Abstract
An individual’s taste sensitivity is influenced by many aspects such as gender, age and social habits like smoking. To investigate what could have an impact on an individual’s taste ability, psychology students conducted an experiment on 595 non diabetic participants. In the experiment, participants were asked to taste 8 different water-sugar solutions with different sugar strength, then were asked to state whether the solution had sugar in it or not. As hypothesised, female participants were more able to detect the sugar in the solution than male participants, also, non-smokers were able to get a higher hit rate than smokers. These findings suggest that the sense of taste is affected by each individual’s gender and whether he/she is a smoker.
The Effect of Age, Gender and Social Habits on Taste Absolute Threshold
People vary in sensitivity to certain tastes depending on many aspects. The sense of taste is affected by different factors such as a person’s age, gender and social influence and habits (Weiten, 2010). The influence of ageing on taste perception has been investigated in a large number of studies; most of these studies have shown decreases in taste sensitivity with age (Murphy, 1979, 1986) (Rolls and Drewnowski, 1996). Furthermore, Social habits such as smoking have been known to decrease taste perception. According to research, smokers precept certain tastes differently than non smokers, the mean taste threshold for bitter was significantly higher in smokers than in non smokers. (L.H. Krut, M. B.m Ch.B., 1961). Looking at another factor, gender affects taste sensitivity, females have shown higher sensitivity to certain tastes than men (Weiten, 2010). Also, Cohen and Gitman (1959) found that men had a hi...
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Works Cited
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L.H. Krut, M. B.m Ch.B. (1961). Taste peception in smokers and Non Smokers. British Medical Journal , 384 -386.
Murphy, C. (1986) Taste and smell in the elderly. In Meiselmann, H.L and Rivlin, R.S. (eds), Clinical Measurements of Taste and Smell. Macmillan, New York.
Murphy, C. (1979) The effects of age on taste sensitivity. In Han, S.S. and Coons, D.H (eds), Special senses in aging. University of Ann Arbor, Institute of Geronology, Ann Arbor, Ml.
Rolls, B.A and Drewnowski, A. (1996) Diet and nutrition. In Birren, J.E. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, Vol. 1.
Weiten, W. (2010). Psychology: themes and variations (8th ed.). Wadsworth: cengage learning.
Navarro-Allende A, Khataan N, El-Sohemy A. (2008). Impact of genetic and environmental determinants of taste with food preferences in older adults. J Nutr Elder. 2008;27(3-4):267-76. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19042575. Accessed 4 April 2014.
...lution tasted as compared with pervious testing due to no prior documentation. This test also did not consider the amount of time it took for R2 to taste the solutions. Furthermore, this experiment does not test injury or defect in the brain that may effect the functioning of the facial nerve, but not actually be an issue with the nerve itself. While the hypothesis was substantiated for both subjects, more long term assessment or re-testing is necessary to assuredly confirm both R1 and R2 have in tact facial nerve functioning.
Recently, there have been advances in scientific research that has led to the discovery of taste receptors that are outside of the mouth. These taste receptors are scattered throughout the entire body, with large concentrations on the testicles and anus. Sweet and Umami taste receptors are present in this area and can present a minor taste sensation (though nowhere near as well as our mouths can). Through a simple lab test on rats, scientists were able to disable the taste receptors to see if it would have any major impact on them. In attempting to breed rats that did not have functioning taste receptors on the testicles, scientists discovered that the sperm was rendered deformed and unable to fertilize, making the rats infertile. The drug that researchers used to block these taste receptors was the same kind of drugs that are used to treat high cholesterol in humans. This discovery can help scientists to discover ways to treat infertility in humans, as it may be as simple as damaged taste receptors (Styles).
Wardlaw, G.M. and Smith. Contemporary Nutrition: Issues and Insights. 5th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp 85, 2004.
A common saying goes, “we are what we eat;” but what exactly that makes us eat in the first place? What are the factors that influence our eating behaviors? If the food that we eat defines our personality and being as a whole, it should then be vital to identify the factors that push us to eat certain kinds of food. I think that social psychology has the answer. As broad as this field may seem, yet this science of explaining human behavior takes it reference on the influence of the environment, people, the media, and almost about anything that can contribute to how people think, feel, and act. In this paper, we will explore the factors that influence our eating
Taste has been divided into 5 different categories. Humans are able to taste sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. The ability to taste PTC has been viewed as a dominant and recessive trait that varies amongst the human population. The gene for the PTC taste receptor, which is TAS2R38, was discovered in 2003. In 1931 a hypothesis was formulated stating that out of the bitter receptors at least one is sensitive to PTC but is inactive in some people [Newcomb R.D, 2012]. The ability to taste PTC was discovered by Arthur Fox. While working...
