Busyness and Cognition in Undergraduate Students: End-of-Semester versus Beginning-of-Semester Cognitive Performance
Date
2022-12
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Department of Psychology, University of Tampa
Abstract
Students frequently report feeling more stress at the end-of-the-semester versus the beginning-of-the-semester (Kofman et al.,
2006). Whether this results in worse cognition has not been
thoroughly investigated. The current study measured three types
of cognition, including long-term memory, working memory, and
executive functioning. We assessed whether undergraduates’ stress
and busyness levels and cognitive performance was different
between the end of the Fall 2020 and beginning of the Spring
2021 semester. Contrary to the hypotheses, no significant point-in-semester differences were found in undergraduates’ busyness or
stress levels at the beginning versus end of the semester. Mixed
results were observed for cognitive performance, such that no
significant differences were found for picture recall, word recall,
picture recognition or letter number sequencing. Performance on
the verbal fluency category task and the backward digit span
task were found to approach significance, with marginally better
performance at the end of the semester. Finally, word recognition
was significantly better at the end of the semester, whereas verbal
fluency, given a letter cue, was significantly worse at the end of
the semester. Therefore, given the lack of observed busyness and
stress differences, it is unlikely that busyness and stress are driving
differences in students’ cognition. Future research is needed to
determine if the observed cognitive differences are reliable and to
assess additional mechanisms.
Description
Recommended citation: Mryczko, Danusia, and Tina Brown. "Busyness and Cognition in Undergraduate Students: End-of-Semester versus Beginning-of-Semester Cognitive Performance." Acta Spartae, 2022. https://doi.org/10.48497/MR67-6D10
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Keywords
Cognition, College students, Undergraduate students, Stress, Performance
Citation
Mryczko, Danusia, and Tina Brown. "Busyness and Cognition in Undergraduate Students: End-of-Semester versus Beginning-of-Semester Cognitive Performance." Acta Spartae, 2022. https://doi.org/10.48497/MR67-6D10