The effect of experimenter bias in a cola taste test

Abstract

In a simulated cola taste test, experimenters' nonverbal behaviors influenced subjects' cola choices, although subjects expressed no awareness of the experimenters' impact. Nonverbal intimacy behaviors may make subjects feel comfortable in same‐sex pairs and uncomfortable in mixed‐sex pairs, resulting in an association of these internal states with cola preferences.

Faculty Forum

“…Another possible explanation of preference for an imaginary cola is students liked one of the identifying letters more than the other due to an association of that letter with a particular meaning or because the letter occurs in a student's name (Boatright-Horowitz, 1995;Dean, 1982;Woolfolk, Castellan, & Brooks, 1983). A further explanation is the instructor may have used different vocal intonation when presenting one of the colas or behaved in other ways to influence preference for a particular cola (Brown, Zatkalik, Treumann, Buehner, & Schmidt, 1984).…”