Chewing gum while taking the LSAT?

Comments

• 3 Likes

  Dr. Yamata Member Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 578 karma

  Don't you dare
• Matt1234567 Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 1294 karma

  I always chew gum when taking tests, did it all through university lol. I don't think it would be a problem as long as you're not chewing loud. But again, it could depend on the proctor. I chewed the last time and it wasn't a problem.
• nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 7965 karma

  Some (old) discussion here. One test taker reports proctor specifically said "no gum." http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/cigarettes-coffee-gum-allowed-test-day.html
  
  And FWIW, why put yourself in a position to annoy other test takers? Why be **that guy** or even run the risk of it? And IMO it kinda sounds like gum is a crutch, as you've described. Those things you're trying to get out of chewing gum can be practiced/obtained in other, better, less oral-dependent ways.
• Alejandro Member Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 2424 karma

  Thanks for the info y'all! I was planning to try it out in my practice tests and see if I am a loud or silent chewer. I don't even know the answer to that question yet! Chewing also helps the brain to have more blood-flow which can potentially help with those darn headaches. Will do a bit more research/practice and let you know. Chances are I'm not going to do it while taking the real thing but I like to experiment new things as I practice.
  
  All tips on how to improve on those things are also welcome!
• 1 Like

  nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 7965 karma

  @alejoroarios said:
  see if I am a loud or silent chewer.
  

  You might have someone observe you—I find we're seldom the best judges of our own chewing volume
• Alejandro Member Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 2424 karma

  Yup, and I hadn't even considered the possibility of annoying others before posting this thread, but it totally makes sense. Thanks for letting me know for sure.
• DaveH162 Alum Member

  July 2015 221 karma

  I wouldn't rely on that crutch either. Say you get used to it and then your proctor ends up telling you "no gum"...just another thing to throw you off on test day
• c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 2398 karma

  I had no idea...
  
  "Those who chewed gum showed improvements in their working memory (the ability to hold on to and manipulate information for brief periods of time,) their episodic memory (the ability to retain information long-term,) and in their perceptual speed of processing (a general index of cognitive functioning.) The performance benefits, however, lasted only for 15 to 20 minutes after the gum had been chewed, and were not apparent when gum was chewed throughout testing.
  
  The performance improvement was attributed to a simple idea: Chewing causes an increase in arousal – it helps wake you up. Research suggests that chewing increases heart rate, blood pressure, and cerebral blood flow, and that those changes persist for 15 to 20 minutes afterwards, which coincides with the “window of benefit” revealed in our study.
  
  However, there is some evidence that the act of chewing may also require some of the brain power necessary for maintaining performance, especially on attentionally demanding tasks. So, for those participants who chewed gum throughout testing, the benefits of increased arousal were negated by the need to share brain power between the chewing process and the thinking process.
  
  But, if the chewing is stopped before the testing begins, the benefits due to arousal are more apparent, albeit also time-limited."
  
  http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/education-nation/commentary-chewing-gum-may-improve-test-scores-n21731
  
  But there's also this, because, well, #science:
  
  "Several studies have suggested that short-term memory is generally improved by chewing gum. However, we report the first studies to show that chewing gum impairs short-term memory for both item order and item identity. Experiment 1 showed that chewing gum reduces serial recall of letter lists. Experiment 2 indicated that chewing does not simply disrupt vocal–articulatory planning required for order retention: Chewing equally impairs a matched task that required retention of list item identity. Experiment 3 demonstrated that manual tapping produces a similar pattern of impairment to that of chewing gum. These results clearly qualify the assertion that chewing gum improves short-term memory. They also pose a problem for short-term memory theories asserting that forgetting is based on domain-specific interference given that chewing does not interfere with verbal memory any more than tapping. It is suggested that tapping and chewing reduce the general capacity to process sequences."
  
  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17470218.2011.629054#.ValDV3iaLzI
• nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 7965 karma

  @c.janson35 said:
  So, for those participants who chewed gum throughout testing, the benefits of increased arousal were negated by the need to share brain power between the chewing process and the thinking process.
  

  Yikes.

  @c.janson35 said:
  However, we report the first studies to show that chewing gum impairs short-term memory for both item order and item identity.
  

  Better not get games first then ...
• Pacifico Alum Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 8021 karma

  Step 1: record yourself chewing many different types of gum.
  
  Step 2: ???????
  
  Step 3: Profit!
• 1 Like

  Drackedary Member

  July 2015 239 karma

  It wasn't gum or the LSAT, but I recall getting very annoyed with someone who brought a sandwich into a final exam and chewing so loudly that it made me want to flip a table.
• 7 Likes

  nye8870 Alum ⭐

  July 2015 1749 karma

  In light of all this new information I am for sure ditching my old plan of chewing gum throughout the test. However, I am still contemplating my back-up plan of humming the Spice Girls melody “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends” over and over at a just barely audible level. #newLSATthatGuy
• 3 Likes

  Alejandro Member Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 2424 karma

  Much better strategy! I think I'm gonna hum Baby by Justin Bieber
• 1 Like

  ENTJ Alum Inactive ⭐

  July 2015 3658 karma

  This thread reminds me of this LR Question: Prep Test 20, Section 4, Question 24.
• 1 Like

  JessicaMarshall Member

  August 2015 11 karma

  I'll be taking the LSAT for the first time in October but last month, I took a free simulated PT at the "brother" school to my undergrad university and I chewed gum... and no one said anything. In all honesty though, I didn't really CHEW it, I kind of just had it in my mouth because my mouth gets insanely dry when I'm stressed out and concentrating. That said, if you aren't really chewing the gum, you'll probably be fine as far as distracting other test takers. But if you are noticeably/audibly chomping on a wad of Bazooka bubble gum you're probably gonna get noticed.
• Pacifico Alum Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 8021 karma

  If you're not blowing bubbles throughout the experimental section then I'm sorry to tell you that your diaper game is weak bro...
• jac376 Free Trial Member

  August 2015 23 karma

  Chewing helps a lot. But it doesn't have to be gum. I chewed a small piece of rubber during my SATs, and simply let the proctor know before hand that I was chewing rubber and he said he didn't care as long as it wasn't gum and it didn't make a loud noise, which it didnt. Pollyanna the same for LSAT, proctor tend to follow rules by the letter, never by the spirit