Psychologists and marketers alike are aware that product labels can trigger brand loyalty and influence customers’ perceptions of quality. A recent experiment, however, goes beyond loyalty and suggests that expectation can alter the experience of taste itself. In the experiment, 300 men and women tasted two versions of a beverage each - one a regular cola and the other the same cola with a few drops of white vinegar added. A prior survey had found that most cola drinkers thought vinegar would worsen the taste. Participants were told only that one of the beverages, called “cola extra,” contained an unspecified secret ingredient. Researchers found that in a blind taste test of 100 people, 60 percent actually preferred the vinegar-enriched “cola extra.” A second group of 100 learned after they had tasted both beverages that vinegar was the secret ingredient; this group preferred “cola extra” by the same percentage. A final group was told before tasting that one of the colas contained vinegar - here, only about one-third of respondents favored “cola extra.” These results echo earlier work in sensory neuroscience: functional-MRI studies show that when wine drinkers are told a bottle is expensive, activation in reward-related gustatory regions rises even though the wine is identical. Marketing researchers likewise observe that labeling chocolates or coffees as “premium” consistently heightens reported flavor intensity. Taken together, such findings suggest that expectation can penetrate beyond conscious belief and modulate the neural coding of taste. Because the cola experiment sampled mostly habitual cola drinkers aged 18-35, future research should test other age groups and less familiar beverages to see whether the effect generalizes. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the conclusion that expectation influences taste? A. A majority in all three test groups preferred standard cola to "cola extra," regardless of whether they were told it contained a secret ingredient. B. The experiment was conducted again with vanilla as the secret ingredient and produced similar results. C. Taste testers were told that a "bitter ingredient," rather than a "secret ingredient," had been added to the colas. D. A previous survey had established that consumers thought vinegar would worsen the taste of cola. E. Both colas were given to taste testers in glasses that looked exactly alike.

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V02-19, V02-20, V02-21, V02-22

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Falcon45

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17 Aug 2025, 08:14

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This is a great question that’s helpful for learning and I don’t quite agree with the solution. The passage starts with product labels. Labels have ingredients and ingredients have effect on the perception of taste according to the experiment of last 100 people.

hr1212

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19 Aug 2025, 01:12

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Great point that the ingredients can affect perception in real world. But I would consider that outside knowledge unless explicitly stated in the passage. I think the key here is that for the experiment mentioned, the participants weren’t shown labels; they were just told verbally that either one had some secret ingredient or one of the colas had vinegar after they have tasted. So the shift in preference wasn’t about reading an ingredient label, but about how knowing something in advance can shape your experience. The passage starts with labels as a broader idea, but the experiment focuses more on expectation itself, not labeling directly.

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24 Oct 2025, 12:25

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I don’t quite agree with the solution. Dont think this is a good question. Never saw anything similar in FE. Anyways, B makes no sense, it basically repeats word for word the previous paragraph. Why would they repeat the same idea. Honestly there is no good solution available.

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24 Oct 2025, 13:02

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Hi MarcoPag,

In my experience, I would say this is a recurring theme which is commonly tested on FE, where you would even find lot of similarly patterned official questions. The idea for such questions is to understand if the candidates can understand the group biases and the assumptions being made to arrive at the mentioned conclusions. As for B, that’s another frequently used option in CR, where you are given a similar experiment and you have to infer if that experiment holds any substance to conclude anything for the experiment mentioned in your given argument. If you go through the official guide, you will find multiple examples of such options too.

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29 Oct 2025, 14:18

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I can't see the other questions related to this passage. I answered this in sectional quiz.

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30 Oct 2025, 09:31

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I don’t quite agree with the solution. I think the option B is actually a restatement of the last paragraph, don't know why would anyone open with a restatement.

AditiDeokar

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25 Dec 2025, 23:37

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Which of the following would be the most logical first sentence for a paragraph that immediately follows the passage? - V02-21, I received this question in a mock, and I don't understand how is the answer B - [color=#2a2a2a]These findings therefore call for follow-up studies that vary both age range and beverage familiarity to test whether the expectation effect truly generalizes.[/color]

Because the last sentence of the passage says this - Because the cola experiment sampled mostly habitual cola drinkers aged 18-35, future research should test other age groups and less familiar beverages to see whether the effect generalizes.

Isn't this just a repeat?

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07 Jan 2026, 02:34

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Hi,

I believe you might be mixing up 2 different questions, as for this question the answer is D) not B) - can you help share the question link for the question you are referring to, and I can accordingly look into it to help you better ?

AditiDeokar

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31 Mar 2026, 00:00

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I don’t quite agree with the solution. Last line of the passage already specified that further research should test other age groups. Option B is making the same point! How come this can be the next line.

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Updated on: 03 Apr 2026, 07:47

Originally posted by bhanu29 on 03 Apr 2026, 07:44.
Last edited by bhanu29 on 03 Apr 2026, 07:47, edited 1 time in total.

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gullyboy09

D says: Even when told about vinegar in advance, 60% still preferred vinegar cola, same as the blind group.
This directly contradicts the result, which was the only evidence that expectation suppressed taste. If that result doesn't replicate, the entire conclusion loses its foundation.

Why B fails: It swaps the ingredient entirely. The argument is specifically about negative expectation (vinegar was pre-surveyed as off-putting). Vanilla doesn't test that, it's a different experiment, not a replication.

Hope this helps!!

- Bhanu