We all know coffee can wake you up, but there's now evidence that just the scent of it could make you better at math.
Researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology gave 100 undergraduate students a ten-question GMAT algebra test in a computer lab-- half took the test in a room that smelled like coffee, the other half took the test in an unscented room.
The results showed the coffee-smelling group scored significantly higher on the test. A follow-up survey of 200 new participants found they believed they would feel more alert and energetic in the presence of a coffee scent, versus a flower scent or no scent.
Study leader Adriana Madzharov explains, "It's not just that the coffee-like scent helped people perform better on analytical tasks, which was already interesting, but they also thought they would do better, and we demonstrated that this expectation was at least partly responsible for their improved performance."
HT: EurekAlert!
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