Confusion in the use of the taste adjectives ‘sour’ and ‘bitter’

O’Mahony, Michael; Goldenberg, Maya J.; Stedmon, J.; Alford, J.

doi:10.1093/chemse/4.4.301

Cited by 99 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This specific pattern of performance may at least partially be explained by the finding that many English speakers regularly confuse bitter and sour tastes (O'Mahony, Goldenberg, Stedmon, & Alford, 1979). Altogether, Experiment 2 provides robust evidence suggesting that individuals are able to decode music in terms of gustatory concepts above chance level.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

That Sounds Sweet: Using Cross‐Modal Correspondences to Communicate Gustatory Attributes

Knoeferle

Woods

Käppler

et al. 2014

Psychology and Marketing

107

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Building on existing research into sound symbolism and cross‐modal correspondences, this article proposes that cross‐modal correspondences—systematic mappings between different sensory modalities—can be used to communicate nonmusical, low‐level sensory properties such as basic tastes through music. A series of three experiments demonstrates that cross‐modal correspondences enable people to systematically encode basic taste properties into parameters in musical space (Experiment 1), and that they are able to correctly decode basic taste information embedded in complex musical compositions (Experiments 2 and 3). The results also suggest some culture‐specificity to these mappings, given that decoding performance, while still above chance levels, was lower in Indian participants than in those from the United States (Experiment 3). Implications and potential applications of these findings are discussed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

That Sounds Sweet: Using Cross‐Modal Correspondences to Communicate Gustatory Attributes

Knoeferle

Woods

Käppler

et al. 2014

Psychology and Marketing

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…thesis, for evidence of differing chocolate bitterness ratings as a function of taster status, and [33], on the general problem of between-group comparisons of perceived taste intensity given differences in taster status). Another plausible explanation is that participants might have found the 71% chocolate to taste more acidic and confounded acidity in the chocolates with bitterness (e.g., [34]). Furthermore, it is plausible that the crystalline structure 1 , and therefore the mouthfeel, of the chocolates could have varied across samples.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Wang

Carvalho

Persoone³

et al. 2017

Flavour

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Background: Shape can play an important role in our perception of food. In this study, the consequences of crossmodal correspondences between shape and taste on the expected and actual experience of eating chocolate were evaluated. Participants were given two identical dark chocolates differing only in terms of their shape (round or angular) and then rated their expectations of sweetness, bitterness, creaminess and liking. Subsequently, they rated their experience of those attributes on tasting the chocolates. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses (RM-MANOVA) of variance were conducted to assess the role of chocolate shape and cacao content on expected and post-taste chocolate ratings. In addition, we assessed the differences between expected and post-taste ratings for each chocolate shape. Results: The results revealed that the shape of the chocolate significantly influenced expected sweetness, bitterness and creaminess. By contrast, it had no significant effect on post-tasting ratings. The round chocolates were judged to be less sweet, more bitter, less creamy and liked less than expected, whereas the angular chocolates were judged to be slightly more creamy than expected. Conclusions: The theory of assimilation and contrast is outlined as one plausible mechanism behind the differences between expectation and the actual taste experience. Implications for food product design and directions for future research are discussed.

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“…Note that the range of the horizontal axis varies among the three conditions and so the distance between −5 and +5 log milligrams of caffeine per cup has been approximately equated across the graphs can also be termed bitter (O'Mahony et al 1979). Hence, to distinguish between levels of caffeine in such a context requires the assessors to have developed rather refined 'analytical' strategies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gustatory Discriminative Norms for Caffeine in Normal Use Point to Supertasters, Tasters and Non-tasters

2011

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Among the early indications of the existence of supertasters, tasters and non-tasters was a trimodal distribution of sensitivities to the taste of low concentrations of caffeine in water. A similar three peaks of prevalence have now been seen in the concentration of caffeine in the individual's usual coffee drink that is perceived as the most preferred, measured by normed multiple discrimination psychophysics. Furthermore, the mode at the lowest concentrations of caffeine in coffee-the putative supertasters-was clearer for preference than for bitterness. This was because rated preference for a sample of coffee as a whole can be more sensitive to differences in level of caffeine than rating specifically how bitter it is. This criterion of gustatory performance is independent of the particular scores given by an assessor or the subjective experiencing of any sensations. Hence perception of the tastant in a familiar context is capable of picking out supertasters and non-tasters from the tasters.

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Confusion in the use of the taste adjectives ‘sour’ and ‘bitter’

Cited by 99 publications

References 8 publications

That Sounds Sweet: Using Cross‐Modal Correspondences to Communicate Gustatory Attributes

That Sounds Sweet: Using Cross‐Modal Correspondences to Communicate Gustatory Attributes

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Gustatory Discriminative Norms for Caffeine in Normal Use Point to Supertasters, Tasters and Non-tasters

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