--Original published at Site Title

A strength of this exercise was a double-blinded procedure where neither the participate nor the one giving the soda, as well as the information collector  knew what type of soda was given in each cup.  Another strong suit of this experiment was having the tester clean his or her palate with water after each sample.

A weaknesses or limitation of this experiment could have been the ability to smell the drink.  Smelling incorporated another outside factor that could help students more easily identify soda type, as some said the two types had different smells.   Another limitation was the experiment didn’t represent the population of students as a whole, instead it was tested upon those who were already soda drinkers.

Confounding variables in this experiment could be that students chosen were those who had a bias towards a specific soda type.  Another could be the smell factor or the ability to identify color differences between the two drinks.  The opinions of others in the hall questioning if their tester was positive of a choice or causing them to second guess themselves could have been a confounding variable as well.

The conclusion we came up with was that the difference between Coke and Pepsi could not be identified between individuals.  This conclusion was valid for my group receiving 2 right answers out of 5 correct.  The rest of our class had similar results, except for one group who correctly identified all the samples.  We also had to consider that getting none right would also mean that you could differentiate correctly but that you just got the sodas mixed up.

One changes I would make to the experiment is opening to the whole class to participate.  That way there is an equal chance for all students to participate and their is no systematic bias.  Another change I would make would be limiting other factors like smell and sight so they can’t influence the decisions.  Each member of the group not being able to talk to one another could help give better results as well.  Increasing the size of participants would give better results for a whole population we are testing.  Lastly, giving the tester more time in between drinks could help them to get the taste of the last soda out of there mouths.

--Original published at Lynsey Wissler's Blog

Lynsey Wissler – Coke vs Pepsi Experiment

• What were the strengths of the research design?
  • One strength of the research design was the fact that it was a single blind study. Another strength was that the soda analyst was in a different room.
• What were the limitations of the research design?
  • There were some limitations. Thes limitations included previous biases that the soda drinker had about the soda. Going into the experiment she was able to tell the difference between the two sodas and was expecting to tell them apart which limited the variability of the results.
• What potential confounding variables were present in the study?
  • There were several potential confounding variables, one of those being the drinkers bias towards the soda. Another variable was perhaps the clear cups; the drinker could possibly tell the color difference of the sodas. Another variable would be the conversations in the hallway could’ve influenced her decisions.
• Was the conclusion we drew valid? Why or why not?
  • The conclusion that we drew was no, people can not tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. For my group specifically, I would say that that conclusion is not valid. Our group had 5/5 of the results correct, therefore saying that you can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. However, when looking at the class data as a whole it is clear that you typically can not tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. This is so clear because most of the people in the class received a 3/5 or a 2/5 for accuracy.
• What are 5 specific changes you would make to the research design to improve the study?
  • 5 specific changes that I would make to this study are as follows
    • 1. Non-transparent cups
    • 2. Each taster in a separate room
    • 3. No communication between the server, taster, and the flipper
    • 4. Longer time between drinks
    • 5. Less information to the taster before drinking the soda

--Original published at Site Title

1. What were the strengths of the research design?

The research design allowed us to prove that it is difficult to differentiate between Coke and Pepsi.

2.  What were the limitations of the research design?

Some people had previous bias toward a certain soda. The tasters could have been influenced by others in the room. There was also no controlled variable between the tests.

3. What potential confounding variables were present in the study?

A confounding variable in this study is previous experience with the sodas.

4. Was the conclusion we drew valid? Why or why not?

The conclusion we drew was valid because the majority of tasters were unable to differentiate between the sodas.

5. What are 5 specific changes you would make to the research design to improve the study?

I would put each taster in a separate room. I would have the tasters wait a longer period of time before the next trial. I would also have a control, such as water, in between trials. I would make sure the tasters had multiple previous experiences with both sodas before beginning. I would have more than five trials.

--Original published at Site Title

--Original published at Lynsey Wissler's Blog

Miguel has been struggling with his coursework lately. He has felt very tired in recent weeks and has found it difficult to focus on his studies. Even though he is always tired, he has trouble falling asleep at night, is irritable during the day, and picks fights with his roommates. He is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad at himself when he makes even tiny mistakes. It’s gotten to the point where he doubts his ability to do anything right.

