Physiological Effects of Sugar-Free Mint Chewing Gum on Typing Performance

Abstract

Chewing sugar-free mint gum has been shown in a large body of research to have a stimulating effect on humans, manifesting as improved performance in completing tasks with cognitive demands. Leveraging prior research, we hypothesized that participants chewing gum during a read-and-copy typing test will perform better than those who do not and will express different physiological measurements. Participants (n=50) were evenly and randomly divided into the experimental group that would be given the sugar-free mint gum and the control that would not. All participants were given a questionnaire that assessed their self-perceived typing proficiency and gum chewing habits. Before and after the typing test, we collected measurements of heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and blood pressure (BP). We used ANOVA to analyze our data and found no statistically significant relationship between chewing sugar-free mint gum and performance on a read-and-copy typing test (p=0.674). We conclude that chewing sugar-free mint gum does not have any effect on typing performance, HR, RR, or BP. Though our hypothesis proved faulty, we believe that further inquiry and revision of our design might produce significant results.