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In chapters to come, we will offer evidence-based suggestions that you can use to live a happy, effective, flourishing life. As we will see, people who live happy, thriving lives

Psychology’s research also shows how we can learn and retain information. Most students assume that the way to cement new learning is to reread. Do you? If so, you may be surprised to hear that repeated self-testing and rehearsal of previously studied material helps even more. Memory researchers call this the testing effect (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). (This is also known as the retrieval practice effect or as test-enhanced learning.) In one study, students learned 40 Swahili words. Later, those who had been tested repeatedly recalled the words’ meaning much better than did others who had spent the same time restudying the 40 words (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008). In college classrooms and elsewhere, frequent quizzing and self-testing have boosted retention (Pennebaker et al., 2013; Rowland, 2014).

We have designed this book to help you benefit from the testing effect and other memory research findings. As you will see in Chapter 7, to master information you must actively process it. Your mind is not like your stomach, something to be filled passively. Your mind is more like a muscle that grows stronger with exercise. People learn and remember best when they put material into their own words, rehearse it, and then retrieve and review it again.

The SQ3R study method converts these principles into practice (McDaniel et al., 2009; Robinson, 1970). SQ3R is an acronym—an abbreviation formed from the first letter of each of its five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve,⁶ Review.

To study a chapter, first survey, taking a bird’s-eye view. Use the colorful two-page chapter opening to visually survey the upcoming content. Scan the headings, and notice how the chapter is organized.

Before you read each main section, try to answer its numbered Learning Objective Question (for this section: “How can psychological principles help you learn, remember, and thrive?”). By testing your understanding before you read the section, you will discover what you don’t yet know.

Then read, actively searching for the answer to the question. At each sitting, read only as much of the chapter (usually a single main section) as you can absorb without tiring. Read actively and think critically. Ask your own questions. Take notes. Relate the ideas to your personal experiences and to your own life. Does the idea support or challenge your assumptions? How convincing is the evidence?

Having read a section, retrieve its main ideas—“Active retrieval promotes meaningful learning” (Karpicke, 2012). So test yourself—even better, test yourself repeatedly. To get you started, we offer periodic Retrieve + Remember questions throughout each chapter (see, for example, the questions at the end of this section). After trying to answer these questions, check the answers (printed upside-down beneath the questions), and reread the material as needed. Researchers have found that “trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning” (Roediger & Finn, 2010). Testing yourself after you read will help you learn and retain the information more effectively.

Finally, review: Read over any notes you have taken, again with an eye on the chapter’s organization, and quickly review the whole chapter. Write or say what a concept is before rereading the material to check your understanding.

Survey, question, read, retrieve, review. We have organized this book’s chapters to help you use the SQ3R study system. Each chapter begins with a survey of the content to come. Headings and Learning Objective Questions suggest issues and concepts you should consider as you move through the section. The length of the sections is controlled so you can easily read them. The Retrieve + Remember questions will challenge you to retrieve what you have learned, and thus better remember it. Additional self-test questions in a variety of formats appear together at the end of each chapter. You’ll also find there a list of In Your Everyday Life questions that will help make the chapter’s concepts more meaningful, and therefore more memorable.

Four additional study tips may further boost your learning:

Distribute your study time. One of psychology’s oldest findings is that if you want to retain information, spaced practice is better than massed practice. So space your practice time over several study periods—perhaps one hour a day, six days a week—rather than cramming it into one week-long or all-night study blitz. You’ll remember material better if you read just one main section (not the whole chapter) in a single sitting. Then turn to something else.

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Spacing your study sessions requires discipline and knowing how to manage your time. Richard O. Straub explains time management in a helpful preface at the beginning of this text.

Learn to think critically. Whether you are reading or listening to class discussions, think smart. Try to spot people’s assumptions and values. Can you detect a bias underlying an argument? Weigh the evidence. Is it a personal story that might not represent the whole group? Or is it scientific evidence based on sound experiments? Assess conclusions. Are other explanations possible?

Process class information actively. Listen for a lecture’s main ideas and sub-ideas. Write them down. Ask questions during and after class. In class, as in your own study, process the information actively and you will understand and retain it better. How can you make the information your own? Take notes in your own words. Make connections between what you read and what you already know. Tell someone else about it. (As any teacher will confirm, to teach is to remember.)

Overlearn. Psychology tells us that we tend to be overconfident—we overestimate how much we know. You may understand a chapter as you read it, but that feeling of familiarity can trick you. Overlearning helps you retain new information. By using the Retrieve + Remember opportunities, you can carve out extra study time for testing your knowledge.

Memory experts offer the bottom line for how to improve your retention and your grades (Bjork & Bjork, 2011, p. 63):

Spend less time on the input side and more time on the output side, such as summarizing what you have read from memory or getting together with friends and asking each other questions. Any activities that involve testing yourself—that is, activities that require you to retrieve or generate information, rather than just representing information to yourself—will make your learning both more durable and flexible.