1.

What is the most effective way to improve learning speed within a

week?

Ans:- Here are some if the methods to improve learning speed:-

1.Reading out loud:- In an experiment by Colin M Macleod in 2010, they

found that compared to reading or thinking silently saying the words out
loud can improve memory. According to the scientists, "Learning and
memory benefit from active involvement. When we add an active measure
or production element to a word, that word becomes distinct in long term
memory, and hence more memorable" Which means reading out loud what
you're reading will make you more likely to remember but also improve your
learning speed since you wont need to go back and re- read as much.

2. Writing on paper:- In a study by Pam Mueller and Danial

Oppenheimer in 2014, they found that students who wrote on paper as
compared to those who used laptops to write down the materials did
significantly better on test and on memory as well as retention. They tested
the students on their memory for factual detail, their conceptual
understanding of the material and their ability to synthesize and generalize
the information. In each study, those who write out their notes by hand had
a stronger conceptual understanding and were more successful in applying
the knowledge as well. Since taking notes by hand forces the brain to
engage and these efforts foster comprehension and retention.

3. Distributed practice:- A number of studies have found that

distributed practice or spaced learning is very expective in improving
learning. Distributed practices basically refers to reviewing that takes place
some time after the original learning event as opposed
to reviews that occur immediately (mossed practice) as chunking. The
advantage of distributed over massed practice is known as the spacing
effect. According to the phase retrieval theory the spacing effect occurs due
to retrieval from memory. Whenever you encounter an item during review
and you retrieve the information it becomes resistant to forgetting. Another
is the contextual variability which basically says when you learn something
you also remember the surrounding context as well (eg. what you are
thinking of, how you are feeling, hew the information is presented, etc) and
when you try to remember the context can give you clues to help you
remember and each time you do this more context clues are generated
making it easier to remember and learn faster.

4. Interleaving:- Instead of blocking (focusing on one subject, one task,

or one skill during a learning session) you can learn or practice several
subjects or skills in succession ie mixing up or varying the material.
The process is called interleaving which is basically studying related
concepts or skills one after the other. And according to several studies
interleaving is a much more effective way to train your brain (as well as
your motor skills.)
One theory is that interleaving improves your brain's ability to differentiate
between concepts or skills. When you block practice one skill, you can drill
down until muscle memory takes over and the skill becomes more or less
automatic. When you interleave several skills, any one skill can't become
mindless -- and that's a good thing. Instead you're constantly forced to
adapt and adjust. You're constantly forced to see, feel, and discriminate
between different movements or different concepts.
And that helps you really learn what you're trying to learn, because you it
helps you gain understanding at a deeper level.

5.Testing yourself:- A number of studies from a variety of researchers

including Robert Bjork at UCLA and HL Roediger from Washington
University suggests that one of the best and effective way to learn new
material is to test yourself on it. In a paper by Vered and Robert Bjort in
2011, there are two key benefits, first the longer the delay between studying
and testing the bigger the advantage. The second, the harder the test, the
bigger the advantage of studying by testing over studying in the traditional
way. Another way is to teach someone else, research shows that even just
thinking or preparing to teach someone else can speed up learning and
retain more, it also makes you more effective. In a paper by John F
Nestojko in 2014, participants studied in two experiments. Either in
preparation for a test or in preparation for teaching someone else the
passage to another student who would be tested. They found that
participants expecting to teach produced more complete and better
organized free recall of the passage, and correctly answered more
questions correctly and learn faster as well compared to just reading and
learning for a test.

2. How can we improve our cognitive ability, intelligence and critical

thinking skills?

Ans:- Cognitive Ability:- According to a 2013 study published in

Psychological Science, openness to new experiences through traveling,
learning a new skill or taking on something that is unfamiliar and mentally
challenging has been show to improve cognitive function.

And numerous studies have shown the impact of exercise on improving

cognitive function and memory, which also includes ability to learn, handle,
stressers, improves decision making ability and recall facts and memories.
One reason for this is that aerobic exercise increases the blood flow to the
brain particularly the hippocampus the area associated with a number of
things including memory.
Eating foods rich in nutrients such as omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants and
vitamin B all have been shown to support brain bealth and improve
cognitive functions.

Other activities such as meditation, playing card/board games, playing

memory card, practicing crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, chess,
checkers, socialising, learning new stills, learning new language, listening
to music, learning a musical instrument, dancing sports and even learning
tai chi can improve cognitive abilities as improve brain health.

Logical Mathematical Intelligence:- There are many ways to improve our

logical mathematical intelligence such as playing riddles and puzzles, as
riddles and puzzles are just logic puzzles in different from.. Solving them
can increase a person's logical thinking and improve their abilities. And
playing board games are a great way to develop both strategic thinking
skills and logical mathematical intelligence.

Playing logic puzzles and brain teasers, logic puzzles like Rubik's Cube or
Mathematical Brain teasers also hones a person's logical thinking
processes. One can also learn the abacus as it encourages a person to
use quick calculations, memorization and analysis techniques.

Using flowcharts can also help as they are maps of a person's thoughts
and let organise our ideas and seriate processes which is an aspect of
mathematical processes. And the most obvious is to solve mathematical
equations and problems and in an order of increasing difficultly. To improve
thinking skills is to become more self-aware as becoming more self-aware
means considering your thought process, opinions, morals, ethics and
other beliefs that you have. To think objectively about your likes and
dislikes and knowing your personal preferences, strengths and
weaknesses, biases, etc can help you better understand why you approach
specific situations from a certain perspective and improve your critical
thinking skills.

