This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ... sink in and set. If the attempts at learning be so distributed as to coincide closely with these beneficial periods of ''setting'' in the nerves, we shall presumably get the best results in terms of economy of total time and energy expended. In the preparation of ordinary academic work, these considerations would lead one, in contrast to the cramming method, to distribute one''s study over a relatively long period of weeks or months, with frequent repetition of the material one is attempting to master. The problem confronting the ordinary college student relates to the arrangement of daily work rather than to the organization of the tasks covering a series of days. In this case exactly the same doctrine holds true, but the foregoing illustrations may perhaps seem to be less immediately relevant. The average student hardly gets over the daily assignments once, leave alone any question of repeating the exercise, so that to urge a distribution of effort on the ground that a repetition at interrupted intervals is advantageous seems somewhat beside the mark. It is certainly true that if the student cannot so arrange his work as to cover it more than once, the principles under consideration cannot be made to apply to him very obviously. But in practically all cases an industrious student can go over his assignment twice, the second time by way of review, and in this case he will find the permanency of his retention decidedly enhanced by making such a repetition or review at a time separated by a few hours perhaps from his first encounter. Needless to say, the peculiarities of different forms of subject matter play a real part in such a situation. Languages, mathematics, and history are likely each to present certain idiosyncrasies not common to...