Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
I am in 8th grade and trying to decide on a project for the science fair. Iam interested in these 2 topics -

Breath of life: Does exercise help increase vital capacity?
I used to take medicines for asthma daily. I began practicing the breathing exercises in yoga daily. This has helped me stay healthy and for the past 4 years i have not had to take any medicines. I beleive breathing slowly has a lot of benefits. Since i can relate to the experiment, and have seen the benefits personally, i find this project interesting.

What conflicting mental tasks reveal about thinking: The Stroop Effect
Ever since i learnt about the nervous system, i have been fascinated with this subject. Doing this experiment will give me an opportunity to learn more about the how the brain works. I have been reading up about the Stroop effect a well.

While a lot of people are aware of the benefits of breathing slowly, how does understanding the Stroop effect help people? Also, could you please let me know which one would be a better project that will help me represent my school?
I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Thank you,

Tejas

Tejas,

Both project ideas are great. If well thought out and executed then both would represent your schoold and you just fine. You clearly have a personal interest in both subjects so, unfortunately, I can't give you a clear answer on which one you should do. Just think about which one you would be able to put the appropriate amount of time and effort into while still finishing within the deadlines.

That being said, you've intriged me with the suggestion of the effects of breathing exercises. Your experiment could be very interesting, testing various "stressors" (i.e. fear, physical exertion, mental exertion, etc...) and the calming effect of different breathing exercises. This should be testible with common biofeedback devices, sold online and at some sporting goods stores.

As to your question about how the Stroop Effect helps people, I would say that it helps us understand how our brain is conditioned to perceive the world and perform tasks based on that perception. By understanding this basic interaction we begin to understand ourselves...which is very important indeed. One of the area of study that benefits from this type of research is called Human Factors. Human Factors specifically deals with human/machine interaction, like the design of more efficient aircraft cockpits to reduce pilot confusion/error (among many other industries). Another example: We are conditioned that a red traffic light means stop, but what would happen if suddenly green means stop and red means go? Massive mental task interference and probably plenty of accidents!

The key is HAVE FUN! If you do that, you're sure to have a successful project you can be proud of regardless of which one you do.

Good luck narrowing your choices. Post if you have questions about the projects and/or designing your experiments.

~theborg

Thank you so much for all the information.
I have decided to work on the stroop effect as understanding its effect helps to develop technology so much more better. If you can share any more information about the design of aircraft cockpits, it would be awesome!

Am wondering if i should do the test using cards with the names of colors written in different colored ink (this seems to be standard) or is it ok to use the dance dance revolution (video game) and make the test more complicated? Does it matter how easy or complicated the test is? Sorry i took so long to reply, i couldn't decide on what kind of test to do, so i finally decided to ask.

Thank you.