Caffeine Investigation Folio
Caffeine functions similarly to the hormone adrenaline (State Government of Victoria, 2014), and increases dopamine levels causing you to feel happy. It blocks adenosine receptors, which prevents you from feeling drowsy (Staci, 2012). Caffeine also stimulates the brain, improves comprehension, memory, reflexes, and the clarity of thoughts (Important Facts About Caffeine, 2011).
The focus of the experiment is to test whether caffeine has an effect on psychological and physiological reaction times. This will be a beneficial experiment for regular consumers of caffeine in determining whether the caffeine will have a positive or negative effect on their alertness and reaction time. The hypothesis tested in the experiment will be; if caffeine is consumed, then the psychological and physiological reaction times will decrease.
For the experiment, 30 female Yr. 11 Psychology students will be asked, with informed consent, to record their psychological reaction time from the Stroop test - and physiological reaction times from the Reaction Time test - with a timer, prior to and after consuming caffeine, collecting Objective Quantitative Data. After gathering the data, they will be placed in two bar graphs and interpreted.
For both the Stroop and Reaction Time Tests, it is predicted that the reaction times will decrease with caffeine. It logically follows that caffeine will cause students to become more alert. Therefore, making the conclusion that the consumption of caffeine will cause a decrease in psychological and physiological reaction times.
Figure 1- The effect of caffeine on the Reaction Test times on average
Figure 2- The effect of caffeine on the Stroop Test times on average
Shown in Figu...
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...y, this experiment would be useful for caffeine consumers in determining whether caffeine will have a positive or negative effect on their alertness. After completion of the experiment, it can be concluded that this investigation would be a useful reference for caffeine consumers interested in the effect of caffeine on psychological and physiological reaction times. However, the results will not be specific to them, and must be generalised, risking the reliability of the results. That being said, this experiment will have introduced a method of testing the effect of caffeine on psychological and physiological reaction times, which they may undergo for themselves.
Works Cited
http://blog.neosusa.com/2012/06/10-interesting-facts-about-caffeine/, http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Caffeine, http://visual.ly/important-facts-about-caffeine
The presence of caffeine has become popular for increasing your alertness even though it has uncertain effects on cognition, coordination, and motor abilities. Caffeine is used as a stimulate to maximize performance on a daily basis for most people even those who do not have a morning drink to kick start to their day. People usually associate caffeine with their morning coffee or tea; however, “It can be found in a large portion of what we eat and drink and is consumed daily by an estimated 80% of children and adults in the United States (Barone & Roberts, 1996)”. The study by Childs and de Wit from the University of Chicago suggests that there might be a correlation in the variety of caffeine pills that have been given to some participants in past experiments (Childs & de Wit, 2008). In those studies the participants were given a caffeine pill that also has other herbal supplements which resulted in adding confounding properties to the study. The experiments where participants were given a true caffeine pill with 100% caffeine and no addit...
The exact process by which it affects the body is unknown. It is suspected that caffeine affects the nervous system by altering the perception of effort and exciting the neurons responsible for contracting muscles. It may also be accountable for causing more fat and less...
Scrutiny of caffeine and its effects has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, due in part to an increase in consumption of caffeine. In fact, coffee consumption among young adults rose to 3.2 cups per day in 2008 from 2.4 cups per day in 2005 (Rokerya 1). For instance, in a one hour period, on Richland College’s on-campus Starbucks, the author took note of how many customers arrived and purchased a cup of coffee. Between 8:00 and 9:00 AM, there were 51 customers, implying that – especially at college - many people are dependent on coffee in the mornings. However, the results from these studies are inconclusive and often somewhat contradictory – many studies (such as that by Tetsuya Ohara et al.) show that caffeine is a great boon to
Does one drink caffeine? Caffeine is everywhere, it's in everything, it's apart of our daily lives. That’s what people doesn’t realizes; every soda drink, every cup of coffee, and every energy drink he or she gulps down before a thrilling game, all of that is caffeine. Caffeine is only completed when he or she get addicted. Caffeine can be an exceptional threat to the human body; energy drinks for example, it has enough caffeine to kill someone if he or she drinks enough. Energy drinks has been the number one drink high school students drink to stay awake in school; they even bring the drink in classrooms, and more than one energy drink. Soda has enough caffeine to destroy ones inner body. Soda is a everyday drink for some individuals, they
Beep Beep, Beep Beep! Your alarm is going off, so you roll over and hit snooze. This happens a few times, and before you realize it, it is 7 o’clock. You have 30 minutes before your big biology final, and you’re still groggy and tired. You throw on your clothes and grab a caffeinated beverage of your choice before sprinting out the door. You know you can’t rely on caffeine to stimulate your brain, or can you?
"Researchers have attempted to find out how much caffeine people consume every day. It was estimated that in the United States, coffee drinkers drink an average of 2.6 cups per day. Total caffeine intake for coffee drinkers was 363.5 mg per day - this includes caffeine from coffee AND other sources like soft drinks, food and drugs. Non-coffee drinkers even get plenty of caffeine: former coffee drinkers get about 107 mg per day and people who have never had coffee get about 91 mg per day." (Schreiber et. Al) It is ironic that with such a large caffeine byproduct industry, ...
