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Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades, a British study of 447 people found.

Controlling for ability from previous coursework results, researchers found those with water scored an average of 5% higher than those without.

The study, from the universities of East London and Westminster, also noted that older students were more likely to bring in water to exam halls.

It says the findings have implications for exam policies on access to drinks.

The researchers observed 447 psychology students at the University of East London – 71 were in their foundation year, 225 were first-years and 151 were in their second year.

Just 25% of the 447 students entered the exam hall with a bottle of water.

Of these, the more mature students (those in their second year of degree study) were more likely to bring in water – 31% did so compared with 21% of foundation year and first-year students.

 

Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades

Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades

After taking students’ academic ability into account, by examining coursework grades, the researchers found foundation students who drank water could expect to see grades improved by up to 10%.

This improvement was 5% for first-year students and 2% for second years.

Across the cohort, the improvement in marks was 4.8% for water-drinking exam candidates.

The research paper said information about the importance of staying hydrated during exams should be targeted at younger students in particular.

Dr. Chris Pawson, from the University of East London, said consuming water may have a physiological effect on thinking functions that lead to improved exam performance.

Water consumption may also alleviate anxiety, which is known to have a negative effect on exam performance, said Dr. Chris Pawson.

“Future research is needed to tease apart these explanations, but whatever the explanation it is clear that students should endeavour to stay hydrated with water during exams,” he said.

Dr. Mark Gardner, from the University of Westminster, said: “We find the results exciting in that they translate findings from the laboratory to real world settings like this.

“Also, supplementing with water is a really cheap way students and educators can help get better results.

“There are also implications for policy makers in terms of the availability of water on campuses.”

 

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While men are more likely to chat up a fair-haired lady on a night out, they actually find brunettes more attractive, a study has shown.

University of Westminster researchers sent a woman to three London nightclubs with her hair dyed brunette, blonde and then red, and watched how many men approached her.

The researchers then returned to the clubs and asked 130 men to rate pictures of her in the three guises.

The woman was chatted up the most as a blonde. But she was rated most highly for attractiveness and intelligence when brunette, the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology reports.

University of Westminster researcher Viren Swami said that his results may reflect a shift in fashion, with brunettes now being idealized in the way that blondes were several decades ago.

Dr. Viren Swami said: “In the Sixties and early Seventies, when Jackie Kennedy was the ideal, brunette hair became the ideal for women generally. Then, in the Seventies and Eighties, blondes became the ideal.

“But more recently, there has been a backlash against blondes and the dumb blonde idea has become dominant.”

As a blonde, the woman was chatted up 60 times in total. This compared with 42 approaches as a brunette and 18 as a red-head.

Speculating on why the woman, or “confederate” in researcher-speak, was rated more attractive when brunette but chatted up more as a blonde, Dr. Viren Swami said: “One possible explanation is that men were more likely to assume sexual intent on the part of our confederate when she was blonde.

“Perceptions of the blonde confederate as being more needy may have reduced men’s fear or rejection or fear or an aggressive response, which increased their likelihood of approaching her as a blonde.”

It is also possible that men link blonde hair with youth and vitality, and so the ability to bear children.

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