Transcript

How your brain processes information, understanding how the brain works when you learn can help you study more effectively when you're in class or studying. Minimize distractions at any given moment, many stimuli or signals are vying for your awareness. There may be a fly buzzing around, someone clicking their pen or pleasant smelling perfume in the air, your sensory register takes in all these signals bombarding your system. The brain can't process all these signals at the same time, it shifts attention between signals.

You'll only remember the signals you pay attention to. For example, can you remember what car was next to you at the stoplight this morning, chances are you can't, unless there is something significant about it, like it was a lime green Lamborghini. That's because the brain focuses on signals that are stronger or out of the ordinary. You might want to multitask, but it's ineffective as a learning strategy. If you're paying attention to Instagram during lecture, that's what you'll remember from class.