Abstract
A healthy diet and exercise routine may support increased short-term memory recall, an important function of cognitive capacity. Age, health, and exercise are contributing factors to short-term memory recall, however they have not been examined together. The purpose of this experiment identified the effects of a healthy diet, exercise, gender, age, and frequency of memorization use in a work setting, on short term memory recall. Thirty-five participants completed a self-reported survey. The survey collected data which included the following: age, gender, amount of days a week exercise (1-7), healthy diet (1-5), and frequent memorization (1-5). Following the survey completion, participants completed an online memory test; data was collected based on correct recall percentage and average response time. Findings suggest that individuals who exercised 7 days a week, had a higher percent recall of 87.6% compared to those who only exercised 2 days a week (68.7% recall). Additionally, a healthy diet saw greater increases in memory recall (86.7% recall) compared to those who did not (72% recall). Age saw improvements between the ages of 70 (50.7% recall) and at 10 years of age (82.7% recall). The research also successfully demonstrated that biological sex, female (75.6% recall) and male (78.9% recall), has little to no effect on short term memory. Furthermore, frequent memorization similarly has little to no effect on short term memory, 79.1% recall average if participants responded 2 on the survey, and 80.2% average if participants responded 5 on the survey.
Rationale
Age, health, and exercise are factors that contribute greatly to short-term memory recall, however, they have not been examined together at once (Serra, 2021; Klencklen, 2017; Teixeira, 2011). Short term memory can be described as the capacity to hold a limited amount of data in a readily interactive form for a short period of time (Mikhailova, 2012). Short term memory ability is restricted to a specific number of elements (only about 7 items can be stored at a time), and the explanation for this limitation is an important subject in cognitive psychology (Mikhailova, 2012). Memory is described as the capability to receive, retain, and retrieve data whenever necessary (Griebler, 2022). Simple activities, such as fundamental everyday tasks, might be impeded by memory impairment (Griebler, 2022). Individuals' capacity to recall and apply trial-specific knowledge, which must be separated from knowledge received on prior trials, can be assessed using mental processing tests, or short term memory games (Klencklen, 2017). Education and insight, two cognitive skills that are inextricably linked to the opportunity to reach and use memory, develop as people age (Amer, 2022). Thus, the purpose of this experiment identified the effects of a healthy diet, exercise, gender, age, and frequency of memorization use in a work setting, on short term memory recall.
1.1 – The Effect of Exercise on Short Term Memory
Participants who exercised after the learning task showed better long-term retention seven days later compared to participants who exercised before learning (Teixeira, 2011). Resistance training develops muscular strength by pushing your muscles to work against an object or force (Serra, 2021). Aging is linked to a variety of cognitive changes, including a general decrease in mental processing ability (Klencklen, 2017). Positive lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity, are linked to delaying and minimizing the negative impacts of changes that occur as a result of aging (Griebler, 2022). Resistance workouts had beneficial and substantial impacts on working memory across all forms of exercise studied, this includes, aerobic, resistance, plyometric, strength, and tai chi chuan (Griebler, 2022). All cognitive domains improved significantly after an aerobic or resistance workout (Griebler, 2022). Resistance exercise enhances muscle strength while also benefiting mental function (Serra, 2021). Physical activity has been linked to the reversal of the negative effects of a high-fat diet on neural plasticity (Teixeira, 2011). Physical fitness has also been reported to enhance the standard of living and is a key aspect in sustaining a prosperous brain function (Teixeira, 2011). Physical activity can also help to minimize oxidative stress in the brain (Teixeira, 2011). This research, and the research studied in this experiment supports the idea that exercise improves your short-term memory (Griebler, 2022).
1.2 – The Effect of a Healthy Diet on Short Term Memory
Approximately 340 million adolescents in between the ages of 5 and 19 are obese or overweight (Almusalam, 2021). Obesity has a significant impact on mental development, wellness in each individual's standard of living, working memory performance and recall (Almusalam, 2021). Saturated fat consumption reduces neuroplasticity and impairs cognitive performance, which includes memory and learning (Teixeira, 2011). In one study, a sample of 63 individuals, 44 females and 19 males, were asked to perform a cognitive memory task after the consumption of a certain number or amount of peanuts (Parilli-moser, 2021). Fatty acids have shown to be helpful in the treatment of anxiety and neurodegenerative disorders (Parilli-moser, 2021). Beyond a 20-year span, a lack of fatty acids is linked to memory deterioration, and eventually weaker short term memory (Parilli-moser, 2021). In a normal young population, frequent ingestion of peanuts or peanut butter may improve cognitive performance and stress reactivity (Parilli-moser, 2021). In addition, obesity has a detrimental influence on success and advancement in a young adult's body as it is among the most pressing concerns raised of the 21st century (Almusalam, 2021). This research, and the research studied in this experiment supports the idea that a healthy diet improves your short-term memory (Almusalam, 2021). My study's hypothesis was based on the conclusion that a healthy diet improves short term memory.
1.3 – The Effect of Age on Short Term Memory
Age may also bring a diminished ability to access short-term information and increase the short memory degradation (Serra, 2021). Older adults with no experience of neurological disorders were able to acquire new duties and habits (Serra, 2021). Despite older people having a deeper awareness and knowledge of the world and environment, they can perform worse in several lab setting cognitive recall tasks (Amer, 2022). The sequence of aging causes adjustments in the brain, such as a decrease in central nervous system weight and volume, in simple terms, cell death (Griebler, 2022). In one study, a sample of 48 individuals, half of which were between the ages of 20 and 30, and the other between 64 and 73, were asked to perform a memory task where participants needed to learn new information repeatedly on a trial-based system (Klencklen, 2017). They found that ordinary aging is linked to a variety of cognitive changes, including a general decrease in mental processing ability (Klencklen, 2017). Active memory skills deteriorate as people become older (Klencklen, 2017). With memory capacity loads, there is a stronger age-related loss in cognitive performance, independent of the kind of content (Klencklen, 2017). Throughout the lifespan of healthy human people, age-related variations in cognitive capacity are found (Klencklen, 2017). Working memory or cognitive capacity is a brain mechanism that allows for the temporary data storage and processing of the data required for speech production, as well as education and logic (Klencklen, 2017). Cognitive function efficiency including both spatial and object data is affected by age (Klencklen, 2017). Additionally, regardless of the kind of information, increased memory load resulted in higher age-related reductions in working memory function (Klencklen, 2017). Variations in encoding techniques and/or recovery mechanisms are commonly blamed for decreases in memory recall in older persons (Amer, 2022). Older persons have less repression of no longer applicable knowledge and have more accessibility to it than younger adults (Amer, 2022). This information led my thinking to make the hypothesis of, if age increases, then short term memory strength will decrease.
1.4 – The Effect of Gender on Short Term Memory
Many articles state that there is a minor difference between male and female humane brains (Mikhailova, 2012 ; Theofilidis, 2020 ; Seiter, 2020). In psychology research, no sex differences were seen during object transformation memory tests (Mikhailova, 2012). A sample of 41 individuals, 21 females and 20 males, were asked to perform tasks that included behavioral experiments and visual memory tests (Mikhailova, 2012). Both females and males performed the memory task with comparable accuracy and showed a similar association (Mikhailova, 2012). Sex differences appear to be dependent on the kind of visual task (Mikhailova, 2012). In tri cognitive rotational tasks, significant gender disparities have been seen (Mikhailova, 2012). Other visual-spatial tests found minor sex differences or no variation at all (Mikhailova, 2012). Males remembered somewhat fewer words than females when listening to music (Theofilidis, 2020). This may be relevant to the present short-term memory experiment (Theofilidis, 2020).
1.5 – The Effect of Frequent use of Memorization at Work or School on Short Term Memory
Saving data processes in each individual's mind differs from person to person (Seiter, 2020). As a result, everyone's memory capacity will be different (Seiter, 2020). Even yet, when cognitive capacity is used often, this capacity can be expanded (Seiter, 2020). Memorization causes individuals to enter a relaxed state, which results in a decreased reaction time (Akbaria, 2021). After considering all of the facts, I can conclude that the most likely scenario is that, if memorization is frequently used at work or school then short term memory will increase.
Hypothesis / Objective Statement
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of exercise, a healthy diet, gender, age and if memorization is frequently used at work or school on short term memory. Age, health, and exercise are contributing factors to short-term memory recall, however they have not been examined together. This can help diagnose Alzheimer's disease or test the effect of Alzheimer's disease on short term memory.
The current study had the following five hypotheses:
1) If greater exercise is placed into the human lifestyle, then they will have a stronger short term memory
2) If healthy eating is placed into the human diet, then they will have a stronger short term memory
3) If age increases, then short term memory strength will decrease
4) Gender will not affect short term memory strength
5) If memorization is frequently used at work or school then short term memory will increase
2.0 Methodology
2.1 Participant Information
Modified human-informed consent forms were distributed in a high school on Long Island. Forms were left out in science research classrooms for interested participants to volunteer. All human informed consent forms were signed by a parent/guardian for all individuals under the age of 18. Thirty-five participants were used to test the effect of age, health, and exercise on short term memory. 28 of the 35 participants were in grade nine and were 14 years of age. All participants volunteered to this study with prior information of the procedure. A modified human informed consent form was completed by each participant.