You should also understand your mental process by identifying and

evaluating how you receive and process information. Understanding how
you listen, understand and then interpret, and finally how you react to
information is vital to becoming more mentally efficient and more critical.
Being a critical thinker means one recognises their own prejudices and how
that influence their solutions and decisions. So taking time to analyse one's
mental process before making a work decision can help to act more
objectively and critically.

By practicing active listening one can improve their thinking as active

listening is an important element of effective critical thinking. Listen
carefully and attentively while others are talking and by practicing empathy
which is the ability to put yourself in other peoples shoes and feel what they
feel and focus on understanding their perspective and opinions.
And a very important thing to do is to ask questions, when you’re not sure
of something, always ask questions. You should first start with what you
already know and confirm that all of these are correct.

Ask to have points repeated or rephrase it in your own words to determine

whether you’ve accurately understood the material. Also ask follow-up
questions to get details that may have been left out or misheard, ask
yourself if something is a fact, an opinion or an idea. This step can help
assign purpose and value to a piece of information and improve your
critical thinking skills.

And evaluate the already existing evidence, use your previous experiences
and facts that you know to help you make your current decision through
critical thinking. If you have encountered a situation think of what you've
learned from that experience and use that to come up with a better solution
or to make better decisions.

And you should do your own research and not except evidence or
information or even facts at face value, to read books and learn new things
by doing your own research can help in developing your thinking skills and
to know what you don't know and accept that you're not always right and to
question your assumptions and opinion and explore other people's point of
view

3. Is it possible to boost your iq via training or doing something? If so,

to what extent can you improve your iq?

Ans:- As to wether one can improve or increase iq using some method,

training or techniques some experts say iq remains constant while others
say its possible.

The experts say that IQ scores could potentially be improved with practice
but that doesn't have much if any impact on a persons actual IQ.
Professor Dimitri Van der Linden from Rotterdam University said. "Although
it is possible to enhance one's score by practice, or even cheat, overall the
IQ test still remains a good predictor".

Dr Hynek Cigler, an expert in psychology from Masaryk University, who

says, "Practicing IQ tests will improve scores obtained in such tests as you
become a better 'test-taker'. However, an impact on your actual intelligence
will be negligible."

Dimitri van der Linden an expert from Erasmus University Rotterdam in

Psychology said, "If one would extensively practice on IQ test, one imagine,
however, that it is possible to improve one’s score considerable. For
example, items in IQ test work according to certain principles and if one
practices enough items then some items in the real test will be easier
because one has already seen something similar (or identical). In this way
one’s score possible score can go up substantially, say from 100 to, maybe
115 or higher. The increase would be even more extreme if one practice on
the actual test that one has to do. In principle, in that case one could
memorize all the answers on the items and get a perfect score."

Research, however, has shown that some medical (e.g., fish oil) or
environmental (e.g., educational courses) can improve simultaneously
improve the underlying traits in the short term and potentially increase IQ
scores.

While scientists have always argued that IQ is baked into our DNA at birth,
new research is finding that certain aspects of intelligence are influenced
by working memory, a cognitive skill that can be exercised. These findings
suggest IQ is not really fixed — it can be improved if working memory can
be improved.

In a study by Ana M Daugherty and Aron Barbey in 2018, they found that
improving visuospatial reasoning led to an increase in IQ test scores. In
that study, memory and executive control activities were used in part to
help improve participants’ visuospatial reasoning.
In another research from 2011, they found that using Relational Frame
Theory as an intervention can significantly improve IQ scores in children. A
more recent study by Sarah Cassidy in 2016 using this intervention also
found improvements in IQ, verbal reasoning, and numeric reasoning.

In a meta analysis titled, "How Much Does Education Improve

Intelligence?" by
Stuart J. Ritchie and Elliot M. Tucker over 600,000 participants were
studied to determine the effect of education on IQ levels. The researchers
found that for every additional year of formal education, participants
experienced a boost of one to five IQ points

And the best evidence comes from a study published on 19th October in
2011 titled, "Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage
brain" in the journal Nature, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for
Neuroimaging at UCL (University College London) and the Centre for
Educational Neuroscience which showed for the first time that, in fact, our
IQ is not constant.

The researchers, led by Professor Cathy Price, tested 33 healthy

adolescents in 2004 when they were between the ages of 12 and 16 years.
They then repeated the tests four years later when the same subjects were
between 15 and 20 years old. On both occasions, the researchers took
structural brain scans of the subjects using magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI). Professor Price and colleagues found significant changes in the IQ
scores measured in 2008 compared to the 2004 scores.

Some subjects had improved their performance relative to people of a

similar age by as much as 20 points on the standardised IQ scale; in other
cases, however, performance had fallen by a similar amount ie upto 20
points

According to Professor Price, it is not clear why IQ should have changed so

much and why some people's performance improved while others'
declined. It is possible that the differences are due to some of the subjects
being early or late developers, but it is equally possible that education had
a role in changing IQ, and this has implications for how school children are
assessed.

So the answer is," Yes, its possible". And how much? As much as 20
points and maybe even higher than that.