If Your Kid Looks at the Letter “A” Before a Test, They’re More Likely to Get an A?
Here’s a back-to-school tip for you. Instead of having your kid study extra hard to get good grades . . . just write the letter “A” on a piece of paper and make them stare at it for an hour.
A study by the University of Missouri found that students who looked at the letter “A” before a test did better than kids who looked at the letter “F.”
On their sample test, the “A” group got an average score of 92.3%, which is an A-minus . . . the “F” group got an average of 78.5%, which is a C-plus.
They also did a second experiment which also had a third group look at the letter “J.” Those kids did better than the “F” group but worse than the “A” group.
The researchers think it’s because, quote, “exposure to the letter A made the students [subconsciously] approach the task with the aim to succeed . . . while exposure to the letter F made them want to avoid failure.”
And other studies have shown people do better when they’re trying to succeed than when they’re trying not to fail.