Sensory-specific satiation with a pinched nose and eyes closed: testing the sensory modality specificity of satiation

Sensory-specific satiation refers to the decrease in pleasantness derived from a consumed food relative to other unconsumed foods. In the current study, it was investigated to what extent sensory-specific satiation is modality specific. To this end, 80 female participants ate a preferred snack until full while wearing (or not wearing) a blindfold and/or a nose clip. Impaired vision should impede satiation for the appearance of the consumed test snack. Obstructing olfaction should undermine satiation for the smell of the test snack. Indeed, when vision was obstructed, hedonic ratings of specifically snack appearance did not decrease as much. When olfaction was blocked, the hedonic ratings for the flavor of the test snack did not show as much of a reduction. It is concluded that, to a degree, sensory-specific satiation is indeed modality specific.