Does chewing gum help you learn?

demonstrate that chewing gum while studying realistic educational materials has a statistically reliable e ect.”

Dr. Kristin Mauldin, associate professor of psychology and director of the sport and performance psychology, said multiple studies have supported this idea of gum-chewing as a way to enhance learning and attentiveness. She said the motion of chewing gum increases adrenaline and leads to more blood flow and increased glucose to neurons in the brain, boosting alertness.

“It’s kind of a general arousal that’s occurring when you chew gum,” Mauldin said. “It’s not unlike if you go out and do exercise — even just some very small amount like a walk — you’re going to be activating your sympathetic nervous system.”

Mauldin suggested that students can chew gum while learning new material in class and while taking tests to boost attentiveness and performance, especially since gum is inexpensive.

“It can give [students] a little bit of that edge,” Mauldin said.

“The di erences [in performance] weren’t huge, but they weren’t terrible in terms of increased display of intelligence scores or academic markers on general exams. That’s enough if you’re a student to be like, ‘Why

Making Edible Arrangements

Twritten by Valerie La Ponza

MATERIALS

One pineapple, kale, one head of iceberg lettuce, Hershey’s semisweet chocolate, 2-3 containers of strawberries, kebab sticks, foam block, double boiler (or a pyrex bowl over a pot of water) or microwave and wide mouth jar/mug as a container with straight or sloped sides

STEP 1

Melt the chocolate, and then dip the strawberries in the chocolate. Twist the strawberry as you lift it from the bowl.

STEP 2

Slice the pineapple not pop a piece of gum?’”

Kasinda Thompson, junior psychology major, views chewing gum as helpful for herself and other students, especially for those who struggle with staying still.

“It helps me focus when I am studying or listening to a lecture,” Thompson said. “[However], I think gum can be distracting for some other students and is messy.”

While many studies have concluded that there is a di erence in performance across the board, there have been mixed results as to the type of learning and memory chewing gum can impact and as to the extent of that impact.

“The take-home from that is, why not?” Mauldin said. “If it’s not hard for you to do it, go for it. You have a piece of gum in your pocket and you think, ‘It kind of sounds good but I’m not sure and I’m in class,’ [you] should probably chew the gum. Is it enough to go out and buy gum? I don’t know — what are your grades like? If you’re an A student, probably not. If you’re on the curb there, you might want to get some gum.”

For those who want to take advantage of the gum-chewing learning boost but do not have any on hand, Mauldin said creating similar movements with the mouth can lead to the same stimulation.

“So if you forgot your chewing gum, you can sit there and kind of pretend like you’re chewing gum,” Mauldin said. “It would probably have a very similar e ect.”