In the first part, procrastination behavior was covertly observed while participants were asked to solve math problems:

• Participants were told the problems would take about 10 minutes, but they would be given 30 minutes.
• Researchers gave them the opportunity to perform “nice” tasks, such as playing games and reading magazines to reduce the stress or discomfort of solving math problems.
• Two variables were recorded to indicate academic procrastination: the time before solving math problems (seconds), and the time between solving the math problems.

Participants were then asked to complete several questionnaires regarding procrastination and temptation behavior:

• Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (PASS) assesses the prevalence of procrastination, problems related to procrastination, and the desire to reduce procrastination.
• Participants were asked about an important assignment they completed in the past semester, and were asked to elaborate about how long they were given to complete the assignment and how long before the deadline did they start the assignment.
• Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS) measures a general level of procrastination across all life domains, combining some measures on decisional procrastination, general procrastination, and adult inventory of procrastination.
• The Susceptibility of Temptation Scale (STS) measures the tendency of participants to be focused on short-term pleasurable activities.