Procrastination and the Planning Fallacy: An Examination of the Study Habits of University Students.

The potential bias in time estimation known as the planning fallacy was examined for 32 undergraduate students in relation to exam preparation. Students provided estimates of their study plans for the 8 days prior to two midterm exams. These estimates were compared to their study logs for the same period using Ordinal Pattern Analysis. The results indicate that overall students did not demonstrate optimistic biases as predicted by the planning fallacy. Moreover, a median split of the sample on measures of procrastination indicated that the students scoring high on procrastination were just as accurate in their study time predictions as low-scoring participants. Students scoring high on procrastination did commence studying later and studied significantly less than students in the low-procrastination group. No significant difference between these groups was found on exam performance. These results are discussed in relation to the nature of academic tasks, the significance of externally imposed deadlines and the effects of procrastination on task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]