Psych 421 - Sensation & Perception
Study Notes
Chapter 13 - Smell and Taste
Rev. 4/01
I. Introduction
A. How is flavor different from taste - or is it?
B. What are the problems with language?
I. Smell
A. Why is olfaction not as well studied as vision and audition?
B. Sensory Aspects of Smell - What is an odorant and how does it differ from a de-odorant?
1. The smell stimulus
a. What is the physical stimulus for olfaction?
b. How did Aristotle and Henning classify odors?
c. What did Amoore contribute to the classification of odors and
what is the current emphasis?
C. Olfactory System
1. Where and what is the nasal cavity, and what is its function?
2. Where are the cells that detect molecules, and how do they function?
3. What are G-proteins for?
4. What would happen if you lost your trigeminal nerve or your olfactory bulb?
D. Olfactory Processes
1. Absolute thresholds - what are they and what are the
problems in measuring them for
olfaction?
a. What individual differences exist in olfaction?
2. Smelling More Intense Stimuli
a. What is a difference threshold
b. How does sniff vigor relate to odor constancy?
E. Adaptation
1. Self-Adaptation: What, how, and how much?
2. Cross-Adaptation: What, how, and how much?
F. Recognition of Odors
1. Identification of Familiar Odors - what determines our identification skills?
2. Recognition of Humans
a. Can we?
b. Under what conditions?
G. Behavioral Influences of Odors - Odor signals; pheromones and vomeronasal organs
1. Odor effects on Behavior in Lower Animals - examples
2. Odor Effects on Behavior in Humans - What are they?
H. Deficits in Olfaction - anosmia
II. Taste
A. Sensory Aspects of Taste
1. Stimulus - 4 or more?
2. Taste Receptors - What do we know about them?
3. Relationship between Taste and Tongue Regions - What and Where?
4. Problem of Taste Coding - What is it?
5. Pathway from Receptors to Brain - From here to there.
B. Taste Processes
1. Thresholds
a. Absolute
b. Recognition
c. Difference
2. Adaptation - What happens?
3. Cross-Adaptation and Cross-Enhancement - What are they?
a. Water Taste
b. Taste Modifiers
4. Hedonics of Foods - What are they, and where do they come from?
5. Deficits in Taste Perception -Is it dysgeusia, ageusia or nontaster?
C. (In-Depth) Interaction of Taste with Smell
D. Effects of Vision on Smell and Taste
E. Effects of Temperature on Taste