PsyTools

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY connecTed Psychtools

Now that you know about attributions and I got a for school
our bias towards those that are self-serving, Bad Grade
you can: Because A
??
Be honest with yourself about the factors B
that most likely contributed to the outcome

Consider what you can change going
forward to achieve your desired result

Seek advice from your professor or TA about
areas for improvement and effective learning
strategies

Listen to Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the
Mirror’ and get it. I mean REALLY get it.

To access other Psychtools Psychtools F
for School resources please
visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff for school Attributions

This project was supported
by the APS Fund for Teaching
and Public Understanding of
Psychological Science.

Project Creators: Attributions
Dr. April McGrath,
Dr. Amanda Clark,
Dr. Kelley Robinson.

F PsYchoLogy cAn coNseqUences
eXplaiN tHat
siTuatioN Understanding attributions and the
Attributions are the explanations that we tell self-serving bias are important
Rafik just got his first test back in cognitive ourselves about why something happened or because:
psychology and he isn’t happy. His grade why people act the way they do. Your dad
is much lower than he expected and the probably called them excuses. You may not be honest with yourself
initial feedback indicates that he isn’t about the reasons for your academic
doing well in the course. He wants to In this case, Rafik is attempting to make sense setbacks.
improve so he began to identify things that of his low grade but these attributions put him
contributed to his poor performance. So at risk of a self-serving bias. These biases are Attributing a poor grade to the test itself
far he’s got the professor’s teaching style, well documented and they show that we often or a professor doesn’t acknowledge the
the difficulty of the test, and that low pres- take personal credit for our successes but active role of the learner.
sure system that swept in suddenly last blame others for our failures. In other words,
week. His elbow gets itchy when it rains some days you’re a master pancake flipper Ignoring uncomfortable attributions
and that can be very distracting. and some days your ceilings are too low. (e.g., missing class, procrastinating, not
testing your knowledge before a test) is
While these attributions may make us feel a missed opportunity for growth
better, they won’t help us prepare for that next
test, assignment, or show-off our breakfast The lawn isn’t going to mow itself (or so
technique. says all of our dads)

“ Attributions are explanations

that help us make sense of the events
around us. By avoiding the tendency to
only believe self-serving attributions
we can identify areas for improvement

”and achieve our learning goals.

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY cOnnecTed Psychtools

Apply the new information you learned For more information on these topics, search for for school
(see, you’re smarter already) about work about mindsets by Dr. Carol Dweck and about
growth mindset and grit. grit, by Dr. Angela Duckworth. 03 GOAL
You can challenge these negative beliefs
and move forward by remembering the To access other Psychtools for School resources 02 GRIT
following:  please visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff
01 GROWTH MINDSET
Finding material challenging doesn’t This project was supported by the APS Fund for Teaching
mean you’re stupid and Public Understanding of Psychological Science. The Importance of
Grit to Succeeding
Difficult academic tasks require effort and Project Creators:
persistence Dr. April McGrath, Dr. Amanda Clark, Dr. Kelley Robinson in School

When learning is difficult, don’t get
discouraged. Get gritty!

Grit is an important predictor of success

If your mom says you’re all gritty and that
you should take a shower, you stare her
dead in the eyes and say, “That’s just
who I am, Barbara. I’m going in gritty and
I’m coming out the same way.”

Psychtools The Importance of
Grit to Succeeding
for school
in School

siTuatioN coNseqUences

Dan had a tough time understanding If you view intelligence as a fixed characteristic If you didn’t know these research findings
his school material. He’d read then you may be less likely to try and succeed at about growth mindset and grit, you may
something a few times but usually a difficult academic task. A better way to think is think the following when confronted with
didn’t get it. And when he did get it, to adopt a growth mindset. Basically, you take difficult material:  
the celebration was short lived anything that Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever
because he would turn the page said about getting jacked and replace that word I’m not getting this; I must be stupid
and discover a brand new ‘it’ that he with ‘smart’. Most of his advice will still be
had to get! Sometimes there were accurate. Think of the brain as a muscle that Everyone else must be finding this easy;
two or three! He thought he wasn’t can grow and become stronger. they are smarter than me
smart and from this he felt incredibly
discouraged. Another consequence of the fixed-intelligence This is too difficult; why am I even trying
view is that it leads people to interpret effortful
PsYchoLogy cAn learning as an indication of lacking intelligence. These beliefs are likely to lead to less
eXplaiN tHat The opposite is actually true. A growth mindset engagement and effort, leading to poor
means that intelligence is strengthened by performance
Researchers have shown that beliefs effort. Learning will be challenging and that is
about intelligence can be as important to OKAY because achievement is reached by hard “ Negative beliefs about
success as actual IQ scores. In other work. In psychology that concept is called grit.
words, the mindset you have about your intelligence can limit
learning actually influences your learning Yeah, grit. Is that not a serious enough sounding your learning. Remember,
outcomes. academic term? Well, that’s what it’s called and learning takes effort and
it might be the greatest of all characteristics. putting effort into your
Why does grit matter? Because grit is how the work is a strength not a
job gets done. Grit means staying focused and
working effortfully toward your goals. Learning ”weakness.
isn’t handed to you; it is something you have to
work at.

