Tackling GRE Psychology

[mickeloaf]

I can't seeem to find many meaningful results when searching for the GRE Subject Exams on the web.

I'm looking to tackle the GRE Psychology and I've ordered the typical books (Princeton and Kaplan), but would appreciate any tips from anyone that has done the test. How long to study? Any book better over the other? Best study prep tips? I'm hoping to get within the 80% percentile to maximize Excelsior credits.

It would be nice if some of these tests had an entry in the exam specific section, even if it provided only general advice. Just searched for any of the GRE subjects tests and some ECE tests but no entries..

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
Mike

[gcalvin]

I took and passed the April 2008 Psychology GRE with a 750. I used Amazon.com: Cracking the GRE Psychology Subject Test, 7th Edition: Princeton Review: Books and Amazon.com: Psychology (College Review Series): Don Baucum: Books and found them both excellent. I don't know anything about the Kaplan book.

Study time depends on you and your level of prior knowledge. You're taking it in October, right? That should be enough time to prepare. I guess I'd say around ten hours a week between now and then should about cover it. Take the Princeton Review practice exam about mid-August and use your results to gauge your preparation so far.

Make sure you arrive early on exam day. I thought I was plenty early, but wasn't quite prepared for the challenge of finding the right classroom on the UCLA campus. I made it just in time. :o

-Gary-

[norema]

Hello,

I wanted to know if studying for the GRE Psychology would take a long time to study for. I just decided to take the test in November so do you think studying for about 6 weeks will be enough for the 30 credits is that a ridiculous feat? I have the Princeton GRE Psych book, the Kaplan GRE Psych book and the Barrons EZ 101 Psych book. I've also pulled together various Psychology videos and I am thinking about enrolling back into to IC courses. I know that I more than likely have everything that I need, I just need a really quick way to learn.

Help!!!

[alissaroot]

It is hard to find specific info about this exam. This forum yields no results when you do a search for "GRE" because the term is "too short, too common, etc." which makes it difficult to narrow down. I find more results when I search for "Psychology major". In general, it is also easier to find results on other websites when you search "GRE Psychology Test" rather than "exam" as I suppose it is more properly a test rather than exam. Plus, the "E" in "GRE" already stands for exam? Anyway, those are just things I've noticed.

I am planning to take this test in Oct., and I've considered posting a thread in the exam specific portion of this forum, I started working on an outline, but I decided to wait until I passed to see if the info I intended to post was even relevant. I didn't want to put it all up and then end up sharing info that wouldn't help anyone even pass. But since you're asking, here's what I have done so far:

Cracking the GRE Psychology by Princeton Review is the best book by reviews, so it's the one I started with. I do think it's good, but I don't think the sparse section on research methods and statistics will do it for me. I have started reviewing the IC flashcards for this and got Statistics for Dummies from the library. I pretty much transcribed this entire book into my notes by hand.(the Princeton one, not statistics)
Kaplan GRE Psychology is the next book I would recommend, I think it's "easier" than the Princeton one, and I kinda wish I had started with this one, to ease my way into all this.
REA GRE Psychology is most like IC, it's 6 full length exams with explanatory answers, no study material. I still think it's worth buying to gauge the progress of your other studying.
ARCO Psychology is just OK. Buy it for reinforcement of your learning, save your money if you have none to spare for it.
And finally, Barron's Psychology. I hate this book. I think the version I have is too old or something though and whoever owned it before me marked it up so bad that it's distracting. I actually think a lot of material in here is harder than the real exam. Only 39 pages of review material, ridiculously long (380 questions!) diagnostic test
There is one more Gre Psychology specific book that is no longer in print that used to be put out by ETS, but I didn't bother buying it because it is too expensive since everyone jacks the price up on books no longer in publication.

Other than statistics, the portion I am struggling with is sensation and perception. I did a web images search (I prefer ask.com, but google images will work) and printed off diagrams of the eye, ear, brain, and neurons. I redrew all these diagrams into my notes and then posted them all up on my kitchen cabinets so I read them all the time when I'm standing in there waiting on the coffeepot or whatever. It has really helped a lot.

So far, my strategy has been to study for one week and then take a practice exam to gauge my progress and I am finding it effective. I recommend spending more time studying than just taking practice test after practice test. I have studied for 5 weeks so far and my scores have been like, 109, 84, 87, 129, 154. Those 2 really low raw scores? Those were when I followed the advice of the books and didn't guess. I have discovered, for me, that the benefit of guessing far outweighs the risk of the guessing penalty, and I think you should try some exams with and some without guessing to see how it really affects your score.

You aren't going to find a lot of really relevant videos at the library for this. although they did have videos on autism, ADHD, Ahlzeimer's, Anorexia, etc., these are all usually documentaries and I didn't find them helpful. I do, however, find the youtube lectures from UC Berkely helpful. The course is General Psychology and there are, i think 24 lectures total. The professor is a little dry, but there is loads of good stuff in these. oyc.yale.edu has an intro psych course taught by prof. bloom, i think, that is much more entertaining and engaging, but not as much fact listing. I really like it because it focuses most on modern psychology and most of my books don't have much that has happened in psych during the last 20 years.

I also have checked out nearly every book my library has on psychology, and I was fortunate enough to find a 6 volume psych encyclopedia. I have taken tons of notes. I have made almost 500 flashcards also, mostly names on one side and theories or experiments they performed on the other. Some of these cards though, are terms that I kept confusing, such as afferent vs. efferent neurons, reticular formation vs. reaction formation, somatoform disorders vs the somatosensory system, fundamental attribution error vs. actor/observer effect etc. I am under the impression the GRE test likes to include similar sounding and similar meaning answers to suss out whether or not you know EXACTLY the right term.

