So many times throughout a student’s life, the situation arises where they forgot an exam was coming, or simply put off studying until the last minute, and they have to suddenly cram in as much information into their minds and hope that they do not forget it all at the time of the exam. Many studies on this have been performed to see if cramming does really work. The quick answer… No it does not, but let’s dive in a little deeper. One study says that if a student was to cram the night before an exam, the nighttime is not the time to do it. Sleep is actually one of the most important things when it comes to cognitive brain function. This is why if somebody was to cram the night before an exam, they would have a relatively tough time remembering all of what they had just read the night before. The best course of action is to cram during the daytime, the day before the exam.
Stress is also a major component to cognitive brain function. Studies show that when someone is stressed out, their ability to recall information is incredibly hindered. While it may be pretty difficult for a student to just take stress away, there are helpful tips for this. One very simple one, chew gum! Studies show that when the human brain recognizes that a person is chewing, it will associate the situation as not being too stressful, as most people will not be eating during a stressful event.
Overall, it is pretty easy to see why cramming is most definitely not the ideal study method, but if one does find themselves in the situation in which they need to be cramming before an important exam, hopefully they can use some of these tips to maximize their studies.