Abstract
This study analyzed the effect of a five-minute reflective pause on the quality of academic responses among 44 university students. A quantitative, quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design was used to compare performance under immediate-response and reflective-pause conditions. The overall score increased from 6.72 to 7.58 points, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) and a moderate effect size (d = 0.63). The greatest improvement was observed in argumentation, accompanied by reductions in incomplete responses and conceptual errors. The findings suggest that a brief reflective pause before responding may enhance the organization and elaboration of academic responses.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Yaneth Alemán Vilca