Taste the Power of Smell
CSEF · 2012 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only)
Overview
Objectives/Goals The hypothesis of this experiment is if a person is not able to smell, then they will not identify food because the cerebral cortex will not recognize the substance. Methods/Materials Materials Used: Nose plug, blind fold, masher, sharp knives, cutting board, Dixie cups, kitchen area, peas, onion, gluten free pretzel sticks, grapefruit, orange, Hershey Chocolate bars, lemon juice, candy canes/peppermint, and 24 people Project Method: Consent was given from the 24 people that were randomly selected from the ages of 5 to 79. Each test subject was brought into a room where they were given a blind fold and a nose plug to wear. Then they proceeded to eat each of the eight foods that had been mashed up by the experimenter. When the subjects described and attempted to guess the foods, the experimenter wrote them down in the lab notebook. The test was then given to the subject again, but without the nose plug to compare them. Results The data shows that there is a 22% increase in accuracy of identifying food from without smell to with. When the data was split up into the different categories: whole group, under 21, over 21, male and female, it showed that females had the highest average accuracy in with smell and without. With smell females had an average of 6.63 and without smell 6, while males showed the greatest improvement of 35% from 4.38 to 5.92. Conclusions/Discussion The results stated above supported the hypothesis because of the 22% average improvement of the whole group. This showed the experimenter that smell definitely affects the way people taste. The data indicates that males depend more on their sense of taste then females. This experiment may be useful to individuals who have lost their sense of smell by helping to identify what foods their brain can recognize through taste alone.
Summary statement
This experiment shows that olfactory senses are important in enhancing gustation.
Help received
Dad helped organize board; teacher mentor helped guide project
Competition history
- CSEF 2012
Resources
Related projects
CSEF · 2011
Smell to Taste
CSEF · 2007
The Nose Knows (Or Does It?)
CSEF · 2016
The Nose Knows Smell, but Does It Know Taste?
CSEF · 2009
Hmm... What is That? Smell vs. Taste
CSEF · 2005
The Nose Knows the Taste
CSEF · 2013
What Sense Is More Dominant: Taste or Smell?
CSEF · 2006
Is Our Sense of Smell Sensible?
CSEF · 2009
Smell Your Way to Good Memory Power
Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.
Browse more like this
Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects