Purpose: To investigate the effect of gum chewing on the cognitive function of attention. Methods: Based on gum chewing habit, trait-anxiety variable, and different treatments(with or without gum chewing) during experiment,181 college students with good health were assigned to four groups GH (with chewing gum treatment and habit), GL (with chewing gum treatment, no habit), CH (no treatment,has habit) and CL (no treatment,no habit). Two attention tasks: Continuous Performance Test (CPT-AX) and Conjunctive Search Task (CST) were performed by all subjects in the laboratory.Results: Chewing gum during experiment had positive effect on attention performance, and the habit of gum chewing played an important role. Conclusion: Gum chewing had positive effect on attention performance, suggesting the effects mainly came from the familiarity of gum-chewing.