Honors Projects

Abstract

Mental fatigue seems to have a wide variety of effects on the body and mind based on current literature. This study explores the research question: Does mental fatigue have an influence on the perceived health of foods and does socioeconomic status (SES) moderate this relationship? Participants were college students aged over 18, currently attending a state university in northern Ohio and were recruited by email (N = 30). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: mental fatigue condition or non-mental fatigued condition (control). Participants completed a self-report survey on mental fatigue, then the experimental group took an N-back test and second mental fatigue survey, and then a survey on the perceived health of foods where they viewed pictures of food from the food pics database and rated the pictures healthiness and calories. Findings do not show the experimental group having any significant data in regards to p value. However, looking at the differences between the mental fatigue group and the control group, there are slight, but not significant differences. It is recommended that a study replicating this one would be conducted as a larger sample size may yield more significant data.

Department

Psychology

Major

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Musher-Eizenman

First Advisor Department

Psychology

Second Advisor

Dr. Gilbertson

Second Advisor Department

Sociology

Publication Date

Spring 5-11-2020

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