In school years, we were annoyed by the nitpicking of teachers who forbade chewing gum in the classroom. Yes, and at the university, chewing gum often caused the anger of lecturers. Is it possible to bring the scientific base under the rule of etiquette?
To deal with the issue of chewing gum once and for all, a group of psychologists from the universities of Cardiff and Bournemouth (UK) invited 40 participants in the experiment to take a 30-minute audio test. The subjects were divided into two groups – some had to chew gum, others did not. Regardless of the group, participants filled in data about their mood before and after the experiment.
During the experiment, the subjects performed the task – they listened to numbers from one to nine, repeated in random order. The scientists tested how accurately and quickly the participants could identify the sequence of even and odd numbers. The participants in the experiment who had to chew the gum showed faster responses and more accurate results than those who did not get the gum. Chewing competitors overtook them only towards the end of the experiment. It turned out that chewing gum allows you to stay focused longer when performing tasks that require attention for a long period**.
Now, when the teacher turns an angry look at the chewing student, he will easily prove that he has to chew gum in the name of knowledge, and not at all for the sake of violating discipline.
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