Hidaka Souta, Shimoda Kazumasa
Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, Niiza-shi, Saitama, Japan.
Multisens Res. 2014;27(3-4):189-205. doi: 10.1163/22134808-00002455.
It has been reported that color can affect the judgment of taste. For example, a dark red color enhances the subjective intensity of sweetness. However, the underlying mechanisms of the effect of color on taste have not been fully investigated; in particular, it remains unclear whether the effect is based on cognitive/decisional or perceptual processes. Here, we investigated the effect of color on sweetness judgments using a taste adaptation method. A sweet solution whose color was subjectively congruent with sweetness was judged as sweeter than an uncolored sweet solution both before and after adaptation to an uncolored sweet solution. In contrast, subjective judgment of sweetness for uncolored sweet solutions did not differ between the conditions following adaptation to a colored sweet solution and following adaptation to an uncolored one. Color affected sweetness judgment when the target solution was colored, but the colored sweet solution did not modulate the magnitude of taste adaptation. Therefore, it is concluded that the effect of color on the judgment of taste would occur mainly in cognitive/decisional domains.
据报道，颜色会影响味觉判断。例如，深红色会增强甜味的主观强度。然而，颜色对味觉影响的潜在机制尚未得到充分研究；特别是，该效应是基于认知/决策过程还是感知过程仍不清楚。在此，我们使用味觉适应方法研究了颜色对甜味判断的影响。在适应无色甜味溶液之前和之后，颜色与甜味主观上一致的甜味溶液比无色甜味溶液被判定为更甜。相比之下，在适应有色甜味溶液和适应无色甜味溶液之后的条件下，无色甜味溶液的甜味主观判断没有差异。当目标溶液有颜色时，颜色会影响甜味判断，但有色甜味溶液不会调节味觉适应的程度。因此，得出结论，颜色对味觉判断的影响主要发生在认知/决策领域。
