel would suf-
fice toarrange his impressions, to fix them indelibly
in his memory, unobscured by other impressions of
a different sort. He would spend his time, of course,
in thinking over what he had seen and heard during
the day. This brings us to a particularly important
set of rules.

1 8. Use various devices to compel yourself to

think over your work.
The function of the recitation is to induce thought
as well as to 'hear lessons.' Examinations have as
one function the incitement through the reviewing
in preparation for them of a comprehensive survey
of the ground covered by them.
30 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
Certain plans for inducing thinking- are sufficiently
important to be embodied as specific rules.

29. Form the habit of working out your own con-

crete examples of all general rules and principles.
This rule applicable more particularly to the
is

work of students in college and in the upper years

of the high school where the subject-matter of study
is more apt to deal with abstract and generalized
statements. A
good textbook or a good teacher will
be sure to supply one or more concrete examples of
such general principles, but the good student should
supplement these by examples of his own. The
point is that your personal experience is different

from that of the author of the text or from that of

the teacher. If, then, you really understand the

principle you are studying, it is probable that some

illustration of it will occur to you that is different
from the one given you, and quite likely better than
that one for your own purposes. Teachers who
have real insight will always give more credit for
a student's own attempt to apply a principle, even
if it be a crude one, than for a mere parrot-like

repetition of the illustration made in the text or the

classroom instruction.
30. Form the habit of mentally reviewing every
paragraph as soon as you have read it.
A properly constructed paragraph centers about
one thought which may usually be epitomized in a
single sentence or even a single phrase. Make sure
that you can 'tease out' this thought. This habit
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 31

of mental summarizing by paragraphs might well

be developed by teachers in the grade schools.
31.Don't hesitate to mark up your own books to
make these essential ideas stand out visibly.
The marking may take the form of underlining or
side-heads may be written against each paragraph.
It is well to do this after reading each paragraph.
The decision what to mark or what to write will
necessitate thinking out the gist of the paragraph.
The text is also left in better shape for subsequent
reviewing by topics. Naturally, this advice sug-
gests that each student should own as many texts
and reference books as possible.
32. Whenever your desire is to master material
that is at all extensive and complex, make an out-
line of it. If you also wish to retain this material,
commit your outline to memory.
It has often amused me to see the eagerness with
which college students scan the pages of the 'pat-
ent* books on memory which advertise to teach
one the secret of "how to master the contents of
books at a single reading," and how sadly they greet
the advice "Read the book carefully, make an out-
:

line of it and memorize the outline." Nevertheless,

this is perfectly sound advice, psychologically and

pedagogically, for there is "no royal road to learn-

ing."
The outlines should be much condensed, prefer-
ably in noun-form statements, topics, catch-words
and phrases rather than full sentences, and the most
32 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
careful attention should be paid to their organiza-
tion under main headings, sub-headings, etc. The
idea is to get from the reading of a chapter or ?n

essay or an argument the framework of the whole

structure and to set this down on paper in a form
that reveals its organization in a glance.*
33. In all your work apply your knowledge as
much as possible and as soon as possible.
There is scarcely any rule more fundamental than
this one. To be sure to remember a thing, do some-
thing with it, try it, use it, put it into function, tell
it to somego one, to almost
any length to express
what has been impressed upon you. All teachers
knowthat they reach most complete appreciation and
permanent retention of any topic when they have
had occasion to teach it to others. The astounding
grasp displayed by men in the learned professions
over the thousands of intricate details of their call-
ings is a consequence of the constant use they are
making of these materials. Even so trivial an
issue as the of some good story is
remembering
best met by
telling the story to some one as soon as
possible after hearing it or reading it. An excellent
plan for any student who is anxious to master any

topic is to seek to explain it to another person.

In this connection the query may be raised Does :

group studying operate to increase the effectiveness

of the individual student's work? The answer must

*Students of law, debating:, argumentation and the like will find de-
scribed in J. H. WIGMORE, Principles of Judicial Proof (Part III., pp. 744
on) a very interesting- and valuable plan for charting in visible form the
details of a mass of evidence.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 33

be: "It depends." In certain high schools experi-

ments with a form of group work applied to the
studying of history, civil government and the like,
under the direction of the teachers, have been de-
cidedly successful.* When students, outside of
school hours and without supervision, combine in
the preparation of their assignments, the results
may be good, provided the students in question are
more or less of the same grade of ability, and pro-
vided they take pains to share the labor in such a
manner that each one of them continues to partici-
pate in the several aspects of the assignment. The
tendency that too often develops within such volun-
tary groups for a few of the students to do the work
and pass it over to their weaker brothers or for the
several tasks to be delegated, so that one student
looks up the vocabulary, another keeps watch on the
grammar, a third makes a rough translation and a
fourth polishes it off for the group, is plainly an un-
desirable tendency. If group studying brings about
a real and active discussion of the material of the

assignment with interchange of opinion and argu-

mentation, the result is highly beneficial and con-
tributes to the efficiency of all members of the group
by putting their knowledge into use as advised in
the rule given above.

34. Do not hesitate to commit to memory verba-

tim such materials as definitions of technical terms,

*See, for instance, I^OTTA A. CLARK, Group work in the high school.
Elem. School Teacher, 7: 1907, 355-444. Also C. B. SHAW. Some experiments
in group work. Ibid,, 329-334.
34 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
formulas, dates and outlines, always provided, of
course, that you also understand them.
Younger students are apt to commit their 'les-

sons' memory and to recite parrot-like, in the

to
exact words of the textbooks. The efforts of
teachers are frequently expended, and quite wisely,
too, in breaking up this habit or at least in ensuring
that these students surely know the meaning of
what reproduced in this fashion. On the other
is

hand, older students may make the mistake of avoid-

ing entirely reliance upon rote memory. You should
understand that committing to memory is perfectly
legitimate when the subject-matter has but few
natural cues for recall (as is the case with many
formulas and dates) or when the subject-matter
condenses into brief compass certain fundamentally
important principles (as is the case with definitions
and rules of procedure). You should aim to under-
stand this material, but you should also take the
pains to commit it to memcry by the simple process
of attentive repetition.

35. When the material to be learned by heart pre-

sents no obvious rational associations, it is perfectly
legitimate to invent some artificial scheme for learn-
ing and recalling it.

An artificial scheme of this sort is termed a mne-

monic device. To take a stock instance, I remember
that the volcano of Fujiyama in Japan is 12,365 feet
high by dwelling on the circumstance that this num-
ber embraces the twelve months and 365 days of the
year. To avoid getting the wrong volcano I might
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 35

even concoct some far-fetched association between

Fujiyama and fugitive year. Or, again, I remember that
a certain infant used sixteen words at the age of one
year by recalling the proverb "speech is silver," etc.,
and that Bryan's speech on the silver question ar-
gued for "16 to 1 !" It may be pointed out that most
of the books of patent recipes for memorizing err
in urging the use of such artificial devices when a
rational association, a logical connection, would be
preferable. Thus, the scheme that they recommend
of learning- vocabularies by the insertion of artificial
connecting links has little to recommend it. You
can, to be sure, learn that tree is the translation of
the Latin arbor by saying to yourself: "tree sug-
gests mast; mast suggests ship; ship suggests har-
bor and harbor suggests arbor." But it would be
far wiser foryou to dwell on the fact that "Arbor
Day" is a day devoted to tree planting and that our
"arboreal ancestors" were the apes who lived in
trees. In any event, if you must use a mnemonic
your own rather than adopt a second-
device, invent
hand one you are less likely to forget it on account
:

of the very effort that you make in constructing it.

36. In committing to memory a poem, declama-

tion or oration, do not break it up into parts but
learn it as a whole.
In other words, read it straight through from be-
ginning to end, then repeat this until the whole can
be said without error. The advantages of this
method are several, (a) The mental connections
formed between the words are distributed evenly
36 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
over the entire material, whereas, when the learning
is 'by parts/ certain portions, say the first line,
are repeated many more times than is necessary,
while other portions, say the connection between
the eighth and ninth lines, are not impressed as
many times, so that forgetting appears at these
weak links in the chain of associations,
(b) It is

