Science totally wins:

Students and alcohol are never far apart, but most manage to hold off the booze when they’ve got an important test the next morning. Now it seems they needn’t worry, as researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health have found that combining last-minute revision with a couple of beers isn’t a problem. Heavy drinking the night before an exam had little effect on a student’s academic performance, but they did have worse moods and slower reflexes.

…

Unsurprisingly, 70% of students assigned to the alcoholic beer complained of a hangover the next morning. This didn’t seem to affect their exam performance however, as regardless of beverage all students scored relatively high on a mock exam and a quiz on a lecture from the previous day. Despite this, students rated their own test performance as worse if they were hungover.

These findings contradict previous research showing links between alcohol consumption and academic problems. The researchers suggest that a third factor such as personality could be the cause of both – perhaps some failing students are driven to drink. They also warn the research shouldn’t be used as an excuse for excessive drinking.

That’s right, kids. Drinking the night before a test does not have the detrimental effects we once thought it did. (Editor’s note: The Commentator accepts no responsibility for test grades. That F is all on you, buddy.)

Hat tip to the Desert Lamp for the story. They are serious champions.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 19th, 2010 at 17:42 by Lyzi Diamond and is filed under Booze, Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.