Perception: Smell, Taste and Sight

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer maintains that taste is something that is directly influenced by the smell and the sight of the object that one is faced with. Further, the writer notes that a human being is almost always influenced a great deal with the visual, olfactory and taste cues that one receives when confronted with an object of any kind. The writer discusses that one must examine what taste means, at the very outset, if one is to understand how taste can play such a great role in offering olfactory and visual clues to an individual. The writer concludes that the senses of smell and sight work together in making the food that one eats appear to be more appetizing, while at the same time, the brain keeps busy recording the various and several visual, olfactory and taste cues offered by the food placed in front of us, and these can eventually dictate the amount of food that one ultimately consumes.

From the Paper:

"Taste buds for all four taste groups of sweet, salty, bitter and sour can be found throughout the mouth, but specific kinds of buds are clustered together in certain areas. While sweetness is detected by taste buds on the tip of the tongue, the taste buds for sour tastes are located on the sides of the tongue, and for salty tastes, toward the front. Bitter taste buds are located on the very back of the tongue can make people gag, and this can often serve as a natural defense mechanism to help prevent poisoning. It is an amazing fact that taste buds are replaced completely once every three to four days, to take the place of those taste buds that have been worn out by scalding or freezing. As a person grows older, his taste buds are not replaced as quickly, and this means that he would need more of the substance in order to taste it properly. Scientists have been able to prove their theory that food habits and tastes are by and large hereditary, and that one's taste in foods is directly influenced by one's heredity. Food preferences are often found to run in families, and also, culture and familiarity with one type of food, both of which may influence the foods that one eats. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aitkin, Thomas Johnstone. (1838) "Elements of physiology" Scott, Webster and Geary.
• Brillat-Savarin, Jean; Brillat-Savarin, Anthelme. (2002) "The Physiology of taste" Courier Dover Publications.
• Fields, G. (2004) "Sight and food behaviors" Retrieved 4 December, 2007 from http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01724.htm
• Hummel, Thomas; Welge-Lussen, Antje. (2006) "Taste and smell, an update" Karger Publishers.
• Jacob, Tim. (n. d.) "Smell (Olfaction)" Cardiff University, UK. Retrieved 4 December, 2007 from http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/staff/jacob/teaching/sensory/olfact1.html Legg, Charles R; Booth, David Allenby. (1994) "Appetite, Neural and behavioral bases" xford University Press.

More papers on Perception: Smell, Taste and Sight:

• Persuasive Essay # 144503 : "Perception of Women and Minorities in Business"
• Research Paper # 755 : "Perceptions of War and How it Affect Veterans"
• Comparison Essay # 102764 : "Perception of Evil and Wickedness in Literature"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: