Description: Student quite enthusiastic and focused during class, but can't recreate the same enthusiasm and concentration when studying alone in home. Motivation is unable to reduce the level of procrastination.
Result: Poor performance.
Is there a reason why a different environment may affect one's attention to studying? Is it possible for someone to be unable to focus on study despite desperately trying to?
The answer to this question could be found in the mind-wandering literature (see this for a review). Figure 1 in the paper really nicely depicts the possible situations possible when looking at task engagement and self-generated thought. I'll summarize them here:
There are thus two reasons why you fail to focus on the task at hand. (1) there are external stimuli that distract you, or (2) you distract yourself.
When the problem is that too many distracting stimuli are present, we should look at the multitasking literature. Salvucci and Bogunovic (2010) for instance, showed that workload determines how easily a distracting task/stimuli may grab your attention. The lower workload is, the more "opportunities" there are to switch to the other task. With more opportunities I mean that you use little cognitive resources on the primary task, which allows a secondary task to be attended at. This is also shown by Katidioti and Taatgen (2014) by showing that people tend to switch tasks when the time to load a webpage is rather long (3000 ms in the paper). During this period of time, a person has to wait before he can continue his task, therefore decreasing workload at the time. On the other hand, when workload is high and you are focused on the task, less opportunities exist for switching tasks. This may also be explained by "attentional narrowing", i.e. having a higher focus on one task/stimulus and, therefore, being unable to actually perceive distracting stimuli.
However, when you do get interrupted during a high-workload period, the costs of task-switching is a lot higher. It takes considerable more time to "reset" your goals and, sometimes (when you had to remember a particular fact e.g.), you must again search for that information (Salvucci & Bogunovic, 2010). This may greatly affect productivity, even more so if you consider people are interrupted every six minutes (Reference in Katidioti et al., 2010).
Being distracted by SGTs is also greatly affected by workload, as described in the review (as are all other statements). Again, if workload is low, there are more opportunities to "reset" your goals, i.e. to focus attention internally. On the other hand, if workload is high, you are less likely to create SGT. This effect is especially easy to see during vigilance tasks (such as studying or monitoring).
Getting distracted by yourself, i.e. focusing on SGT, is not always a bad thing though, so do not immediately try to diagnose ADHD or something. It has been shown that people that create more SGT are more creative than people who are in general more focused. Moreover, as stated earlier, SGT may be about task-relevant issues.
There are thus two reasons why one may get distracted when studying alone. There are external stimuli that grab your attentions or you just have difficulties with vigilance tasks and you distract yourself. Let me give you some tips that may help focusing your attention.
I really hope this will help.
The question is unclear. It does not properly list the symptoms. This is because back then I did not know what to look for. The symptoms I was observing were actually effects of stress/anxiety. Naturally, the students get more stressed when they are studying alone. Fortunately, I have been able to correctly match all the symptoms with one disorder: Self-Handicapping.
Not an officially accepted disease:
Self-handicapping (formally called self-defeating personality disorder) has not been added to DSM yet for some reason. Therefore, psychologists cannot diagnose someone with it. Apparently social anxiety is a thing but academic avoidance is not, even though research suggests that both are forms of self-handicapping [ 1,2 ]. Hopefully SDPD can still be diagnosed as PDNOS (301.9).
My observation:
I determined that the students in question are not getting distracted due to OCD or ADHD. Instead, they are choosing to get distracted, but not out of their free will. They are procrastinating almost compulsively. That is why initially I (and a therapist as well) mistook it as OCD.
We all know that students often procrastinate or do not like to study. We generally identify these students as bad students. However, when this behavior comes coupled with genuine intention to learn and score good ranks, most teachers get confused.
Here is a quote from this study:
In student populations, self-handicapping has been associated with poor adjustment and academic underachievement (Zuckerman, Kieffer, & Knee, 1998) and lower achievement (Garcia, 1995). Procrastination has been linked with higher levels of depression and anxiety and reduced self-esteem in both clinical and non-clinical populations (Lay & Silverman, 1996; Martin et al., 1996; Saddler & Sacks, 1993). Zuckerman et al. (1998) found that self-handicappers displayed worse performance, poorer study habits and lower self-esteem than those who didn’t self-handicap. Garcia (1995) found that self handicappers had low levels of intrinsic goals, poor rehearsal strategies and poor time management practices.
More studies on this topic:
I have some points to add to these studies:
The link between self-handicapping and low intrinsic motivation as claimed in these studies suggests that students are move vulnerable to self-handicapping when placed in a competitive environment (driven by extrinsic motivation).
Good students can fall in the grasp of self-handicapping due to their perfectionism, but underachieving students are also bound to get tired of their lack of excellence at some point. The bar does not always need to be unrealistically high. (This is supported by Hugh Kearns's new model).
Be extra cautious about students with performance-avoidance goals. Students pursuing performance-avoidance goals strive not to perform worse than the others. These students have been found to be vulnerable to self-handicapping.
It has been observed that:
Goal progress and goal inspiration build on each-other to create an upward spiral. (Source)
Another study documents Loss of intrinsic motivation in cases of self-handicapping.
From the data we are able to identify two extremes: one is an upwards spiral, the other is downwards.
Note: I have noticed that students with self-handicapping tend to be socially awkward. I don't have enough data to confirm anything, but theory suggests such a link so maybe it is good idea to check shy students for this disorder.
There are several ways to deal with self-handicapping.
The first solution is to never let it occur in the first place. Do not ignore your underachieving students. Conventionally, only intellectually gifted students are given challenging tasks. However, students who are performing poorly (but have acceptable IQ) also need tasks that will exercise their fluid intelligence.
Try to inspire intrinsic motivation. This will also help with reducing the effect of self-handicapping.
Be careful about students who ask a lot of questions. More effort suggests less ability. Encourage them to find solutions on their own. (Source: personal experience and citation no. 8)
Cognitive reorientation techniques can help. Hugh has developed a cognitive behavioural coaching technique that attempt to jump start the upwards spiral in a student by giving him/her achievable goals and monitoring the success.
The worst thing you can do to an under-performing student is giving them generic canned advise and motivation without verifying whether the student has symptoms of self-handicapping. You should not further motivate already motivated students. It does not work. Ironically enough, people are more likely to self-handicap if they view a task as important.
This disorder often comes with depression (check 1st quote). Depressed people have difficulties with pursuit of motivational stimuli and exertion of effort (The Psychological Construction of Emotion -Barrett Ch: 11). Cognitive Behavioural coaching will likely be difficult until depression is lifted. Therefore, treatment of depression is first priority.
I am still testing the effectiveness of available treatments. I will update the text if I find anything new.
