Knowing the difference between learning types and how to properly use them will definitely improve the way you process your day to day information load. Many people measure their learning in terms of how much they can memorize, number of hours they study, or how much material they read. This is a waste of their time.

You don’t study the 9,000,000 word U.S. Tax Code before filing your taxes every year do you? Of course not. The tax preparers themselves don’t read the entire code. Even those who’ve taken my speed reading course! They only use the portions of the code that apply to their clients.

To make your life easier, it is vital to learn how to step back and see the big picture. Disseminate what you need to know in the area, how much you need to know and where to find that information quickly.

In this article I will teach you about the three types of learning. This is your first step in learning how to process information quicker and easier.

Literal Learning

Literal Learning is used to gain factual, often physical information. This is information that usually requires memorization. The alphabet, the home row of the keyboard, how to drive a car, etc. It can also include people, places, things, and their actions.

While memorizing vocabulary, names, numbers, and facts are all useful segments of learning, it does not always lead you to understanding how to apply the information. What truly matters for learning to take place, is having the understanding of the information so that you can apply it appropriately. Exposure to information and selective memorization is only the first step in applicable understanding.

Implied Learning

Implied learning is information that is not provided, but is presumed to already be known by your audience. If a passage says eat the orange. The presumption is being made that you know what is meant by the words, “eat”, and “orange”. While applying this information is simple with these two words, some words can be viewed differently by various individuals based on their prior experience.

For example, the word “marriage” can be viewed as horrific or blissful depending on your past experience. Phrases like, “Increase productivity” can cause workers to freeze as their thoughts jump to “Even more work”, while others get excited thinking, “I will save time”.

When corresponding or presenting information keep in mind that using Implied Information can cause a disruption in real understanding based on an individual’s point of view. This slows learning and can add costly delays to projects.

Inferential Learning

Inferential learning is understanding the meaning and significance of what is being taught. This occurs on several levels, and requires some prior experience or understanding of the content to be fully applied. Inferential learning is what you use to build upon current knowledge.

Let’s take a lawyer for instance. A new statute goes into effect in the state law. A lawyer will only note the new statute if it pertains to their specific area of law or effects their practice. If it does, then he or she applies the new statute to what they already know and move forward.

Here’s another example: You just read Donald’s Trump’s book, “Art of the Deal”, Trump’s negotiating strategies really appeal to you. Making a connection between Trump’s methods and your current practice you apply his strategies to your negotiations and move forward. Again, you’ve just used Inferential Learning.

Knowing how much to learn at each level can greatly improve your information gathering efficiency. Just as a highly successful lawyer won’t memorize the tens of thousands state and federal statutes. He or she can still be highly effective by only memorizing the core rules of law and looking up the specific statute when there’s a need.

Increasing the speed in which you learn or gather new information requires learning the difference between what you need to know for optimum results in your present work, versus resources for future use. Don’t waste time trying to memorize fine details you may never use. It’s best to copy and paste or scan and save what you think may be useful to you in the future. That way when you need certain data or resources, a quick search on your computer will provide what you need for further examination. When storing web content, your best bet is to copy and paste the content in to your hard drive. This way you won’t be disappointed if the website disappears and you can search terms easier on your computer. BE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER TOO.

One of the most important issues of today is the phenomenon of information overload. Since the dawn of the television era, technology has opened the flood gates for information. Studies have proven over the last forty years that information overload causes stress, anxiety, physical illness and even disrupts decision making abilities. I hope this article has given you something to build upon and look forward to having you on one of my upcoming webinars or as a student of one of our learning programs.

Take a look at this sentence: “I didn’t say she ate the sandwich.” Did you find it confusing? Inflecting the words in this sentence will profoundly alter meaning. To simulate inflection, I will bold the word in the sentence that I want you to hear in an emphasized tone.

What does this sentence mean: “I didn’t say that she ate the sandwich?” The emphasis on the word “I” is my why of saying it wasn’t me but someone else who ate the sandwich.

Now let’s place the emphasis on the word “SAY.” I didn’t SAY that she ate the sandwich. What does this mean? I might have pointed at her, or implied that it was she, but I never actually said it to you verbally.

When I put the emphasis on “SHE”, we again get a totally different meaning: “I didn’t say that SHE ate the sandwich.” I told you that someone else was responsible for eating it.

Now I’m going to emphasize the word “ATE”: I didn’t say that she ATE the sandwich. Now we get a completely different meaning. Perhaps I said she threw the sandwich away, or that she ate the desert, but in no way did I say that she was responsible for eating the sandwich.

In our final example, I shall place the emphasis on the word “SANDWICH”: I didn’t say that she ate the SANDWICH. Perhaps I told you that she ate an apple, but I never told you that it was a sandwich that was eaten by her.

Notice how by simply changing the emphasis of a single word in a sentence, I altered the meaning. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this problem. If a writer used inflection to create meaning in a sentence, and your brain is hearing the wrong inflection pattern, then you might try reading the sentence placing emphasis each time on a different word to see if that changes its meaning and makes the sentence comprehensible. I don’t recommend doing this very often, but if a sentence is particularly important and if inflection is causing the comprehension problem, then this is an easy way to fix it.

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Now, we learn another comprehension secret contained within your text’s contents page.  To perform this exercise you will need to briefly skim the sample contents page shown below:

Chapter 11

Fish

Fish physiology

Fish Mating Behavior

Fish Eating Habits

Chapter 12

Amphibians

Amphibian Physiology

Amphibian Mating Behavior

Amphibian Eating Habits

Chapter 13

Reptiles

Reptile Physiology

Reptile Mating Behavior

Reptile …………………

What do you think the missing will be after Reptile Mating Behavior? You can easily see that it is probably Reptile Eating Habits. This is easy to do because you have become familiar with how the writer of this Biology book is organizing her/his topics. Each chapter covers a different animal’s physiology, mating, and eating habits. This is extremely valuable information.

Many of you read slowly because you are afraid of missing important information. However, if you know what information is going to come next in a text you will be consciously looking for it to appear. When your brain consciously searches for information that is located in a text, it is easy to locate that information when it appears. This is another powerful use of your text’s contents page. It reveals the organizational pattern of a writer so that you can anticipate and find information even at higher reading speeds.

If you enjoyed this article, please continue to browse the website for more valuable information that will help you to get finish your professional work/reading faster, homework help, study and test taking tips.

For a reader, the contents page contains several invaluable pieces of information that can help you dramatically increase your comprehension. Take a minute to quickly skim this brief sample content’s page:

Part One: Freedom in the New World

The People of the New Land………………………………10

The Legacy of the Colonial Period………………………………………………………….…..15

The Seeds of Revolution………………… ………………..25

Already you have powerful information to put to use. First, what is the topic of this text? You probably answered history. If I asked you what kind of history, you would probably answer American History.

If your purpose in using this book was to write a report on the Bush Administration, do you think it would be very helpful? No! How do you know this? Because this book is about the founding of the country, and probably doesn’t provide much information on modern American history.

How long did it take you to realize this book was not going to be helpful? Just a few seconds. How often have your children or you spent days reading a text only to realize that it wasn’t providing you with the information that you required?

Simply previewing the contents page can save you days of wasted time, and the frustration of having to start a project over again. Next month, I shall demonstrate another powerful use of your text’s contents page.

Studying and homework whether for college students or professionals doesn’t have to take forever. Continue to browse the Mr.Reader’s Blog for even more study tips and register for a free webinar!

Take a look at this sentence: “I didn’t say she ate the sandwich.” Did you find it confusing? Inflecting the words in this sentence will profoundly alter its meaning. To simulate inflection, I will bold the word in the sentence that I want you to hear in an emphasized tone.

What does this sentence mean: “I didn’t say that she ate the sandwich?” The emphasis on the word “I” is my why of saying it wasn’t me but someone else who ate the sandwich.

Now let’s place the emphasis on the word “SAY.” I didn’t SAY that she ate the sandwich. What does this mean? I might have pointed at her, or implied that it was she, but I never actually said it to you verbally.

When I put the emphasis on “SHE”, we again get a totally different meaning: “I didn’t say that SHE ate the sandwich.” I told you that someone else was responsible for eating it.

Now I’m going to emphasize the word “ATE”: I didn’t say that she ATE the sandwich. Now we get a completely different meaning. Perhaps I said she threw the sandwich away, or that she ate the dessert, but in no way did I say that she was responsible for eating the sandwich.

In our final example, I shall place the emphasis on the word “SANDWICH”: I didn’t say that she ate the SANDWICH. Perhaps I told you that she ate an apple, but I never told you that it was a sandwich that was eaten by her.

Notice how by simply changing the emphasis of a single word in a sentence, I altered the meaning. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this problem. If a writer used inflection to create meaning in a sentence, and your brain is hearing the wrong inflection pattern, then you might try reading the sentence placing emphasis each time on a different word to see if that changes its meaning and makes the sentence comprehensible. I don’t recommend doing this very often, but if a sentence is particularly important and if inflection is causing the comprehension problem, then this is an easy way to fix it.

Doesn’t it make sense that the more senses you use during reading, the easier it would be to retain and recall the information? It turns out this is true. In this article, I will describe an easy-to-use technique that incorporates this brain-based learning strategy.

Most of us simply look at the words on a page. All this does is bore the brain with what appear to be more useless words. Your brain needs to see, feel, touch, smell, taste, and experience emotion while reading. Let me demonstrate how to do this using Paul Revere’s famous ride as the example.

Paul Revere could smell and taste the salt coming off of Boston Harbor as he stood and waited for the signal from the church steeple. Suddenly, he spied one lantern which signaled they were coming by land. He mounted his horse, and could feel the sturdy saddle pressing against him. As he rode, he could hear the clopping of his horse’s hooves on the stone road.

Soon he entered the woods, and could hear the horse’s hooves gently striking the mud, and could smell the pine trees that surrounded him. He continued riding, and in the distance he could see the house of a minuteman. He sped up, and sounded the alarm, “the regulars are coming, the regulars are coming.”

Compare this story with what you typically see in a text book: Paul Revere warned the minuteman that the regulars were coming. Notice how much more engrossed your brain becomes by changing the text into a total sensory experience? You can apply this exact same technique to learn other things as well. For example, don’t memorize that the symptoms of malaria include high fever, vomiting, and delirium. Imagine lying down in bed with a high fever that is making you feel delirious while you are violently throwing up. Now your brain has something it can hold onto and remember.

This is an easy technique to apply to just about anything your children and you need to learn. With just a little practice it will become an invaluable brain-based learning strategy you can put to practical use.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Be sure to share it with your friends and family so they can also learn the advantages of learning with Mr. Reader.

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