Students are known for their love of pub quizzes, but now researchers have found that using a form of placebo could improve their scores.

40 participants with an average age of 20 completed the study, which had two parts. Firstly participants completed a computer quiz with general knowledge questions including what is pi and who painted La Guernica? Then they were put into 2 groups and completed a second quiz. One group was told that the answer would flash up prior to when they answered (the “bogus priming”) and the other group was told that they would see a flash but this was just the start of a question.

The average scores for the primed group was 9.85 and for the non-primed 8.37. This difference of 1.48 marks may appear small; however it was a statistically significant effect on scores.

The researchers say that this effect could be attributed to a number of mechanisms. The difference could be the weakening of inhibitory mechanisms, such as anxiety, which impair quiz scores. Or placebo participants could have become more “success orientated”, increasing persistence and determination.

The researchers even hope that this kind of placebo can be used to test performance without anxiety getting in the way. Added to this they want to test whether people will still react to this type of placebo works once they know the trick and its duration.

Although further testing is needed, using this kind of placebo could get the extra marks on a quiz.