Hedonic and sensory characteristics of odors conditioned by pairing with tastants in humans.
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 17:47authored byMartin YeomansMartin Yeomans, Sirous Mobini, Toby Elliman, Helen Walker, Richard J Stevenson
Animals readily acquire positive odor-taste hedonic associations, but evidence for this in humans remains weak and was explored further. Retronasal pairing of odors with sucrose or salty stimuli (Experiment 1) increased the rated sweetness of sucrose-paired odors without altering liking, although changes in odor pleasantness correlated with sucrose-liking. Experience of odors with sucrose or quinine by sweet-likers (Experiment 2) found increased pleasantness and sweetness for sucrose-paired odors, whilst quinine-paired odors became less liked and more bitter. Odor-sucrose pairings in sweet-likers and dislikers (Experiment 3) found increased sweetness in both groups, but increased odor liking only in likers. These data suggest evaluative and sensory learning are dissociable, and that evaluative changes are sensitive to individual differences in sweet liking.
History
Publication status
Published
Journal
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes