Weight Training… for CARS?
Part 1
What does weight training have to do with CARS? Are we suggesting that you ditch the dumbbells and start lifting automobiles to get swole? More power to you if you can handle that kind of weight load, but the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section of the MCAT actually rewards your ability to carry a very different type of load: cognitive load.
Cognitive load refers to the amount of information that working memory can process at a time. If you think of your working memory as a juggler, cognitive load is the number of balls it can keep in the air at once. If you try to juggle more than your working memory can handle, you’re bound to forget something: either the newest piece of information or one of the old ones is going to get dropped. What can make matters worse is that worries and distractions can occupy space in working memory too, effectively reducing your cognitive load.
CARS is ultimately a test of your cognitive load. The passages that you read on Test Day contain a lot of information, far more information than any ordinary test taker could hope to retain in working memory. On top of that, critical thinking skills themselves use a lot of working memory, and they use even more if you don’t happen to practice them regularly when reading. This may sound grim if you find yourself struggling with CARS, but it’s actually excellent news once you learn how to train your brain.
Let’s start by considering one advantage of CARS over the science sections. Those rely not just on working memory of the passages you read, but also on your long-term memory of science knowledge. CARS doesn’t have that, so when you go into the section you’re best off just clearing your mind, forgetting your worries, and focusing on what’s in front of you. All you have to do to get good at CARS, then, is not to learn a bunch of new things, but instead to get better at effectively managing your cognitive load.
We’ll talk more about that in the next part, so stay tuned!