Psychological Effects of Food Deprivation
Abstract
This study seeks to answer the question of how starvation affects the concentration and perseverance levels in people basing the arguments on the psychological aspects. A total of 60 undergraduate students, both male, and females, were both tested on perseverance and concentration tasks. The research segregated the population on three levels of food deprivation: 24 hours, 12 hours, or none. The overall prediction of the study was that starvation would impair concentration and perseverance periods. Food deprivation had effects on concentration scores and perseverance time. The test statistics were based on the mean scores and the standard deviations of each group.
Psychological Effects of Food Deprivation
Many factors hinder human concentration and the ability to focus on a particular task. Some of these effects are attributed to environmental factors and thus difficult to concentrate. Nevertheless, internal factors such as an empty are quite easy to focus on using some research works. The glucostatic theory was the first research that prompted the research on how food intake affects the psychology of an average person. Between the 1940s and 1950s, several research works have been done that suggested that the brain usually regulates the food intake to balance the blood-glucose set points. One of the practical ideas which informed such research was that people become hungry when there is a drop in the blood glucose levels. Further points will be argued out in this research; thus this will become basic research. Glucose is well known as the primary source of fuel for the brain. On this regard, this research will seek to expand on this knowledge using appropriate hypothesis testing. The research will answer the question; how does food deprivation impacts on the psychological aspects of concentration and perseverance in individuals?
Hypothesis Formulation
Some researchers have indicated that the cognitive function is not affected by short-term starvation. Nevertheless, there seems to be a premature conclusion in their research because they lack relative research works on cognitive functions such as perseverance and concentration. In learning and thinking abilities, persistence can be an important tool in assessing learning and growth. Therefore, there is the need to test as many aspects of cognition as possible it will be important to refer to these tests when making the interpretations between food deprivation and cognitive performance. The current study will thus help in understanding how short-term starvation affects concentration and perseverance.
H0: Participants deprived of food for one day will perform worse on perseverance task and the concentration test. This hypothesis will be tested against;
H1: Individuals deprived of food for 12 hours will perform better on perseverance tasks and concentration tests.
Method
Participants
The participants for this study included 60 undergraduate students who volunteered. Among the 60, 32 were females and 28 males. Some of them received extra credit in their college courses with a low college average GPA of 3.12. Participants who at one point struggled with eating disorders were excluded.
Material
The online numbers matching test was vital in measuring the concentration speed and accuracy. There were 27 lines and 25 numbers each. In about 6 minutes, the participants were expected to identify the pairs of the numbers present in each line which added to 12. Out of the possible 120 pairs, scores were calculated as a percentage of the pairs identified correctly. A puzzle of five octagons measured the level of perseverance. The octagons, however, were altered in a way that the task was seemingly impossible. The scores in perseverance were measured based on some minutes a participant spends on the puzzle before surrendering the task.
Procedure
The participants were assigned randomly using the matched-triplets design regarding the GPAs. After two days of the initial meeting, all participants were informed that they should not eat anything past 11 a.m. the next day. The control group participants were tested at 8 p.m., and the deprivation started.
Testing Hypothesis and Results
The Post-hoc Tukey test was used to test the hypothesis. The test indicated that the group which had been deprived of food for 12 hours spent less time on the perseverance task [Mean (M) =18.79, Standard Deviation (SD) =7.82]. The control group spent much time (M= 26.65, SD = 6.28) the statistics from the 24- hour group (M= 28.78, SD= 12.09). The latter two groups did not have any significant differences in terms of genders with the F statistic of less than 1 (F<1.00). Food deprivation had significant effects on concentration. Also, the research proved that the individuals who had been starved for 24 hours had low levels of concentration and perseverance. Nevertheless, food concentration had fewer effects on concentration as compared to perseverance. Therefore, we reject H1; the alternative hypothesis and uphold H0.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to answer the question; how does food deprivation impacts on the psychological aspects of concentration and perseverance in individuals? The empirical predicting factor would state that the longer the starvation, the lesser the concentration and hence less perseverance (Baker & Keramidas, 2013). In this study, the individuals deprived of food gave up quickly on the tasks they were performing. Similarly, those individuals who deprived of food for longer hours lost concentration. Therefore, the hypothesis for the research was supported for this task. These findings are consistent with the findings of other researchers. Alexander & Siegel (2013) assert that human psychology is affected by what surrounds it whether external or internal factor. Food deprivation as an internal factor affects the psychology of a person. When the body is deprived of food, the production of glucose to the brain is limited the brain cannot thus function properly affecting the thinking capability and the required level of perseverance.