The reason for doing this was because of how the drink affected each person differently. If this project were to be repeated, there would be some things done differently. The first thing that would need to be done differently would be that the test subjects should only drink water before the test. Some of the test subjects had drank other caffeinated drinks before the test and that skewed the results. Also, there would be more time between after the drink is finished and when the heart rate is checked again. And lastly, another thing about the experiment that should be changed is the amount of people that the test was done on. The test needed more people for the results to be more accurate.
A proposal to improve the design is examining the results versus pre-trial caffeine use. Would individuals who habitually use caffeine have the same performance enhancement as those who occasionally
In conclusion, my hypothesis was supported through the data produced by my experiment. I had two groups, subject A and B were my control group and subject C and D were my experimental group. Subject A and B did not drink the 8 ounces of Gold Peak Sweet Tea and only did the 2 minute jogging exercise. Meanwhile, my experimental group which was subjects C and D tested my independent variable which was the Gold Peak Sweet Tea by drinking 8 ounces of it and then waiting 5 minutes so the caffeine could enter and play its affects in the blood stream and central nervous system before jogging in place. When I tested myself (I was subject C) I realized that after drinking the tea my heart started to pound and when collecting my data realized that there was an increase of 4.33 bpm from drinking the tea compared to not.
But there were many unsure points and errors which could have thrown the results off. The average resting rate (BPM) from Group A was 85.4 and Group B’s was 73.6. The stair climbing rate was 126.8(A) and 111.6(B) However, some contestants had unusual results, such as Britney from Group A ,whose BPM seemed unusually higher than others (114,146) and Sydney, (A) started with a very low bpm (62) which was the lowest out of all group members. Two other outliers from Group B (Kate and Ryan) started with higher resting rates by at least 10 beats more than other members from B which made the results look less and less reassuring. These standout data points made us question how accurate our hypothesis had been. This data may have had it’s rising trends for other reasons as well. From background information we later learned after conducting the experiment ,that caffeine won’t take immediate effect until 15
Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system. Specifically, caffeine suppresses adenosine, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Adenosine slows neural activity, causing people to become tired. Therefore, when someone drinks caffeine, they do not become tired because caffeine suppresses the adenosine in the brain. Additionally, caffeine causes adrenaline to be released by the pituitary gland, increasing both attention and energy levels. Caffeine also increases the levels of dopamine, glutamate, serotonin, and cortisol in the brain. (McGill University, http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_m/i_03_m_par/i_03_m_par_cafeine.html), (The Bioneer, http://www.thebioneer.com/caffeine-affects-neurotransmitters-profoundly-changes-brain)
Caffeine is a mild stimulant that occurs naturally in at least 63 plant species. Caffeine can be found in the leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of these various plants. Caffeine is part of the methylxanthine family. It consists of a xanthine molecule with three methyl groups attached to it. Caffeine can be found in many products like sodas, tea, and coffee, but it also occurs in several other products such as prescription medications, diuretics, and pain relievers. Caffeine’s widespread use and popularity have caused many people to view the substance as an addictive drug. Thus making caffeine the most inexpensive and readily available drug known to man. Then on the other hand there are people who view caffeine as a helpful stimulant that increases the individual’s concentration and awareness as well as many other physical traits. The important thing to remember is that caffeine’s affects vary based on the person, the amount ingested, the frequency of consumption, and individual metabolism. (http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/kopykit/caffeine.html)
As the vast majority of Americans are addicted to caffeine, studies show that the effects during post-consumption, can be positive or negative depending on the amount and frequency of caffeine intake. As the demand for caffeine has increased, the caffeine industry has increased its amount of marketing and establishments to help aid this demand. Caffeine addiction can lead to serious health detriments and physiological detriments. It is evident that the primary reason for consumption of caffeinated beverages is due to positive effects, such as alertness. The media has an abundance of marketing to continue to illustrate this main effect. The media fails to project the negative effects of excessive caffeine intake. This literature review will illustrate how excessive caffeine consumption can be detrimental to one’s life, and how problematic caffeine use derives from conditioning by the caffeine industries.
Open with Impact: How much coffee do you drink? How is that cup of coffee affecting your brain, thinking skills, alertness, sleep, and overall health?
Millions of Americans begin each day by consuming the most widely used drug in the United States: Caffeine. Over 90% of United States adults consume caffeinated food or beverages on a daily basis and over 50% take more than the recommended amount. Our innocent daily ritual can turn into an addiction for some because many do not realize that caffeine is even a drug let alone the effects it can have on their bodies. Its use it becoming more and more prominent in our society. It’s not uncommon to walk outside and see a Starbucks or coffee shop on each corner. Innovative foods are coming out infused with coffee, and energy drinks are being pushed at every angle. Caffeine to many is a necessity to wake up in the morning and for others to stay up all night. This is dangerous because people are not only becoming more and more dependent on coffee drinks and energy drinks but they are beginning to ingest more of it each day and are now mixing it with other drugs that can be life threatening. Proper knowledge is important when taking any drug including one that the FDA considers to be a safe multi-purpose food substance and education is the key.