Topic: Wellness
Publication: Monitor on Psychology
Article: Caffeine’s wake-up call.
Blogger: Larry Martinez
We all have that one person in the office who just can’t function properly until they’ve had their cup of coffee in the morning (maybe it’s you). And who doesn’t get a boost out of a candy bar and soda around mid-afternoon? A short article in the APA Monitor synthesized some of the most relevant research on America’s favorite and most widely accepted drug: caffeine.
Issue 1: Is there a placebo effect for caffeine?
Well, like almost any other psychological question, the answer is “it depends.” Forty-five minutes after participants received caffeinated coffee but thought they were given decaf, they reported more physiological withdrawal symptoms than every other group in this classic placebo experimental design (got/didn’t get caffeine, thought they got caffeine/thought they got decaf)..… That is, if they expected they would feel sluggish and tired, they reported that way. However, after a couple of hours, the placebo effect wore off. So, from a physiological point of view, placebo effects only work in the short term. You can’t fool your body for long though; it’ll soon realize what’s up and respond accordingly.
