Forgrt What You Know About Good Study Habits, Essay Example

The article “Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits,” was written by Benedict Carey and published on The New York Times online news site. In the article, Carey explores the notion that traditionally accepted study habits may not be as useful as has always been thought. Carey presents data from different studies that shows tactics like studying in the same place, studying in a quiet area, and focusing on just one specific subject topic at a time, are not as efficient in the long run. Knowledge retention is the goal discussed and used in the studies as the standard to judge success of the study habits evaluated. Included in the article is discussion not only on personal study habits, but also of teaching and learning methods held by the teaching establishment as standards of instruction, such as accepted ‘learning styles’.

Carey first introduces expert opinion from Daniel T. Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia and author of the book “Why Don’t Students Like School?” and results of a study published in the published in the journal, Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Willingham and the published study present information that tell us accepted notions of auditory and visual learning styles, as well as teaching to ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’ students do not hold up. The rest of Carey’s article deals with personal study habits and uses a study authored by Dr. Robert A. Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, to verify the point. A recent study by Doug Rohrer and Kelli Taylor of the University of South Florida is used to illustrate the point of the article with younger students as well. Carey continues the article with more study findings focused on material retention and concludes the article by reminding readers that a variety of components, both academic and social, influence the efficiency of study habits in the real world.

Carey does an excellent job of presenting credible and verified information in his article. The studies are easily researched and the content organized well. The article gave me some insight to my own study habits. I have a daughter with autism the quiet area I rely on for studying is not always there. According to this article, learning to be flexible about where, when and how I study, instead of focused on having a quiet area, may lead to better grades for myself.