2.2 Survey Content
This collected data on the following: Age, biological sex (Male or Female), amount of days a week exercised on average (1-7), healthy diet (1-5), and frequent use of memorization (1-5). Exercise was based on a scale of 1-7 for the reason of a week containing 7 days.52 If a participant answered 1 in terms of exercise, that would mean only a single day of the week the participants exercised. However, a healthy diet and frequent use of memorization was on a scale of 1-5 so the participants would be able to better understand the question asked. The value of 1 in terms of healthy diet and frequent use of memorization means infrequent or unusual. The value of 5 would mean frequently or common. After completing the modified human informed consent form, each participant went to the following website and completed this memory test: https://www.memorylosstest.com/free-short-term-memory-tests-online/. This source was common in testing short term memory. The test was conducted by each participant entering the setting “Fast”. The participant would click the spacebar whenever they thought they saw the same image multiple times. There were 3 trials of this, each taking less than 2 minutes.
A B
Figure 1 shows the memory test that the participants saw. The data was self-reported by each participant based on correct recall percentage and average response time. All information was delivered back to the student researcher (me).
2.3 Data Analysis
Data was placed into a raw data chart. This information included age, biological sex (male or female), amount of days a week exercised on average (1-7), healthy diet (1-5), frequent use of memorization (1-5), correct recall percentage and average response time. After all the data was inputted for each participant, there was an average calculated for correct recall percentage and average response time. This was necessary because there were 3 trials.
3.1 Results
3.1.1 Exercise
My first hypothesis predicted that if greater exercise is placed into the human lifestyle then participants will have a stronger short term memory. Average response time was recorded as a byproduct from testing for correct recall percentage. Findings suggest that individuals who exercised 7 days a week, had a higher percent recall of 87.6% compared to those who only exercised 2 days a week (68.7% recall) (Figure 2).
However, the average of all response times (ms) showed little to no relationship between exercise every day of the week (767.7 ms) and exercise on 2 out of the 7 days of the week (782.8 ms). The first hypothesis was supported because the correct recall percentage had a positive trend. This suggests that if greater exercise is placed into the human lifestyle then participants will have a stronger short term memory. However, average response time remained without a trend.
3.1.2 Healthy diet
My second hypothesis predicted that if healthy eating is placed into the human diet, then participants will have a stronger short term memory. A healthy diet saw greater increases in memory recall for those who had a healthy diet (86.7% recall, #5 on x-axis in Figure 3) compared to those who did not (72% recall, #2 on x-axis in Figure 3).
Additionally, participants had higher response times (ms) when a healthier diet was reported (794.3 ms, #5 on x-axis in Figure 3) than those who did not have as healthy of a diet (707.2 ms, #2 on x-axis in Figure 3). This suggests that if healthy eating is placed into the human diet, then participants will have a stronger short term memory. The second hypothesis was supported because correct recall percentage and average response time had a positive trend.
3.1.3 Age
My third hypothesis predicted, if age increases, then short term memory strength will decrease. Age saw improvements between the ages of 70 (50.7%
recall) and at 10 years of age (82.7% recall). Yet, the average of all response times (ms) showed little to no relationship between age 10 (869.0 ms) and age 70 (852.3 ms). My results showed that age 15 had the lowest average response time with 762.6 ms (Figure
4). The third hypothesis was supported because the correct recall percentage had a positive trend with increasing age. However, average response time remained without a trend.
3.1.4 Biological sex / Gender
My fourth hypothesis predicted that gender will not affect short term memory strength. The research also successfully demonstrated that biological sex, female (75.6% recall) and male (78.9% recall), has little to no effect on short term memory (Figure 5).
There was a similar effect on average response time. Males had an average response time of 794.1 ms, and females had an average response time of 760.9 ms (Figure 5). This suggests that females have a faster average response time. Although it may look like a significant difference, there is only a 4.36% difference between male and female response times. The fourth hypothesis was supported because there was no major relationship or trend between correct recall percentage and response time.
3.1.5 Frequent Use of Memorization
My fourth hypothesis predicted, if memorization is used often at work or school then short term memory will increase. Frequent use of memorization similarly has little to no effect on short term memory, 79.1% recall average if participants responded 2 on the survey, and 80.2% average if participants responded 5 on the survey (Figure 6).
The value of 2 is not frequent use of memorization, whereas the value of 5 is daily use of memorization. Furthermore, frequent use of memorization had little to no change in average response time (average of 761.4 ms if participants responded 5 on the survey and if participants answered 2 on the survey there was an average of 785.9 ms). This suggests that if memorization is used often at work or school then short term memory will not increase. The fifth hypothesis was refuted because there was no major relationship or trend between correct recall percentage and response time.
