Definitions:
1. mediator - a word, phrase, idea, or concept.
2. disparate - significantly different.
Summary:
What's better: studying by just repeatedly reading a word to memorize it and its definition, or covering up the word and quizzing yourself? The truth is, quizzing yourself improves memory, as is shown in the article. A pair of researchers at Kent State University in Ohio conducted an experiment on this subject. The researchers asked 118 college students to study 48 pairs of Swahili and English words. Half of them studied the words side by side and tried to memorize the definitions, and half were quizzed by being shown one word and asked to say the word in the other language. In both groups, researchers asked what mediator the students used to link the words to their definitions. For example, wingu means "cloud" in Swahili. The student could remember the definition of wingu because of the word "wing," as in a wing of a bird flying in the clouds. When the students were tested one week later, students who had been quizzed remembered their mediators 51 percent of the time. However, students in the unquizzed group remembered their mediators only 34 percent of the time.
Discussion:
This article's title interested me. As a student, I look for better studying techniques and this articles title caught my eye. I was interested in the fact that students use mediators to remember words; I do the exact same thing when I study for Spanish tests. I found it interesting that there is almost a twenty percent increase of memorization just by being quizzed and not just trying to read and memorize. I also find it easier to memorize words when quizzing myself with flashcards, Quizlet, and such. This article is directly related to my life and my study methods, and that is why I chose this article.
Questions:
1. Which college students did the researchers ask? (Which college, etc.?)
2. Would there be different results if the words were in a different language?
Resources:
Image link:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn-3.androidzoom.com/screenshots/26561-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/travel/english-to-swahili-flashcards_enfi.html&usg=__GG6ydmQehgUO3vSVq8gWUuMvPK0=&h=854&w=480&sz=81&hl=en&start=0&sig2=yWCxAzx7SsaG1Naz7jV6dw&zoom=1&tbnid=NTotPet9j0p9MM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=91&ei=x9q3TKCMDY7GsAPh8oXmCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSwahili%2Bflashcards%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DXnc%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D594%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=447&oei=x9q3TKCMDY7GsAPh8oXmCA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=22&ty=85
Article Citation:
Cevallos, Marissa. "How Testing Improves Memory: Quizzes Inspire Keywords That
Spur Recall." ScienceNews. Society for Science & the Public, 14 Oct. 2010.
Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <http://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/64316/title/
How_testing_improves_memory>.
