Scientists found out how drinking water affects students' performance
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Curious information is given in a recent study on psychology presented at a specialized English conference (Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society, British Psychological Society Annual Conference).
According to researchers from the Institute of East London (University of East London) and the University of Westminster, those students who go to examinations with a bottle of drinking water, have every chance to raise their own estimates, due to slowing down the process of dehydration.
Doctor Chris Pawson (Chris Pawson) reports: "The results say that if you just bring with you to the exam the water, there are all chances to improve the mark."
Although the studies do not analyze the cause of the results, Powson states that all possible psychological and physiological grounds can be present. One of them is the probable physiological effect of hydration on the ability of thinking, the other is that drinking water can help students to pull themselves together and minimize the level of anxiety, which, as you know, does not help much when passing exams.
For his own research, Powson and his colleagues investigated over 400 students from three different groups. It was taken into account, whether they brought with them to the exam those or other drinks. Among other things, it was noted which types of drinks the students brought. Researchers reported that first-year students are less likely to drink drinks in the exam, compared with older students. After announcing the results of the exams, they compared the scores with their own records and learned that those who received high marks, as a rule, brought with them to the examination room water bottles. However, it should be noted that the researchers did not note whether students drank water during the exam or not, so it is impossible to determine for sure whether the presence of a water bottle on the examiner's table or the fact that he used its contents influenced the assessment.
Powson states that new research is needed to separate these causes and explain them. However, regardless of the results, he believes that the habit of taking water with him to all examinations can favorably affect the assessments.
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