• Psychodynamic
  • This approach focuses on the hidden mind. This approach to psychology would assume that Miguel’s behavior is motivated by childhood experiences and hidden drives or conflicts. It shows how unresolved feeling shape our life conflicts. It could be that something he is not even still thinking about is driving his behavior.
• Behavioral
  • This approach can be explained by classical conditioning. It says that behavior is shaped with punishments and rewards. It is believed that everything we do is not driven by thoughts or feelings. It also is stated that psychological problems are best treated with behavioral patterns. This being said, from a behavioral approach Miguel is acting this way almost out of habit. At some point in his life, he was taught that this was okay.
• Humanistic
  • This approach shows that our behaviors are strength based, that people are inherently good. They belive that your reality is how you construct it. This approach would believe that Miguel, deep down inside is innately good. If Miguel discovers this side he can change how he acts.
• Cognitive
  • This approach focuses on internal process. How we as humans solve problems and think. This approach would believe that if Miguel changed his thoughts that he can change his feelings towards a situation and perhaps not be as hostile and angry.
• Neuroscience
  • This is a biological perspective which is becoming increasingly popular. This perspective includes behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology. The behavior of this is explained by the brain chemistry, meaning that it is the chemicals in Miguel’s brain that are driving this behavior.
• Cultural
  • This perspective shows how mental processes and behavior are changed by the influence of setting, situation, and culture. This approach would say that Miguel’s behavior is from his setting and cultural background.

--Original published at Ashley's Psyche

Described below are the hypothetical behaviors and mental processes of a boy named Miguel. What follows are the interpretations of Miguel’s behaviors and mental processes from the viewpoint of six of the main theoretical lenses in psychology.

Miguel has been struggling with his coursework lately. He has felt very tired in recent weeks and has found it difficult to focus on his studies. Even though he is always tired, he has trouble falling asleep at night, is irritable during the day, and picks fights with his roommates. He is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad at himself when he makes even tiny mistakes. It’s gotten to the point where he doubts his ability to do anything right.

Psychodynamic Perspective:

Miguel may have had a traumatic experience when he was a child, where he made a mistake that had severe consequences or caused him to be harshly reprimanded by his parents. Now he fixates on every mistake he makes as a means to prevent himself from having that experience again. This has created a “perfectionist” complex in Miguel, which he likely tries to repress. That act of repression then causes Miguel to be irritable and tired, but unable to fall asleep as his unconscious mind is still focused on his insecurities about completing simple tasks.

Behavioral Perspective:

Miguel may not be in an effective learning environment, which is influencing his ability to study. The lighting and decor of the room may be distracting him, or a lack of color and lighting could be putting him in a bad mood. The same can be attributed to Miguel’s lack of sleep. Miguel’s roommate may make a light of noise, keep his or her light on late at night, or talk to Miguel into the early hours of the morning. This would explain why Miguel picks so many fights with him or her.

Humanistic Perspective:

Miguel is struggling with his coursework and cannot get to sleep because he is not happy with who he is as a person. He needs to stop worrying about the past mistakes he has made, and believe that he is more capable of doing right than wrong. If he takes strides to believe in himself and focus on how he can succeed in the future, he will no longer have problems sleeping or doing homework, which will put him in a better mood overall.

Cognitive Perspective:

Miguel may not be fully developed cognitively. Miguel’s cognitive processing systems may get overloaded and shut down easily, causing him to have difficulties in paying attention and completely coursework. He also many not be fully developed in the problem-solving and decision-making regions of his brain. This can be concluded as Miguel is a perfectionist and doubts he can do anything right, meaning that he cannot properly come to solutions and be confident and content with them. These factors are most likely why Miguel is in such a foul mood and cannot sleep.

Neuroscience Perspective:

Miguel may have a genetic predisposition towards being a perfectionist. It is likely that Miguel was born this way, or inherited his perfectionist nature from his parents, who may show perfectionist tendencies as well. Miguel likely is always in a foul mood and cannot sleep because there he cannot find a way to stop being a perfectionist, as it is ingrained in his genetic code to act that way.

Cultural Perspective:

Miguel may come from a culture where making mistakes is not socially acceptable for children. Many cultures hold children to high standards and do not hold a very positive view of the mistake-making processes. Miguel may feel this pressure to conform to his culture’s social norm, therefore he beats himself up over any mistake he makes, leaving him unable to sleep well and extremely irritable.

--Original published at Site Title

Taking a psychodynamic approach, we would look at Miguel’s childhood and figure out what traumatic or memorable event caused him to act the way he does now.  His parents may have been very strict when he was younger and anal about him learning certain things a certain way.  This has caused him later in life to be very hard on himself especially when he can’t live up to or meet a certain potential.  He know deals with obstacles in his life with a negative approach that he will never be good enough, making him irritable and explaining him lashing out on his roommates.

Looking at Miguel’s situation from a behavioral standpoint he may be acting this way due to his external environment stimulating certain behaviors.  The outside world may be training him to act a certain way removing or changing certain things in Miguel’s daily routine can improve his behavior.  School stress and parental influence may be the reason he is so hard on himself and struggling in school.  Something is affecting him on the outside and causing him to act irritable and affecting his sleep.  Creating a happy and positive environment for Miguel may result in different outcomes in school life and home life.

