Xuan Li from the Boston University and Xiang Zhou from Hunan’s Xiangtan University take a look at the benefits of a window seat for test takers in China’s notoriously brutal college entrance exam(s).
Using data from the 2019 cycle they looked at a sample of 3,700 students, and the results are astonishing.
A window seat for the four exams over two days that comprise the full test resulted in a 9.1pct standard deviation advantage for those lucky enough to get an outside view. Moreover, the bump to the test scores increases the chances of the lucky test takers getting into a good university by 2.8%. The effect is especially pronounced for the males in the survey.
The researchers believe the mechanism at work here may be found in Attention Restoration Theory (ART) that posits, among other things, time in or contemplating nature helps human brains work more effectively.
There’s a lot or unknowns in ART but this paper demonstrates clearly that just being near to a window when engaged in a high-stress and complex task leads to better results.
This finding has obvious implications not only for test takers but just about all of us.
The paper also contains an interesting summary of some of the specifics of the college entrance exams. I didn’t know for example that 20% of the test (150/750 points) is on English. You can read it in full via this link The Cognitive Benefit of a Window View.
Happy Sunday.