Sensory Beliefs Research Articles

A Model of Fish Consumption Among Indonesian Youth with the Moderation on Their Perception of Fish Quality Assurance

This study provides a relevant examination of fish consumption among Indonesian youth; it contributes to their perception of fish quality assurance. A cross-sectional sample of Indonesian youth scholars between 17 and 26 years old (n = 1.163) responded to an online questionnaire validly from February to March 2021. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the direction and strength of relationships between variables. The results demonstrate that fish availability, health involvement, fish consumption in childhood, sensory beliefs, and price correlated significantly with fish consumption among Indonesian youth, but that relationship was mediated by attitude to consume fish. Social pressure also has a significant correlation to fish consumption among Indonesian youth. Meanwhile, we found that Indonesian youth's perception of fish quality assurance negatively moderates the relationship between fish and fish consumption. This perception of fish quality assurance is likely not to affect the real-world relationship between the desire to consume fish and fish consumption. Understanding the role different variables play in their fish consumption habits may provide helpful insights for the government to develop strategies for increasing the final goal, which is the intake of fish among young consumers.

What people believe about detecting infectious disease using the senses

Do you believe you can tell if people are sick with infectious diseases by looking at, listening to, or smelling them? Research on pathogen detection and avoidance suggests that perceivers respond with caution both to true signs of infection and to cues only heuristically associated with infection threat. But what do perceivers actually believe about the effectiveness and use of specific sensory modalities for infection detection? In several studies, U.S. participants reported perceptions of effectiveness and likelihood of using each of the major senses to identify infection threat in two types of targets: people and food. Results revealed prioritization of sight and sound with person targets and prioritization of sight and smell with food targets. These patterns appear consistent with the use of “safe senses” (avoidance of cues involving high perceived transmission risk). Beliefs about sensory use also varied depending on the specific feature being examined, with different patterns of sensory beliefs associated with evaluation of pathogenic danger than with evaluation of desirability and fit with normative standards. We discuss these lay beliefs in the context of recent calls for descriptive research in psychology as well as their implications for current and future work on the behavioral immune system.

The importance of precision to updating models of the sensory environment

The existence and updating of “sensory beliefs” or internal models can be studied using auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) when there is some form of predictable pattern in sound. Internal models are proposed to enable predictions about the most likely next sound-activation-state leading to small AEPs to standard sounds matching model predictions, and larger AEPs to sound that deviate. Internal models are precision-weighted with the standard-deviant difference being largest when precision is high (variability is low). Here we expose how order-effects determine whether a change in variability impacts model-precision estimates. Thirty participants heard 3000 t (30 ms standard p = 0.90 and 60 ms deviant p = 0.10) that either moved from a more precise stimulus onset asymmetry (n = 15, first 1000 tones 500 ms ± 10 ms) to a more variable one (n = 15, subsequent 2000 tones 500 ms ± 200 ms) or from variable (first 1000 t) to more precise (subsequent 2000 t). AEPs were equivalent between groups for the first 1000 tones but differed dramatically in the face of timing changes. Where timing precision decreased, the standard-deviant difference was impervious to the change but where precision increased, the standard-deviant difference increased dramatically after the timing change signalling a transient increase in model precision that subsided over the final 1000 tones. The results support contemporary models proposing that updates to an active internal model will be a function of the quality of the evidence upon which it has been built and the information value of subsequent errors in improving the predictive success of the active model.

Smokers' sensory beliefs mediate the relation between smoking a light/low tar cigarette and perceptions of harm.

