A Comparison of the Ability of 8–9-Year-Old Children and Adults to Detect Taste Stimuli

doi:10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00030-9

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 62, Issue 1, July 1997, Pages 193-197

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00030-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

James, C. E., D. G. Laing and N. Oram. A comparison of the ability of 8–9-year-old children and adults to detect taste stimuli. Physiol Behav 62(1) 193–197, 1997.—Conflicting data exist in the literature regarding the maturity of the human sense of taste during childhood and if gender influences gustatory development. To investigate these 2 questions, taste detection thresholds for the 4 common tastants sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, and caffeine were established for 61 young adults and 68 children aged 8–9 years old, using a paired-comparison forced-choice procedure. No significant differences were found between the mean thresholds of women and men, or between those of female children and adults. In contrast, male children had significantly higher thresholds for all 4 tastants than adult females, for all tastants except caffeine than adult men, and for sucrose and sodium chloride than female children. It is concluded that the taste sensitivity of 8–9-year-old males, although well developed, has not fully matured, and that taste sensitivity is not affected by gender in young adults.

Section snippets

General

Taste solutions were prepared from deionised water that was obtained from a Millipore Milli-Ro 6 Plus System and had a conductivity of 0.9 uS. The tastants were sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, and caffeine. All were purchased from Ajax Chemicals and were reagent grade, except caffeine, which was LABCHEM grade. Solutions of tastants were dispensed in approximately 10-ml aliquots in 50-ml plastic cups that were labeled with 3-digit code numbers. Solutions containing sucrose were

Results

The detection threshold within a replicate was defined for each subject as the geometric mean of the highest concentration at which a subject recorded an incorrect choice and the concentration above which all the responses were correct. A set of 2-factor repeated measures ANOVAS (subject group ([4]) × replicate ([2]) as the factors) showed that the mean thresholds calculated for the 2 replicates obtained for each tastant and subject group were not significantly different, indicating that there

Discussion

The 3 most significant findings of the present study were that, first, the mean detection thresholds for 8–9-year-old boys were significantly higher for 3 and 4 of the 4 common tastants tested than men and women, respectively, and were higher than the thresholds of girls of the same age for sucrose and sodium chloride. The ability of 8–9-year-old boys to detect common tastants, therefore, may not be fully mature. Second, 8–9-year-old females had thresholds that were similar to those of adults,

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the adults and children who participated in the study as subjects, and the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, for the award of a postgraduate scholarship to C. E. James.

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A Comparison of the Ability of 8–9-Year-Old Children and Adults to Detect Taste Stimuli

Abstract

Section snippets

General

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

Neurobiol. Aging

The psychophysics of taste

Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

The effect of age on taste sensitivity

J. Gerontol.

Development of taste perception in humans: Sensitivity and preference throughout the life span

Psychol. Bull.

La sensibilita nei fanciulli in rapporto al sesso ed all'eta

Arch. Antropol. Crim. Psichiatr. Med. Legal.

Age, sex and taste sensitivity

J. Gerontol.

Age-related differences in salt acuity

J. Gerontol.

Low levels of zinc in hair, anorexia, poor growth and hypogeusia in children

Pediatr. Res.

Taste localization on the tongue, palate and pharynx of normal man

J. Appl. Physiol.