Well. anyway, that's what I have so far, and I think I will improve my raw score to the 180-190 range by the time I take the test. Good luck to you!

[norema]

Oh man I really feel so unprepared. The videos I was referring to though were from the Annenberg Media. There are about 6 different areas of Psychology videos. I also noticed the Studio 4 and Berkeley webcast. There are about 4 or 5 different psych courses from them. You can view current semester and past semester webcast, by viewing different semesters you can find different psych courses. I also found something from freevideolectures.com, I noticed they have a link for sensation and perception. I guess I'm mainly struggling with starting to study, but I must buckle down hard. I suppose there really aren't any short cuts to it.

[alissaroot]

But I have absolutely no backround in psychology, I should mention. I took one intro to psych class 10 years ago in college and passed with a 'C'. I am taking this GRE very seriously because I am so poor and I really need to get all those credits for $130. And although I did take several hundred pages of notes so far, it's not like I did it all in one sitting. I leave a notebook out by whichever book I am studying on the counter and just step over to it when I have a spare moment and write out a paragraph, then do the dishes, then another paragraph, then a load of laundry, and you get the idea.

Just the enrollment fees at Excelsior and whatnot were enough to wipe out most of my savings, so I plan to take this GRE and then the Literature in English GRE in April, plus about 10 other exams, and I am hoping that this, in addition to the very few credits I already have from one year of college 10 years ago will be enough to finish my degree. Plus, I am no genius or what ever, I graduated high school with a 2.4 GPA and I only got 1140 on my SATs. I know that many much smarter people than me will be taking this exam when I do and the only thing I can do to improve my odds of getting a high enough percentile is to be better prepared than they. I am hoping to be up against a bunch of 22 yr olds who wasted their summer partying and are only taking the test because their parents are making them. I know I care much more about learning now than I ever did at 18 or 22 yrs old.

Thank you for the link about the sensation and perception website, I will definately be checking that out!

Unfortunately, I haven't found any shortcuts to this exam. I don't think it's as hard as 10 CLEPs at once, but I do think it's more like 4 CLEPs at once
Social Psych and development, Cognitive psych and learning behavior,research methods and statistics, and physiology and neuropsych.

I also want to mention really quick to others who may read this, that if you intend to test out of a major this way and then want to look at graduate school, think ahead and choose one with an open enrollment policy, because testing out of a major will not impress graduate schools, as a large factor is the average of all psychology classes taken, and if you have no classes to average, it just doesn't look right.

Also, interesting side note. Noam Chomsky and Albert Bandura (they WILL be on the exam) are still alive(I think so anyway, as of this posting. Don't laugh at me because I didn't know that) and doing interesting things. I'm pretty sure Chomsky teaches at MIT, and Bandura (teaches at Stanford)has a very interesting lecture on youtube when he was honored at a consortium at a Texas University. It's worth checking out, but it won't be on the test. Sorry I ramble, sometimes I get carried away!!

[norema]

I think I'm just overwhelmed with the taking this test. I haven't even tested out of any other test before, because I've been too scared. Yet, I just paid for this test and will be taking it in November. I haven't even started studying yet. I paid for it now, because I figure I can't back out now. I too don't have much money, I actually wouldn't be enrolled at Excelsior right now if they hadn't emailed me out of the blue with a scholarship for the annual fee. I could possibly be done with my BSL degree by December if I obtain all 30 credits. However, I also figure at the very least that I could possibly just get the 12 credits to cover the LL I need, instead of me paying for FEMA courses to transfer over. The $130 would still be a good deal just for those 12 credits. I need to stop low balling my thoughts and think only of the 30 credits. Usually when I expect the max from myself, an 'A' for instance, that's the effort I give and the results I get. Although when I don't require much of myself, thats just what I get, not much... I'm actually working on myself right now, 30....30....30....30....30...30... those are the credits I must obtain. I've noticed 660 is the magic number for 80% or a 'B' per say, therefore I need to strive for 700 at 90% looking at as an 'A'. I suppose that'll be how I move myself to work hard... well.... when I start working....which will be now or maybe... well definitely tomorrow, it's a bit late to start right now...

[alissaroot]

I also paid for and scheduled the test ahead of time to motivate me to buckle down and get crackin on it. Then, when I took my first practice exam and scored so very low, I became highly, like panicky, motivated.

That's so awesome that you got a scholarship. I wish they'd email me out of the blue like that! You're lucky.

My other external motivation is the sad fact that the factory that I work at will be closing in 6 months and I will be out of a job for the first time since I was 16, I've worked there for 7 years and never missed a day. However, I am pretty determined not to go back to another factory. I let my chance at higher education slip through my fingers 10 years ago, and now's my second chance. I cannot let it slip by me again.

It is absolutely crazy that the very first exam for credit you choose to take will be the GRE, the big daddy of them all. LOL. You are very brave. Have you thought about one of the free uexcel exams to at least get a taste for the atmosphere of it all? That is so absolutely awesome hilarious! I love it. I am going to be all impressed and proud when you pass. You got this. It ain't all that, it's just a test, it's only a test...

[Sunshine]

Just to add to the discussion, has anyone here taken the GRE in Literature? I am thinking of sitting for this test and any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[alissaroot]

I haven't started studying for this yet, but I do plan to sit this exam in April 2009, and I think there are at least 2 exam specific books to order for this one. Here are some websites from people who have taken it:

GRE in Literature Test Preparation
Vade Mecum: Home
litGEEK

Please let me know how you find it, I am more intimidated by this test and the vastness it covers.