With all the pressures of college life, most students -- some more often than others -- find themselves studying for a quiz or exam the night before.

Although this method of studying may leave a person feeling as though his or her brain is full of information, cramming has severe limitations for anyone hoping to retain information.

"It's always the case that spacing out study sessions results in better memorization," Richard Carlson, professor of psychology, said.

Part of the way memorization works is that a person associates the information they want to remember with external clues for retrieval.

This means that more study sessions creates more external clues and increases the chances the student will be able to remember.

"[With several study sessions], you might represent the information to yourself in a slightly different way, which will improve your chances of retrieval," Carlson said.

People have two basic types of memory.

Explicit memory is used to memorize test material. This type of memory involves a conscious memorization of any desired material.

The other fundamental type of memory, implicit memory, is more basic in its function.

Information that is memorized unconsciously, so that a person cannot remember where he or she learned it, falls under this category.

The process of making an event -- a perceptual experience that someone undergoes-- part of the memory is known as encoding.

Cramming material for a test is ineffective, experts say, because a person can only encode a limited amount of material in a certain amount of allotted time.

Studies have shown that it takes as long to think a sentence as it does to speak it, said Daniel Cassenti (graduate-psychology).

Reading a text silently, then, takes a student as much time as reading it aloud.

Cramming is also ineffective because it involves a certain amount of stress, which can negatively affect the memory function.

"Stress tends to hurt the part of memory that involves encoding," Carlson said.

In addition, stress causes a person to divide his or her attention and to have difficulty focusing on one topic for an extended period of study time.

Even without the factor of stress, it is more effective to study by moving from subject to subject than it is to study one subject for a long interval of time, Cassenti said.

Although most students are well aware of the consequences of cramming, many continue to do it despite the lack of benefits.

Kathleen Rugg (junior-hotel and restaurant management) says she starts studying a day or two before exams.

She said she never feels like she has enough time to prepare.

For students who want to improve their study skills, the University Learning Center in Johnston Commons offers drop-in tutoring by trained peer tutors. They offer tips on topics ranging from taking effective notes to overcoming test anxiety to managing time effectively.