8 Tips to Pass the Psychometrician Board Exam

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BLEPP or the Board Licensure Exam for Psychologists and Psychometricians is one of the latest professional license exams to be regulated in the Philippines. This is mainly due to to the ever-increasing demand for mental health services in the country. Though the aforementioned field still has a long way to go before it can hold a candle to its counterparts on the other parts of the globe especially the Freudian-crazed Western countries, the industry's growth is nothing but inevitable. Obviously, one of the drivers for the industry's growth is the cultivation of more home-grown professionals that will pave way for its future.

October 2014 marked the first-ever Board Licensure Examination for Psychologists and Psychometricians (BLEPP). The two-day examination is divided into four core (4) subjects which had been split into two cumulative days. The subjects featured in the exam are as follows: Theories of Personality, Psychological Assessment, Abnormal Psychology, and Industrial Psychology. Each of which covers different types of test items from multiple choice identification, case study, true or false, and matching type.

Whether you are the type to ace an exam even without the need of reviewing too much or a dedicated student or a post-graduate who pulls of an all-nighter, here are five (5) tips to help you pass the Psychometrician Board Exam.

1. Get a BLEPP review buddy

Studying alone can really keep you more focused to cover all the topics you need before the day of the actual exam. However, getting yourself a study buddy can do a lot of wonders regardless if you are an introvert or an extrovert. The main reason is not just because you can learn from each other's specialty subjects or knowledge base but also because doing so helps raise the competitive aspect of your exam-taking journey. Admit it or not, the thought of scoring a higher exam score than your "review nemesis" (buddy) makes you salivate as if you are the classic doggo in Ivan Pavlov's classic study.

2. Quiz it up!

Quizzes can help you a lot not only during your review classes with the likes of RGO and Spark Review centers but in the entirety of your journey towards the board exam day. Taking up simple quizzes such as Android and iOS based quiz game apps can help a lot to sharpen your memory and quiz taking 'savantness' (there's no such word but you get the point). Practicing using various types of quizzes especially Psychology-related ones can give you an edge on the much-anticipated day. This is because they are quiz-taking strategies that helps a lot in bigger stages like the licensure examination. Process of elimination, Making educational guesses, and familiarizing yourself when it comes to dealing with trick questions, contextual clues, etc. can do wonders while you are on your test-taking journey.

3. Review not to memorize but to master each topic

Out of anxiety, one can easily make the mistake of hoarding all information one can just to ensure that all bases are covered. However, it is never enough that you memorize all of the topics word-by-word and info after info. What's important is that you understand each concept, theory, and all other needed information. As Psychological Assessment is one of the major subjects covered on the exam, one must also practice solving statistical and psychology-related mathematical equations. It is never enough that you memorize each chapter of the book, what is more important is that you fully understand each topic in whatever perspective or wording the questions are presented.

4. Going back to the basics: Proper diet and exercise is important

It might be a cliche tip but getting an adequate amount of sleep and observing proper diet does wonders for your critical thinking, memory retention, and problem solving skills. Munching on snacks while doing your review-a-thon helps a lot on getting all those brain muscles working. However, choosing healthy foods is very important to avoid any health complications that might somehow affect your test-taking journey. Eating "brain foods" or "memory enhancing foods" help a lot as well and these includes but are not limited to: fish fat, turmeric, peanuts, dark chocolate, and citrus fruits such as oranges. Exercises, on the other hand, help only not to re-wire the brains and stimulate your thinking muscles, it also helps you to gain confidence as you progress through your test-taking journey.

5. Memorize with Mnemonics

Memorization can be really daunting at times especially when there is just a limited time to prepare for a test or an exam. However, there are conceptual tools that we can use in order to maximize the fullest potential of our brain.

Mnemonics are conceptual devices that aid a person in memorizing a piece or set of information which is helpful most especially in academic and workplace setting. For instance, one can use the acronyms PSLES (which stands for Physiological, Security, Love and Belongingness, Esteem, and Self-Actualization) in order to retrieve the list of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.

The concept of chunking or the process of grouping individual pieces of codal information such as number and letters together for easier memory retrieval explains why the phone numbers are limited to just seven digits (excluding the network exclusive number prefixes i.e. 0917, 0918). Another form of Mnemonic which is very helpful in making sure that all bases are covered for your board exam study is Image Mnemonics which is the use of mental images that symbolizes interconnected pieces of information. An example of which is using a mental imagery of a door and using it to memorize the parts of the eye (i.e. assigning the keyhole as a representation of the pupil and the key as the visual stimuli that enters the eyes).

6. Practice! Practice! Practice!

Solving statistical equations and analyzing graphs that contain psychology-related data are among the types of test questions that one will definitely encounter all throughout the board exam. Though some of us will say, "This is why I took up Psychology because there is no math involved!" That is simply not the case as Statistics and Data Analysis plays a huge part in the world of Psychology. Now, the question is "Have I made the right decision? I thought there is no math involved!" No need to panic but instead, just like in any other skill that we are trying to master, practice does indeed make perfect. This is done through taking-up mock or practice quizzes that are focused in Psychological Assessment and Statistics topics. You'll be surprised that memorizing formulas and making use of it in an accurate manner, as well as analyzing charts and graphs are not something to be scared about but instead is fun and engaging to master.

7. Make sure that all bases are covered

The most obvious thing you need to prepare for the examination is off course the exam questions itself. However, one thing that one must never forget is getting ready for your exam day is as important as getting prepared for the exam questions itself. Make sure that you get all of your requirements ready before the much-awaited day itself. Some of the important things to bring are: a.) your necessary PRC documents required for the board exam; b.) Valid ID; c.) two (2) Mongol pencils (depends on the specific type required). It can also help a lot to do a trial commute to the examination venue in order to avoid any possible hassle that might come during the examination day and to be able to properly estimate factors such as traffic and transportation availability. Every second counts during the exam and one an never afford to be late on the day you spent a great deal of preparation for.

8. Aim not to pass the exam but aim for the Top!

This might be a cliche advice but aiming for the highest ranking possible is the sure-fire way to ensure that you'll be more than motivated to pass the licensure exam. The simple is reason is due to the fact that if you set your goals higher, the more topics you'll ensure to cover during the course of your study. Setting the bar higher also pushes you to take more competitive approaches to study such as taking Brain Quizzes, taking-up memory-enhancing supplements, and doing more in-depth page-by-page study of all the chapters in your textbook. This is the same reasoning behind NBA teams who are vocal about their hunger for the championship during playoffs are also oftentimes who find themselves on the Finals.