Rote learning vs understanding

[radl223]

Hey guys,

I'm doing psychology 3&4 this year, and I was just wondering, how far you would get with rote learning the entire course?

I know that to achieve high marks you need to 'understand' the course, but I'm having great difficulty with this as the subject is so straightforward and definition-based as compared to similar subjects such as biology. For those who have done psychology, or are studying it this year, how do/did you 'understand' the concepts? Or did you simply memorise everything?
Many thanks in advance!

[Limista]

Hey guys,

I'm doing psychology 3&4 this year, and I was just wondering, how far you would get with rote learning the entire course?

I know that to achieve high marks you need to 'understand' the course, but I'm having great difficulty with this as the subject is so straightforward and definition-based as compared to similar subjects such as biology. For those who have done psychology, or are studying it this year, how do/did you 'understand' the concepts? Or did you simply memorise everything?
Many thanks in advance!

In my opinion, with rote-learning you'd probably last a couple of months into the year, then totally drain out. Why? Because you have not developed an interest for the subject and because you don't really understand the concepts.

I guess I say this a lot, but understanding stuff in psychology is crucial to success. From experience, you will have to rote-learn majority of the definitions. But you will not be able to rote-learn the concepts. In psychology, SACs and the exam are structured based on application of knowledge. If you don't understand how to apply the meanings of the terms to an everyday situation, you will really struggle with these types of questions.

Because I was able to understand the course, memorising was much easier. To understand the material is the hard part. Once you have understood the concepts, memorising it is just second nature (to the point where related material to the sub-topic should just be able to roll off the tip of your tongue).

How did I understand stuff? In all honesty, I never really understood all the material (let's face it: psych is vast) in the chapter all at once. I think this was because (inspite of the Grivas textbook's superiority) there was a lot of irrelevant information caked together with the essence of what one needed to know for the topic. The irrelevant info confused me from time to time. So, I sought the assistance of my teacher. I also asked the opinions of classmates on stuff. I'd also try researching things on the internet - naturally by doing this you will encounter material that is way outside the course, but it does definitely clear up some holes you may have in understanding stuff and you are able to tackle the textbook knowledge from a fresher and uninhibited perspective. Psych's really interesting - once you start researching stuff, you'll see that.

In short, memorising all the content will come to you really easily when you do put in the effort to understand what you need to know. 

[zvezda]

Im going to be honest, I did both. First I understood the concepts (ie listened intently in class) and then went home and wrote the notes out and read them and the text book whilst adding further notes. I also read the same stuff constantly, not to remember the concept but to, I suppose, remember how it was written. This is because psych is so dodgy sometimes with marking, so you want to be saying the right things, not just explaining stuff in laymans terms. Also, for the exams, I developed template responses and memorised those

[katykins]

I say understanding is the best way! beacuse many exam questions are a application of your knowledge. last year i created mindmaps with difficult concepts and linked them together. By creating these links, the material became more interesting and when it came to questions, i knew what the question wanted before i finished reading it.

Understanding is the best way

[Charmz]

It depends. Personally, I mostly rote learned but understanding is always the best policy in any subject. Psych, I found was one of those subjects where material was easy enough to memorise. Application does require understanding but rote learning was how I understood. I used cue cards which was, by far, the most beneficial way to learn for me.
Do what suits you, try out both methods (if you have the time) and stick to what helps you learn.

[radl223]

Alright, thanks for all your input guys! Guess I'll be trying my best to rote learn and understand at the same time