Invitation to Psychology

Chapter 6 Sensation and Perception 209

et al., 2011). For example, babies fed salty foods are

likely to grow into salty-food-loving preschoolers

(Stein, Cowart, & Beauchamp, 2012).

The attractiveness of a food can also be af-

fected by its color, temperature, and texture. As

Goldilocks found out, a bowl of cold porridge

is not nearly as delicious as one that is properly

heated. And any peanut butter fan will tell you

that chunky and smooth peanut butters just don’t

taste the same. Even more important for taste is a

food’s odor. Much of what we call “flavor” is really

the smell of gases released by the foods we put in

our mouths. Indeed, subtle flavors such as choco-

late and vanilla would have little taste if we could

not smell them (see Figure 6.10). Smell’s influence

on flavor explains why you have trouble tasting

your food when you have a stuffy nose. Most

people who have chronic trouble detecting tastes

have a problem with smell, not taste.

been funded by the MSG industry, are contro-
versial, because in most foods it is not detectable.
The attention given to umami, however, has led to
the fascinating discovery that taste receptors—for
umami, but also sweetness and bitterness—are
found throughout the gastrointestinal tract. These
receptors send signals to the brain, influencing ap-
petite and possibly conditioned preferences for the
sensory properties of certain foods (Trivedi, 2012).
Everyone knows that people live in what
psychological scientist Linda Bartoshuk (2000)
calls different “taste worlds.” Some people love
broccoli and others hate it. Some people can eat
chili peppers that are burning hot and others can-
not tolerate the mildest jalepeño. And perhaps no
food divides people more than cilantro (Spanish
for coriander). Entire websites are devoted to
complaints about those innocent-looking green
leaves, whose detractors think taste like soap.
What causes these taste differences?
According to Baroshuk’s research, about 25
percent of people live in a “neon” taste world.
These supertasters, who are overrepresented
among women, Asians, Hispanics, and blacks,
have an unusually large number of small, densely
packed papillae (Reedy et al., 1993). For them,
bitter foods such as caffeine, quinine (the bitter in-
gredient in tonic water), and many vegetables are
unpleasantly bitter—at least twice as bitter as they
are for other people. Supertasters also perceive
sweet tastes as sweeter and salty tastes as saltier
than other people do, and they feel more “burn”
from ginger, pepper, and hot chilies (Bartoshuk
et al., 1998; Lucchina et al., 1998).
Taste differences are partly a matter of genet-
ics, but culture and learning also play a role. Many
Westerners who enjoy raw oysters or herring are
put off by other forms of raw seafood that are
popular in Japan, such as sea urchin. Even within
a given culture, individuals have different taste
preferences, some of which begin in the womb
or shortly after birth. Flavors as diverse as vanilla,
carrot, garlic, anise, hot spices, and mint can be
transmitted to the fetus or newborn through am-
niotic fluid or breast milk, with long-lasting conse-
quences (Beauchamp & Mennella, 2011; Mennella

Get Involved! The Smell of Taste

Demonstrate for yourself that smell enhances the sense of taste. While holding your nose, take a bite of

a slice of apple, and then do the same with a slice of raw potato. You may find that you can’t taste much

difference. If you think you do taste a difference, perhaps your expectations are influencing your response.

Now try the same thing, but close your eyes and have someone else feed you the slices. Can you tell them

apart this time? It’s also fun to do this little test with flavored jelly beans. They are still apt to taste sweet,

but you may be unable to identify the distinct flavors.

Apricot

Chocolate

Coffee

Dill pickle juice

Garlic

Lemon

Onion

Root beer

Water

Wine

0420 0 60 80 100

Percent correct

Figure 6.10 Taste Test

The green bars show the percentages of people who

could identify a substance dropped on the tongue when

they were able to smell it. The gold bars show the per-

centage that could identify the substance when they

were prevented from smelling it (Mozell et al., 1969).