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20th November 2020
Abstract
Every college student wants to attain a good grade at the end of every exam. The attainment of such grades depends on the successful study habits of the student. In this paper cognitive processes have been analyzed together with their theories and concepts. The concepts and theories have been used and exhibited on how they can enhance successful habits in college students. According to conclusions the theories and concepts are found to support and encourage successive study habits in college students.
Keywords: problem solving, long term memory, language, cognitive processes, college student
Introduction
Most college students have a difficulty in settling in the routine of higher education for the first time or when continuing with their remaining semesters. Their old habits and distractions can be a hindrance in their studies (Mayer, R. E., 2018). However the college students can incorporate effective study habits in line with some cognitive aspects. The cognitive aspects are easy to implement and require commitment in order for one to improve in their successive study habits. The objective of the paper is to analyze cognitive aspects and how they can be used to enhance successive study habits in college students. The program is geared towards enlightening college students with theories and concepts on creating successive study habits. The program will address concepts in problem solving, long term memory and language as a cognitive aspect. The paper is divided into three subsections; the first section is on problem solving, the second section on long term memory and the third section on language.
Students Successive study habits for college students may include; Taking and reviewing of notes while in class. Our minds are not like computers to capture any memory that is passed to us through verbal communication; therefore taking down notes through classes allows absorption of ideas and terms more quickly. Scheduling your study time is also an incentive to successive studying. Studies should be treated seriously like any other activity; therefore, it should be allocated its specific time, and venue. Organizing ones class materials reduces the burden of finding of the information you need before an exam. It involves aspects like color coding to keep different topics differentiated. Getting plenty of rest is also a good habit that refreshes the mind and makes it possible to absorb new information. The brain requires to be recharged on a regular basis to allow for processing and retention of new ideas and concepts. Always have the confidence to seek help from others. In case one has a vague understanding of a concept they should not be afraid to seek help from the tutors, professors and even the classmates, humans who are normal sometimes have a forgetting reflex. The successful study habits above can be improved through the college students having knowledge on some cognitive processes and their role in study habits. The cognitive processes are problem solving, long term memory and language.
Problem solving and memory
College students are constantly confronted with problems in their daily routines in the college. During the course of their studies in college the college students might find themselves poorly mastering concepts, vague memory of what they have learned in class or even totally forgetting what has been learned. The problems for each of the students vary in difficulty and importance, their presentation and presentation, but these problems are usually unavoidable in their college lives. A problem refers to a question that whose answer has not been found yet (Lovett, 2002). Problems exist in different measures and therefore they are categorized into three groups; structure problems where individuals need to find the relation in the patterns to the problem, arrangement problems that involve arrangement of issues in a designed matter to solve the problem and transformation problems that involve individuals conducting changes in order to develop a solution to a certain problem. All the categories tell us that there is diversity in problems experienced by college students in different capacities.
Problem solving
Problem solving is a cognitive process that is aimed at developing a solution to a certain problem (Baker, R., 2017). The definition brings about three components; the process is cognitive and takes place internally in the mind, it’s a process that uses knowledge in the memory, it is the means of justifying the end goal (solution to the problem). Therefore the process involves almost all cognitive activities such as learning and remembering, language comprehension and production in developing solutions. However the definition may at times exclude problems that have obvious answers and do not require ant cognitive activity. Problem solving involves three main theoretical underpinnings; symbols, operators and controls. The symbols represent the problem in its initial state and the state it ought to be, the operators involve the known knowledge of the problem while the controls are the activities involved in coming up with solution.
A problem solver encounters a problem when a situation is in one state, in which the problem solver doesn’t want it to be. Therefore the problem solver tries to move the certain situation to the state they want to although barriers exist and deter them from doing so. A problem consists of three states; the current state, the state it ought to be and the barriers hindering movement of the problem from the current state to the state it ought to be. The concept can be used by college students to interpret problems and identify the barriers that hinder the problem from being moved to the wanted state. The latter means that problems are relative to problem solvers; what might be a problem to one individual may not be a problem to another individual. Problems can also be categorized into well defined problems and ill defined problems. Well defined problems are problems that are clear interms of the current state of the problem, which state to be moved at and the apparent ways to conduct the movement. An ill defined problem is a problem that is not clear on how it should be solved and what specifically should be handled. Ill- defined problems call for the college student to critically analyze a problem and come up with a creative way of solving the problem.
Problems can also be viewed as routine problems and non-routine problems. Routine problems are problems that have a known procedure on how to arrive at the answer while non routine problems have no defined procedure on arriving at the answer; therefore the problem solver ought to find a procedure to solve the problem. Non-routine problems help the college students to be creative and always come up with ways of solving their problems. According to Gestalt psychologist, routine problems require reproductive procedures (already known and established procedures) while non routine problems require productive procedures (creatively generated procedures).
Problem solving is analyzed from two perspectives; the representation perspective and the solution perspective. The representation perspectives involve moving the statement problem into the internal memory of the mind while the solution perspective involves applying the prior knowledge in memory to come up with solution procedures. Therefore the way an individual moves the statement problem to the memory determines the mode of the solution procedure they will give. Problem solvers use the knowledge they already have to interpret the problem brought to their attention. However the process can be distorted if wrong representations are made of the statement problem. A wrong representation of the statement problem will make the problem solver to come up with a wrong solution procedure for a certain problem. College students should know that the way you interpret information leads to how you react to it. Therefore they need to have the correct representation of the problems in their mind, apply correct interpretations that will enhance suitable solutions.
