Psy101 Lab – Measuring Caffeine Consumptions
Name: __________________________________________
Date: __________________________________________
This activity offers the opportunity to examine your intake of caffeinated beverages and
compare them Shohet and Landrum study performed by the Addiction Research Foundation.
This lab has two major components. The first is an examination of your own caffeine
consumption. The second part you give the survey questions to two of your friends that are not
in the class. Once you have collected this data you are to complete the charts below and
answer the lab questions. Please turn in your survey data sheet along with your friends when
you finish the lab.
YOUR INFORMATION
Time of Day
# of Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
6 AM- Noon
Noon-6PM
6PM-Midnight
Average Per
Day
# of
Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
Average Per
Week
# of
Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
Average Per
Day
# of
Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
Average Per
Week
# of
Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
Midnight-6AM
Total # of Drinks
Total Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
YOUR FRIENDS INFORMATION
Time of Day
6 AM- Noon
# of Drinks
Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
Noon-6PM
6PM-Midnight
Midnight-6AM
Total # of Drinks
Total Amount of
Caffeine(mg)
1
Chart Data For Comparison
Landrum administered the Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire (CCQ) to 116 undergraduates and found a
mean caffeine ingestion rate of 765 mg/week, with men ingesting over 100 mg/week more than women. However,
caffeine usage among undergraduates appears to be on the rise. Shohet and Landrum (2001b) gave the CCQ to 691
sudents. They found a mean ingestion rate of almost 1600 mg of caffeine per week (range of 13 mg/week to
21,840), almost double the rate of the earlier study. Caffeine usage among undergraduates was near the addiction
range estimated by the ARF. The ARF estimated that 20% of the population ingests more than 350 mg of caffeine a
day, which would equate to 2450 mg per week. Also, the ARF estimated that only 3% of people ingest 650 mg or
more of caffeine per day, or 4550 mg weekly on Landrum’s scale. Shohet and Landrum reported the following
patterns of caffeine usage.
Time of day
Morning (6AM-noon)
Afternoon (noon-6 PM)
Evening (6 PM-midnight)
Night (midnight-6 AM)
mg/week
534.2
488.2
473.1
86.8
f of use per week
8.9
8.6
8.2
5.1
In addition to the time-of-day statistics, Shohet and Landrum (2001b) also found the levels of caffeine for
percentiles of the students who completed the CCQ (see below).
Percentile
Consumption (mg/week)
90th
3453.7
80th
2402.0
70th
1773.3
60th
1411.6
50th
1068.5
40th
834.2
30th
654.1
20th
475.4
10th
284.7
QUESTIONS
1) Based on the information provided in the Data Chart Above, how do you compare? How does your friend
compare?
2) At what time of day do you consume the most caffeine?
3) Why might you consume more caffeine during this time of the day?
4) According to the Addiction Research Foundation, are you or your friend addicted to caffeine?
2
CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION QUESTIONNAIRE
Please complete the following questions as honestly as possible. Indicate the number of times during the past
week you consumed any of these products. That is, if you had 1 latte on Tuesday and Thursday morning last week,
write the number “2” in the box for the row “Latte” in the column “Morning.” Do not fill in any numbers in the
shaded boxes.
Morning
6 AM -12noon
Afternoon
12noon-6PM
Evening
6 PM -12mid
Night
12mid-6 AM
mg
COFFEE/COCOA (8 oz.)
Regular brewed
Drip brewed
Decaffeinated brewed
Decaffeinated drip
Espresso, single shot
Caffé mocha, single shot
Latte
Caramel Macchiato
Hot chocolate
135
200
11
2
90
105
90
95
13
TEAS
Celestial Seasonings Lemon-Ginseng, 16 oz bottle
Bigelow Raspberry Royale, 8 oz bottle
Tea, leaf or bag
Snapple Iced Tea, all varieties, 16 oz bottle
Lipton Iced Tea, unsweetened, 8 oz bottle
Lipton Iced Tea, all varieties, 16 oz bottle
Green tea, bag
Arizona Iced Tea, all varieties, 16 oz bottle
Nestea Pure Lemon Sweetened Ice Tea, 16 oz
Celestial Seasonings Herbal Iced Tea, 16 oz bottle
100
83
50
48
35
35
30
22
22
0
SOFT DRINKS
Coca-Cola, all varieties
Diet Coke, all varieties
Sprite, Diet Sprite
Tab
Minute Maid Drinks
Mello Yello, Diet Mello Yello
Fresca
Fanta Drinks, all varieties
Ramblin’ Root Beer
Dr. Pepper
Pepsi Cola
Caffeine-Free or Diet Pepsi
Mountain Dew or Diet Mountain Dew
Slice, all varieties
All Sport, all varieties
RC Cola
Kick
Sunkist Orange Soda
7-Up or Diet 7-Up
3
47
47
0
47
47
53
0
0
0
61
37
0
54
0
0
36
54
40
0
Mug Root Beer
Jolt
Surge
Morning
6am-12noon
CAFFEINATED WATER (1/2 liter)
Java Water
Aqua Blast
Water Joe
Aqua Java
FROZEN DESSERTS (approximately 2 scoops or
½ cup)
Ben & Jerry’s No-Fat Coffee Fudge Yogurt
Starbucks Coffee Ice Cream, all varieties
Häagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream
Häagen-Dazs Coffee Yogurt, fat-free
Häagen-Dazs Coffee Fudge Ice Cream, low-fat
Starbucks Frappucino Bar
YOGURTS (one container)
Dannon Coffee Yogurt, 8 oz
Yoplait Café Au Lait, 6 oz
Dannon Light Cappuccino, 8 oz
CHOCOLATE CANDY
Hershey’s Special Dark bar, 1.5 oz
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar, 1.5 oz
Nestle Crunch bar
Krackel bar
Peanut Butter Cup, 1 pack
Butterfinger bar
Kit Kat bar
OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS
(tablets/week)
NoDoz, maximum strength
NoDoz, regular strength
Vivarin
Excedrin, regular
Excedrin PM
Vanquish
Anacin
Age_____________
Gender__________
4
Afternoon
12noon-6
pm
Evening
6 pm 12mid
Night
12mid-6
am
0
71
51
Mg
125
90
65
55
85
50
58
40
30
15
45
5
0
31
10
10
9
6
2
5
200
100
200
65
0
33
32