astronomy

Jan Smedslund

Jan Smedslund is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jan Smedslund rather than just read about it. In short: Jan Ewald Smedslund (born 1 May 1929) is a Norwegian psychologist. He was born in Oslo, but grew up in Helsinki and finished his secondary education in Finland before studying psychology at the University of Oslo.

Key takeaways

Jan Smedslund belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jan Smedslund to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jan Smedslund from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jan Ewald Smedslund (born 1 May 1929) is a Norwegian psychologist. He was born in Oslo, but grew up in Helsinki and finished his secondary education in Finland before studying psychology at the University of Oslo. He took the mag.art. degree in 1951 and the dr.philos. degree in 1955. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a guest scholar in Geneva and at the Center for Cognitive Studies, Harvard University, and he was employed by the Norwegian Institute for Social Research. From 1964, he held a professorship of psychology at the University of Bergen, changing to the University of Oslo in 1966. He was inducted into the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1975. His later guest scholar stints include the University of Minnesota, the University of Kansas, Stanford University, Oxford University and Cambridge University. From 1977 to 2009, he was also a clinical psychologist with a private clinic. He resided in Oslo.

References

Further reading Time, Jon Kåre (12 February 2016). "Den umulige psykologen". Morgenbladet (in Norwegian). pp. 8–13.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jan Smedslund

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jan Smedslund claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jan Smedslund before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jan Smedslund ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jan Smedslund

In research: Jan Smedslund appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jan Smedslund in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jan Smedslund is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, Academic staff of the University of Bergen, Academic staff of the University of Oslo, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jan Smedslund outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jan Smedslund in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jan Smedslund means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jan Smedslund out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jan Smedslund in simple terms?

Why does Jan Smedslund matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jan Smedslund?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jan Smedslund.