Spence Charles
Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, Anna Watts Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK.
Multisens Res. 2019 Jan 1:1-30. doi: 10.1163/22134808-20191468.
Theorizing around the topic of attention and its role in human information processing largely emerged out of research on the so-called spatial senses: vision, audition, and to a lesser extent, touch. Thus far, the chemical senses have received far less research interest (or should that be attention) from those experimental psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists interested in the topic. Nevertheless, this review highlights the key role that attentional selection also plays in chemosensory information processing and awareness. Indeed, many of the same theoretical approaches/experimental paradigms that were originally developed in the context of the spatial senses, can be (and in some cases already have been) extended to provide a useful framework for thinking about the perception of taste/flavour. Furthermore, a number of those creative individuals interested in modifying the perception of taste/flavour by manipulating product-extrinsic cues (such as, for example, music in the case of sonic seasoning) are increasingly looking to attentional accounts in order to help explain the empirical phenomena that they are starting to uncover. However, separate from its role in explaining sonic seasoning, gaining a better understanding of the role of attentional distraction in modulating our eating/drinking behaviours really ought to be a topic of growing societal concern. This is because distracted diners (e.g., those who eat while watching TV, fiddling with a mobile device or smartphone, or even while driving) consume significantly more than those who mindfully pay attention to the sensations associated with eating and drinking.
围绕注意力及其在人类信息处理中的作用这一主题的理论研究，很大程度上源于对所谓空间感官的研究：视觉、听觉，以及在较小程度上的触觉。到目前为止，化学感官在那些对该主题感兴趣的实验心理学家和认知神经科学家那里所受到的研究关注要少得多（或者说应该是注意力少得多）。然而，这篇综述强调了注意力选择在化学感官信息处理和感知中所起的关键作用。的确，许多最初在空间感官背景下发展起来的相同理论方法/实验范式，可以（并且在某些情况下已经）扩展，以提供一个思考味觉/风味感知的有用框架。此外，一些有创意的人对通过操纵产品外在线索（例如，在声音调味的情况下是音乐）来改变味觉/风味感知感兴趣，他们越来越多地寻求注意力相关的解释，以帮助解释他们开始发现的实证现象。然而，除了其在解释声音调味方面的作用外（从社会层面来看），更好地理解注意力分散在调节我们饮食行为中的作用真的应该成为一个日益受到社会关注的话题。这是因为注意力分散的用餐者（例如，那些边看电视、摆弄移动设备或智能手机，甚至边开车边吃饭的人）比那些用心关注饮食相关感觉的人摄入的食物要多得多。
