Vicario Carmelo M, Nitsche Michael A, Lucifora Chiara, Perconti Pietro, Salehinejad Mohammad A, Tomaiuolo Francesco, Massimino Simona, Avenanti Alessio, Mucciardi Massimo
Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e degli studi culturali, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy.
Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 24;16:1605041. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1605041. eCollection 2025.
The influence of timing on decision-making processes has garnered significant attention across various domains, yet its impact on academic assessment remains under investigated. While previous research has suggested time-of-day effects on judicial decisions, methodological limitations have restricted the generalizability of these findings. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of 104.552 oral exams conducted at an Italian university, revealing a robust relationship between exam timing and academic outcomes. Our results demonstrate a Gaussian distribution of passing rates throughout the day, with a significant peak at midday. This pattern persists after controlling for exam difficulty and other potential confounding factors, suggesting an intrinsic time-dependent bias in the evaluation process. Our findings not only corroborate previous research on the influence of timing on decision-making but also extend it to the realm of academic assessment. These results have profound implications for educational policy and practice, highlighting the need for strategic exam scheduling to optimize student performance and ensure equitable evaluation.
时间安排对决策过程的影响在各个领域都引起了广泛关注，但其对学术评估的影响仍有待研究。虽然先前的研究表明一天中的不同时间会对司法决策产生影响，但方法上的局限性限制了这些研究结果的普遍性。在此，我们对一所意大利大学进行的104552场口试进行了全面分析，揭示了考试时间与学业成绩之间的紧密关系。我们的结果表明，通过率在一天中呈高斯分布，中午出现显著峰值。在控制了考试难度和其他潜在混杂因素后，这种模式依然存在，这表明评估过程中存在内在的时间依赖性偏差。我们的研究结果不仅证实了先前关于时间安排对决策影响的研究，还将其扩展到了学术评估领域。这些结果对教育政策和实践具有深远影响，凸显了进行战略考试安排以优化学生表现并确保公平评估的必要性。
