SIMULATING PERCEIVED SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TASTE MIXTURES HAVING MUTUALLY INTERACTING COMPONENTS

Empirical findings about the perceived interaction of the components of qualitatively complex taste stimuli are reviewed and summarized. The revision of multidimensional scaling equations to incorporate a simulation of a mutually inhibitory or facilitatory interaction between components is discussed. Data from a previously published study on the perception of similarity among taste mixtures are re‐analysed for illustrative purposes and a description of them is shown to be less adequate when provision is made for one form of interaction than when this is omitted. A reclassification of stimulus‐response paradigms for studying taste mixture perception is outlined; and it is suggested that the interaction of taste components may be an artifact of the response measures used. 1968 The British Psychological Society