Chew on This: Gum Boosts Memory

Researchers conducted a study to determine whether chewing gum can enhance one’s ability to recall information. They wanted to investigate whether chewing gum would improve a subject’s ability to recall a word list and if there would be any improvements to one’s memory. The researchers believed that chewing gum (Wrigley’s Extra spearmint, sugar free chewing gum) can boost concentration levels and improve information retention. Undergraduate students from Cardiff University categorized groups and observed their recall ability - one study based on chewing and another based on sucking. The importance of this experiment is to address whether or not chewing gum can improve a person's cognitive function or is it the experience of the smell or taste that affects recall ability.

Figure one categorized the participants into four groups based on those who were(n't) chewing during the learning and recall phases. The controlled group were those who did not chew gum during the learning nor the recall phase. The independent variable was the presence and absence of chewing, while the dependent variable was the number of words recalled. The gum-gum group had a higher recall score during the immediate and delayed recall phase as opposed to those who didn't chew gum at all indicating a positive correlation between chewing and memory retention. Those who didn’t chew gum while learning, but chewed while taking the test had a high immediate recall but a low delayed recall rate evidencing that short term enhancements to memory performance. In both findings, the researchers claim that chewing gum did gain in memory recall. The study showed that while there were some differences between the gum-no gum and no gum-gum conditions, there was a presence of delayed recall performance.

The purpose of figure number two was to see if the process of chewing or tasting the gum would promote these memory effects. The controlled group were those who didn’t have gum during the learning phase, while those who chewed, sucked, and didn’t use gum at all were the independent variables. The dependent variables were the number of words recalled. The scores for the gum - gum and suck - suck groups had the same immediate rates. When it came to the delayed score, gum - gum had the highest words recalled, whereas the suck-suck and no gum-gum were shortly behind. This further supports the researcher’s assumption that sucking on the gum and chewing the gum both improved short term memory although the results were more noticeable during the delayed recall phase when participants at the very least sucked on the gum.

After analyzing both figures, the experiments proved that the researchers’ hypothesis were correct in assuming that chewing gum has a positive effect on memory recall, both during the learning and recall phases. During each stage, the gum-gum group had the highest recall scores as compared to the people who did not chew gum at all which might suggest that chewing gum does have a positive effect on cognitive performance. This study provides valuable insight in helping researchers discover ways in which people might be able to use certain habits to improve their retention and processing abilities. The researchers provided information that shows a positive correlation between some element that chewing or sucking on gum has that can improve the overall cognitive performance of an individual both immediately and after some duration.

Baker, J.R., Bezance, J.B., Zellaby, E., & Aggleton, J.P. (2004). Chewing gum can produce

context-dependent effects upon memory. Elsevier Ltd., 43(2), 207-210.

10.1016/j.appet.2004.06.004