EFFECTS OF FOOD DEPRIVATION 1

ABSTRACT

This study will be aimed at scrutinizing the impacts of brief food deprivation on two mental

abilities that are concentration and perseverance. Concentration is the ability to complete a

task with precision and correctness whereas perseverance is the ability of consistent efforts

for a given task despite failures. For the conduct of study three levels of food deprivation will

be administered that are none, 12-hour food deprivation and 24-hour food deprivation. It is

likely that both the abilities will be influenced due to deprivation of food. A group of 90

undergraduate students will be tested on both concentration task and a perseverance task. It is

expected that participants will longer hours of food deprivation will produce worse result

than those with less hours of food deprivation.

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Effects of Food Deprivation on Concentration and Perseverance

A lot of immediate problems, environmental and internal alter the ability of human to

focus on a task. Environmental issues can range from noisy surroundings, distractions,

headaches to mental or psychological disorders etc. People control their environments to limit

the effects of factors that make it difficult to think and pay attention. However, does food

deprivation, an internal factor affect ability of focus? Does it alter or remains the same?

Deterioration of physical health due to non-availability of food is a well-established

fact and there is no second thought about it. The physical and mental health effects of food

insecurity are undeniable and felt by deprived households (Collins 2010). Some researchers

conclude that lack of food does alter the everyday behaviour and ability of individuals

(Zitron-Emanuel & Ganel, T. 2017). A theory suggested that food consumption is regulated

by brain to maintain a steady glucose level in the body. This theory seemed logical because

glucose is the brain’s primary fuel (Pinel, 2000). The concept of hunger among people was

linked with low blood glucose and as the glucose level returned to normal people felt normal

and satisfied.

Some researches establish that cognitive functions are not changed by short term

fasting (Aziz, Tian, Png, Wahid, 2011 p, 150). However, this decision is quite hasty due to

fact that relative research on effects of food on cognitive functions, specifically concentration

and perseverance is almost non-existent. Perseverance helps is resolving complex and unique

problems and hence may prove a better indicator in assessing growth and learning abilities.

Researchers found that fasting during Ramazan for long hours significantly affected some of

the cognitive abilities of athletes during evening hours (Aziz, Tian, Png, Wahid, 2011 p, 148).

Considering all the researches there is still room for studying the effects of food

deprivation on concentration and perseverance. One reason to carry out further study is the
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fact that not all age groups of different professions have been made subjects. Studies have

been carried out on young children (Pollitt et al., 1983), obese individuals (Crumpton, Wine,

& Drenick, 1966), and middle-age males (Kollar et al., 1964). Surprisingly many findings in

these researches are contradictory.

Therefore, the current study is aimed to help us assimilate how short-term food

deprivation affects concentration and perseverance. Participants deprived of food for 24 hours

are expected to perform worse on concentration and perseverance task than those deprived

for 12 hours, who in turn are predicted to perform worse than those not deprived of food at

all.

Method

Participants

A group of 90 (Both male and females) Undergraduate students will be subjected to

the test. All students will be subjected to test on volunteer basis and written forms of consent

will be obtained prior to conduct of the study. All participants with a mean GPA from 2.5-3.0

will be made part of the study. Participants, with caffeine or nicotine addiction, eating

disorders, menstruating, obesity, psychological stress, on medication and on dieting will not

be included in the study.

Materials

Concentration speed and accuracy will be measured by means of a mathematical test.

The test will consist of 24 multiple choice questions with each question will carrying 4

marks. Participants will be given a time of 8 Minutes and each question will ask the subjects

to select one option that adds up to a number asked in each question statement. (E.g. Select

numbers that add up to 36? a) 10, 12, 10 b) 24, 6, 6, c) 12,10,10, d) 5, 11, 10)
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Perseverance will be judged with the aid of a puzzle that will consists of 7 random

shapes of different sizes. Participants will be instructed to arrange the shapes in a way to form

a shape of certain animal (cat, rabbit). For each participant some of the shapes will be altered

making the task impossible to complete. Perseverance will be calculated in terms of minutes

that a participant spends on the puzzle before finally giving up.

Procedure

In an initial meeting, participants will be asked to give written consent and their GPA

on a form. On receiving all forms students will be assigned to either of the three groups

randomly and informed at a later stage via mobile or email. All experimental conditions,

instructions and guidelines will be communicated to participants by email, which will also be

read aloud before conducting the experiment. All participants assigned to each group will be

informed and reminded of the date and exact time after which they must not consume any

food. Each group will be tested on the same day in a computer lab with a gap of 1 hour. On

arrival at computer lab, all participants will complete their concentration tests and their

results will be recorded. After completion of concentration tests, students will be subjected to

perseverance test. Initially all participants will be given unlimited time for solving the puzzle,

however, a participant who spends more than 50 minutes will be considered as most

persistent.

Result

Result of concentration test will be recorded on a graph for each group and deductions

will be drawn accordingly. A Pearson correlation coefficient will be used to asses the relation

between food deprivation and perseverance in each group.

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Aziz, A.-R., Tian, H.-H., Png, W., Wahid, M. F., Yeo, D., & Png, A.-L. C. (2011).

Effects of Fasting During Ramadan Month on Cognitive Function in Muslim Athletes. Asian

Journal of Sports Medicine, 148, 150.

Collins, L. (2010). The Impact of Food Insecurity on Women’s Mental Health.

Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, 2, 251–262.

Crumpton, E., Wine, D. B., & Drenick, E. J. (1966). Starvation: Stress or satisfaction?

Journal of the American Medical Association, 196

Green, M. W., Elliman, N. A., & Rogers, P. J. (1995). Lack of effect of short-term

fasting on cognitive function. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 29, 246

Kollar, E. J., Slater, G. R., Palmer, J. O., Docter, R. F., & Mandell, A. J. (1964).

Measurement of stress in fasting man. Archives of General Psychology, 11, 125.

Pinel, J. P. (2000). Biopsychology (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Pollitt, E., Lewis, N. L., Garza, C., & Shulman, R. J. (1982–1983). Fasting and

cognitive function. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 17, 174.

Zitron-Emanuel, N., & Ganel, T. (2017). The effect of food deprivation on human

resolving power. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25(1), 455–462. doi: 10.3758/s13423-

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