Saturday, June 27, 2009

Memorize EPPP Flashcards With SuperMemo

Previous Article: Review Of The SuperMemo Program For Making EPPP Flashcards

In our last article at How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we discussed a simple solution to remembering the vast amount of content covered by the Examination for the Professional Practice of Psychology. The SuperMemo Program makes memorizing EPPP study materials in the form of flashcards easy.

How To Memorize EPPP Flashcards With SuperMemo

The SuperMemo Program makes it easy to create flashcards of your EPPP study materials. After you create your flashcards, then selected flashcards are presented to you each day for review.

The particular flashcards that you review each day are selected by SuperMemo's sophisticated learning algorithm. The algorithm calculates the exact day to present your EPPP study material to you in the form of a flashcard.

The algorithm is based on the science of learning using spaced repetition. The algorithm considers how difficult the material on each flashcard is for you personally. As you review your flashcards each day, the algorithm learns how well you remember each flashcard. It uses this information to decide when to present the flashcard to you again. As a psychologist, you are no doubt aware of the large body of psychological research that has confirmed the importance of spacing out your learning in order to be able to recall what you have learned.

Why Spaced Repetition is Important for EPPP Flashcards

The use of spaced repetition by the SuperMemo program for your EPPP exam flashcards provides three very powerful benefits.

First, spaced repetition has been shown by research to be the optimal learning strategy. Presenting small bits of information, in this case test content, at just the right moment optimizes recall. Using flashcards you can memorize EPPP exam content so easily, that it is like passing the EPPP without even trying! It is entirely possible using the SuperMemo program to easily recall 96% to 99% of your EPPP flashcards.

Secondly, by using spaced repetition you only review the particular flashcards that you are about to forget. No time is wasted reviewing flashcards that you already remember. The SuperMemo program automatically presents you each day with only the flashcards that are due for review.

What this means, is that although you may have hundreds or, over time, even thousands of EPPP flashcards, on any particular day you are only reviewing a very small percentage of them.

Each day the SuperMemo program presents you with only the EPPP flashcards that you need to review to maintain your desired recall rate. You select the recall rate you wish, such as to recall 97% of your EPPP flashcards. For example, you may have over 4,000 flashcards in your EPPP exam study collection, yet you may only need to review less than 65 flashcards a day to maintain 97% recall of your exam material indefinitely. As time passes, you need to review fewer and fewer flashcards to maintain your memory of the flashcards. This means that your studying becomes easier and easier over time.

Thirdly, because the SuperMemo program maintains your memory of your flashcards perfectly, no matter how long you study, you will never forget the EPPP exam materials that you learn! This is one of the most powerful benefits of the SuperMemo program. You need never fear that you will forget the EPPP study materials that you have spent so much time learning. This allows you to continue your EPPP exam studies until you are truly prepared to take the EPPP exam. You know that at the crucial moment when you sit for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology you will remember the material.

In our next article at How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we will learn how to make effective flashcards for the exam from your own EPPP study materials using the SuperMemo program.

Update: We now recommend the use of Anki instead of SuperMemo. Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it's a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn. Anki offers free desktop versions, as well as the ability to study on your mobile devices! Study on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and any device with a web browser.

Next Article: How To Make Effective EPPP Flashcards Using SuperMemo

Friday, June 19, 2009

Review Of The SuperMemo Program For Making EPPP Flashcards

Previous Article: How To Memorize EPPP Exam Materials

EPPP Study Using Flashcards with the SuperMemo Program

In the last article we discussed the importance of remembering the your EPPP study materials, and the difficulty of memorizing the vast amount of material covered by the EPPP exam. Today we will discuss a simple solution to learning and remembering the content of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology. We will review an indispensable study tool that no examinee should be without; the SuperMemo program .

