sac psych

• Social influence; participants may have been influenced by the reactions or responses of others in the experimental setting, causing them to guess the same flavor, even if they have different perceptions – the experiment should be conducted in a private setting where participants cannot observe or hear each other’s reaction/responses
• Prior drink consumption; the taste of previous drink flavor may have influenced the taste of the experimental cup. The participants should be allowed to take a short break in between or have a palette cleanser like water
• An alternative experimental design could be a between subject’s design. In this design, the participants are divided into different groups and only complete one condition. This minimizes any order effects that may occur for example fatigue, where the participants are less attentive to the sensory stimuli, and it also requires less time from each participant.
• The internal validity may have been limited due to the lack of focus on controlling potential extraneous variables in the experiment. This causes an uncertainty whether the results were solely due to the manipulation of the independent variable or other factors. However, the internal validity is not necessarily low, as the results supported the hypothesis, which suggests that the outcome may have been due to the independent variable.
• The external validity is limited as the experiment was conducted on a specific group (year 8 students) and a small sample (20 people) which may not accurately reflect the gustatory perception in the broader population or other age groups. Therefore, the results are less likely to be generalized.
• With the research findings, parents can use this knowledge to encourage their children to try new and healthier foods by giving them healthy foods, in visually appealing ways that align with their expectations of what they find appealing. This may help increase children’s willingness to taste and enjoy those foods.