<p>Some SAT vocab thoughts…
First, there are two ways the SAT tests vocab…deliberately and incidentally. They test vocab deliberately in SC and RC when they decide that the point of a question is to test vocab. You have to be careful on these questions because they often look for your depth of understanding of the word. That means they are looking for the second or third definition of the word. If you are only studying one or two word simple synonym type first definitions, you are at a disadvantage. (One way to cure this is to look for the word in your reading. If you are reading adult material, you are likely to encounter the word used in different ways in different contexts. You’ll get a wider understanding of the word.</p>
<p>The incidental test of vocab occurs when the test writers aren’t trying to test your vocab, they just happen to use words that you don’t know. You can find these words anywhere on the test, including in the math section, although I believe they try to avoid that. I think it’s more of a problem for ESL test-takers.</p>
<p>In either case, the vocab words are really commonly used words among well-educated and well-read people, so whether they are on the test or not, the words on most word lists are worth learning. From stats I saw on another thread, it’s clear the Direct Hits lists had the highest percentage of words that actually show up on the test. Barron’s stats were among the worst. They have a huge list and many if not most of the words are arcane or obsolete time-wasters.</p>
<p>A final point concerns how you study. It was actually described in boramk’s first post. Study your vocab words as the last thing you do before you go to bed at night. Any time you have pure memorization tasks, night time is the right time. Your brain uses the time you sleep to organize and consolidate long-term memories. Understand, I’m not talking about all-nighters. They are a bad idea. You need the sleep to lock in the memories. Study UNTIL you are tired, then turn out the lights. I used to study biology terms while laying in bed. I went through them once or twice and then turned out the light. When I reviewed them in the morning, I had them all down cold.</p>
<p>Another thing: the more different ways you experience a word, the more of your brain gets involved in remembering it. If you look at the word, you experience it through sight and language. If you also say and write the word, you experience it through sound and physical motion. That’s four ways your brain perceives the word rather than two. So, study out loud and make flash cards. (And make sure you know how to pronounce the words properly.)</p>
<p>Once you’ve learned the words the first time, let a few days or a week go by and then review them again. Then another few days and another review. Neurobiologists and psychologists have found that that routine will strengthen the connections in your brain that store memories. (The process is called “long-term potentiation”.) No matter what you study, it’s better to work on it for a moderate time then give it a rest for a few days and then go back and work on it again. You will remember more info in less time and remember it longer. It will also take less time to re-learn it later. (I’m thinking final exams here.)</p>