The cognitive approach is determined by looking at expectation and emotion.  How Miguel internally processes and handles the obstacles of life will reflect externally.  When things are difficult for him he loads himself with stress.  When he can’t meet his own self inflicted expectations he turns it into a negative and therefore reflects negative responses.  These negative responses involve him being mean to his friends, having sleepless nights, and going through life with the wrong mindset he’s not good enough.

A humanistic outlook would focus on Miguel feeling good about oneself and focusing on fulfilling his needs and goals.  Motivating him to be the best person he can be and analyzing why he does something in the first place. Starting from the basics of fulfilling his little goals he can work his way up the pyramid to fill the bigger goals.  He need to find and realize his own self potential first.

From a cultural aspect, Miguel may be feeling extreme pressure due to the religion he practices or the expectations of those in his community.  Cultures cope with scenarios in different ways and the way he is taught to deal with things may be too much for him.  Cultures can also have certain standards they live by some requiring high self standards as well.

From a biological approach we would look at Miguel’s genetic makeup, hormones, and nervous system.  This approach would target understanding a healthy brain and examining the mind and body.  Miguel may be going through depression which can be inherited across generations and explain why he is so down on himself lately and irritable towards his friends.  Depression can interfere with normal life and lead to fatigue, slowness, and changes in sleeping patterns.

--Original published at Site Title

Miguel has been struggling with his coursework lately. He has felt very tired in recent weeks and has found it difficult to focus on his studies. Even though he is always tired, he has trouble falling asleep at night, is irritable during the day, and picks fights with his roommates. He is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad at himself when he makes even tiny mistakes. It’s gotten to the point where he doubts his ability to do anything right.

From a psychodynamic standpoint, Miguel appears to be very stressed. He also seems to find difficulty managing his frustration. There is a chance he has self-esteem issues, given his self-doubt. Overall, he seems to direct a great deal of anger inward.

Judging his behavior, it appears that Miguel has a difficult time holding back his feelings. Some of his frustrations become clear in the way he begins conflicts with his roommates. He cannot fall asleep because his mind never seems to feel at rest. His lack of sleep is likely a large factor in what’s making him so irritable, and in turn may be what is causing him to pick fights.

From a humanistic approach, Miguel may just be having a difficult time trying to succeed in school. He may be starting fights with his roommates because there are significant issues between them. With his studies, he may be directing his anger inwards because he feels he is not doing enough. He feels the need to succeed due to his own interests and possibly the importance of what others think. He wants to be moving forwards and is struggling with his hangup.

A cognitive approach would tell you that he may have a learning disability involving his focus. He also finds difficulty with reading other people’s emotions, and reacts strongly, starting conflicts with his roommates. As for his perfectionism, he treats most situations as if they are completely within his control, not understanding the other factors at play. He is unable to consider an objective approach to his issues, so instead he processes it as a deep personal flaw.

From neuroscience standpoint, there may be a disruption in his brain chemistry. Due to his lack of sleep, a chemical may be being produced too much or too little. Due to this pattern, his sleep patterns may be thrown off by that much consistent bad sleep. The disruption also hurts his ability to focus and process information and emotions.

There may also be a cultural factor at play. Miguel could come from an immigrant family or live in an area where he feels like a minority. People like his roommates could be treating him differently or unfairly, making him feel distant and emotionally upset. Due to this constant discomfort, he cannot sleep at night due to feeling threatened or depressed about his isolation. He also finds it difficult to learn in the same environment as the majority around him.

--Original published at Em

Psychodynamic this point of view would suggest that he is not aware of what is really bothering him such as an unconscious mind theory by Freud. They would suggest something such as a talking cure.

Behavioral point of view would  first only observe him. Then when focusing on observations suggest that Miguel sleep more, get along with his roommate and perhaps put less pressure on himself.

Humanistic point of view would suggest that this is just part of Miguel personal growth and freedom. He may just need some time to get through this. This is just part of his journey.

Cognitive point of view would focus on how Miguel is thinking about these issues. He is the one who is putting so much pressure on himself. Maybe he has a negative thought process. He could form a positive thought process.

Neuroscience would focus on what is going on biologically? chemically even? perhaps he has a imbalance of testosterone making him particularly aggressive and irritable? Perhaps he is depressed and cannot sleep this could cause a lack of sleep leading to these symptoms. Perhaps through medication he could feel better.

Culturally perhaps his surrounding area puts Miguel up against a lot of stress. Perhaps he is at an ivy league school and his parents told him to be at the top of the class or do not come home. Culturally simply refers to a specific area.