Improving Your Reading

This is the guide given by my Psychology text book, and this post is dedicated especially to Coco because I promised to tell her if I find it in the text book. But I guess it's better for everyone else to know :)

(reference: Psychology Themes and Variations Briefer Edition by Wayne Weiten, pg 24-25)

Owh, and it is directly from the text book, without any rephrasing or summarizing

Step 1: Survey

Before you plunge into the reading itself, glance over the topic headings in the chapter. Try to get a general overview of the material. If you know where the chapter is going, you can better appreciate and organize the information you are about to read.

Step 2: Question

Once you have an overview of your reading assignment, you should proceed through it one section at a time. Take a look at the heading of the first section and convert it into a question. Doing so is usually quite simple. If the heading is "Prenatal Risk Factors," your question should be "What are sources of risk during prenatal development?" If the heading is "Stereotyping," your question should be "What is stereotyping?" Asking these questions gets you actively involved in your reading and helps you identify the main ideas.

Step 3: Read

Only now, in the third step. are you ready to sink your teeth into your reading. Read only the specific section that you have decided to tackle. Read it with an eye toward answering the question you have just formulated. If necessary, reread the section until you can answer that question. Decide whether the segment addresses any other important questions and answer them as well.

Step 4: Recite

Now that you can answer the key question for the section, recite the answer out loud to yourself in your own words. Don't move on to the next section until you understand the main ideas of the current section. You may want to write down these ideas for review later. When you have fully digested the first section, you may go on to the next. Repeat steps 2 through 4 with the next section. Once you have mastered the crucial points there, you can go on again. Keep repeating steps 2 through 4, section by section, until you finish the chapter.

Step 5: Review

When you have read the entire chapter, refresh your memory by going back over the key points. Repeat your questions and try to answer them without consulting your book or notes. This review should fortify your retention of the main ideas. It should also help you see how the main ideas are related.