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY cOnnecTed Psychtools

Now that you know about how the  brain To access other Psychtools for School for school
processes information in a “one-at-a-time” resources please visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff
way, you can try to avoid   multitasking. The Downside
Strive to create a learning  and studying This project was supported by of Multitasking
environment where your distractions are the APS Fund for Teaching and at School
minimized. Try some of these tips:   Public Understanding of
Psychological Science
Give yourself a work/study time limit: Work
for 50 minutes then take a break Project Creators:
Dr. April McGrath
When working on your computer, turn off Dr. Amanda Clark
your internet connection Dr. Kelley Robinson

Put your phone in another room and turn $
off the TV and music

Reward yourself with something fun!

Build an underground study bunker that
includes a door, which can only be opened
from the outside (optional)

Psychtools The Downside
of Multitasking
for school at School

PsYchoLogy cAn coNseqUences
eXplaiN tHat

siTuatioN Most of us feel like there just aren’t enough If you didn’t know these research findings
hours in the day to do all things we need to do. about multitasking and distractions, you  
Dina is a very distracted student. We want to connect with friends, watch our might  be  tempted  to:  
She studies regularly, she reads the favourite shows, and exercise. Also, that com-
assigned material before class, and parative study of grocery store pizza brands Watch television while you study for a test
she has a remarkable attendance isn’t going to plan itself. Balancing these Listen to music while reading a textbook
record. She even came to school desires while maintaining good grades can be Scroll through websites while sitting in a
during that crazy blizzard last winter a difficult balancing act. To compensate, many lecture
and was forced to lecture to herself. of us try to multitask: we chat with friends while Text while doing homework
That’s dedication. Despite this, organizing class notes or listen to music while
Dina isn’t doing as well in her reading a textbook. “Trying to multitask distracts
classes as she could be. you from giving your best to your
However, researchers have found that we
actually cannot do more than one thing at a work activities as well as your
time. Studies have revealed that when we try to
multitask, like listening to music while reading, leisure activities. Instead, focus
our brains shift attention between tasks,
making it difficult to do either well, decreasing
our ability to learn and remember. In fact, many
studies have shown that our ability to learn and
remember declines when we try to listen to
music at the same time as we study.

on one task at a time. ”

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY cOnnecTed Psychtools

for school

Anyone can be unrealistically optimistic Parts of this pamphlet were informed by the helpful
about how much can be accomplished in a post by Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson at:
given amount of time. Now that you know https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-
the planning fallacy is a common cognitive success/201003/will-take-no-time-all
bias, you can try to overcome it in the future.
Try some of these tips: To access other Psychtools
for School resources please
Take a moment to consider how long similar visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff
tasks have taken you in the past. Don’t
ignore this important source of information. This project was supported
by the APS Fund for Teaching
Don’t plan just for best-case scenarios. What and Public Understanding of
might not go according to plan? How would Psychological Science.
this change your plan and time investment?
Project Creators:
Think about all of the steps or sub-tasks Dr. April McGrath,
involved in the project. This will give you a Dr. Amanda Clark,
clearer picture as to what is actually involved Dr. Kelley Robinson.
in completing the project. Look back at the
essay-writing example above.

Psychtools I’ll Finish this in No Time:
Understanding the Planning Fallacy
for school