Problem solving is sometimes affected by the problem solvers beliefs. There are problem solvers who believe that certain problems require certain solution procedures. The problem is not first represented then the solution procedure given but it has always a known procedure of solving it. The latter is an indication the process of problem solving cannot be purely looked at from a cognitive perspective but also affected by the belief systems of the problem solver. Problems can be solved through diverse ways and therefore the college student should be open to diverse options to problems. The diversification calls for the embracing of study groups in classes to allow for different solutions to different problems.
Long term memory
Over the recent decades psychological research on long term memory has been conducted. It refers to the ability to store information over a long period of time. Information ifs first stored in the short memory (Cowan, N. 2017).whereby it eventually moves to the long term memory. The movement of information from short term to the long term memory is through activities such as semantic association, rehearsal and the processing depth. The verbal short memory depends on phonological encoding while the deeper semantic encoding depends on the meaning of words. To enhance storage of information in the long term memory the college students are required to take notes and review them through the class sessions. Listening will only lead to information being stored in the working memory.
Therefore many theoretical underpinnings on verbal long term memory stem from semantics. Individuals usually arrange items into storage classifications according to their meanings (clusters).knowledge that is more complex is classified or organized into more multilevel conceptual hierarchies. The clusters of knowledge on specific objects affect the organization of the memory. However there are certain clusters of knowledge that cannot be classified into schemas therefore semantic networks are used for such clusters. Semantic networks are made of nodes that represent words or concepts with pathways that link the knowledge to associated ideas.
Free recall and recognition are the most common methods of evaluating and measuring the long term memory. During a free recall task an individual is supposed to generate the target word from memory based on the instructions given. In college the students should be encouraged to ask verbal random quizzes among their peers to encourage retention of information in the long term memory. The quizzes can also be administered orally to them by their lecturers in class. The move is to trigger retrieval of information from the long term memory. Verbal recognition on the other hand involves the subject being presented with a word and their sole task is to identify the word. Both free call and recognition aspects involve retrieval of data from the long term memory. According to Collins and Loftus, the association network model states that retrieval of information triggers a spreading activation effect. The latter means that for instance if a person retrieves a word from their long term memory, similar words related to it are also activated.
Some information can be easily retrieved from the long term memory while others are difficult to retrieve. The retrieval dilemma is dependent on factors such as schemas. A good example is when information related to a certain schema is easily retrieved compared to information that is unfamiliar to the schema. College students should acquaint themselves regularly with concepts they are not familiar with or the concepts they have forgotten overtime. It will help solve the retrieval dilemma due to being exposed to problems that involve unfamiliar concepts. Incubation is another factor that involves the rate at which the combination of the unconscious mind ant the conscious in processing certain information. The process of recombining of the two aspects of the mind leads to the retrieval of information. College students should not only involve the conscious mind in solving problems but also the help of the unconscious mind. The combinations of the two accelerate the rate of solving an issue. However the recombination may occur and yet no solution be found to the problem. In such a case impasses occur due to the problem solver not finding a solution. At this point the mind stops working before arriving at the answer. Therefore the impasses may cause a failure index in the long term memory, a puzzle that can be unraveled later on by the special memory. The mind or the brain requires recharging to process and absorb new information and therefore the college student should ensure plenty of rest to refresh their mind. The refreshment of the mind enhances quick processing of information that will lead to quick solution to problems.
Other studies propose different notion on why some items can be remembered easily than others. The ideas are based on a memory frame work that is known as depth of processing. The idea is not dependent on the aspects employed by the working memory, the long term memory or the sensory memory. According to the idea retention aspect is a result of depth that involves greater cognitive analysis. The existing cognitive structures process the most familiar, meaningful and compatible stimuli at deeper level that leads to high retention capacity. The concept is helpful to college students as it enhances research and critical analysis to problems. Through research and critical analysis the college student is able to deeply understand the concept and retain it easily when it is needed. Moreover, during the research the student comes in touch with other problems similar to the first problem which in turn creates a better understanding. The less meaningful and unfamiliar stimuli are not processed at such deeper levels causing low retention. Recognized stimuli undergo elaboration encoding that triggers more similar concepts that further lead to processing and enrichment. Such analysis forms a memory trace that is strong and which continues to be even stronger with continued analysis.
Language as a cognitive process
Language as an aspect of the cognitive process involves expression of what one thinks and their emotion through word of mouth (Chai et al, 2018). Communication, organization and dissemination of information depend on this aspect. Language and thought are two mutual aspects and they directly influence each other in the cognitive process. Through language the college students are able to seek clarifications from their tutors, lecturers and their classmates. They are also able to express their ideas during group discussions and class sessions. Language is an avenue for the college student to move from the known to unknown, from the simple aspect to the complex aspect. It creates the mind of a critical analyst in the mind of the college student.
Conclusion
Successful study habits help the college students attain their degrees with a lot of ease. However the habits calls for commitment and discipline for them to be achieved. The habits can be arrayed to the college students through some cognitive processes (Robinson & Robinson 2016). . The cognitive processes such as problem solving, long term memory and language consist of concepts and theories that support successive study habits for the college students. If implemented with commitment, the concepts and theories help to improve the successive study habits of the college student.
References
Baker, R. (2017). Problem-solving. In Agile UX Storytelling (pp. 107-116). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Chai, J. Y., Gao, Q., She, L., Yang, S., Saba-Sadiya, S., & Xu, G. (2018, July). Language to Action: Towards Interactive Task Learning with Physical Agents. In IJCAI (pp. 2-9).
Cowan, N. (2017). The many faces of working memory and short-term storage. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 24(4), 1158-1170.
Mayer, R. E. (2018). How to be a successful student: 20 study habits based on the science of learning. Routledge.
Robinson-Riegler, B., & Robinson-Riegler, G. (2016). Cognitive psychology: Applying the science of the mind. Pearson.