Pretty much every kid dreams of being a superhero at some point. Whether it's for the awesome superpowers, the satisfaction of saving the world, the idea of fighting a giant, world-ending evil, or even just being able to impress the world with how cool your costume is, it's a fantasy that just about everyone has had.  

For my money, Batman was always THE coolest superhero. Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne by day, the Caped Crusader by night, he had everything a young aspiring hero could want. He had the coolest costume, a massive arsenal of cool gadgets that all did something different, a fleet of vehicles whose names all began with the word "bat," a sarcastic British butler who used to serve in the military, and of course, all the coolest bad guys to fight.

Real talk, my very first Halloween costume was Batman. I was three years old and remember nothing about it, but my mom assures me it was adorable.

Well, turns out my parents might have done me more of a favor that year than they might have expected. A recent scientific study has been done on the productivity of very young kids, and it turns out that dressing them up like the World's Greatest Detective actually makes them work harder...

Researchers Rachel E. White and Emily O. Prager recently published the findings of a study they performed on children in the most recent issue of Child Development. Their findings? Dressing up your kids in costumes can drastically improve their focus and ability to concentrate.

The kids were placed in control groups, and according to WBTV:

"In one, children referred to themselves in the first person when discussing their thoughts and feelings about their tasks. In the second, children referred to themselves in the third person. In the third, the children took on the persona of an exemplary character like Batman or Dora the Explorer. Children were put to work on repetitive tasks that they were told were very important. But they could take breaks by "playing an extremely attractive video game" on an iPad."

To little surprise, only 37% of the kids stayed on task, while 63% ended up playing with the iPad. However, the kids who had taken on the mantle of a character apparently did the best at staying on task by a significantly large amount.

"Perseverance is necessary throughout our lives, from children struggling to sound out each letter on the page as they learn to read, to college students studying organic chemistry late into the night," the study said. "Whether due to the tedium of the task at hand or the pull of the many more immediate gratifications that abound in our environments, success often requires persisting through some 'unpleasure.'"

Apparently dressing the kids up as Bob the Builder, Rapunzel, or Dora the Explorer also worked, but let's get real here; everyone would rather be Batman.

Do you think you'd be more productive at your job or school if you could do it dressed up as Batman?