I’ll Finish this in No Time:
Understanding the Planning Fallacy

siTuatioN Once tasked with announcing the end of coNseqUences
the war, he claimed that running forty-two kilome-
Despite starting work on his essays early in tres probably wouldn’t take him more than twenty Understanding the planning fallacy is
the term, Jerome typically completes them minutes. When he arrived, his dying wish was that important because:
only the day before they are due. Each no one ever again inflict upon themselves the pain
time a new assignment is begun, Jerome of running a marathon. Accurately thinking about how much
anticipates that he will have time left over time your academic projects take will
to reread and edit his work. Unfortunately, Why do these overly optimistic predictions occur? lead to better planning and execution
this never happens. While defending his One reason is that we tend to ignore how long of projects.
actions to his mom, Jerome hypothesized similar tasks have taken us in the past, and
that his body travels through time at a instead we get caught up in thinking about the Your best work will result from having
faster rate than a normal person. His mom current task. And when we think about the current enough time to devote to each step of
politely suggested that he quit this non- task, we tend to imagine optimistic best-case the process.
sense and research ‘the planning fallacy’. scenarios where all things go according to plan.
We also might not consider how much time each You can avoid the stress associated
PsYchoLogy cAn step of the task will take. For example, when with completing tasks under a time
eXplaiN tHat thinking about an upcoming essay you may crunch.
picture yourself typing away in front of your com-
Jerome is falling victim to the planning puter screen and you may ignore other steps that “We often underestimate how much time is
fallacy. This cognitive bias makes people are important and also take time (e.g., reading,
overly optimistic in their estimates of how narrowing down a topic, reading more, taking required to complete important academic
long it will take to complete a task. Histori- notes, connecting ideas, generating an argument, tasks. Consider how long similar tasks
ans report that Pheidippides, the legend- reading and editing your writing, changing or took in the past and think about each
ary Greek messenger of Marathon, was a removing a section, checking citations, following step needed to complete the task to
notorious under-estimator. proper format, etc.). Throw in a few hard drive arrive at a more accurate judgement of
crashes and several trips to the kitchen and you’re the work and time involved.
already behind. (Note: you will be reading this
pamphlet for another sixty seconds so factor that ”
into your schedule)

AcadeMic AdjusTment Psychtools Procrastination Psychtools

for school for school

Now that you know procrastination is Procrastination
about avoiding negative emotions (not
time management) you are better posi-
tioned to overcome it.
Try some of these tips: 

Break the cycle: don’t believe your own
lies that you will feel better about your
tasks tomorrow.

Instead of focusing on how you feel,
focus on the next small action you can
take.

Empathize with your future self and do
some of the work now to put future-you
in a much better position.

When procrastination does happen, sTaY cOnnecTed
acknowledge it, forgive yourself, and
move on to your next small action. For more information on procrastination, along with
tips for overcoming it, read the work of Dr. Timothy
Procrastinate your procrastination. Feel Pychyl: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay
the need to procrastinate? Just put it off
until tomorrow! To access other Psychtools for School
resources please visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff

This project was supported by Project Creators:
the APS Fund for Teaching and Dr. April McGrath
Public Understanding of Dr. Amanda Clark
Psychological Science Dr. Kelley Robinson

siTuatioN PsYchoLogy cAn coNseqUences
eXplaiN tHat

Sam wants to succeed in school but Procrastination is one example of self-regulation Understanding procrastination is
she tends to put off her work until failure. By giving into distraction, you’re important because it is associated with
the last possible moment. She was sabotaging your goal to succeed. Getting work a host of negative outcomes:
supposed to begin studying for her done in the present means we can protect our
stats exam yesterday but her room future selves from disappointment. You may actually miss deadlines and
needed to be cleaned. Then her hamper your progress on important
bookshelf needed alphabetizing. So, why does this happen? projects and goals
And then her friend called to say that Procrastination is an emotion-focused coping
he was lining up to get Taco Bell’s strategy. It offers us a way to avoid the negative Procrastination impairs performance.
new Cheese-lupa, which is five emotions associated with a task. Sometimes You may complete the task but it will
different kinds of cheese wrapped in schoolwork can be frustrating or boring and it’s not be done as well as if you had begun
a piece of American cheese. How much easier to tell ourselves that we will feel like work earlier
does anyone say no to that? doing the task tomorrow. In the meantime, we
distract ourselves and try to escape that Your future self will pay the price for
By the end of the day, Sam’s text- negative mood state. your short-term mood repair. The work
book had remained closed. She will still need to be done but there will
hadn’t learned anything about sta- In short, don’t lie to yourself and expect that you be an added time burden and more
tistics but lots of little tasks and dis- will want to perform the task tomorrow. Be a stress
tractions filled her time. super friend to your future self and do a better
job of regulating your emotions today. You will experience that shameful
moment when you notice the corner
store cashier ringing up your usual
purchases before you even reach the
counter

“Procrastination is a coping strategy to avoid
the negative emotions associated with a task.

Saying “I’ll feel more like doing it tomorrow” is

”a lie we tell ourselves to feel better today.

