In a recent study examining the relationship between expectation and

I know the OA is suppose to be (B), and it's clear that the other answers are all problematic in one way or another. I will say, though, this is not a satisfying question. Let's examine the world that would be true in (B).

The researchers told the subjects to focus on: which one had a secret ingredient? Let's assume subjects really were focused on that. When subjects would taste one, the normal one, it would fit their expectations. When they would taste the other, with white vinegar, presumably this one would be different from what they expected. So we know they would be trying to identify which one was different, and it's reasonable to assume that when they tasted the one with white vinegar, they had an experience different from what they were expecting. Granting all that, how do we conclude they they would like the experience of soda with white vinegar, preferring it to the normal soda? That seems to be a gigantic leap. I could easily imagine the subjects taking a swig of the altered soda and saying, "YUCK! I don't know why that one's so foul, but there's definitely something off about it." In other words, just because they were looking for something different, and just because they had an experience that did not meet their expectations, I see no basis for concluding with any confidence that they liked the altered soda or, even more so, that they would have preferred. Vastly unpleasant experiences can also result when one's expectations are not met.

Perhaps whoever wrote this question had in mind some assumptions from the psychology of perception, but a good CR question doesn't rely on outside knowledge. I have seriously doubts about this question.

Let me know if anyone would like to discuss this further.
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i totally endorse this point .in fact i find the verbal of gmat club test not a representative of gmat .some the SC are really flawed

I had it narrowed down to A and B and REALLY wanted to pick A just because it stated outright that people actually prefer white vinegar in their cola, and if that is assumed to be true, how could it not be the answer? But it just seemed so crazy to me that A would be the answer just because it said it straight out like that. I agree with Mike, this question is pretty goofy.

Hi,

Since we have to make some kind of assumption here, can't we make the following:
This is a study that's accomplished. This means that the people taken are representative of the general population.
If most of the population like vinegar in the cola, isn't it logical that this is the reason we got the results we got?

KEY:
researchers were SURPRISED --> why?
they might have expected or generally, WHITE VINEGAR is not a preferred taste, but still, white vinegar was preferred by 75% of the survey people.

PRE-THINK- what could be the reason
people in the research wanted to know the secrete ingredients

Option B

100% agree with this. I kept thinking...I know I am walking into a trap by picking A, but it couldn't be more obvious. Mike's reasoning is great though and took it a bit deeper than I did.
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Need expert advice on this one. Mike has clearly stated the point that I wanted to ask but how and why are people hooting for A and not D?
A states that "Most people actually prefer a cola beverage containing white vinegar." Who are these people? We are concerned about study participants?
D clearly calls out that the sample set itself was biased. So, why not D?
Please help!
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If D were answer there are open ends:
1. Why is it 3:1 , why not 4:0 if everything was biased?
2. There is no relatively enjoyment given , what if those people could enjoy normal cola over vinegar cola
3. How would you explain if participants didn't have any preference (unbiased participants), maybe they really liked vinegar cola over normal cola .
4. If they already knew the biasness , why did they need to surprise? - How would you explain this?
You could challenge more in D over A or B

A has also some gap: It does not explain why researchers were surprised.

As above posts mentioned gaps for B: different doesn't mean preference.

Hello mikemcgarry
I think the statement "relationship between expectation and experience of flavor" wanted to convey the same point as yours (but in a different way)- people expected something better when they were told that the cola had a “secret ingredient” (which was actually nothing special) but since they were expecting something better than regular cola because of the special ingredient they preferred it. But not every participant fell into this trap - 3:1.
This is my understanding, it may look like a long shot but since this is an OQ cannot fight with this one. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

I think A and D can quickly be eliminated because we're told that researched were surprised by the result.

If the study contained people that mostly like a beverage containing white vinegar or if the study participants were selected based on their enjoyment of white vinegar, then the researchers would not be surprised by the end result.
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Please correct me if I am wrong.
Since
"researchers were surprised when participants preferred the white vinegar version"
it is obvious that they are not expected to like white vinegar.

But since they are focused to identify the ingredient, they preferred cola with white vinegar (looks like taste is secondary). However in this case A is better option.

Does "identify" have the same meaning as "prefer"?
Participants are trying to identify the "secret ingredient" so most of them prefer the one with vinegar?

I am confused...