The study guide is designed to help you FOCUS your studying, not to replace it. It includes what I see as being the most important topics covered in this unit. However, please understand that it would be impossible for me to list every single thing you need to know for the exam, and therefore you are expected to know everything covered in lectures as well as the textbook material, with the exception of sections specified below.

For some tips on studying for your exams, please go to Study Tips.  A few of these tips are below:

I strongly recommend that as part of your studying approach, you outline every chapter, to ensure that you not only learn the individual concepts but also how they relate to each other. As you learn in PSY100, you retain more information via deep processing. Also remember that many test questions require you to demonstrate that you understand what various concepts mean in real-life, rather than just what each of them are in isolation. When you begin to study, start by reviewing the chapter summaries at the end of each chapter (assuming of course that you’ve already read the chapters themselves!). Then put marks next to those sections that were strongly emphasized in class, so you know they’re important. Also put (different) marks next to the sections that I said you could skip. In addition to keeping up with the reading and reviewing the class notes, here are some tips for how to use this study guide:

FIRST, look through the study guide briefly, just so you know where best to focus your efforts as you read/review, and also so you know what sections of the text you may skip.

THEN, after your first bout of studying, go to the study guide (ie, this paper) and see how much you can answer without looking in your notes or textbook. This will give you a good idea of what you really know for the exam.

AFTER doing the study guide without looking, go back and check your answers. Make note of any sections that you missed, and make sure to reread that material. This is true for sections you got wrong as well as those you left blank.

FINALLY, before the exam, you should be able to do this whole study guide by heart. If you start studying in advance, you’ll give yourself the time you need to do all the steps listed here, and you should do well on the test. If you try doing this the night before, chances are you won’t be able to, and you also won’t have a chance to ask questions before the exam. So please study in advance.

Have fun, and Good luck!!

Please feel free to come see me, stop by after class, etc if there’s anything you don’t understand. I’d much rather help you learn the material before the exam than commiserate with you if you don’t do well!