Jackalgirl
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
- 1,801
I have not had a scientific test of my ability yet since that is something that needs to be arranged with an impartial and credible party.
Welcome to the Forum!
Let me suggest that your best bet is to come up with a test of your abilities, the result of which is self-evident.
What you do NOT want is a test that requires someone to judge that you are or are not successful.
By having a test in which the results are self-evident, the partiality and credibility of the witness is less important -- in fact, what you end up is with someone who is a witness, not a judge, which is the point.
So here's what I'd recommend -- a "dry run" test that you can do with two friends based on Maldach's suggestion. This is not a very tight protocol in terms of controlling for trickery, and the IIG will want something tighter. But it gets you in the neighborhood.
Requirements:
You, Friend A, Friend B (each friend has a notepad)
Three small beakers
Hot water dispenser* with hot distilled water in it
Three measuring teaspoons
Three stirrers (glass stirring sticks are fine)
Table salt
Baking soda
Powdered alum
Sharpie
Three 1" x 1" pieces of paper
Roll of removable tape
one six-sided die
Tube of Ben-Gay, mentholated cream, or some other very strong-smelling substance.
Three rooms (Prep room, Preparer waiting room, VFF waiting room)
*I am envisioning one of those dispensing thingies that have a button on the top that you use to "pump" hot water into a cup. I haven't the slightest what they're called.
While you and friend A (from here out, the observer) wait in the VFF waiting room, Friend B (from here out, the preparer) goes into the prep room, where all of the equipment except for the tube of strong-smelling stuff is located (that is in the VFF waiting room). The preparer rolls one six-sided dice:
On a roll of 1-2, the preparer starts with salt, taking a leveled spoon of salt and mixing it into x oz of hot water* until it is completely dissolved. This preparation is labelled "1" using the Sharpie, one of the tags, and the tape, and the preparer annotates the number/substance correlation on a notepad. The teaspoon and stirring stick are set aside, not to be used again.
On a roll of 3-4 the preparer does the same as above, but starts with baking soda.
On a roll of 5-6, the prepare does the same as above, but starts with alum.
Once the first beaker is prepared, the preparer rolls the die again. On 1-3, the next preparation will: baking soda if the first item was salt, alum if the first item was baking soda, salt if the first item was alum. On 4-6, the next preparation will be: alum if the first item was salt, salt if the first item was baking soda, baking soda if the first item was alum. The solution is prepared as before (with a new teaspoon and stirring stick), this beaker being labeled "2" and number/preparation recorded on the preparer's notepad. Again, the measuring spoon and stirring stick are set aside.
The preparer then prepares the last beaker with the remaining substance using a new teaspoon and stirring stick and labels it "3", recording the result on his or her notepad.
The preparer leaves the room, taking his/her notepad, and knocks on the VFF door in passing, going to the Preparer waiting room.
VFF and the observer wait 30 seconds to allow the Preparer to get into his/her waiting room. VFF and her observer both apply a bit of the strong smelling stuff underneath their nose, then she and her observer go into the Prep room. VFF does whatever she needs to do in order to determine which beaker contains which solution short of actually tasting or smelling the solution. The observer records the results. VFF and the observer return to the VFF waiting room.
*where "x" is a reasonable amount to allow for solution without allowing the contents to be exceptionally smelly. Perhaps we'll need to go with 1/4 tsp or something -- VFF will need to indicate the minimal amount of substance she needs to be in the water in order for her ability to work.
A couple of notes:
Someone smarter than I in stats is going to have to figure out some stuff, such as how changing the die rolls from 1-2 in the first determination to 1-3 on the second changes the situation (if at all). Also, a stats person would need to tell you how many times you'd have to repeat this single run in order to get statistically significant success (all three right in how many repeats? Two out of three in how many repeats? One in three in how many repeats?). You'd actually end up needing more beakers, teaspoons, and stirrers if you had to repeat each run, since you'd want to use clean equipment each time.
Also, for a tighter protocol, you'll need a third friend: one to prepare the beakers (and write down which ones contained which, without labeling, left-to-right), a second to label the beakers left-to-right with a randomly-determined number or letter (and record which number/letter goes with which beaker, left-to-right), and your observer. If the person labeling the beakers does not know which container has what substance in it, he or she can't give away (purposefully or accidentally) which is why by changing the way they're labeled. Of course, this person would need to have the smelly stuff applied under his/her nose too.
Anyway -- try this out once and let us know how it turns out. Are you able to get all three correctly identified?
