Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Q&A about words Olfaction
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
either the test is blind, or we know something about one of the two identical samples. Or did I miss something?
Understand your confusion.
I am not a student of such tests, nor have I ever participated in one, so the term "blind smell test" probably means something different to me than to someone who posseses those qualifications.
What I mean by a "blind smell test" is that the test participants have absolutely no fore-knowledge of what they are sampling.
In theory, this should ensure that they will be responding to the smell itself, and not to any suggestion implanted in their mind before they sample the sample.
If one knew in advance that one of the samples was a Jo Lo fragrance, and another a no-name sample, this would not be a "blind smell test" according to my definition, even if both samples were identical.
As an aside, it seems to me that the genius of the so-called "Pepsi Challenge" is that test participants are required to indicate a preference for one sample or another. They are not given the option of indicating that they can't tell the difference.
I have conducted my own small-scale surveys to test my hypothesis and my surveys demonstrate that most people (including myself) do not possess sufficient refinement in their 'taste buds' to distinguish a difference between Pepsi and Coke. This means that most people who 'prefer' Coke will choose Pepsi at least half of the time.
That's the genius of the "Pepsi Challenge".
A small percentage of the population can actually distinguish a difference between Coke and Pepsi in a 'blind taste test', but the percentage is too small to undermine the effectiveness of "the Pepsi Challenge" given that people with a 'true preference' will tend to cancel one another out.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Olfaction maahey 03/14/04 06:25 PM Re: Olfaction TEd Remington 03/14/04 07:09 PM Re: Olfaction wsieber 03/15/04 02:09 PM Re: Olfaction jheem 03/14/04 07:27 PM Re: Olfaction of troy 03/14/04 08:49 PM Re: Olfaction Buffalo Shrdlu 03/14/04 08:58 PM Re: Olfaction Faldage 03/14/04 10:01 PM Re: Olfaction belMarduk 03/14/04 11:53 PM Re: Olfaction Jackie 03/15/04 03:43 PM Re: Olfaction maahey 03/15/04 05:36 PM Re: Olfaction maahey 03/15/04 06:12 PM Re: Olfaction wow 03/15/04 08:00 PM Re: Olfaction wwh 03/15/04 09:41 PM Re: Olfaction consuelo 03/15/04 09:46 PM Re: Olfaction wwh 03/15/04 07:19 PM Olfactory Business grapho 03/16/04 11:18 AM Re: Olfactory Business of troy 03/16/04 11:40 AM Re: Olfactory Business inselpeter 03/16/04 02:16 PM Re: Olfaction Father Steve 03/16/04 06:56 AM "Illusion" grapho 03/16/04 09:59 AM Re: "Illusion" wsieber 03/16/04 11:42 AM Re: "Illusion" grapho 03/16/04 12:28 PM Re: mothers wwh 03/16/04 01:49 PM Re: mothers dxb 03/16/04 02:11 PM Re: "Illusion" Jackie 03/16/04 01:43 PM Re: "Illusion" of troy 03/16/04 02:18 PM Re: "Illusion" dxb 03/16/04 02:18 PM Re: "Illusion" belMarduk 03/16/04 10:44 PM Re: "Illusion" grapho 03/17/04 02:38 AM
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,367Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 0 members (), 653 guests, and 0 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 21
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,561tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,919Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org