Evaluating the 'labeled magnitude scale' for measuring sensations of taste and smell
Evaluating the 'labeled magnitude scale' for measuring sensations of taste and smell
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DOI：
10.1093/chemse/21.3.323
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发表时间：
1996-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Higgins, J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Green, BG;Dalton, P;Higgins, J
标记量级量表（LMS）是一种感知强度的语义量表，其语言标签呈准对数间距分布。先前研究表明，当味觉、热觉和伤害性刺激一起呈现并评级时，LMS产生的心理物理函数与量级估计（ME）相当，并且LMS的上限被定义为“可想象的最强口腔感觉”。本研究在更有限的味觉和嗅觉情境下将LMS与ME进行了比较。在实验1中，受试者使用两种方法对蔗糖和氯化钠产生的味觉强度或乙酸和苯乙醇产生的气味强度进行评级，LMS的上限被定义为“可想象的最强味觉”或“可想象的最强气味”。LMS产生的心理物理函数与ME产生的相当。在实验2中，一组新的受试者使用两种方法对三种不同味觉品质的强度进行评级，LMS的上限被定义为“可想象的最强[甜味、咸味或苦味]”。在所有三种情况下，LMS产生的函数比ME更陡峭。实验3检验了这样一个假设：只有当所研究的感知领域包括痛觉时，LMS产生的数据才与ME相当。当受试者被明确指示从“可想象的最强味觉”概念中排除痛觉（例如辣椒的“烧灼感”）后，LMS再次产生比ME更陡峭的函数，这一假设得到了支持。我们得出结论，当味觉和嗅觉的定义较为宽泛时，LMS可用于对其感觉进行量表测量，但在用于对特定味觉（可能还有气味）品质进行量表测量时应进行修改。讨论了这些结果对与ME、类别比率量表以及不同感觉模态中感知范围大小相关的理论问题的影响。
The Labeled Magnitude Scale (LMS) is a semantic scale of perceptual intensity characterized by a quasi-logarithmic spacing of its verbal labels. The LMS had previously been shown to yield psychophysical functions equivalent to magnitude estimation (ME) when gustatory, thermal and nociceptive stimuli were presented and rated together, and the upper bound of the LMS was defined as the 'strongest imaginable oral sensation'. The present study compared the LMS to ME within the more limited contexts of taste and smell. In Experiment 1, subjects used both methods to rate either taste intensity produced by sucrose and NaCl or odor intensity produced by acetic acid and phenyl ethyl alcohol, with the upper bound of the LMS defined as either the 'strongest imaginable taste' or the 'strongest imaginable odor'. The LMS produced psychophysical functions equivalent to those produced by ME. In Experiment 2 a new group of subjects used both methods to rate the intensity of three different taste qualities, with the upper bound of the LMS defined as the 'strongest imaginable [sweetness, saltiness, or bitterness]'. In all three cases the LMS produced steeper functions than did ME. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that the LMS yields data comparable to ME only when the perceptual domain under study includes painful sensations. This hypothesis was supported when the LMS again produced steeper functions than ME after subjects had been explicitly instructed to omit painful sensations (e.g. the 'burn' of hot peppers) from the concept of 'strongest imaginable taste'. We conclude that the LMS can be used to scale sensations of taste and smell when they are broadly defined, but that it should be modified for use in scaling specific taste (and probably odor) qualities. The implications of these results for theoretical issues related to ME, category-ratio scales and the size of the perceptual range in different sensory modalities are discussed.