Some prefer the cold weather, many prefer warmer weather.
Unfortunately, the harsh reality of attending a school in Pennsylvania is that you’ll be faced with quite a few months of a pseudo-“winter wonderland.” Initially, I thought I would be writing a blog post surrounding the negative affects of the cold weather on your school performance and overall quality of life during these upcoming winter months. However, I’ve come across quite a few positive results of being exposed to cold temperatures!
Firstly, I think it’s assumed we’re more alert under colder conditions. I’m not saying you have open up all of the windows in the classroom in the dead of February’s many blizzards. The scientific explanation for this has to do with our body’s temperature regulation: our ability to adjust our core temperature in correlation to external temperatures. We use energy in the form of glucose in extreme weather conditions, like sweating or shivering. As Penn State Students, we’re in luck! It takes less energy to warm the body up than cooling it down, according to a study conducted by Peter Hancock. ScientificAmerica.com recently stated that “…as our bodies work to maintain homeostasis, we use up large amounts of glucose. Because glucose is also used for mental processes, it may be that the physical demands imposed by excessive warmth reduce our capacity for cognitive functioning, thereby adversely affecting our decision-making abilities.” Therefore, some of those goosebumps in the classroom aren’t such a bad thing after all.
Secondly, the cold weather has a positive affect on your creative abilities. An experiment conducted by researchers at Tilburg University revealed the different types of creativity that can emerge when we are exposed to different temperatures. Individuals in the experiment that were put in a warm environment “were better at creative drawing, categorizing objects and thinking of gift ideas for others.” And when participants were put in a colder environment, they “were better at recognizing metaphors… and planning abstract gift ideas.” For a class like SC200, a colder room seems to be more beneficial for our creative minds.
This is really good to hear considering I am one of the few who absolutely hate the heat that comes along with summer. I found your research about how colder weather makes you more focussed very interesting especially cause I have always found that to be true. I think students are definitely less likely to fall asleep if they are cold because more of their energy is being used to keep themselves warm and focussed.
This is really good to hear considering I am one of the few who absolutely hate the heat that comes along with summer. I found your research about how colder weather makes you more focussed very interesting especially cause I have always found that to be true. I think students are definitely less likely to fall asleep if they are cold because more of their energy is being used to keep themselves warm and focussed.
As a person who does not enjoy winter, this blog caught my eye. I am glad to see that if I have to suffer through it, Winter can help me in school! I found the effects of temperature on creative thinking to be very interesting. However, I am wondering about the affects of temperature on other parts of the brain and body such as mood. I feel that during winter I am in a bad mood more often. Is there any correlation?
I wrote a blog post a couple weeks ago discussing the negative effects on extremely hot weather. It’s nice to know that cold weather has the complete opposite effect on you! I don’t mind the cold weather but in harsh snow conditions this gave me optimism for the winter months ahead.