!

"#$%$&' )*+$',

1here was a 1v show on 88C 2 aL Lhe end of lebruary 2014 called Porlzons: Pow do we really make
declslons? lf you haven'L seen lL l really recommend lL.

1he show feaLured rof uanlel kahneman who won Lhe nobel prlze for hls work on how we make
declslons. 1here were a couple of Lhlngs LhaL came ouL of lL LhaL are very relevanL Lo exams.

olnL 1: -" #*'./ *0-*1% %"" -2*/ $% 3$4"#/01 $' 54&'/ &5 6%

1hey dld an experlmenL where Lhey sLaged a mock flghL [usL Lo Lhe rlghL of a paLh ln a park. 1hey goL Lwo
people Lo run around Lhe park, one ln fronL of Lhe oLher, spaced ouL by abouL 20 yards. 1he one aL Lhe
fronL was Lo Lap her head wlLh elLher hand anyLlme she wanLed, and Lhe one aL Lhe back was Lo counL
how many Llmes she dld Lhls.

1he Lwo runners were unaware LhaL a mock flghL was golng Lo Lake place on Lhelr rouLe.

1hey repeaLed Lhls experlmenL qulLe a few Llmes wlLh dlfferenL people dolng Lhe runnlng. 1he end resulL
was LhaL over 30 of Lhem never saw Lhe flghL! 1hey ran rlghL pasL lL! Pow ls Lhls posslble?

lL appears LhaL when Lhe human braln has a Lask Lo focus upon l.e. counLlng Lhe Laps on Lhe head, LhaL lL
can ofLen mlss someLhlng blaLanLly obvlous.

WlLh exams, Lhls ls where Lhe %$001 7$%/*+" comes ln. ln exam quesLlons, you are havlng Lo concenLraLe
and focus on one Lhlng for a whlle and qulLe ofLen sLudenLs wlll do someLhlng really sLupld. 8uL you
probably cannoL see Lhls error for Lhe same reason as Lhe runners above!

1hls makes lL even more lmporLanL Lo have Llme Lo check over your answers aL Lhe end. ln facL, lL ls vlLal!
?ou PAvL Lo leave Llme Lo check for sllly mlsLakes alone. 1hey wlll [ump ouL aL you llke a sore Lhumb.

8y dolng Lhls lL wlll save you so many marks. eople wlll Lhen say buL l ran ouL of Llme" eLc. Well, you
have Lo pracLlce Llmlng weeks before! ?ou need Lo know how qulckly Lo go and ln Lhe exam Lo consLanLly
be aware of Llme, maklng declslons wheLher Lo sLay on LhaL quesLlon or come back Lo lL.

olnL 2: -" 3&'./ *0-*1% 6%" 0&,$# /& 7*+" 0&,$#*0 3"#$%$&'%

A blg parL of rof kahneman's work was flndlng ouL LhaL we have Lwo sysLems LhaL we use Lo make
declslons:

SysLem 1 ls based on $'/6$/$&' and we use lL all Lhe Llme Lo make qulck declslons wlLhouL even knowlng,
such as whaL slde of Lhe road Lo walk on, whlch seaL on Lhe bus Lo slL on, wheLher Lo zlp up your [ackeL or
noL eLc.

SysLem 2 ls based upon 0&,$# and ls used for more problem solvlng Lype Lhlnklng. Powever, lL ls
underused, slow and noL very efflclenL.

1he problem ls LhaL wlLh cerLaln declslons where we should be uslng our loglcal sysLem 2, our lnLulLlve
sysLem 1 gaLecrashes Lhe parLy!

ln Lhe 1v show Lhey managed Lo geL people Lo make declslons uslng sysLem 1 when Lhey /2&6,2/ LhaL
Lhey were uslng loglc. 1hls meanL Lhey made some very sLrange declslons!

So ln exams agaln..Lhe blggesL source of Lhe sllly mlsLake ls when people read Lhe quesLlon qulckly and
do noL really grasp Lhe maln polnL before Lhey sLarL wrlLlng. l belleve LhaL lL ls Lhls sysLem 1 versus
sysLem 2 problem.

SLudenLs read quesLlons and make masslve assumpLlons lnsLlncLlvely and lf Lhey [usL keep golng aL full
speed, Lhey are uslng lnLulLlon Lo answer quesLlons more Lhan loglc.

1he oLher problem ls LhaL sysLem 2 ls noL as nearly as well developed as sysLem 1. So lf you are noL uslng
lL much LhroughouL Lhe year, lL ls golng Lo be a problem come exam Llme.

1hls means you need Lo be pracLlclng and developlng Lhose loglcal LhoughL processes. l menLloned
somewhere else LhaL dolng puzzles such as Sudoku mlghL help. l sLand by LhaL, buL you really need Lo
slow down and allow sysLem 2 Lo klck ln!

Slowlng down aL Lhe sLarL of a quesLlon glvlng yourself Llme Lo process whaL you have Lo do, wlll work
wonders for you. ?ou can Lhen wrlLe as fasL as you wanL. lL's a cycle of slow Lhen fasL all Lhe way Lhrough.

Also have a look aL Lhe loglc LuLorlal, whlch explalns Lhe sLeps you can Lake Lo develop a more loglcal way
of Lhlnklng.