From our experimental data, and through the use of a t-statistical test, we show a 15% increase in number of words recalled while chewing gum over while not chewing gum. This sample information would imply that students at Oregon Episcopal School would also see an increase in recall. This cannot prove whether gum in an effective way to improve memory ability because our test subjects were not varied enough, it is able to show an increase while chewing gum.
We saw an increase in percentage between Middle and Upper School, but not between individual grades. The Upper School (20%) improved twice as much as the Middle School children (10%) we tested.
We did however find that boys between 6th and 9th grades were able to improve more than their female counterparts. In each instance, the boys scores were at least 10% higher than the girls of that grade. The Middle School boys improved with chewing gum by 20% whereas the girls only improved by 10%. This did not stay consistent, and in grades 10 and 11, the girls were able to remember more than boys. Only in 12th grade did boys and girls improve by the same percentage. We could not find a real difference in the abilities of boys and girls in remembering words or improving recall with gum chewing. Both genders overall improvement was 15%.
We also thought that our subjects would be able to remember the words at the beginning of the lists and those at the end best, as the first would be in long term memory, and the last heard would be freshest in short term memory. In compiling graphs of the number of people who remembered a word, we were able to find a trend in their memory. Each of the lists was divided into 3 sections such that the first five words fell in section number one, the next four fell in number two and the last five words made up section number three. In looking at the graphs, a decrease in the number of people who remember the word is seen in section number one, and then in section number three, an increase to the last word is seen. These findings would fit with our hypotheses that the first and last are most completely in the memory.
We believe that some of our subjects were able to remember words in the list better than others because of their association with a memory, feeling or emotion common to the subject. Such as the word ‘orange’, which could be remembered as what the subject had for lunch, or ‘garage’ which older subjects who can drive may more easily remember. These emotions or feelings linked to one of the listed words may therefor help a subject to remember more easily.
The word ‘marriage’ seems to not fit the normal trends in our word lists. It was remembered by almost all of our test subjects. It is on both of the test lists which would make it easier to remember, but the word ‘sandwich’ is also on both lists and is close to one of the most infrequently remembered words on both lists. We think that ‘marriage’ is a word common to most people and for this it is easily recalled.
We also think that our subjects may have improved not only by the effects of chewing gum, but by the subconscious thought that gum could help them. Though we did not tell them our hypothesis or give them any background information to support he idea, they may have come to the conclusion on their own, and because of this concentrated harder on the test when they were given gum to chew.
We found that some subjects were able to remember more than others if they used their hands. Some of the subjects pantomimed the shape of the items in the list, others moved their hands freely. We weren’t able to control the movement of people, but found that those who did do something with their hands were able to remember more.
Our data are most strongly influenced by our small sample size and its subjects similarities in background. Our data are all taken from Oregon Episcopal School, which is not as diverse a school as many others. The school is neither economically diverse nor socially or culturally diverse as would make our data apply to a broader population.
Our audio word lists were recorded by one of us, and because we are not audio engineers, there tend to have been many people who have laughed during the test, while it does not seem to have affected their scores, it may have been a distraction.
Though our testing method should have dealt with it so as not to affect the average outcomes, subjects will inherently improve the second time they do something. In our test, many subjects were able to improve on the second test because they knew the format or they began to try harder.
Our data has shown that when people chew gum they are able to recall 15% more information, in our tests, words from a list. This can be applied in the class room to lectures or discussions as it should also apply to learning a foreign language and learning lists of vocabulary words. According to our experiment, if students chew gum while they are learning, they will be able to remember more of it and will be able to do perform better academically in school.