CLEP: Introductory Psychology

[Badomatic]

I am getting discouraged. I have been studying for the CLEP Introductory Psychology exam for a couple weeks, but cannot get above a 50 on the peterson's practice exams. I have most of the flash cards down. What should I do?

[creative]

Sometimes you might need to use other resources to study. I am one of those students that did not rely on flashcards alone. I need to read something that gives me context and an overview of the material. Other resources I use include Sparknotes , textbooks and their companion website, REA books, YouTube, iTunes U, etc,. You will need to find out what works for you by trial and error. If the flashcards are not helping you learn the material then you might need to diversify and try other resources. There are many paths to the same goal. Also, check out 'Specific Exam Feedback' and see what other people say about this exam. The information in that part of the forum is very helpful what to focus on. Hang in there

[P00057870]

Like the last poster, I got an older version of a textbook and read through the whole thing. I have found that psychology is a harder subject for many. It is similar to studying history - history is names and dates of persons, place and events and how they impacted history. People either love history or hate it for this reason.

With psychology, you must know names of key player, what they contributed, which method of therapy they developed, what medications were used and why and for which condition - in other words very detailed. Personally, I'm an older student returning to school and my memory is not what it was almost 40 years ago when I was in college the first time -- so these types of courses require more time for me to memorize. Also, I found it difficult to get certain concepts to sink in - like classical conditioning, operational conditioning, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned response, extinction, etc. All of these condepts and persons involved must be thoroughly understood.

Go to the public library and see if you can find a book, or hit Amazon for a used text -- you don't have to spend alot, not much has changed. Slowing down and studying it on a larger scope may help it to make more sense. Go online and try to find videos. Sometimes hearing and seeing someone lecture on the subject may make it all clearer. There is usually information on YouTube and remember that although some people have only one learning style, most of us need a mix of all of them to learn well.

Once you pass this one, if you plan on taking other psych tests, make sure to study and do them one after the other, as much of this will cross over into the others. Make this extra time invested work for you!

Other subjects that I deal with every day or like do not require the same time investment.

You can do this! Just find what works for you.

Judy

[thatbrian]

REA study guides are great. You should always have 2-3 study sources, if you can.

[ryoder]

I passed with flying colors using REA and some flashcards on another site.
I didn't really know about instantcert or this site at the time.
The petersons tests are harder than the actual test in most cases so don't let them discourage you. I use petersons tests as a learning tool and try not to get upset when I do poorly on them.

Get the REA book, read the whole thing (its interesting) and drill the questions in the practice tests until you are getting most of them right and you will be fine.

[Badomatic]

Sorry for getting back to you all so late, but thank you so much for the tips. I did branch out to other study guides and feel much better prepared now.

I am taking the test this coming Saturday.

Thanks again!

[creative]

Good, I am glad to hear that you feel better prepared. What other study guides did you find helpful?? Other people reading this post might find that information helpful to them. Best wishes on Saturday and let us know how it goes

[Badomatic]

I got a 70! Thanks for all your help!

[creative]

awesome :hurray:

[ryoder]

Awesome!
People will find this post in the future and will be dying to know what other study guides you needed to get such a great grade on the test so please let us know.