Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance and Mood
There is a wealth of research demonstrating that caffeine can improve aspects of cognitive performance and mood, but few has concluded that caffeine could enhance working memory. This study measured the effects of caffeine on several measures of alertness and cognitive performance, while cognitive performance focused on tasks that need the use of working memory. Forty-eight undergraduates at the University of Hong Kong participated in the study. They were asked to perform in three tasks, i.e. the finger tapping task, forward digit span task and backward digit span task, and were also asked to fill out an alertness questionnaire. The level of alertness and psychomotor speed were significantly increased, but there were no significant differences in the performance of the working memory tasks. Discussion focuses on whether caffeine could really have an effect on cognitive performance or that it only induces effects on certain cognitive tasks. It has been suggested that glucose when combined with caffeine would enhance memory, but not when consuming caffeine alone, and this is the area which we find it beneficial to all and worth having further research on.Caffeine is present in many widely consumed dr
The results were in line with many previous studies, caffeine increased rate mental alertness (Roache and Griffiths 1987) and psychomotor speed, however, it does not help to improve working memory (Scholey and Kennedy 2004). This could then minimize the chance of having caffeine withdrawal effects and also we could compare the performance of caffeine-deprived and non-deprived users. Prior to the experimental sessions, all participants were familiarized on the experimental procedures to ensure a full understanding of each of the performance tasks. Procedure All testing was conducted in classrooms in the Psychology Department at the University of Hong Kong. Results The results of the several measures on alertness and cognitive performance are presented in Fig. As mentioned earlier, both forward and backward digit span tasks were used to assess verbal cognitive memory processes. It is the wealth of research in this field that has attracted us to carry out the present study, to further investigate and determine the effects of caffeine on several measures of alertness and cognitive performance. Participants Forty-eight subjects participated in the experiment. concentration, energy, motivation to work. However, one difficulty faced by researchers trying to determine the effects of caffeine is that the research evidence is always far from consistent. Approximately half of the participants were given real coffee and the other half was given decaffeinated coffee. With caffeine as the independent variable, and that alertness and cognitive performance as the dependent variables; we hypothesize that caffeine would have an effect on both alertness and cognitive performance. Forward Digit Span Task & Backward Digit Span TaskThere were no significant differences in performance on both tasks.
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