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On Memorial Day this year, both Karen Buttenbaum and I will run a 10k race -- The BolderBoulder. It's a wonderful event with about 55,000 people, mostly in costumes eating bacon, drinking beer, and launching themselves down slip and slides as they run.
But that isn't for me because I am absurdly competitive. So I will be running it to beat my time last year, and hopefully some people much more fit and runner-y than me.
Fortunately, I have an advantage. I live 45 seconds from the start of the BB route. And I know my start time, 7:01:10 am, on Monday, May 30th.
If you remember anything about State Dependent Learning and Encoding Specificity, you can see where this is going -- for me and you. For me, it means each Monday at 7:01:10 am before the race, in the same exact gear I will be running, I am hitting the exact course.
But enough about running. For YOU it means the same thing. Know what you can and can not have on test day (http://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/day-of-test/). figure out what you will eat, wear, use for a pencil, and start encoding Encoding Specificity Principle!
How compelling is the research? Student participants who have learned a list of words underwater recalled the same list better underwater than on land (Godden & Baddeley, 1975). Other studies have shown that if you study while intoxicated, you will perform better if intoxicated.
So for your next practice test next week, aim for a Monday at 1:00pm in an uncomfortable chair. And if you really want to get into the replication, drive to it. Or drive to the test-center and take it there (disclaimer: Spivey Consulting does not condone trespassing).
But, try not to replicate the beer drinking on test day.
