[Cognitive implications in the psychophysical estimation of taste]

in sensory perception of taste, it is difficult to learn the concepts of absolute threshold (AT), the psychophysical methods to estimate it and the influence exerted by prior knowledge on their perception and recognition, because they have little awareness.

to assess absolute thresholds of four basic flavors in a sample of healthy young people, in conditions of food restriction/without restriction, and to analyze the influence of prior knowledge of astringency in its detection-identification.

one hundred and fourteen participants with an average of 20.03 years old (SD = 5.45), 75.4% of them women, were put in direct contact with chemical substances of basic flavors and astringency through a theoretical-practical tasting. An inverted treatment design was applied with experimental conditions on food restriction and knowledge of astringency.

all identified their AT for basic flavors. The group with restriction was significantly more sensitive (Tb = -3.305, p = 0.001) to sweet (AU = 2 g/l) than the group without restriction (AU = 5 g/l). The detection-identification of astringency was significantly higher (t = -13.323, p = 0.000) with previous information of the name (79.31%) than without this information (19.64%), confusing or describing it as bitter taste (80.36).

taste learning is facilitated with the performance of psychophysical measurements of chemical senses, together with training of certain theoretical concepts about taste perception and flavor denomination, because it facilitates the cognitive process for detection-identification. In addition, the process for the previous internal homeostasis of participants must be considered as their AU results vary according to the hunger/satiety conditions prior to the psychophysical estimation.