Psychological Theory Of Procrastination

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Introduction Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today (Dyer, 1993). The typical college course requires the successful completion of challenging assignments, such as exams, term papers, and presentations. With deadlines looming for these assignments, some students will begin their work right away, while others will wait until the last minute to get started. While research evidence does not support the utility of last-minute strategies, such as cramming for exams, students may nonetheless engage in these behaviors as a result of procrastination (Schraw, Wadkins, & Olafson, 2007; Senecal, Koestner, & Vallerand, 1995). For active procrastinators, their act could lead to positive outcomes, such as high grades, …show more content…

The perspective countering previously stated information is biological. Procrastination links to physical disorders and lesions in the brain, particularly in the frontal lobe - specifically the bilateral hemisphere in globus pallidus (Strub, 1989). Research on the physiological roots of procrastination mostly surrounds the role of the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) (Evans, 2007) . Consistent with the notion that procrastination is strongly related to impulsiveness, this area of the brain is responsible for executive brain functions such as planning, impulse control, and acts as a filter by decreasing distracting stimuli from other brain. Given the importance of the PFC, a dysfunction in this area can reduce an individual's ability to filter out distracting stimuli, ultimately resulting in poorer organization, a loss of attention and increased procrastination.The PFC sends signals to the limbic and sensory parts of the brain. When a person needs to focus, the PFC decreases the distracting input from the other brain areas (Damasio, 1994). Therefore, if there is a problem with the PFC, there is no filter mechanism at work. . This is similar to the prefrontal lobe's role in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), where under activation is common (Strub,

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