Neuroscience
It doesn't matter how brainy you are, if you don't make any effort, you're not going to do well at university (let's put aside the annoying few who seem to defy this rule by gliding through their studies). Indeed, psychologists are paying increasing intention to the role of self-control and self-discipline to academic success.
It's in this context that a team of Swiss researchers has tested the effects of two weeks of twice-daily hand squeezing using a commercially available handgrip. The idea is that squeezing the grip for as long as possible gives students practice at self-control – it takes willpower to resist giving up as soon as squeezing becomes uncomfortable – and the experience teaches the idea that exerting effort isn't aversive.
The research published in Motivation Science showed that dozens of students who performed the two weeks of hand squeezing in their first semester achieved "considerably" higher grades seven months' later at the end of the academic year, as compared with a control group of dozens of other students who didn't do the squeezing.
The benefit of the training seemed to come from the fact that the hand-squeeze students changed their attitudes to studying – in the weeks before their exams they showed an increased willingness to put effort into their studies and they actually studied more. In contrast, simple lab tests showed their inhibitory control and resistance to fatigue were unaffected, leading the researchers to propose the training benefits occurred through "broader motivational self-regulatory mechanisms". It's unlikely that the benefits of the hand-squeezing were simply a placebo effect – there was no difference in the effects of the intervention whether the students were explicitly told that the idea was to boost their self-control or not.
"This result seems extraordinary" the researchers said. "Possibly, this repeated exertion of self-control [the hand-squeezing training] reshaped participants' perception of effortful tasks as aversive, making them more willing to exert effort." The finding adds to previous studies that have shown the benefits of self-control training in other contexts such as stopping smoking, and the power of other simple psychological interventions, such as self-affirmation exercises, to benefit students' academic performance.
--Effects of practicing self-control on academic performance.
_________________________________
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
Practising self-control with a squeezy handgrip boosted these students' grades
It doesn't matter how brainy you are, if you don't make any effort, you're not going to do well at university (let's put aside the annoying few who seem to defy this rule by gliding through their studies). Indeed, psychologists are paying increasing intention to the role of self-control and self-discipline to academic success.It's in this context that a team of Swiss researchers has tested the effects of two weeks of twice-daily hand squeezing using a commercially available handgrip. The idea is that squeezing the grip for as long as possible gives students practice at self-control – it takes willpower to resist giving up as soon as squeezing becomes uncomfortable – and the experience teaches the idea that exerting effort isn't aversive.
The research published in Motivation Science showed that dozens of students who performed the two weeks of hand squeezing in their first semester achieved "considerably" higher grades seven months' later at the end of the academic year, as compared with a control group of dozens of other students who didn't do the squeezing.
The benefit of the training seemed to come from the fact that the hand-squeeze students changed their attitudes to studying – in the weeks before their exams they showed an increased willingness to put effort into their studies and they actually studied more. In contrast, simple lab tests showed their inhibitory control and resistance to fatigue were unaffected, leading the researchers to propose the training benefits occurred through "broader motivational self-regulatory mechanisms". It's unlikely that the benefits of the hand-squeezing were simply a placebo effect – there was no difference in the effects of the intervention whether the students were explicitly told that the idea was to boost their self-control or not.
"This result seems extraordinary" the researchers said. "Possibly, this repeated exertion of self-control [the hand-squeezing training] reshaped participants' perception of effortful tasks as aversive, making them more willing to exert effort." The finding adds to previous studies that have shown the benefits of self-control training in other contexts such as stopping smoking, and the power of other simple psychological interventions, such as self-affirmation exercises, to benefit students' academic performance.
--Effects of practicing self-control on academic performance.
_________________________________
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Our free weekly email will keep you up-to-date with all the psychology research we digest: Sign up!
- Simple Fist-squeezing Procedure Helps Athletes Avoid Choking Under Pressure
The next time you're faced with a high-pressure situation in sport, try squeezing your left fist tight for thirty seconds. According to a team of German sports psychologists, doing so will activate your right hemisphere, aiding automatic, skilled...
- Extras
Eye-catching studies that didn't make the final cut: A replication of the finding that positive psychology exercises boost happiness. The first documented case of congenital amusia in childhood. The idea of the "hot-hand" in sports is that after hitting...
- Simple Psychological Intervention Boosts School Performance Of Ethnic Minority Students
Fear of failure at school can be crippling, especially for ethnic minority students. Research shows it's all too common for them to fear that their own poor performance will reinforce negative stereotypes. Unfortunately this anxiety only serves to...
- Patients With Tourette's Have More Self-control, Not Less
People with Tourette’s syndrome can’t stop themselves from making sudden repeated movements or noises, so you might infer that they have an impairment in their mental control processes. On the contrary, according to a new study they actually have...
- The God Ingredient
Meditation can reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure and improve mental health, thus relieving the harmful effects of stress. But does it matter whether the meditation is spiritual in nature or not? A study by Amy Wachholtz and Kenneth Pargament at...