easier to keep attention upon the material when it

is read as a whole than when a small bit of it is

repeated monotonously over and over, (c) The

impressions made of any given section follow each
other after a longer interval when learning is by
wholes and thus there is a gain in efficiency in ac-
cordance with the principle stated in Rule 25. (d)
The meaning of the material is kept to the front
when it is learned as a whole, and this aids in its
retention.
In case there is in the selection a portion that of-
fers special difficulty in learning, the rule just given,
should be modified to the extent of devoting a few
extra, short repetitions to this harder section in or-
der to bring it up on a level with the remainder.
You may feel discouraged when you first use the
method of committing to memory 'by wholes/ be-
cause, after you have expended some time upon the
work, you find yourself unable to repeat any consid-
erable part of it, but you must remember that the
entire selection is already partly impressed and that
when recall does become possible, it will pertain to
the whole selection. The gain by the 'whole*
method is greater when the selection is a long one.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 37

even so long as to take more than a single sitting

for a single perusal.

37. In committing to memory, it is better to read

aloud than to read silently and better to read rap-
idly than slowly.
Attention is probably better sustained when the
reading is aloud, and in addition an appeal is then
made directly to the ear as well as to the eye, and
some assistance is given by the 'feel' of the words
in the throat and mouth.
There is a gain by fast repetition only in the sense
that, given a specified time for learning, a fast rate
will be advantageous by permitting you to repeat
the material more Thus, if you can read
times.
through a poem slowly in five minutes, more learn-
ing will result by doubling the rate and thus read-
ing it through twice in five minutes.

your work includes attendance at lectures,

38. If
take a moderate amount of notes during the lec-
tures, use a system of abbreviations, and rewrite
these notes daily, amplified into a reasonably com-
pendious outline, organized as suggested in Rule 32.
College students are seen to err in both directions
in taking notes. Those who scribble away indus-
triously throughout the hour undoubtedly take
down too much and on the whole lose something
of the lecturer's presentation. On the other hand,
the few students who take no notes, because
they
think they can do better by
giving undivided atten-
tion to the lecturer's presentation, are
equally de-
38 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
ceived, for no person can carry away and retain
permanently the essential features of a typical lec-
ture, without memoranda to which he can refer
subsequently for study and review.
Since the taking of notes and memoranda of read-
ing in reference books, class discussions, etc., is an
activity that will be prominent in the daily work of
most secondary-school and college students, some
simple system for recording the commonest words
and for systematically abbreviating other words

might profitably be taught to all high-school stu-

dents. A single symbol should be used for all

common particles, like in, on, of, with, to, tion, ing,
which, that, etc. Make up a system for yourself.
You will actually gain time in the long run if
you will take the pains daily to go over the notes se-
cured in class and at least to revise them, if you do
not rewrite them completely. This work enables
you to scrutinize your memoranda while they are
still 'warm/ to make such alterations and additions

as will increase their serviceability in the future,

and, what is equally important, it serves in itself as
a valuable second learning, separated from the first
impression by a suitable interval (Rule 25) and con-
sequently peculiarly valuable in assuring permanent
retention.
 SUMMARY OF THE RULES
1. Keep yourself in good physical condition.
2. Attend to, remove or treat physical defects that
often handicap mental activity, such as defective
eyesight, hearing, defective teeth, ade-
defective
noids, obstructed nasal breathing.
3. See that external conditions of work (light,
temperature, humidity, clothing, chair, desk, etc.)
are favorable to study.
4. Form
a place-study habit.
5. Form
a time-study habit.
6. When possible, prepare the advance assignment

in a given subject directly after the day's recitation

in it.

7. Begin work promptly.

8. Take on the attitude of attention.
9. Work intensely while you work: Concentrate.
10. But don't let intense application become flus-
ter or worry.
11. Do your work
with the intent to learn and to
remember.
12. Seek a motive or, better, several motives.

13. Get rid of the idea that you are working for

the teacher.
14. Don't apply for help until you have to.
15. Have a clear notion of the aim.

39
40 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
16. Before beginning the advance work, review
rapidly the previous lesson.
17. Make
a rapid preliminary survey of the as-
signed material.
18. Find out by trial whether you succeed better

by beginning with the hardest or with the easiest

task when you are confronted with several tasks of
unequal difficulty.
19. In general, use in your studying the form of

activity that will later be demanded when the ma-

terial is used.

20. Give most time and attention to the weak

points in your knowledge or technique. ^
'-21. important items be-
Carry the learning of all

yond the point necessary for immediate recall.

