Category: EPPP Preparation Materials
Daniel Goleman on Focus
In this video, focus expert Daniel Goleman explains how ordinary people can increase their focus, and why attention is the secret to high performance. Goleman is the author of the book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence and a world renown speaker on psychology and the brain.
EPPP Study Schedule
The following advice on developing an EPPP study schedule is taken from Dr. Graham Taylor’s post ‘How to Develop an EPPP Study Schedule (and other advice after a two-time fail‘
…be proactive and deliberate in creating an effective EPPP study schedule. If you try to just study whenever life allows you to, without a clear schedule and plan, the chances are you will constantly be alternating between exhaustion and frustration. Because everyone’s life is different, no two person’s study schedule will look the same. But there are some general principles that can guide us in creating a study schedule. One principle is that little and often is preferable to long periods of concentrated study. This is called the “Spacing Effect” and has a lot of research to back it up. Of course, everyone needs to make their study fit their schedule, but in general we should keep in mind that research shows that spreading out your study generates a greater likelihood for effective learning then trying to do it all at once.
In an earlier article I explained the principle of spaced learning by comparing it to watering a plant. Imagine there is a plant you’re taking care of for a month, but you only have one gallon of water. Would it be more effective to use up the entire gallon of water at the beginning to give the plant a big drenching, or what it be better to water the plant little and often throughout the entire month? Obviously the second would be preferable. The human brain is like that plant. Just as spaced watering, interspersed with periods of dryness, is the most effective watering strategy, so spaced learning is the most effective strategy for cementing long-term memories in the brain.
Another principle that should guide your EPPP study schedule is something called the Principle of Neurotransmitter Depletion. I have explained about this in my blog post on the EPPP study break, but in general what it means is that your study schedule should include within it regular structured breaks to prevent mental fatigue.
You May be Spending Too Much Time on EPPP Study Materials
Last year we shared the results of a surprising study which found that it really is possible to spend too much time studying for the EPPP.
Researchers discovered that those studying to pass the EPPP stopped improving after 200 hours of study.
What about those who spent beyond 400 hours on their EPPP study materials? This group of people not only failed to improve, but were less likely to pass the exam.
When You’re Not Studying Guard Yourself From Digital Distractions
Anyone who has tried to apply herself to prolonged periods of study will know that our greatest enemy is distractions. If this was true for conventional study, it is even more the case when our studying takes place on the computer, which in the last ten years has become a veritable ecosystem of distraction technologies.
If people studying in the past suffered from an inability to locate the needle in the haystack (“situational overload”), the digital overload we suffer from today (what might also be called “ambient overload”) comes from facing a haystack-size-pile-of-needles. (Read more about the difference between situation overload and ambient overload here). The result is that it takes a Herculean effort to stay focused.
Interview With Dr. Graham Taylor
Earlier this year Robin Phillips had the opportunity to speak with Graham Taylor about the origins and future of the Taylor Study Method, and why the method has such a phenomenal pass rate. Below is the text of this interview.
Robin Phillips: Thank you for joining me this morning, Dr. Taylor, to talk about the Taylor Study Method and the EPPP.
Graham Taylor: It’s always a pleasure to get together with you Robin.
Robin: For the sake of those who may not be familiar with the work you do, can you tell us what the Taylor Study Method is and how you got started with it? Continue reading
DSM-5 FAQ’s
What is the DSM, and what changes have recently occurred to it?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the handbook used by health care professionals as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders.
The American Psychiatric Association announced that this updated edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders incorporates significant scientific advances in more precisely identifying and diagnosing mental disorders.
What was the reason behind changing the DSM from the IV-RT to the DSM-5?
How to Develop an EPPP Study Schedule (and other advice after a two-time fail)
Dr. Graham Taylor often has the opportunity to interact with people in EPPP discussion groups and online forums. He is also available to answer your EPPP questions which you can ask on our comments page.
Last year Dr. Taylor interacted with a person (who we will call Lexi) who had failed her EPPP twice. Lexi was asking advice as she prepared to study for a third try. Below is the answer Dr. Taylor gave Lexi, in which he emphasized the importance of creating an EPPP study schedule and using research-based methodologies of memory and learning.
Don’t Overcrowd Your Working Memory
As you prepare to pass the EPPP, one of the most important things is to stay focused.
In their book The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force, Jeffrey Schwartz and Sharon Begley explain that there are certain built-in limits to the amount of stimuli our short-term memory is able to process at any one time. “Our minds have a limited ability to process information about multiple objects at any given time” they write.
Protecting your working-memory from overload can be a difficult job given the type of society we live in.
How many times have you gone to your computer to study, only to find yourself being distracted by things like Facebook, email and text messages?
DSM-5 EPPP Content and Test Questions added to TSM Program
As of August 1, the EPPP began introducing changes from the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM-5 for short.
DSM-5 represents an opportunity to better integrate neuroscience and the wealth of findings from neuroimaging, genetics, and cognitive research that have emerged over the past several decades, all of which are vital to diagnosis and treatment. It also establishes a common language for researchers to study the criteria for potential future revisions and to aid in the development of medications and other interventions.
At the same time, however, there has been a great deal of uneasiness about DSM-5, particularly how it will impact the EPPP.
As I visit the EPPP forums and chat-groups, I find many people worried about DSM-5. What are the changes? How will I learn them? How will it affect the EPPP? Is everything I learned before about mental illnesses suspect and unreliable? Are my test-preparation materials up to date with DSM-5?