Why It's Not Okay To Study For The EPPP Examination Every Few Days

EPPP Study Plan

You may be thinking, "I'm a good student. I know how to study. I'm doing what I need to do to learn the material to pass the Examination For Professional Practice Of Psychology." Oh, okay. I get it. You know it all. You don't need this article, so move along please. Step back from the screen so those of us who are not quite sure that we know it all can gather around, closer to the monitor.

"Hey!" you say indignantly. "I study! I study every Saturday and Sunday for ten hours each day!" That's a lot of studying. We'll give you that. But is it enough? Is twenty hours a week enough?  A hand goes up. Yes, you in the back. "Yes. Major commercial EPPP exam study programs recommend that you study two or three hours a day for at least fourteen weeks" she answers. I nod my head. That's right, I say. But, bear with me here a moment. Let's do a simple word problem.

Word Problem: Biff studies every weekend for twenty hours. John Boy studies every day for about three hours. John Boy adds up his hours for the week and he studies a total of twenty hours each week. Each examinee studies for a total of twenty hours a week. 

Question: Who gets more studying accomplished?

"There's no difference," you reply confidently. Wrong answer. 

Here's the deal. Every weekend Biff hauls out his books, flashcards, flashcard program (you do have speed learning software, don't you?), CDs, and practice tests (you are taking our free practice tests, aren't you?), and sets to work. He wracks his brain to figure out where he was last week, tries to recall what he studied, and how to pick up from where he left off. He has to go back and refresh his memory on all the material that he put out of his mind during the week. At the end of the weekend, he packs it all up again, and forgets about it until the next weekend. In fact, Biff can't wait to put the EPPP exam out of his mind until next weekend, so he can get on with his week.

John Boy studies too. Every morning he pulls out the material he was studying the day before. For an hour before he goes to his internship he reviews the material from yesterday and covers a bit more material. At lunch, and in the evenings, he puts in a little more time studying, for a total of about two to three hours daily. He never wonders where he was in his studies. He doesn't need much of a review because the material is fresh in his mind. In fact, he's been thinking about the EPPP: a lot. He thinks about it in the shower, as he puzzles over decision theory. He wonders about the difference between mean and mode as he drives to internship. In fact, his thoughts are never far from assimilating, accommodating, and reviewing the content of the EPPP exam. Over lunch he asks a fellow intern some details regarding what B F Skinner was known for. In the evening, he enchants his girlfriend with the story of how Konrad Lorenz taught ducks to imprint on him. Sometimes a particular concept is unclear to John Boy. While he sleeps, his subconscious mind continues working on the problem until he figures it out (it's called the Zeigarnik effect-- you should know this stuff). He doesn't dread a huge study session, because it's just a few hours spread over the day, and besides, he reminds himself, "I've got most of the weekend to play!"

So, I put it to you: Who's studying more? Who's studying more effectively? Who's going to pass the EPPP examination on the first try? Answer: John Boy, John Boy, John Boy. But you already knew that. 

Be like John Boy. Good night Anna. Good night Sigmund. Good night Carl.