Red Licorice > Goldfish > Cheerios

Around the fifth grade, I had to do a science experiment where I formed a hypothesis, tested the hypothesis, and drew a conclusion from my test data. My lab rat sibling was presented with two cups - one red, one yellow. A vanilla wafer was always hidden beneath the red cup to see if the sibling recognized the successful pattern of choosing red. I stood behind the subject with a clip board recording the test results. Like many things in life I don't remember the final result (I didn't even know then about the statistical tests I would need to draw such a conclusion, but I had construction paper, Polaroid pictures, and a folding three-part peg board presentation going for me, which carries far more weight in elementary school than some silly chi-squared test), but a fascination with experiments and measurement began.

So now as a dad with two lab rats daughters, I have ample time to look for patterns. Here is one:

Camy is presented with an equal number of goldfish and cheerios (one goldfish already in hand, but that is not statistically significant):



The null hypothesis, H₀, is that she prefers neither over the other and will consume them at random.

This next picture shows all the goldfish gone, all the cheerios remaining, and Camy reaching for the reserve of goldfish.



What are the odds? 1 to 251.

While we cannot prove the preference of goldfish over cheerios, we can clearly reject the premise that she prefers each equally. As for me, I prefer goldfish to cheerios too.

When Edna came back from Utah, she brought back some Red Vines licorice, which is not typically distributed out here on the East Coast. It was the best breakfast I have had in months. Then, she discovered, that a local Target has started carrying Red Vines [insert chorus singing "Hallelujah"], which means I can now eat lunch and dinner quantities of Red Vines.

Now Macy has never snatched a goldfish from my mouth, but that is what she decided to do when she saw the Red Vine:

Camy did the same thing:

This led me to the conclusion that licorice > goldfish. And by the transitive law of baby food preference licorice > cheerios. But now, eating licorice and holding the girls are mutually exclusive activities.

Lastly, a video. This one pretty much shows that sleep > goldfish. The real question is licorice > sleep? Maybe we'll find out in the next few days...