Final answer:
The least helpful strategy in improving recall for a difficult paragraph is simply repeating it many times. More effective strategies include quizzing oneself, chunking the content, and establishing personal relevance through meaningful titles and the self-reference effect. Option c is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
In improving recall of a difficult-to-understand paragraph, the option that would be least helpful is c. repeating the paragraph aloud many times. While repetition can increase the distinctiveness of material to some extent, techniques such as quizzing oneself, chunking information, and giving content a meaningful title are more advanced and effective strategies.
Specifically, quizzing yourself on the paragraph encourages active engagement with the material, which promotes deeper comprehension. Chunking divides the material into smaller, more manageable units, making them easier to understand and remember. Giving the paragraph a meaningful title can help tie the material to existing knowledge or personal relevance, enhancing the self-reference effect. Repeating the paragraph many times may improve familiarity, but it doesn't engage the same levels of cognitive processing that the other strategies involve, making it less effective in comparison.
Overall, the most effective memory strategies are those that promote elaborative rehearsal—thinking about the meaning of the information in relation to other knowledge—and applying the self-referencing effect—making the material personally meaningful. Other strategies, such as distributed practice, using mnemonic devices, and getting sufficient sleep, also contribute to improved memory recall.