Impact of Short-term Pressures on Student's Performance: An Experimental Study

Abstract

We conducted an experiment to determine the impact of short-term pressure on 1,228 Grade 8 students' outcomes in doing simple math. All students are given a simple math sheet with 100 questions. We measured students' results for the first sheet after 90 seconds, then divided them into three groups: (i) a control group that just stayed and relaxed; (ii) a group that performed an easy task; and (iii) a group that performed a difficult task. Finally, we required all students to solve another simple math sheet with 100 questions in 90 seconds and used a Bayesian model to compare the results of those three groups. We discovered that within short periods of time, students who successfully solved complex tasks received higher outcomes than the ones who cracked the easy task. However, students who failed to solve either the easy or the problematic tasks received lower results than those who did nothing between the two attempts. Also, we found no differences between the results of male and female students. The findings shed further light on the Yerkes-Dodson law about the influence of eustress and distress on students' performance.