Does Yoga Affect Test Scores?

MiaMichaud

LACHSA

LosAngeles,California

Grade11

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Abstract:

ThepurposebehindmyprojectistoseeifYogacanimprovetestscores,asteenagers

havetoexperiencemanyformsofveryimportantstandardizedtesting.Yogacanbeaddedto

one'slifeonaregularbasis,asitisinexpensiveanddoesnottakemuchtime,soitmakes

sensetoencourageyogaifitbenefitssociety.Teenagersfacearidiculousamountof

standardizedtestingsuchastheSAT,andbasictestingthatsignificantlyaffectsgrades.Many

teenagerssimplydonottestwellnomatterhowhardtheystudysodonotdowellontests.

Myexperimenttestedthetestresultsofyogisvs.nonyogisandwhethertakingyogaclasses

wouldimprovethenonyogistestresults.Thedatashowsthattheyogisdidbetteronthetest,

andnonyogishadtheirtestscoresimproveaftertakingYogaforaweek.Thus,Yogacanhelp

withtesttakingwhichcanbenefitstudentsingettingbettergradesandfeelingbetterabout

theirtesttakingabilities.

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TableofContents:

1..TitlePage

2...Abstract

3...TableofContents

4...Purpose,Hypothesis,Background

5..Backgroundcont.

68..Materials,Procedure

912.Data

13..WorkCited

3

Purpose:IwillbeinvestigatingwhetheryogaimprovesthementalIQ,anxiety,

andtesttakingskillsofaperson.

Hypothesis:Normalyogapractitionerswilldobetteronatestthannonyogis.

Backround:

Yogaisanactivitypartakeninthatnotonlystrengthensthebody,butseemstodo

wondersforthebrain.Yogaisanmethodthatfocusesonbreath,postures,andcontrolofthe

mindandbody(Dictionary).Peopleofallages,genders,andracesdoYogaformultiple

reasonssomeofthembeingitsphysicalbenefits,calmingeffects,andmentalclarity.Yoga

canbedonealone,orinaclassandconsistsofbreathingexercisesgroupedwithphysical

exercises.Unlikemostexerciseclasses,Yogaisdonesilentlyorwithzenmusicplayinginthe

background,aswellastheinstructorproctoringinformationtothestudents(NCCIH).

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Inmyexperiment,IwillbetestingpeopleonwhetherornotYogaaffectstheir,test

scoresonanTest.Peoplerangingfromtheagesof1660willpartakeinmy

experiment,takingatest,thenayogaclass,andthenanothertestwiththesametypeof

questions,butdifferentquestionstoshowifthescorechanged.Theindependentvariablewill

bethetypeoftesteachsubjecttakes,andthedependentvariablewillbetheirresulting

scores.

Iintendoncreatingasimilar,butdifferentexperimenttomanyexperimentsalready

done,testingtheeffectivenessofYoga.Someoftheseexperimentsincludea4month

independentstudyontheeffectsofYogaonphysicallyandmentallyonmultiplesclerosis

patientswhichshowedthatthepatient'ssymptoms

improved(Salgado,Jones,llgun,McCord,LoperPowers,vanHouten).Anotherstudydoneby

OxfordUniversitystatesthatYogaincreasestheMentalHealthofPrisoners.Therehavebeen

manymorestudiesdoneonthebenefitsofYoga,specificallythephysicalandmental

benefits,suchasfocus,heartrate,etc.IplanontestingifYogawillincreaseatestscore.

focus,andanxietyofaperson,whichisnotexactlythesameexactstudyasthosedone

beforeme,butourgoalsaresimilar:toprovethatYogahasanpositiveeffect.Likethestudy

doneonprisonerswhichshowedthatyogadidimprovementalhealthofprisoners,Ihopeto

showthatYogacanpossiblyimprovetesttakingskills,anxietyandIQ.

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Materials:

6peopleWhodoYogaand6peoplewhodonot

YogaMat

Test

Car/bustogettoclasses

YogaStudioswithlittletonoentryfee

Procedure: Control Group: PeoplewhodonotdoYoga

Independent Variable: Yoga Classes Given to those who have never done yoga

Dependent Variable: The test Results

Constant: The test

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Procedure 1..Create a procedure, a chart, to ensure an organized plan of action.

2. Find a test to gave all subjects.

3. Find normal Yoga Practitioners and NonYogis.

4. Find Yoga Studios around the areas of the subjects that offer free/ donation only

classes. The Independent Variable will be the classes.

5. Create and give a schedule for the subjects making it clear when the tests and

classes must be taken.

6. Collect the Test results and Record the Data. The Results after the week of Yoga

will be the Dependent Variable.

7. Compare the results, finding a conclusion.

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Data:

ScoreofNonYogisOnIQtest

Sarah Eliza Nicole Emma Average

BeforeYoga 7 9 4 7 6.75

AfterYoga 8 12 7 6 8.25

ScoreofYogisonIQtest

Jake Mike Cheryl Average

7 8 8 7.67

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Pictures

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ElizaScoreBeforeYoga:

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ElizaScoreAfterYoga

WorkCited:

Salgado,M.Jones,G.McCord,M.LoperPowers,andP.AnHouten."Effectsofa4month

AnandaYogaProgramonPhysicalandMentalHealthOutcomesforPersons

withMultipleSclerosis."NationalCenterforBiotechnologyInformation.U.S.National

LibraryofMedicine,2013.Web.02Apr.2015.

Sifferlin,Alexander,andAlexandraSifferlin."YogaandtheMind:CanYogaReduce

SymptomsofMajorPsychiatricDisorders?|TIME.com."Time.TimeMagazine,28Jan.

2013.Web.02Apr.2015.

"PrisonersDoingYogaMaySeePsychologicalBenefits."PSY.DepartmentofExperimental

Psychology,16July2013.Web.02Apr.2015.

"YogaandHeartHealth."YogaandHeartHealth.AmericanHeartAssociation,n.d.

Web.02Apr.2015.

Raghavendra,BR,S.Telles,NKManjunath,KKDeepak,KVNaveen,andP.

Subramanya."VoluntaryHeartRateReductionfollowingYogaUsingDifferentStrategies."

InternationalJournalofYoga.MedknowPublications&MediaPvtLtd,n.d.Web.02Apr.

2015.

"MeditationCanIncreaseIQ."TheArtOfLiving.TheArtOfLiving,n.d.Web.

"Yoga."Nccih.NationalCenterforComplementaryandIntegrativeHelp,n.d.Web.

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