Can fidgeting help students maintain attention?: how restricting movement and varying cognitive load relate to attention on reading comprehension task

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the implications that fidgeting may have upon student academic performance in the classroom, the relationship between fidgeting behaviors, sustained attention, and hyperactivity was examined. Twenty-eight fifth grade students were asked either to move as normal or have their movement restricted during a reading task. They were also asked to remember either one or five digits while engaging in a reading task in order to vary the cognitive load placed upon each participant during with the task. Teachers were asked to complete a hyperactivity rating scale for each participant to determine their typical levels of hyperactivity in the classroom. It was hypothesized that there would be main effects of cognitive load and movement restriction on reading comprehension and instances of participant fidgeting. It was also hypothesized that there would be a correlation between reported hyperactivity and instances of fidgeting. Ultimately, none of the hypotheses were supported. Implications, such as the social stigma of fidgeting and expected classroom behavior, limitations, such as measuring and coding difficulties, and possible avenues for future research, including examining groups with and without ADHD diagnoses, are discussed.