Taste Perception Flashcards
Why is taste important?
Taste is critical to our survival.
It is believed that taste evolved to protect us from eating things that were poisonous and to ensure that we were hungry for foods that we needed to survive.
Eg. Many toxic foods/ liquids are sour or bitter and we avoid them
Why is taste perception an important area of study?
Taste perception is an important area in psychology because it plays an important role in overeating and other food-related disorders.
What is another term for taste?
Gustation
What is the first stage of sensation?
Sensation begins when taste receptors in the mouth are stimulated by chemical molecules (dissolved in saliva) in food and drink.
What substances can stimulate taste receptors?
Any substance that is soluble in saliva can stimulate the taste receptors, located in the taste buds.
What happens after taste receptors are stimulated?
Once taste receptors are stimulated they convert the sensory input (taste) into electrical impulses that are sent via facial cranial nerves from the mouth to the brain.
Where are taste receptors found?
Most taste receptors are found on the tongue, but some are found under the tongue, on the roof of the mouth, on the sides and back of the mouth and on the upper part of the throat behind the nose.
How many taste receptors are there?
There are about 10,000 taste receptors in the mouth.
Do taste receptors have specific regions?
It was once thought that taste receptors for specific tastes were found in specific regions on the tongue- it is now known that receptors are spread evenly over the tongue.
What other sense greatly influences taste?
Smell
What are the five basic tastes?
Sweet: usually caused by sugar or alcohol
Sour: usually caused by acidic foods such as lemons
Salty: usually caused by sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
Bitter: often seen as unpalatable, could be toxic.
Umani/ savoury: rich taste caused by protein-rich foods due to the presence of glutamate
How does age influence taste perception?
Ability to differentiate between tastes is highly developed at birth. Children are more sensitive and responsive to taste because they have more taste receptors than adults. Once we reach about 60 we have less taste possible because of lack of smell
What other factors can reduce taste?
Dentures and chewing problems.
How do genetics influence taste perception?
Genetic differences make us more or less sensitive to the chemical molecules in different foods.
Our genes can influence how bitter, sweet etc foods can taste.
What are supertasters?
people who taste a particular taste sensation 2-3 times more intensely than others. This is due to more taste receptors on the tongue. Genetics cause this
How does perceptual set influence taste?
The taste we experience is shaped by our perceptual set. i.e we taste what we expect to taste.
Sometimes what we see or smell can override what we think we taste.
This is why manufacturers and marketing companies pay so much attention to how food is packaged and presented.
E.G Orange juice is sweeter when it is bright orange and cheese is tastier when it is yellow, rather than white
How does perceptual set work? How does it change the way we taste things?
We use food’s colour, shape, sound and appearance to determine if food is fresh, ripe, rotten or safe to eat.
When we actually taste the food our expectancy has already moulded our taste of the food
How does culture influence our taste perception?
Most cultures have food practices involving the use of basic ingredients, cooking techniques and flavour principles.
E.G Asian foods traditionally include more sour and bitter tastes than western foods.
Being exposed to these differences from birth influences our taste perception.
Experience with certain foods, influenced by family also influences taste perception.
How can pregnant mothers shape their children’s food preferences?
Research suggests that mothers pass their food preferences onto their offspring during pregnancy and afterbirth (via breast feeding).
In one study pregnant women drank either carrot juice or water for 3 weeks during their third trimester and during breast feeding.
Children of the mothers who drank carrot juice showed a preference for carrot juice over water.
What actually happens when we taste? Include flavour. What is flavour influenced by?
We perceive the combined input from different senses (taste, smell, vision, sound, temperature, pain, tactile.) and this overall experience results in flavour. Flavour is created by the brain. Flavour is influenced by the perceptual set, colour intensity and texture.
How does pleasure from food come about?
When all of the sensory components are right
What influences our perceptual set or how we expect food to taste?
Past experience but it is not imperative to have tasted something to have an expectation about it. This can be created with visual appearance.
What is a factor that has a significant influence on food flavour?
How food looks and its colours. We associate certain colours with specific foods which we link with certain tastes.
What happens when the colour of food is different to what we expect?
Our brain interprets the food to taste different too
