Human Perception & Sensory Physiology Flashcards

Adding sugar to coffee reduces perceived bitterness. This phenomenon is called:

Answer: Mixture suppression

In mixture suppression, one taste quality reduces the perceived intensity of another.

Combining MSG with the ribonucleotide IMP produces a much stronger umami taste than either alone. This is an example of:

Answer: Synergy

Glutamate and 5'-ribonucleotides interact synergistically, strongly enhancing umami.

Panelists rate a cherry-flavored drink as more flavorful when it is dyed red rather than left colorless. This illustrates:

Answer: Cross-modal interaction between vision and flavor

Visual cues such as color strongly influence flavor identification and perceived intensity.

A panelist rates a sample overly high on several attributes because they liked its appearance. This is the:

Answer: Halo effect

The halo effect occurs when an overall impression or one attribute biases ratings of other attributes.

Tasting a sweet sample immediately after a very sour one, a panelist exaggerates the sweetness. This is a:

Answer: Contrast effect

Contrast effects occur when a preceding very different sample exaggerates differences in the next one.

Miraculin from miracle fruit causes sour foods to taste sweet because it:

Answer: Activates the sweet receptor under acidic conditions

Miraculin binds the T1R2/T1R3 sweet receptor and activates it when the pH becomes acidic.

Panelists avoiding the extreme ends of a line scale and clustering ratings near the middle display:

Answer: Central tendency error

Central tendency error is the reluctance to use scale extremes, compressing ratings toward the center.