Question 19- Food Preferences Are Multisensory. Describe And Evaluate At Least One Example Study To Illustrate This

Question 1

Djordjevic et al (2004)

Answer 1

-Flavours are multisensory perceptions
•Examined the influences of strawberry and soy sauce, both physical and imagined odours on perceived sweetness and saltiness
•PPs given sucrose and sodium chloride solutions to taste, and asked to either smell or imagine smelling soy sauce, strawberries or odourless water

-Results:
•Sweetness was enhanced by smelling the strawberry odour
•Saltiness was enhanced by smelling the soy sauce
•Imagining the strawberry enhanced perceived sweetness of the water
•Imagining the smell of soy sauce enhanced the perceived saltiness of the weak sodium chloride solutiob

•The effects can be abolished by pinching one’s nose
~Suggests flavours are perceptual

Question 2

The imagining odour effect…

Answer 2

-Indicated food preferences are multisensory as it demonstrates what cutting off one sebse has on the effect of the taste of the substance

Question 3

Zampini and Spence (2004)

Answer 3

-Found that manipulating the crunching sounds when eating crisps made PPs think the crisps were 15% crunchier and fresher than they were

Question 4

Doesn’t inform us why some people prefer some foods to others

Answer 4

-Birch (1999):
•Found sweetness signals nutritious food whilst bitterness signals the presence of toxins which is why as a rule new born babies prefer sweet food and not bitter food

-Spence (2013):
•Suggested it’s dependent on the associations of the food and drink
•A blue drink in western cultures may indicate a blueberry or raspberry flavour, whereas in Taiwan they would expect a minty flavour
•If flavours are expected it increases the chances of liking the product compared to if the flavours are unexpected.

-Still provides support the idea that food preferences are multisensory