THE ROUGH GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY
solutions with various symbols. Water
mixed with quinine (making it bitter),
for example, was repeatedly paired with
the minus symbol. Later the students
had their brains scanned while they
sampled the various solutions. This time
the researchers flashed up misleading
signals – for example, the bitterest water
was tasted alongside a crossed-out minus
sign, which had earlier been paired with
a milder drink. These contradictory
signs not only affected the students’
perceptions of the water – in the latter
case making the water taste less bitter –
they also dampened the brain’s response
to the bitter drink.
The effect of expectations on taste can
even lead to increased enjoyment of a
wine, just because we think it’s more
expensive. Hilke Plassman at INSEAD
and colleagues provided a striking
demonstration of this in 2008 when they asked twenty participants to
taste five wines, ostensibly as part of an investigation into whether it
matters to enjoyment how long you spend sloshing a wine around your
mouth. Each wine was presented with its name and usual price and,
perhaps unsurprisingly, the participants said they preferred the taste
of the more expensive bottles. But they’d been duped. There were really
only three wines – two of which were offered twice with a different price-
tag. One was presented as costing $5 and $45, the other $10 and $90. In
each case, the participants gave the same wine a better rating when it
was labelled as more expensive. Moreover, brain scans taken during the
experiment showed that pleasure-related regions were more active when
participants drank what they thought was a more expensive bottle. When
it comes to wine, it seems you really do get what you pay for.
Touch
We speak of touch as if it’s just one sense, but our skin is packed with
a variety of receptors that are actually sensitive to many different types
of stimulation, including mechanical pressure, temperature change,