{"id":6188,"date":"2021-06-08T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=6188"},"modified":"2021-06-06T07:24:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T12:24:30","slug":"does-chewing-gum-improve-memory-and-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/does-chewing-gum-improve-memory-and-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Chewing Gum Improve Memory and Learning?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently read a striking Twitter claim from a well-known teacher: chewing gum helps memory and concentration<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, according to the teacher, research supports this claim: the tweet cites this study<\/a> as one of many to make this gum-chewing suggestion credible.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always on the lookout for practical strategies to boost memory and attention. If chewing gum gets the job done, well, that\u2019s exciting news. (I can already hear the catchy new jingle: \u201cDouble your learning, double your fun, with Doublemint, Doublemint, Doublemint gum!\u201d)<\/p>\n

At the same time, I confess, the idea has a Mozart-effect<\/a> whiff of implausibility.<\/p>\n

I can imagine that, perhaps, chewing gum raises alertness levels (for some people); this increased alertness might result in greater learning. But I suspect that effect would wear off fairly quickly.<\/p>\n

Of course, if good research consistently supports the claim, then I\u2019ll admit my instincts mislead me. However, I\u2019d like to take a look at that research first\u2026<\/p>\n

Early Steps<\/h2>\n

We start with good news. The well-known teacher said that research supports the claim, and then cited research<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m amazed how often that second step doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Folks regularly claim that \u201cresearch shows\u201d that a teaching technique provides specific benefits, but won\u2019t identify any specific research. \u201cOh, you know, all the research<\/em> shows that\u2026\u201d (Pro tip: in psychology, it is NEVER true that \u201call the research\u201d shows\u00a0 anything. If someone says that to you, you can politely and confidently decline their advice.)<\/p>\n

This teacher, however, gives us the crucial details. We can look for ourselves.<\/p>\n

When we do, we get a bit more good news. This research study does indeed conclude that chewing gum helps with memory and attention. So far, so good.<\/p>\n

At the same time, we can register some important concerns.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>: the study includes sixteen<\/strong> participants. Now, researchers<\/em> have good reasons to run small studies; they let scholars know if they should run larger studies testing the same idea. However, teachers<\/em> should never change our classroom based on such a small sample. We want MUCH more evidence. (How much more? Keep reading\u2026)<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: the study is published in The International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development<\/em>. I don\u2019t know anything about it (although its website says that it does use peer review). However, I\u2019m inclined to rely on memory research in journals that focus on memory<\/em>, rather than on engineering<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>: the researcher\u2019s technique for measuring attention is rather hunchy. The researchers videotaped participants, and looked for behavior that suggested inattention. As I\u2019ve written before, that strategy doesn\u2019t sound highly scientific<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And so: we can conclude that — yes —\u00a0\u00a0this <\/em>research supports the claim that chewing gum improves memory and attention. But given its size, provenance, and methodology, we probably want more evidence before we start making big changes to our teaching.<\/p>\n

The Adventure Continues<\/h2>\n

To see how others responded to this study, I plugged it into my two favorite ai platforms: scite.ai<\/a> and connectedpapers.com<\/a>. Alas, neither search produced any results. I\u2019m guessing (but I don\u2019t know) that the journal doesn\u2019t meet the standards that these websites use.<\/p>\n

Next, I searched for papers about chewing gum and learning.<\/p>\n

The most cited paper, according to Google Scholar, comes from 2002. In it, Wilkinson and others<\/a> conclude that chewing gum does indeed help memory (but not attention).<\/p>\n

However, according to this paper<\/a> by Tucha,<\/p>\n

the chewing of gum did not improve participants’ memory functions. Furthermore, chewing may differentially affect specific aspects of attention. While sustained attention was improved by the chewing of gum, alertness and flexibility were adversely affected by chewing. In conclusion, claims that the chewing a gum improves cognition should be viewed with caution.<\/p>\n

And this 2009 study<\/a>\u00a0by Smith concludes,<\/p>\n

The results of this study showed that chewing gum increases alertness. In contrast, no significant effects of chewing gum were observed in the memory tasks. Intellectual performance was improved in the gum condition. Overall, the results suggest further research on the alerting effects of chewing gum and possible improved test performance in these situations.<\/p>\n

In other words: three studies show a cluttered hodgepodge of results.<\/p>\n

If we look at research findings about, say, retrieval practice, we find that \u2013 over and over \u2013 it helps! In this case, however, no consistent message comes through.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve even looked for a meta-analysis about chewing gum and memory. (I wonder if I’m the only person in history to google “chewing gum meta-analysis.”)<\/p>\n

This overview<\/a>, noting that we can find clear evidence of both benefits and detriments<\/em>, concludes that \u201cthe robustness of reported effects of gum chewing on cognition has to be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Sum Up<\/h2>\n

First<\/strong>: We have a surprising (to me) amount of research into the cognitive effects of chewing gum. However, that research doesn’t provide a clear picture if its benefits, or detriments.<\/p>\n

We might have school or classroom policies about gum, but we shouldn’t claim that research has given us clear guidance one way or another<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Does chewing gum improve memory? We just don’t know<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: People often tell us: “you should change your teaching or your school policies: research says so!”<\/p>\n

When that happens, start by looking at the research they cite<\/em>. If it doesn’t inspire confidence, keep looking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently read a striking Twitter claim from a well-known teacher: chewing gum helps memory and concentration. In fact, according to the teacher, research supports this claim: the tweet cites this study as one of many to make this gum-chewing suggestion credible. I\u2019m always on the lookout for practical strategies to boost memory and attention. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6188"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6195,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions\/6195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}