Examined process mediating the effect of positive mood on performance of a cognitive task. Positive mood subjects performed significantly worse on a set of syllogisms than control subjects. Results are consistent with accounts arguing that people in positive moods expend less effort. (JBJ)

Examines procrastination by college students (30 women, 7 men) of academic and nonacademic tasks at beginning and end of semester. Analysis found that procrastinated tasks early in the term were more effortful and anxiety provoking than other tasks during the term. Results imply that academic and nonacademic tasks should be challenging, yet fun,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students expected course difficulty to be reflected in grade distributions and in the amount of out-of-class effort required for success. Students from both upper and lower division classes described the amount of time they expected to spend preparing for an easy class, a difficult class, and a…