By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm:
This post pays tribute to the notion that in research, everything matters. Yes, even what the research participants eat. Think about it: As participants check in, they’re met with a “Continental” breakfast (featuring the food of the continent where, apparently, only muffins and sweet pastries are served). Then after what is probably a somewhat reasonable lunch, they’re met with an afternoon snack featuring cookies, brownies, or for one recent project, a bowl of candy bars. All the while, in the observation room, the research team, clients, and attorneys are busy consuming what appear to be endless bowls of M&Ms.
We know, or should know, by now that these eating habits contribute to long-term health problems. But what you might not know is that this continuous sugaring during a research project is also contributing to a shorter-term problem with a direct impact on the value of your research results. Based on new research — featured not by a health food crusader or anti-sugar zealot, but from Dr. Jeremy Dean’s estimable Psyblog — sugar consumption is associated with worsened learning and recall at the time. Research hosts and coordinators might believe that these sweets are somehow “energizing” the participants, thinking that a sugar buzz is going to lead to more participation. In practice, however, the effect is likely to be the opposite. Better foods will reduce those memory-sapping metabolic spikes, lead to a more balanced and alert research participant, and contribute to better results.
The Sugar Brain-Drain
The research published in the journal Neurology (Kerti et al., 2013) looked at the sugar response from those with a normal range of blood sugar (those without diabetes, glucose intolerance, chronically high blood sugar level, obesity, or alcohol problems). The researchers assessed the glucose and insulin levels of 141 participants, comparing them to the results of an MRI scan, as well as to an auditory and verbal test which involved learning a list of words and then trying to recall them 30 minutes later. The results were that the lower the participants’ blood sugar levels, the better their recall.
The team also observed structural changes in the brain: Those with lower blood sugar also had a larger hippocampi, seeming to suggest that they have a better long-term memory as well. This study is consistent with other research (e.g, Molteni et al., 2002), also showing that refined sugars (which are more likely to cause blood sugar spikes than naturally occurring sugars) impact brain function leading to measurably reduced performance on memory tasks.
What About Realism?
The American diet is pretty high in processed sugars, so isn’t it possible that the actual jurors will be sugar junkies as well? Sure, it is, but it is a question of access and likelihood. While it is possible that a juror might attend trial with a knapsack full of Red Vines, it seems less likely that the jury box and waiting room in your actual trial will come equipped with bottomless bowls of candy for all. During the research project, you don’t want to encourage atypically high levels of sugar consumption.
In addition, even if it is common, high sugar consumption isn’t going to help you meet your research goals. By design, a mock trial or a focus group is purposefully presenting a trial in a condensed format. You’re sharing information in one day that would, in more realistic circumstances, be spread out over a week or more. For that reason, it is certainly a defensible research choice to try to promote levels of concentration that are greater than is typical for most jurors. Based on the research discussed above, that means less sugar.
Serve This Instead
Going back to the purpose, the point of food is to keep participants comfortable and engaged so they can focus on the task at hand. So what you serve should facilitate concentration, or at least not detract from it.
Reliable nutrition information can be tough to find these days, but the trustworthy WebMD site lists a few foods that might help your mock jurors concentrate. That list does include some natural sugars (natural fructose, not sucrose), and even a little chocolate. But the list is heavy on slower-burn foods like whole grains and fish. Personally, I believe the following options help keep jurors fed but not over-sweetened:
- Cheese
- Deli slices
- Raw veggies and dip
- Pita chips
- Pretzels
- Nuts
As far as drinks go, some of your jurors predictably will be addicted to sodas, and depriving them of that fix would be as unwise as cutting off the coffee supply. But on the whole, make sure that plenty of water and tea are available as well.
I’m aware that all of this might seem like pretty mundane project details. But after years of seeing mock trial facility after facility promoting sweets as a preferred tool for keeping the participants amped up, I feel compelled to speak out. The nutritional science is clear: Sugar isn’t “energizing” the mock jurors, it’s wearing them out and dumbing them down.
______
Other Posts on Mock Trial and Focus Group Design:
- Conduct Discovery on Your Trial Audience
- Tune in to the Signal and Not the Noise in Pretrial Research
- Be Skeptical of Dial Testing
______
Kerti, L., Witte, A. V., Winkler, A., Grittner, U., Rujescu, D., & Flöel, A. (2013). Higher glucose levels associated with lower memory and reduced hippocampal microstructure. Neurology, 81(20), 1746-1752.
Photo Credit: Ted Major, Flickr Creative Commons