The Solution to Forgetting EPPP Study Materials

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to the problem of forgetting EPPP test content after you study it. A powerful, but simple to use program called SuperMemo makes it easy to remember 96% to 99% of the material you study. The SuperMemo program has been in continuous development for over 20 years. It uses a sophisticated learning algorithm to teach you any material that you want to remember. This algorithm makes use of the research in the area of psychology of learning based on spaced repetition. The Supermemo program refreshes your memory at exactly the moment you are about to forget your EPPP study material. This enables you to remember the material indefinitely. It is done with a minimum of flashcard rehearsal. Unlike traditional flashcards, with the SuperMemo program you only rehearse the flashcards just before you are about to forget them. No effort is wasted on reviewing material that you already know. For example, you may have a collection of over 4000 EPPP flashcards. Yet, you may need to review only 65 flashcards a day to remember 97% of your flashcards. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. The performance of the SuperMemo program has been extensively researched.

Use SuperMemo With Your EPPP Study Materials

The SuperMemo program is ideally suited to be used in conjunction with your EPPP study materials. You simply select the content that you most want to remember from study guides, traditional flashcards, and practice exams, then create your own personalized series of EPPP flashcards. I suggest that you select the material that you find most difficult to rememember. The SuperMemo program handles it from there. It ensures that you remember the material perfectly. That’s all there is to it! Not only will you remember the information, but you will find that the concepts are easier to understand once you have perfect recall of the key terms that comprise it.

Try SuperMemo

You can try SuperMemo by clicking here. The program can be downloaded to your computer instantly. Within minutes you will be creating your own personalized flashcards of EPPP study materials. You can easily remember 96% to 99% of the content that you need to pass the EPPP. The program is available for instant download for the very modest price of $60. Isn’t passing the EPPP worth $60 to you?
There is no more powerful tool to help you in your quest to pass the exam. It’s like passing the EPPP without even trying!

In the next article on How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we will discuss how to best use the SuperMemo program in conjunction with your Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology study materials.

Next Article: Memorize EPPP Flashcards With SuperMemo

Friday, June 12, 2009

How To Memorize EPPP Exam Study Materials

Previous Article: Review Of The PsychPrep Program For EPPP Study (Part 2)

In the previous article we discussed the last of the three most popular EPPP study programs. Passing the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology requires more than the purchase of a commercial study program, as we will see in today’s article on the how to pass the test. Today at How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we will discuss how to memorize the psychology content you need to pass the exam.

To pass the exam you must memorize the theories, concepts, theorists, formulas, and key terms that you will be tested for. The key term here is memorize. You may have purchased the most comprehensive study program available, but if when you sit down to take the exam you cannot remember the material, you simply will not pass.

For most test candidates, the problem with passing the exam is not that they do not understand the material. After all, if you completed a PhD or PsyD program in psychology, completed an internship, and wrote a dissertation, you are probably already quite familiar with most of the content of the test. No, understanding EPPP content is not the problem that most examinees have. The problem that most examinees have is remembering the vast amount of material covered by the eight domains of the test until they sit for the exam.

The Problem of Forgetting EPPP Study Materials

Did you know that 80% of all information you learn is forgotten within just one month? And that 95% is forgotten in 60 days? You should. After all, there is a large body of research going back to the 1800’s on the psychology of learning and memory. Sadly, most of this research has been ignored by the academic community.

Projected Forgetting Curve with Reminder Intervals
(Click image for larger view.)

Graph from Wired Magazine article “Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm”

This graph of the forgetting curve demonstrates how rapidly we forget what we learn, as well as how long we can retain that same information if we are reminded at appropriate intervals.

How Most Examinees Try To Memorize EPPP Exam Content

Most examinees use the same study technique to memorize EPPP exam content. They read through commercial EPPP exam study programs. They listen to recorded lectures on EPPP content. They attend workshops on the EPPP. They take EPPP practice exams. They make notes on the EPPP. They make paper or word processor flashcards, or use the flashcards provided by some of the commercial study programs.

All of these methods have one thing in common. They are very inefficient. They do not make use of what scientists have learned over the years about how memory works. They do not take advantage of the techniques discovered by researchers on how the learning process works.

The student soon finds that he has forgotten the original material that he started out with. So he goes back, and studies the same material all over again, using the same inefficient techniques. And so the cycle goes.