You must daily pass judgment as to the de-
22.

gree of importance of items that are brought before

you, and lay special stress on the permanent fixing
of those items that are vital and fundamental.
23. When a given bit of information is clearly of
subordinate importance and useful only for the time
being, you are warranted in giving to it only suffi-
cient attention to hold it over the time in question.
24. Make
the duration of your periods of study
long enough to utilize "warming-up* but not so long
as to suffer from weariness or fatigue.
25. When drill or repetition is necessary, distrib-
ute over more than one period the time given to a

specified learning.
 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY 41

26. When you interrupt work, not only stop at a

natural break, but also leave a cue for its quick re-
sumption.
27. After intensive application, especially to new

material, pause for a time and let your mind be fal-

low before taking up anything else.

28. Use various devices to

compel yourself to
think over your work.
29. Form the habit of working out your own con-
crete all general rules and principles.
examples of
30. Form
the habit of mentally reviewing every
paragraph as soon as you have read it.
31. Don't hesitate to mark up your own books to
make the essential ideas stand out visibly.
32. Whenever your desire is to master material
that is at all extensive and complex, make an outline
of you also wish to retain this material,
it. ir If com-
mit your outline to memory.
33. In all your work apply your knowledge as
much as possible and as soon as possible.
34. Do not hesitate to commit to memory verba-
tim such materials as definitions of technical terms,
formulas, dates and outlines, always provided, of
course, that you also understand them.
35. When the material to be learned by heart
presents no obvious rational associations, it is per-
fectly legitimate to invent some artificial scheme
for learning and recalling it.

In committing to memory a poem, declama-

36.
tion or oration, do not break it up into parts but
learn it as a whole.
42 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
37. In committing to memory, it is better to read
aloud than to read silently and better to read rap-
idly than slowly.
38. If your work includes attendance at lectures,
take a moderate amount of notes during the lec- 1

tures, using* a system of abbreviations, and rewrite

these notes daily, amplified into a reasonably com-
pendious outline, organized as suggested in Rule 32.
 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
(1) Breslich, E. R. Teaching high-school pupils
how to study. School Review, 20 1912, 505-515.
:

(2) Breslich, E. R. Supervised study as a means

of providing supplementary individual instruction.
Thirteenth Yearbook, Part I, National Society for
the Study of Education, 1914, pp. 32-72. (Bibliog-
raphy of 19 titles.
(3) Dearborn, G. V. N. How to Learn Easily:
a Book for Students, Teachers and Parents. Boston,
1916.
(4) Earhart, Lida B. Teaching Children to Study.
Boston, 1909. 181 pp.
(5) Giles, F. M. Investigation of study-habits
of high-school students. School Review, 22: 1914,
478-484.
(6) Hall-Quest, A. L. The direction of study as
the chief aim of the high school. (Chapter in The X
Modern High School, by C. H. Johnston and
others).
(7) Hinsdale, B. A. The Art of Study. New York,
1900, 266 pp.
(8) Jones, Olivia M. Teaching Children to Study;
The Group System Applied. New York, 1910.
193 PP.
(9) Lunt, F. S. Some investigations of habits of
study, Jour, of Educational Psychology, i 1910, :

344-348.
(10) McMurry, F. M. How to Study and Teach-
ing How to Study. Boston, 1909. 324 pp.
43
44 HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

(11) Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High

Schools. Boston, 1915. 529 pp.
(12) Reavis, W. C. T.he importance of study-
program for high-school pupils. School Review, 19 :

1911,398-405.
(13) Rowe, S. H. The study habit and how to
form it. Education, 30: 1910, 670-683.
(14) Ruediger, W. C. Teaching pupils to study.
Education, 29: 1909, 437-446.
(15) Sandwick, R. L. How to Study and What to
Study. Boston, 1915. 170 pp.
(16) Watt, H. J. The Economy and Training of
Memory. New York, 1909. 128 pp.
(17) Wiener, W. Home-study reform. School
Review, 20: 1912, 526-531.
 University of Toronto

Library

to DO NOT
REMOVE
0)
-P
O THE
CARD
FROM
THIS
POCKET

Acme Library Card Pocket

-p
MJ _^** Under Pat. "Ref. Index File"
O t>
3 oJ Made by LIBRARY BUREAU