Gustatory perception (taste) Flashcards
How do genetic factors influence taste?
Make us more or less sensitive to chemical molecules in different foods
- influence sensitiveness to bitterness, sweetness or other tastes
- can become a supertaster
What is a supertaster?
Someone who experiences taste sensations intensely due to inheriting unusually high numbers of taste buds
Why are supertasters fussy eaters?
Because they have unusually high numbers of taste buds, meaning tastes can overwhelm them
How does age affect taste?
Age is well-developed at birth, and tastebuds increase steadily until final total reached.
Why do people believe their taste declines as they get older?
Usually have issues with sense of smell, as true taste disorders are uncommon
Name the psychological factors influencing taste.
Memory and food packaging.
How does memory influence taste?
learn to remember how foods taste and appear. Positive memory of food influences expectations, can cause people to avoid tasting food with negative experiences.
How do food-related memories influence taste?
positive memory about food influences expectations of taste in positive way
○ If negative experience, can have negative expectations about taste (taste aversion)
positive memory, pos expectations.
Believed to be important in evolutionary perspective
How does appearance influence taste?
influence on expectations of how food ‘should look’
influenced by past experience and food shape
Psychological factors
What are the two factors influencing food appearance?
Past experience and food shape
How does past experience influence taste?
Determines expectations of how something should tase.
e.g Chaning colour of food can manipulate expectation and change taste
How does food shape affect taste?
Can influence perception of taste.
○ e.g french fries reported to taste better when thin than fat
How does packaging influence taste?
Packaging, labelling, branding also influence perception of taste
e.g coca-cola reported to taste better in red can than silver, unbranded can.
Arrangement of food can influence taste (neat, not neat)
How does culture influence taste?
- Exposed to cultural differences from birth, reflected in perceptual judgement of what tastes good and bad.
- can change taste preferences over time
- other’s can influence expectation of how food should taste thorugh reactions
- some religions have rules regarding food preparation and consumption
