When looking at the data gathered from the survey and observations, it is hard to make a conclusion.  The purpose of the observations was to strengthen the survey results. In the survey, 70% of people said that they do some form of eating while they read. When asked if eating helps their reading comprehension, 70% said yes. When asked if eating hindered their comprehension, 60% said no. In the dining halls, there was a higher amount

of people reading and eating than people only eating. As we created the survey and I tried to interpret the data, the language became a little confusing. The way some of the data was worded, it was hard to make a conclusion. The survey was where most of the data gathering took place, but some of the questions were worded in a way that could have been confusing to those taking the survey. This could have impacted the results, and definitely made it hard to analyze. I turned to research done by others since I couldn’t make a conclusion.

I had to look at research on similar topics since there haven’t been many studies on this specific topic. I predict the reason for there not being research on this topic is that it is very specific. Most studies are about the effect of any distraction on reading comprehension. These distractions include food, conversations, cell phones, television, etc. These are different than this study because this one focuses specifically on food. They are more broad, and explore the idea of more than one activity on reading. They lump these together into one overall topic.

These present helpful information for coming to a conclusion on this study. For example, a study conducted with Yale University students called “Facilitating effects of ‘eating-while reading’ on responsiveness to persuasive communications,” by Janis, Kaye, and Kirschner. The people who ate food while reading the article were more likely to change their opinion than those who read the article without eating. They concluded that eating while reading has a positive response on opinion change. This suggests that eating has an impact on how the reader’s brain processes the information. This is important to keep in mind, especially if someone is studying information. Their understanding may be completely different from before they started reading, and even after, because they were eating.

Another study titled, “Focusing on food during lunch enhances lunch memory and decreases later snack intake,” by Higgs and Donohoe, explored meal memory. They found that focusing on the meal instead of other distractions while eating can improve one’s meal memory. Meal memory is how well a person’s brain and their body remember a meal. Improving one’s meal memory decreases snacking later on in the day. This means if someone does an activity, such as read, while eating, they distract their brain from the meal. But as determined in the study by Janis, Kaye, and Kirschner, it also changes the way the brain receives the reading. It is also a distraction to the reading.

Most of the students observed around WWU’s dining halls were doing their reading on a cell phone. In the survey, 100% of the participants selected social media as a type of reading they usually do. There are lots of ideas and opinions presented through social media. The two articles contribute to the idea that eating while reading on social media will do two things. It will distract them from  what they are reading because their brains are focusing on two activities at once. Food also has the ability to change a person’s opinion on what they’re reading. This is even easier to do since their brains aren’t totally focused already. The idea does not apply to only social media, however. It can concern other reading platforms.