Research Plan: Does Chewing Gum Help You

Concentrate?
By: Asha Hayes
Dr. Payne-Moody
Pre-AP Biology
7th Period
January 6th, 2015

Question
Does chewing gum increase peoples speed and
accuracy on simple cognitive tasks?
Hypothesis
Chewing gum can help a majority of people improve
on simple cognitive task.
Materials

Dry erase board

Dry erase markers
Paper for test-taking
Pencils for test-taking
Chewing gum
Timer
Test subjects
Paper and pencil for recording data

Methods/ Procedure
1. Write down your first set of subtraction problems on
the dry erase board.
2. Hand out paper and pencils.
3. Have subjects do the first set of problems without the
chewing gum.

4. Start the timer and record how long it takes each

subject to complete the first worksheet.
5. Once all subjects have completed the first set of
problems, write down another set of problems, of
equal difficulty, on the dry erase board.
6. Hand out a second sheet of paper and a piece of
chewing gum.
7. Once again start the timer and record how long it
takes each subject to complete the second
worksheet while chewing gum.
8. Score the worksheets for number of problems
correct.
9. Analyze results.
Independent Variable: Chewing Gum Dependent
Variable: Test Results
Data Analysis
Test Subjects: 10 Family Members
Will be done partly at school, and at home.
Will go through data and examine results.
Will organize data in a graph.

Bibliography

Education.com, Shelly Smith, 2014. Does Chewing Gum Help you

Concentrate?, <http://www.education.com/sciencefair/article/chewing-gum-help-concentration/>.
Scientific American, Amy Kraft, March 26, 2013, Gum Chewing May
Improve Concentration.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/gum-chewingmay-improve-concentrati-13-03-26/>.
British Psychological Society (BPS). "Chewing gum helps you
concentrate for longer, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8
March 2013.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130308093933.htm/>.