The Social Psychology of Cramming

Several questionnaire, interview, and observational studies on a university campus revealed that students believe cramming is most useful in courses which required considerable memorization and is least useful when individual thought or creativity are called for. About two-thirds of the students questioned were dissatisfied with their study habits and there was more dissatisfaction among students doing poorly. Examination time is stressful and disturbances of sleep, eating, and general body condition are widespread. Such disturbances are proportionately greater among poor students. Cramming must be considered as an adaptation to a particular sort of evaluational system and cannot be understood without reference to the student role.