The opinion of the adults around them as to whether amping them up to that degree was a legitimate pedagogical approach is culturally-bound, however – the Israeli teachers were totally unconcerned by the ruckus that ensued.

Is this a double blind test as well? I’m not aware if this article is genuine or not, but is the writer?

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has an excellent review of a larger body of work than that reviewed by this group. I can’t get the pdfs to download right now, and DISCUS won’t show up on the computer I have a copy on. Sigh. I also can’t log in as my self  on BB. Anyone interested should be able to find it on their site.

MGatch
current professor of pharmacology and former school psychologist.

People who ‘think’ they’ve drunk alcohol and are in a room with others who appear to be intoxicated will themselves act in a similar fashion. Though it works when they’re alone too, it’s more pronounced when they perceive the behaviour of other people.

I’ve seen this phenomena with children who’s parents believe they ‘act out’ (years in child protection have given me lots of opportunities to ‘parent watch’ and interview). Often the children’s behaviour is ordinary. Sometimes it’s a little on the ‘upbeat’ side but nothing unusual.

If the parents think the child is medicated they rate the behaviour as less annoying than if they think the child isn’t – even though the behaviour is similar.

I’ve come across lots of instance of ” makes my kid hyper” only to find that the foster carers or school find it doesn’t.

Parents perception and responses to the child are more likely the cause of the reported behaviour than the child intake of anything.

This is not to say that some children are not hyperactive or easily moved to activity, just that the greater probability is that the parents preconceived notions of normal/abnormal and their self-fulfilling prophesies and behaviour are greater predictions of a child being identified as problematic.

It’s a treat he gets with grandma and he gets excited by that.

After a mid day  Christmas party, the person I was with had a craving for Rollos (chocolate and caramel) and expressos, so we made a sugar/caffeine run.  The following monday, I said “You know, I went home and cleaned my apartment.” and my coworker said “You know, so did I!”

Also there’s a similar string of studies showing the same kinds of results about drunken behaviour. That if someone thinks they are having booz they act out, and if they don’t know they are drinking alcohol they don’t act obnoxiously drunk. Lot of the studies were with university students, and indicated much of what we write off as booz induced insanity is really just booz incited play acting of what they have come to think of as what being a drunken teen is supposed to look like.

SUUUGGGAARR!!!!!!!

I think the driving force behind the phenomenon is that most parents want to believe that absent external stimuli, their kids are generally good, polite, well-behaved people. They’re not. No kid is. They’re quasi-people. And the closer to real people they become, the less time they generally want to spend with their parents.

Parenting is a tough job, and your kids will spend a large amount of time as monsters. If you believe that they are somehow impossible to wrangle due to a few teaspoons of sugar, they’ll pick up on it, and they’ll act like they are beyond control. If you act like they always can be wrangled and you expect more from them, they’ll most likely rise to the expectations.

…and yes I was an overweight child…and I’m still working on it.

(On the flip side all that exposure to caffeine I think has made me sensitive to it.  So now I have a heavily caffeinated beverage only once or twice a week.)