Even though concentration is not significantly impaired by short-term starvation, the long term starvation eventually affects the concentration in individuals. Bernfeld (2013) suggests that psychological hunger is the leading cause of loss of concentration. Psychological hunger is mainly caused by the desire to eat but not the need for food to survive (Aarøe & Petersen, 2013). The hypothalamus part of the brain controls hunger in humans. This organ is also the main regulatory organ for appetite. Sufficient evidence links lack enough food supply to the brain with psychological distress. Human beings normally become upset or emotional when subjected to long periods of starvation (Alexander & Siegel, 2013). Because the participants in the research had completed one day if fasting, their tendency to persevere reduced because they were hungry. Psychologically, hunger brings the feeling of wanting to eat. As a result, the general feeling and the efficiency of the brain reduces, and a person switches off from the task they were perfuming.
Similar research had been conducted on grade 2 students to determine how hunger causes psychological stress. A good amount of evidence suggests that hunger can cause psychological effects. People become obsessed with food when they become extremely hungry. Starving for one day alone can cause this effect (Aarøe & Petersen, 2013). Hungry people when they know they would go another half a day without food begin fantasizing about food. They may develop the habit of reading and talk about food. Starved individuals develop depression, which is a very pertinent aspect of psychology. They may also develop apathy, irritability, and fatigue. According to an article from the American Psychological Association, 36 men starved themselves after World War II so that the researchers could learn how to help people out of starvation (Baker & Keramidas, 2013). These men took up residence up in the corridors of the University of Minnesota football stadium in 1944 (Baker & Keramidas, 2013). These men were volunteers preparing for a long term experiment on the psychological effects of starvation. The experiment was popularly known as the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.
The research on food deprivation could be continued in different aspects. The first aspect of cognition may be influenced by short-term or long-term starvation. Such aspects may include motivation or reading a script (Aarøe & Petersen, 2013). Hunger diverts the attention of an individual to think about food. Hunger affects the physiological body then proceeds to the brain. A lot of reactions that are linked to biological reactions take place in the human stomach when someone is hungry. According to biological reasoning, enzymes in the stomach linings are always active. Enzymes work on the available food materials causing digestion to occur (Baker & Keramidas, 2013). When the food material is missing, the enzymes tend to interact with the contents of the stomach walls causing restlessness resulting from stomach rumbling and sometimes stitches. These feelings mount to uncomfortable conditions that divert the attention to the various occurrences in the stomach. As a result, the psychological aspect of such a person is also affected, and the individual starts thinking of food. If the person is a student, he or she will lose concentration in the class work and may fail to perform the given assignment due to lack of perseverance.
Conclusion
The results of this study provide interesting facts on the psychological and cognitive effects of skipping meals. In line with the research expectations, a person cannot be capable of concentrating or persevering after absconding meals for many hours. Therefore, if one is taking a test that requires perseverance, it is important that they take meals so that they have the required endurance while concentrating on the task throughout. In this regard, the research provides the answer to the research question by rejecting the alternative hypothesis H1 and upholding the original hypothesis H0. This research is open to positive criticism that contributes to the development of the overall idea and thus open to much more basic research to follow.
References
Aarøe, L., & Petersen, M. B. (2013). Hunger games: Fluctuations in blood glucose levels influence support for social welfare. Psychological science, 24(12), 2550-2556.
Alexander, K. E., & Siegel, H. I. (2013). Perceived hunger mediates the relationship between attachment anxiety and emotional eating. Eating behaviors, 14(3), 374-377.
Baker, D., & Keramidas, N. (2013). The psychology of hunger. Monitor on Psychology, 44(9), 66.
Bernfeld, S. (2013). The psychology of the infant. Routledge.