TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive Fatigue Influences Students' Performance on Standardized Tests
AU - Sievertsen, Hans Henrik
AU - Gino, Francesca
AU - Piovesan, Marco
PY - 2016/1/15
Y1 - 2016/1/15
N2 - Using test data for all children attending Danish public schools betweenschool years 2009/10 and 2012/13, we examine how the time of the testaffects performance. Test time is determined by the weekly classschedule and computer availability at the school. We find that, forevery hour later in the day, test performance decreases by 0.9% of an SD(95% CI, 0.7-1.0%). However, a 20- to 30-minute break improves averagetest performance by 1.7% of an SD (95% CI, 1.2-2.2%). These findingshave two important policy implications: First, cognitive fatigue shouldbe taken into consideration when deciding on the length of the schoolday and the frequency and duration of breaks throughout the day. Second,school accountability systems should control for the influence ofexternal factors on test scores.
AB - Using test data for all children attending Danish public schools betweenschool years 2009/10 and 2012/13, we examine how the time of the testaffects performance. Test time is determined by the weekly classschedule and computer availability at the school. We find that, forevery hour later in the day, test performance decreases by 0.9% of an SD(95% CI, 0.7-1.0%). However, a 20- to 30-minute break improves averagetest performance by 1.7% of an SD (95% CI, 1.2-2.2%). These findingshave two important policy implications: First, cognitive fatigue shouldbe taken into consideration when deciding on the length of the schoolday and the frequency and duration of breaks throughout the day. Second,school accountability systems should control for the influence ofexternal factors on test scores.
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1516947113
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1516947113
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 26884183
VL - 113
SP - 2621
EP - 2624
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 10
ER -