When humans were evolving a key to their development was The Five Main Senses that we knew today as Hearing, Sight, Smell, Taste and Touch. The loss of any of these could have affected the survival of our Ancestors, but in modern times, the partial to total loss of any of The Five Main Senses does not carry the same danger. However today, losing one of our main senses can be uncomfortable and isolating, but it does not mean that our useful lives are over. The loss of each of the senses has a different consequence, methods to cope with that loss, and feelings attached to that loss, both by the person affected and the rest of society.
NIH Senior Health, (Producer). (2002). What to drink as you get older. [Web]. Retrieved from http://nihseniorhealth.gov/videolist.html#eatingwell
Western peoples consume enormous per capita quantities of refined sugar because, to most people, very sweet foods taste very good. The existence of the human sweet tooth can be explained, ultimately, as an adaptation of ancestral populations to favor the ripest-and hence the sweetest-fruit. In other words, the selective pressures of times past are most strikingly revealed by the artificial, supernormal stimulus of refined sugar, despite the evidence that eating refined sugar is maladaptive.
Health food personalities were characterized as antinuclear activists and Democrats. Vegetarians were likely to be perceived as pacifists who drive foreign cars. Gourmet food eaters were seen as individuals who were liberal and sophisticated. These stereotypes were established through self-descriptions and personality tests which were completed by individuals whose diets fell into the five categories. Another study examined people’s perceptions of similar looking individuals based on the foods they consumed. Stein and Nemeroff (1995) asked university students to rate profiles of individuals based on their diets. The students were shown pictures of sets of two nearly identical looking people. One person in each pair was classified as the “good” food eater and the other was the “bad” food eater. Physically, all else was similar. Students judged the people who ate “good” foods in a more favorable light. They found the “good” food eaters to be thinner, active, and fit than persons with the same physical characteristics and exercise habits who ate “bad” foods. In addition, the persons who ate “good” foods were rated as more attractive, likable, quiet, practical, methodical, and analytical that those who ate “bad” foods. Social and psychological factors have an influence on people’s food habits and choices. Larson and Story (2009) examined these influences on
Flavor is based on a combination of factors. These factors include taste, smell, texture, and temperature. The following experiment’s main focus is the flavor of food based on the combination of smell and taste. Have you ever pinched your nose while eating and noticed that you can’t taste your food? In this report you will learn how the nose and tongue work together to create flavor. Your sense of smell and sense of taste are very important when deciding the flavor of food.The tongue and nose influence each other more than you may think.
This, H. (2006). Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the science of flavour. Columbia University Press, New York, NY.
Food choice and influence is one of the top social determinants of health mentioned. Men and women both have different conceptions on food choices, taste preferences and their own attitude towards nutritional
Taste is a sensation created by receptors on the tongue. There are five tastes which are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Sweet is having the taste or flavour characteristics of sugar or honey while bitter is having harsh, disagreeably acrid taste like aspirin. On the other hand, salty is tasting of something that contained salt or seasoned with salt. Sour is having an acid taste, resembling that of vinegar, lemon juices and so on. Lastly, umami is a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids which often considered being one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.
Sensory problems are common experiences with the older generations of the United States population today (Crews & Campbell, 2004, p. 823, Vol. 94 No. 5). Surprisingly, 18% of people report blindness in one or both eyes or other eye impairments (Crews & Campbell, 2004, p. 823, Vol. 94 No. 5). Two-thirds of these low vision patients are 65 years of age (National Institutes of Health, 2000). There are many reasons why a person may suffer from vision loss. Low vision is one of the ten most prevalent causes of disability (M. Markowitz, R. E. Markowitz, S. N. Markowitz, 2009). When vision is diminished this can be associated with decreases in activities of daily living or leisure activities (Crews & Campbell, 2004, p. 823, Vol. 94 No. 5). In this paper a better understanding of low vision, problems that may occur and what measures that are taken to help improve a patient’s quality of life will be discussed.