There’s a difficulty that affects tests like these: you can be much more sensitive when you know you’re being tested, so it wouldn’t tell as much about people who can be fooled when given wine that they didn’t expect something was wrong with. The test would have to be made slightly more difficult in order to account for your preparation.
Here’s what I would consider a fair test: I pick three wines, (or imitations of wines) and then do a modified version of the triangle test: I can make all three the same, all three different, or just two the same, and not tell you which. To pass, you have to correctly rank their prices and identify which, if any, are the same. (You’d be allowed to count two different ones as effectively the same prices if they differed only by a few Euros.)
And of course, the test would have to be triple blind, etc.
You can be much more sensitive when you know you’re being tested
Why thank you. So, you are expecting that in some situations people actually can tell wines apart?
Here’s what I would consider a fair test
Sounds complex. I might play, but you’d have a) to pick three wines I can actually pick up in my local supermarket chain, Monoprix; they have an online catalog; b) to write the instructions with enough precision that a local confederate can carry them out. I’m willing to do the work myself for the simple case (have done so in the grandparent), but not if the rules get too baroque.
There’s one thing I object to. Why do I have to rank them by price? I am not claiming that the more expensive wines are systematically better, taste-wise, than the cheaper ones. I do claim that the very good stuff is more likely to be found in the more expensive bottles. There is no reason to expect that price will be systematically correlated with my idiosyncratic, relatively untrainted tastes.
If I have to rank them by price via recognition, I’d have to have tried them out beforehand. If your hypothesis is correct that shouldn’t affect the results, since you’re claiming my discrimination of “better” comes from priming effects.
Why thank you. So, you are expecting that in some situations people actually can tell wines apart?
Sure, just like how, if you put enough effort in, you can tell any two drinks apart. The difference is that people make these claims about wine without have done the exercises necessary for precise discernment, yet claim these subtleties matter to them.
Sounds complex. I might play, but you’d have a) to pick three wines I can actually pick up in my local supermarket chain, Monoprix; they have an online catalog; b) to write the instructions with enough precision that a local confederate can carry them out. I’m willing to do the work myself for the simple case (have done so in the grandparent), but not if the rules get too baroque.
You’re really not grasping the concept of biasproofing, are you? “A confederate” taints the experiment. Your purchasing the wines taints the experiment.
There’s one thing I object to. Why do I have to rank them by price? I am not claiming that the more expensive wines are systematically better, taste-wise, than the cheaper ones.
Okay, well, the wine cheerleaders do, so this is one way you break from them and agree with me.
If I have to rank them by price via recognition, I’d have to have tried them out beforehand. If your hypothesis is correct that shouldn’t affect the results, since you’re claiming my discrimination of “better” comes from priming effects.
Does not follow: if you’re told in advance which has the label “good”, you can spit that information back out latter. My claim is that a judgment of good dependent on being told in advance that it’s good is not a genuine judgment of good.
You’re really not grasping the concept of biasproofing, are you? “A confederate” taints the experiment.
Not performing the experiment taints it even more. But perhaps by now we’ve learned enough of each other’s claims. I leave it to you to find a way forward.
There’s a difficulty that affects tests like these: you can be much more sensitive when you know you’re being tested, so it wouldn’t tell as much about people who can be fooled when given wine that they didn’t expect something was wrong with. The test would have to be made slightly more difficult in order to account for your preparation.
Here’s what I would consider a fair test: I pick three wines, (or imitations of wines) and then do a modified version of the triangle test: I can make all three the same, all three different, or just two the same, and not tell you which. To pass, you have to correctly rank their prices and identify which, if any, are the same. (You’d be allowed to count two different ones as effectively the same prices if they differed only by a few Euros.)
And of course, the test would have to be triple blind, etc.
Why thank you. So, you are expecting that in some situations people actually can tell wines apart?
Sounds complex. I might play, but you’d have a) to pick three wines I can actually pick up in my local supermarket chain, Monoprix; they have an online catalog; b) to write the instructions with enough precision that a local confederate can carry them out. I’m willing to do the work myself for the simple case (have done so in the grandparent), but not if the rules get too baroque.
There’s one thing I object to. Why do I have to rank them by price? I am not claiming that the more expensive wines are systematically better, taste-wise, than the cheaper ones. I do claim that the very good stuff is more likely to be found in the more expensive bottles. There is no reason to expect that price will be systematically correlated with my idiosyncratic, relatively untrainted tastes.
If I have to rank them by price via recognition, I’d have to have tried them out beforehand. If your hypothesis is correct that shouldn’t affect the results, since you’re claiming my discrimination of “better” comes from priming effects.
Sure, just like how, if you put enough effort in, you can tell any two drinks apart. The difference is that people make these claims about wine without have done the exercises necessary for precise discernment, yet claim these subtleties matter to them.
You’re really not grasping the concept of biasproofing, are you? “A confederate” taints the experiment. Your purchasing the wines taints the experiment.
Okay, well, the wine cheerleaders do, so this is one way you break from them and agree with me.
Does not follow: if you’re told in advance which has the label “good”, you can spit that information back out latter. My claim is that a judgment of good dependent on being told in advance that it’s good is not a genuine judgment of good.
Not performing the experiment taints it even more. But perhaps by now we’ve learned enough of each other’s claims. I leave it to you to find a way forward.