4.1 Discussion
My study successfully identified that a healthy diet and exercise routine may support increased short-term memory recall, an important function of cognitive capacity. It was hypothesized that greater exercise; decreased age; healthy die; and frequent use of memorization will have a higher correct recall percentage. Gender was hypothesized to have no effect on recall. The findings suggest that the following hypothesis; greater exercise; decreased age; healthy die; would have a higher correct recall percentage and and no change in gender were supported. Whereas the hypothesis that frequent use of memorization will have a higher correct recall percentage was refuted.
4.1.1 Exercise and Health
Correct recall percentage was collected based on the amount of questions the participant got correct in the memory test. Findings suggest that individuals who exercised 7 days a week, had a higher percent recall of 87.6% compared to those who only exercised 2 days a week (68.7% recall) (Figure 2). One study noted that resistance workouts had beneficial and substantial impacts on working memory across all forms of exercise studied, this included aerobic, resistance, plyometric, strength, and tai chi chuan (Griebler, 2022). This suggests that if greater exercise is placed into the human lifestyle then participants will have a stronger short term memory. Resistance exercise enhances muscle strength while also benefiting mental function (Serra, 2021). Moreover, my study found that individuals who reported a healthy diet saw greater increases in memory recall (86.7% recall) compared to those who did not (72% recall) (Figure 3). Obesity has a significant impact on mental development, wellness in each individual's standard of living, working memory performance and recall (Almusalam, 2021). The overwhelming majority of cases of obesity has impacted the patient negatively (Almusalam, 2021). Individuals with a healthier diet have a better score on the memory test due to nutrients, this includes essential vitamins and minerals that may have not been included in an unfit participants diet (Almusalam, 2021). The second hypothesis was supported because correct recall percentage and average response time had a positive trend.
4.1.2 Age and Biological sex
Age saw improvements in the memory test at 10 years of age (82.7% recall) compared to participants that were at the age of 70 years old (50.7% recall) (Figure 4). Despite older people having a deeper awareness and knowledge of the world and environment, older individuals perform worse in several lab setting cognitive recall tasks (Amer, 2022). Ordinary aging is linked to a variety of cognitive changes, including a general decrease in mental processing ability (Klencklen, 2017). This suggests that the third hypothesis was supported because the correct recall percentage had a positive trend with increasing age.
Additionally, my research found that biological sex, female (75.6% recall) and male (78.9% recall) (Figure 5). There was a slight difference of about 3% between male and female % recall, in which the male gender had an overall 3.3% difference. Ordinary aging is linked to a variety of cognitive changes, including a general decrease in mental processing ability (Klencklen, 2017). In psychology research, no sex differences were seen during object transformation memory tests (Mikhailova, 2012). Additionally, frequent use of memorization similarly has little to no effect on short term memory. There was a percent recall average of 79.1% if participants responded 2 on the survey, and a percent recall average of 80.2% if participants responded 5 on the survey (Figure 6). Saving data processes in each individual's mind differs from person to person (Seiter, 2020). As a result, everyone's memory capacity will be different (Seiter, 2020). Even yet, when cognitive capacity is used often, this capacity can be expanded (Seiter, 2020). This suggests that if memorization is used often at work or school then short term memory will not increase.
4.2 Limitations
The first limitation was sample size, I was only able to use 35 participants. This is a rather small number of participants, due to that the results could have been impacted by larger effect sizes. Another limitation was the ratio of female participants to male participants, and the ratio of older and yonder participants of each age group. For example, there were only one 10 year old, and only one 70 year old. The ratio of male participants to female participants is 21:14. Many of the older participants were female, which can change the data used for gender. The ideal experiment would have an equal number of male and female participants, and there would be an equal number of each gender group in each age group. The third limitation is, each participant did this test at different times of day, with different noise levels, and other distractions around them. One example of this is the completion of the 3 different trials in a different order, or clicking the wrong settings on the short term memory test. In a perfect experiment all trials would be done in a lab where there would be a similar environment for all the participants.
4.3 Future Research
Age, health, and exercise are contributing factors to short-term memory recall, however they have not been examined together. The purpose of this experiment identified the effects of a healthy diet, exercise, gender, age, and frequency of memorization use in a work setting, on short term memory recall. Memory tests are used to identify memory loss and the diseases that come with it (Seiter, 2020). Before beginning memory exercises to aid recuperation, it is necessary to determine your memory capability (Klencklen, 2017). This can be done with a memory test similar to this experiment. One example of this can be used in future applications to test the effect of Alzheimer's disease patients or testing stages of Alzheimer's disease patients.
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