The Vast Amount Of Material On The EPPP Exam

Can you study and retain the vast amount of material you need to know for the EPPP long enough to pass the exam? Sadly, for many examinees, the answer is “No.” The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology has a high failure rate. By the time you finish studying all the content domains, you’ve forgotten the initial material you studied. You then go back and restudy the same material you started with. Many examinees get caught up in an endless loop of restudying the same study material again and again.

There has to be a better way. Read on for the solution.

Next Article: The SuperMemo Program For EPPP Flashcards

Review of PsychPrep EPPP Study Materials (Part 2)

Previous Article: Review Of The PsychPrep Program For EPPP Study (Part 1)

Today at How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we continue our review of commercial Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology study programs. Specifically, we continue our review of the PsychPrep program.

PsychPrep EPPP Study Materials

The lecturer on the PsychPrep audio is personable, and the lecture material is well organized with memorable, sometimes humorous, examples. The EPPP study volume is comprehensive, well written, and contains clear examples. The practice tests provide detailed rationales for each answer, with explanations of why each choice is correct or incorrect. The PsychPrep preparation program, while more concise than other programs, has an excellent record of preparing examinees to pass the exam. According to the PsychPrep website, approximately 90% of the users of their test preparation program go on to pass the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.

Flashcards

Unlike other EPPP exam preparation programs, the PsychPrep program does not include flashcards. Oddly enough, the PsychPrep program discourages the use of flashcards. Yet, if you read online discussion groups on passing the EPPP, and talk to psychologists who have passed the test you will find that most examinees successfully incorporate the use of flashcards into their preparation. Flashcards, properly used, have an important place in studying for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology. However, don’t let the lack of flashcards prevent you from considering the excellent PsychPrep program.

You can make your own EPPP flashcards with the anki app, and these will be better than the premade, generic flashcards included with commerical programs. We will discuss the proper use of EPPP flashcards, including the use of flashcard based learning software, in more detail in the next article.

Free EPPP Study Materials

Free Online EPPP Study Examination

PsychPrep offers a free 15 question online examination with sample study questions and answers for the EPPP exam. The exam is automatically graded as you proceed. A nice feature is that questions are timed. You are given the option to make notes on each question, cross out answers you think are wrong, and an explanation of the correct answer is given as you proceed. Also, you can bookmark items to return to similar to the actual EPPP examination. To access the free sample study questions PsychPrep asks that you sign up with your email address and a phone number.

Free Study Strategies Workshop

PsychPrep offers a free live 5-hour workshop twice a year in Los Angeles. They claim the workshop will enhance your ability to efficiently and effectively study the large volume of material necessary to pass the EPPP and will provide you with information and tools guaranteed to improve your outcome! The workshop includes:

Overview of the EPPP
Strategies to enhance multiple choice test-taking ability
Approach to optimize content study
Guidelines for structuring study time
Pitfalls that can lead to failure and how to avoid them
Techniques for monitoring strengths, weaknesses, and overall progress
Sample audio that reviews PSYCHPREP’s “Theories and Principles of Learning and Behavior” section

Go to the PsychPrep website for the current prices, promotions, and full details of all their programs and study materials. As of 6/18/2020 PsychPrep has announced on their website that they have temporarily paused the workshops due to COVID-19.

Disclaimer

I have no association with PsychPrep. I am simply describing their program, presenting my opinion, and the opinions that I have heard from psychology students, examinees, and psychologists. My descriptions of the EPPP review programs discussed are not comprehensive and the programs are subject to change at any time. Please check with the PsychPrep website for the specifics of their EPPP exam study program.

Coming Up Next

Next, at How To Pass The EPPP Exam Without Even Trying! we will review the SuperMemo Speed Learning Software, a valuable study tool for passing the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.

Have you used The Association for Advanced Training in the Behavioral Sciences materials, PsychPrep, Academic Review, or Taylor Study Method? What was your experience with the program? Are you thinking of switching to a different program? Share your experiences by posting your comments below.

Next Article: How To Memorize EPPP Exam Materials

(revising 6/9/2020)

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