Fidget Spinners: What the Heck?

Are "fidget spinners" a big thing at your schools? I volunteer at a middle school once a week and I feel like ai SUDDENLY started seeing them everywhere. I talked with one of the middle school students and he says many students have them now, and he was starting a small business to 3-D print custom spinners (smart kid!)

This conversation got me thinking: what would psychological researchers say about the potential benefits or disadvantages of these kinds of "fidget" devices? Do they help some students selectively attend? Or do they divide student attention and add to "cognitive load?" Is there a learning/conditioning component (students associating learning with the spinning?)

This might be a fun conversation topic with your psych classes. How would researchers study this? What angles would different perspectives take on the topic?

http://www.livescience.com/58916-fidget-spinner-faq.html

posted by Rob McEntarffer

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