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY cOnnecTed Psychtools

Now that you know how important it is to For more information on studying and remembering, for school
deeply process what you want to remem- watch the videos by Dr. Stephen Chew about how
ber, try some of these tips:   to get the most out of studying: ZZZ
http://www.samford.edu/departments/academic-
Spread out your studying sessions. success-center/how-to-study 2:05AM
Six, one-hour study sessions are much
more effective that one, six-hour study To access other Psychtools for School resources
session. please visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff

When studying, think about how what This project was supported by the APS Fund for Teaching
you’re learning applies to your own life.   and Public Understanding of Psychological Science.

Before you begin studying new material, Project Creators:
test yourself on what you learned last Dr. April McGrath, Dr. Amanda Clark, Dr. Kelley Robinson.
time. This keeps deepening the consoli-
dation of your memories.

Psychtools Make Your Make Your
Studying Stick
for school Studying Stick

siTuatioN 2:05AM PsYchoLogy cAn ZZcZoNseqUences

Natalie needed to prepare for a eXplaiN tHat If you didn’t know these research
big test but as usual, life got in the findings about how memories are
way. Finding the time was difficult Remembering something is a simple made, you  might  be  tempted  to:
because she was scheduled for process. By paying attention well enough,
long hours at work. Also, there you encode information into your memory in Cram your studying into one, long
were many high quality cat videos such a way that it can be retrieved later. It’s study session.
that weren’t going to watch not magic. At least it shouldn’t be magic. If “Go over” your notes and the text
themselves. The night before the you know magic, what are you doing at this without thinking about what the
test, she stayed awake and school? material means, how it is connected
crammed for twelve hours to other content from the class or
straight. Despite her efforts, she The Levels of Processing Theory tells us that how the material applies to your life.
only earned a C on her test, and we remember information best when we Undervalue the importance of a good
that C didn’t stand for ‘Cool think about it deeply. This means consider- night’s sleep.
knowledge!’ She was so ing the meaning of what you are learning, Fail to use the term ‘deep encoding’
disappointed. drawing new connections, thinking about colloquially. It’s way better. Together,
how the new information applies to your we can make this a thing.
own life, and testing your memory often.
“Memories are best made when
One other important element required for
deep encoding is sleep. Memories are made we deeply process what we
when your brain, specifically the hippocam- remember and allow our
pus, activates and rehearses information in brains to consolidate that
memory storage. Getting enough sleep can information during sleep
be a challenge for many university students
and you may feel pressure to stay out later ”
than you would like. So here’s a tip that’s
guaranteed to work: the next time you’re at
the bar and you want to leave, tell your
friends that you’re scheduled for deep
encoding. When they ask you what the heck
that is, you stare them dead in the eyes and
say, ‘It’s classified’. Then just walk out.

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY connecTed Psychtools

Now that you know how important it is to test To learn more about this topic check out this video by for school
yourself while you are studying you can try Dr. David Myers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFIK5gutHKM
some of these tips: Or this reference: Test Yo’self to Know Yo’self!
Tullis, J. G., Finley, J. R., & Benjamin, A. S. (2013) Metacognition
Make a plan for how you are going to break
up the material so that you can spread out of the testing effect: Guiding learners to predict the benefits
your studying sessions. But caution: it is
tempting to get stuck on the to-do list phase. of retrieval. Memory and Cognition, 41, 429-442.
Don’t overthink it.
To access other Psychtools Psychtools
As you study, stop and check your progress for School resources please
by testing your knowledge. Don’t save your visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff for school
self-testing for the end of your studying.
Integrate it throughout your study session. This project was supported
by the APS Fund for Teaching
If the result of your self-testing suggests that and Public Understanding of
you are having trouble, adjust your plan Psychological Science.
accordingly. Perhaps you need to be consid-
ering the content more deeply or you might Project Creators:
need to hone in on a specific topic. Dr. April McGrath,
Dr. Amanda Clark,
Remember, as the kids used to say, test Dr. Kelley Robinson
yourself before you wreck yourself.

Test Yo’self to Know Yo’self!

siTuatioN coNseqUences

Even though he reviewed the notes from You will be most successful as a student if you If you didn’t know these research
class twice and read all of the assigned become keenly aware of what you actually findings about metacognition and the
chapters, Samuel had a really hard time understand and what requires improvement. One of benefits of self-testing, you might be
choosing the right answers on his recent the most effective ways to gain this understanding tempted to:
exam. He thought he knew all the is through self-testing. This strategy is especially
concepts and felt confident going into the helpful when implemented during a study session “Go over” your notes and the text
test so he’s not sure what went wrong. rather than at the end (Tullis, Finley & Benjamin, without really thinking about it.
He’s already ruled out the breakfast burrito 2013). Keep in mind that the end of study session is
he ate that morning so how can Samuel when your attention wanes and your craving for Avoid spending time testing your
do better next time? breakfast burritos becomes overpowering. knowledge while you are studying.

PsYchoLogy cAn When you self-test you must retrieve information Put your text book under your pillow and
eXplaiN tHat that you know. Every time you engage in retrieval absorb information through osmosis
your memory for that material becomes strength-
Active studying involves more than simply ened. In this way, self-testing is an incredibly “Simply reviewing your notes or your text
looking over the material a few times. It’s valuable strategy for learning and remembering! does not mean you know the material you
important to identify what you know and don’t
know. This requires metacognition which is a Here’s one last suggestion. Once you’ve gotten are studying. You’ll remember best if you
process by which you think about your think- comfortable with self-testing and monitoring your
ing. That may sound strange, after all, how do knowledge, it is important to consider adjusting check on your knowledge intermittently
you think about thinking if the thinking you’re your studying strategies if they aren’t currently
thinking about is the thinking you’re thinking? working for you. For example, if you create simple by testing yourself! ”
But don’t worry, the risk of your mind descend- flashcards try to create elaborate ones with
ing into a thought-vortex which traps you in an examples, questions, and related concepts in
abstract dimension is very low. So let’s learn addition to the definition.
how to think about thinking!

AcadeMic AdjusTment sTaY cOnnecTed Psychtoolsanothewrm’hyisloepVifeweranislwiippnneoiggctnttitovhioesfnegviesefrwomBIAESGOCENTRIC

Now that you know about egocentric bias ? Grading for school
you are better positioned to overcome it. Try ?
some of these tips: 6 Criteria Egocentric Bias:
A Challenge to Writing Clearly
For essays, have someone else read your ?
work and provide comments. If your friend,
parent, or classmate is confused by your ?
writing your professor likely will be too.
9
Read your own work slowly and aloud. This
will put you in a better position to assess To access other Psychtools for School resources
clarity and catch problems. please visit: http://tinyurl.com/hbw7zff

When reading your work try to adopt the This project was supported by the APS Fund for Teaching
perspective of another reader. This other and Public Understanding of Psychological Science.
person hasn’t read what you’ve read, hasn’t
looked at your notes, and doesn’t know what Project Creators:
you are thinking. Given that, is what you’ve Dr. April McGrath, Dr. Amanda Clark, Dr. Kelley Robinson.
written truly clear on its own?
Psychtools Egocentric Bias:
Answers that you write on tests shouldn’t A Challenge to Writing Clearly
need further clarification from you to under- for school
stand. Practice writing clear and detailed
answers when you study and seek feedback
from your professor or TA.

Bonus Adjustment:
Make your writing easier to read by replacing
complex terms with simpler ones. For
example, instead of ‘psychology’ use ‘thinky
science’ and instead of ‘electromagnetism’
use ‘magic pully-pushy power.’

psYchoLogy cAn coNseqUences

siTuatioN eXplaiN tHat Understanding egocentric bias is
important because it could interfere
Alfonso has noticed a pattern in the feed- As the author of your words, you have access with your ability to communicate
back he receives from professors. They to all the thoughts that inspired them, includ- clearly. For example:
note that his essays are not clear and that, ing how one point links to another. You may
on tests, his answers are not detailed forget that your readers are not privy to that You may overestimate your ability to
enough. Alfonso finds this confusing information and that they are completely communicate successfully.
because when he reads his work, he restricted to the words written on the page
knows exactly what he means. Moreover, (even when defecated is written instead of You may wrongly assume that your
the professors were the ones who put all defeated!). This tendency to rely on your own writing is clear just because you
this information in Alfonso’s head so if point of view is known as egocentric bias. understand it.
anyone should understand it, it’s them,
right? So, why do his professors struggle Realizing that you have written something You may downplay the feedback of
to understand his writing? incomprehensible doesn’t feel good. In fact, it others instead of using it to improve.
feels bad! It may be easier for you to believe
Grading Criteria that your writing is fine instead of the possibil- Outside of academics, you may
ity that you were unclear or wrong. However, assume that all your stories are
? being successful in school will in part depend hilarious.
6? on accepting feedback about your work and
? learning to communicate clearly. Remember “Egocentric bias is a tendency to view
? that time in grade 8 when you cut your own
9 bangs? I bet that feedback wasn’t pleasant, things from our own point of view, but
but it was important!
to communicate effectively you need to

appreciate the perspective of another.

Take feedback from others seriously

and don’t assume your reader will know

what you mean just because you do.

”