The Contextually Tolerant but Temporally Intolerant Sensation Transference from Tactile to Taste in Drinking Coffee

We automatically integrate sensory information from various modalities all the time. Although previous research has shown that our taste evaluation can be influenced by tactile texture of a beverage receptacle, the contextual and temporal tolerance of this kind of sensation transference remains unclear. In Experiment 1, 92 blindfolded Japanese participants in Tokyo evaluated a coffee (Rich Blend capsule, Nestlé) as less acid when they drank it from a smooth-texture cup compared to when they drank from a rough-texture cup, indicating the sensation transference from tactile to taste. This effect was also observed when the tactile input came from an object independent to the beverage in Experiment 2 ( n = 24), but absent when the stimuli were not synchronized in Experiment 3 ( n = 48). The present study tested the limits of sensation transference, and found that the stimuli must happen at the same time but do not have to come from the same object.