The sensory belief that 'light/low tar' cigarettes are smoother can also influence the belief that 'light/low tar' cigarettes are less harmful. However, the 'light' concept is one of several factors influencing beliefs. No studies have examined the impact of the sensory belief about one's own brand of cigarettes on perceptions of harm. The current study examines whether a smoker's sensory belief that their brand is smoother is associated with the belief that their brand is less harmful and whether sensory beliefs mediate the relation between smoking a 'light/low tar' cigarette and relative perceptions of harm among smokers in China. Data are from 5209 smokers who were recruited using a stratified multistage sampling design and participated in Wave 3 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey, a face-to-face survey of adult smokers and non-smokers in seven cities. Smokers who agreed that their brand of cigarettes was smoother were significantly more likely to say that their brand of cigarettes was less harmful (p<0.001, OR=6.86, 95% CI 5.64 to 8.33). Mediational analyses using the bootstrapping procedure indicated that both the direct effect of 'light/low tar' cigarette smokers on the belief that their cigarettes are less harmful (b=0.24, bootstrapped bias corrected 95% CI 0.13 to 0.34, p<0.001) and the indirect effect via their belief that their cigarettes are smoother were significant (b=0.32, bootstrapped bias-corrected 95% CI 0.28 to 0.37, p<0.001), suggesting that the mediation was partial. These results demonstrate the importance of implementing tobacco control policies that address the impact that cigarette design and marketing can have in capitalising on the smoker's natural associations between smoother sensations and lowered perceptions of harm.

A model of fish consumption among young consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine attitudes towards fish consumption, social pressure, fish preparation and cooking skills, sensory beliefs, health involvement and fish consumption in childhood as predictors of fish consumption among consumers in their early adulthood. While the impact of these factors on fish consumption has been examined in some extent among adult consumers, this is believed to be the first study where the focus is on people in their late teens and their early 20s.Design/methodology/approachA cross sectional sample of Icelanders between 17 and 26 years old (n=1,735) responded to a questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the direction and strength of relationships between variables.FindingsThe paper finds that attitude towards fish consumption, social pressure and fish preparation and cooking skills were correlated to fish consumption. Sensory beliefs and health involvement were also correlated to fish consumption, but this relationship was mediated by attitudes. Finally, there was a relationship between fish consumption in childhood and fish consumption but that relationship was mediated by sensory beliefs and attitude.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of external variables included in the model is limited and correlational methods were used to estimate the relationship between factors.Originality/valueThe decrease in fish consumption among young consumers is of concern. Understanding the role different variables play in their fish consumption habits can provide health authorities and managers in the fish industry with useful insights for strategies for increasing the intake of fish among young consumers.

History: Science and sensibility

Mechanical world views were replaced by more sensory beliefs after the rise of the novel, finds George Rousseau.

Sensibility and understanding in perceptual judgments

The main aim of this paper is to work towards an account of how sensibility and understanding combine in perceptual judgments, with the emphasis on the role of sensibility in both the justification of such judgments and the explanation of how it is possible for them to apply to an objective world. I argue that in the normal course of events sensory intuitions function as (animal-level) beliefs about the objective world; and that these in turn acquire the status of perceptual judgments to the extent that they are imbedded in and engaged with the high-level patterns of consciousness and reasoning characteristic of full-blown human judgment. In terms of this account sensibility is seamlessly integrated with understanding in perceptual judgments. This does not, however, imply that its contribution to perceptual judgments cannot be separated analytically, for in my terms the basic justification and objective reference of perceptual judgments are directly inherited from the sensory intuitions (functioning as sensory beliefs) which constitute those judgments. I conclude by showing how this account can be used to undermine John McDowell's claim that any attempt to assign a separable contribution to sensibility cannot avoid a commitment to the Myth of the Given.

Nutritional and Sensory Beliefs in Food Choice

Food choice is influenced by a range of factors, including sensory attributes and beliefs about the nutritional value of the foods. It is difficult to determine the relative importance of beliefs about nutritional and sensory attributes to foods. It is necessary to examine these within an overall framework. The attitudes model developed by Fishbein and Ajzen is presented as a framework within which such comparisons can be made. It has been shown to be useful in a variety of studies of food choice. The relative importance of different types of beliefs can be assessed within this approach by examining the relationship between individual beliefs (or groups of beliefs) and either attitude or behaviour. In a number of studies sensory attributes have been found to be more important for table salt use, snack food consumption and consumption of foods contributing highly to fat in the diet. In the case of low‐fat milk consumption, however, nutritional beliefs were found to be more important than beliefs about the sensory attributes of the milks or their suitability for different uses.