Academic success

Chewing Gum Helps Test-Takers

teenchewing-gumHave an important final exam coming up? Maybe your test prep should include chewing some gum.
St. Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Psychology Serge Onyper conducted a study that showed that students who chewed gum for five minutes before taking a test did better on the test than non-gum-chewing students. “Mastication-induced arousal” is credited for the boost, which lasted for about the first 20 minutes or so of testing. Results of the study were published in the journal Appetite.
A “battery of cognitive tasks” was given to the study participants, who chewed gum either prior to or throughout testing. Their performance was then compared with subjects who did not chew gum.
Many studies have shown that any type of physical activity can produce a performance boost; this study points out that even mild physical activity can bring on such a boost. [continue reading…]

Test Stress

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Boys do better on tests of technical aptitude (for example, mechanical aptitude tests) than girls. The same is true for adults. A new study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, describes a theory explaining how the difference comes about: the root cause is that boys are just more interested in technical things, like taking apart a bike, than girls are.

Aptitude tests are used to predict how well people will do in school and on jobs. These tests focus on particular skills or kinds of specific aptitude, like verbal or technical aptitude. But the last few decades of research have found that what really matters is general intelligence, not specific aptitudes, says Frank Schmidt of the University of Iowa, author of the new paper. “The factors that are measured by the specific aptitude tests independent of the general intelligence component in these tests don’t make any contribution to job performance.” Smart people, researchers have found, are able to learn the requirements of any job if they are motivated to. And research shows that men and women do not differ, on average, in general intelligence. [continue reading…]

anxious-childSpaceships and robots are being used as themes in a set of computer games to boost children’s memory skills as part of a unique research project which hopes to reduce childhood anxiety and improve academic performance. The researchers have been given a grant from children’s charity Action Medical Research.

Anxiety is common during childhood. Evidence suggests up to one in twenty children and adolescents experience an anxiety disorder.[1] Anxious children can worry excessively about all sorts of things – conversations they’ve had, things they’ve done, upcoming events, their health, how good they are at sport or school work, world events and so on.

Children can worry so much that they feel ill and start avoiding everyday activities, such as going to school or out with friends, or taking up a hobby. They may feel sick, breathless, dizzy or panic, and can complain that their tummy hurts. They can also be tearful, irritable or restless, and find it difficult to concentrate or to sleep.

The two-year research project is being carried out thanks to a grant award of £83,282 from Action Medical Research – the leading UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children. [continue reading…]

sleepy boy

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Inattention, not hyperactivity, is associated with educational failure

New research from the University of Montreal shows that inattention, rather than hyperactivity, is the most important indicator when it comes to finishing a high school education. “Children with attention problems need preventative intervention early in their development,” explained lead author Dr. Jean-Baptiste Pingault, who is also affiliated with Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital. The researchers came to their conclusion after looking at data collected from the parents and teachers of 2000 children over a period of almost twenty years.

In this study, attention problems were evaluated by teachers who looked for behaviour such as an inability to concentrate, absentmindedness, or a tendency to give up or be easily distracted. Hyperactivity was identified by behaviour such as restlessness, running around, squirming and being fidgety. The researchers found that only 29% of children with attention problems finished high school compared to 89% of children who did not manifest these inattention problems. When it came to hyperactivity, the difference was smaller: 40% versus 77%. After correcting the data for other influencing factors, such as socioeconomic status and health issues that are correlated with ADHD, inattention still made a highly significant contribution which was not the case for hyperactivity. [continue reading…]