Example Of Case Study On Empirical Study: Effects Of Drinking Mountain Dew On Memory And Learning

Mountain dew is a chemical found in soft drinks referred to as brominated vegetable oil (BVO). Mountain dew is an additive which prevents separation of flavoring from the drink. The chemical is found in sports and citrus based drinks. Continued uptake of mountain dew has been said to improve memory and learning capability. This paper will develop a study aimed at determining whether morning dew has a positive effect on memory and learning.
Learning involves the uptake and internalization of knowledge. Learning capacities vary from one person to another. People with high learning capabilities can uptake knowledge and internalize it much faster than those with lower capacities. Memory is the ability to encode, store, and retrieve information.
There are two variables involved in this study, dependent and independent variables. The independent variable is the variant under the control of the examiner while the dependent variant is the expected or the measured results (Kerlinger, 1986). The independent variable in this study is the morning dew and its effects on the study subjects are the dependent variable.
The study model shall involve administration of morning dew to a group of students over a duration of a full semester. Students shall be selected according to their average GPA ratings. Average students shall be picked as they are more likely to exhibit memory and learning improvements. Morning dew will be administered daily in the evenings after supper with equal dosage given to each participant. Continued assessment throughout the course of the semesters will be done to determine the learning curve over a duration of five months.
A separate group of average students shall be picked and used as a control group in the study. It is expected that the students shall exhibit a flat learning curve throughout the study period. The performance of this group shall be used as a baseline for comparison with the test subjects. A deviation between the learning curve of the test group and the control group will be regarded as having been caused by the morning dew.
The testing model will be designed to cover the two aspects of this study, memory and learning capabilities. The test shall be used to determine to what degree the test subjects have learnt. Learning and memory are intertwined and cannot be tested separately. Learning cannot take place in the absence of memory (Bäuml & Dobler, 2015). Retrieval of information by memorizing enhances learning. Learning through memorization occurs in two stages. Stage one occurs during retrieval whereby knowledge related to the retrieval method is activated. The second stage is initiated after the answer is retrieved. At this point, the right connections are made stronger while the inappropriate ones are weakened (Kornell, Klein, & Rawson, 2015). For learning to take place, the memory dependent retrieval has to take place. This makes retrieval an essential part of the learning process.
The participants in the study will be exposed to drawings patterns. Each drawing will consist of four segments. The four detachable segments will form a square. The participants will then be directed to memorize the segment in the first quadrant of the square an record how it fits with the other members in the pattern. There will be a hundred of such patterns for the study participants to memorize. After studying the patterns for two hours, the participants will then be tested on the pattern arrangement the following day. The test will involve reconstructing the patterns by placing each pattern segment in its respective quadrant.
The first part of the test will require retrieval ability. By placing each pattern in its respective quadrant, retrieval ability will be applied. After identifying the first quadrant, cognitive ability will be required to match it with the remaining three parts. Both the test group and the control group will undertake the same test monthly for a duration of five months. The five test scores will then be tabulated and analyzed graphically. It is expected that for the control group, performance will remain constant as a different test will be administered every time. This will be indicated by a horizontal line graph of scores attained against each test.
The effect of mountain dew on memory and learning capabilities will be ascertained by the results of the test group. If morning dew improves memory and learning abilities, this will be indicated by a rising curve per each test taken. A flat curve will mean zero effects of morning dew on the test subjects as their performance will be at par with the control group. If the graph is a curve sloping downward, this will mean that the morning dew is detrimental to memory and learning capabilities.
The test will be administered in the last day of the month for the five months. Each pattern will be equal to a single score making the total a hundred mark. Comparison shall be made between the highest and the lowest scorers in the two groups. The highest scoring test subjects shall be compared with the highest performing control group test subjects. The same shall be done for the poor performers.
The study describes a test to ascertain effects of mo+rning dew on memory and learning abilities. Comparison of the test scores between the control and test subjects will determine if morning dew has any effect on the consumers.

References

Bäuml, K. T. & Dobler, I. M. (2015). The two faces of selective memory retrieval: Recall specificity of the detrimental but not the beneficial effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41(1), 246 -253.
Kerlinger, F. N. (1986). Foundations of behavioral research (3rd ed.). Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
Kornell, N., Klein, P. J. & Rawson, K. A. (2015). Retrieval attempts enhance learning, but retrieval success (versus failure) does not matter. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41(1), 283-294.