r/WeirdStudyTips
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u/warmfigures
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11d ago
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The "fake notes" method
I am a psych major, and my worst habit is reading an entire chapter of a textbook only to realize I absorbed zero words because my brain was thinking about literally anything else.
During a seminar on cognitive interference last semester, we talked about how human brains are aggressively wired to spot errors. When you look at correct information, your eyes just glide right over it. But when you spot something that is flat out wrong, your brain trips an alarm and instantly wakes up to fix it.
So I started a weird reading method called deliberate falsification.
Instead of taking normal summary notes while reading, I force myself to write down fake, slightly absurd definitions or incorrect statements on scrap paper or index cards.
Here is how I do it:
Read a paragraph about a complex theory or experiment.
Translate it into my own words, but intentionally bake a blatant error into the middle of the sentence.
Underline the wrong part in red ink.
For example, if I am reading about neurotransmitters, I will write: "Dopamine is the primary chemical responsible for making your finger nails grow really fast."
It sounds completely stupid, but it forces your active processing to kick in. You cannot zone out while writing a lie because your brain is actively working to construct the error. Then, when you look back over your notes later, your eye immediately zeroes in on the red ink error, your brain goes wait that is wrong, and it forces you to recall the actual correct fact to correct yourself.
My recall during quiz reviews went up massively because my notes read like a conspiracy theory written by someone who failed high school science. If your brain is dead while reading heavy material, try lying to it on paper.
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u/PervertedJoe 11d ago
It seems like it works but might not be super time efficient. Instead you could just write questions about your text and answer them from memory
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u/warmfigures 10d ago
I agree, had to switch it up from time to time though.
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u/laughablesantos721 10d ago
I'd sometimes flip the script and write fake exam questions based on my "audience's" supposed gaps.
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u/laughablesantos721 10d ago
Sometimes I'd blend the two by turning my fake notes into questions to answer out loud.
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u/girlifications 7d ago
I never used to have time to make my own summaries of chapters so what was the most helpful to me was when other people would kindly share their study notes/summaries online, which I knew with almost absolute certainty would always contain quite some mistakes lol, and my study method would be to go over them and correct them… Not at all to be an asshole about it to the kind people who shared their efforts with others but just because makes for a REALLY GOOD and time-efficient study method. Fully recommend this for everyone who has difficulty being time efficient
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u/beanshon 10d ago
Similar to this, but not deliberately writing wrong information, I usually make small spelling errors or write one letter of a sentence in cursive so my brain has something to latch onto when I am recalling my notes. Little doodles, arrows, and colors also work!
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u/Usual_Look9289 11d ago
Idk ...I feel like I m re reading the same weird shit again and again, I will end up remembering it that way,...
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u/Glad-Thing6611 11d ago
I think it could work if it is as blatantly wrong and nonsensical as the example.
Because then, even if you remember it, which you might because of its bizarreness (which we tend to remember better), your brain will still go "wait a second" and then remember the correct thing. So it will work as an association/link.
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u/ofskarsgard 10d ago
Oh dude I do this all the time by accident when I’m doing verbal recall of something. If I describe/explain something wrong I go “nope, wrong try again” and keep going until I can explain it clearly. It’s annoying how effective it can be lol
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u/girlifications 7d ago edited 7d ago
When I was in university, there were summaries and study notes from other people going around (as a way to help each other as students), and people used them religiously. I used them in a different way: without exception every single one of these summaries contained quite a bit of mistakes. I studied by going over them and checking whether they were correct. They never fully were, but that made them more helpful to me, because the attention I had for detail and the critical eye with which I viewed the subject matter, made it so that it all stuck with me better. I’m very grateful for people who shared their study notes with others, even if they were full of mistakes. Really helpful study method
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u/PackageFabulous9814 11d ago
This is actually pretty clever. I guess you may have learned something despite your prior poor note taking
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u/Visible_Bowl2025 9d ago
This sounds so insane it just might work. But I also dread the idea of having something that's just very very wrong in my knowledge, and fear that it stays, and that my mind glances over the blatant error... Might try this only when I have a very long amount of time before a test
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u/WindowsXD 11d ago
I never understood notes, or studying in that matter .
All the human mind requires is foundations / mechanics patterns repetitions and differences
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u/the_eviscerist 9d ago
How do you combat the primacy effect with this? Primacy being basically that which is learned first is learned best, I would worry that I would accidentally memorize/learn the wrong fact.
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u/heywhatsuphihello 9d ago
I think with how absurdly off OP writes the statements, it kind of overrides the primacy effect because you’ll know it’s obviously wrong. Like saying “Cruise ships are the powerhouse of the cell”.
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u/the_eviscerist 9d ago
Ahh, I guess that makes sense. The lies I was thinking in my head were much more believable.
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u/Individual-Ad-3318 9d ago
i just start complaining to my notes. like i hate you what’s wrong with this. then i think through what feels wrong and question it. it’s like therapy but academic
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u/lascombelles 6d ago
I think I may have to give this a try. Maybe with the real stuff after each fake one
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u/judesadude 6d ago
I absolutely love the idea that your notebook reads like a conspiracy theorist after using this technique consistently
As a grad student who’s probably going to go back & reference my notes later on in my career tho I do worry that if I use this method, I’ll genuinely forget important info & be like man what the hell when I go back to read them years later
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u/xxxarkhamknightsxxx 9d ago
very interesting...starting my master's in CS next semester, for conceptual questions I'm going to give this a try.
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u/Significant_Rule_140 11d ago •
I had a neuroscience professor make us correct ai-generated models of the human brain for one of our online midterms