DO LAB COATS MAKE YOU SMARTER?
Before white lab coats, scientists and doctors traditionally wore black coats
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The white lab coat has been around since the 19th century. However, they aren’t just useful as protective wear – they might also help students focus. In 2017, researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois conducted a cognitive study among 58 undergraduate students. The students were asked to complete a Stroop test, which involved pronouncing the colour that the name of a another colour was written in: for example, the word ‘red’ would be written in the colour blue. Half the students did the test wearing white lab coats and were found to make around 50 per cent fewer errors than their coatless counterparts. The researchers suggested that the lab coats may have encouraged scientific focus in a phenomenon they called ‘enclothed cognition’.