Labels affect both liking and preference: the better the stimuli, the bigger the preference.

When hedonic contrast causes stimuli to become less good, it also reduces subjects' preferences between them (hedonic condensation). Here we investigated whether the reduction in preference is a by-product of hedonic contrast or can occur as a result of other manipulations that increase the negativity of the stimuli. Subjects smelled and rated their degrees of preference for each of two sets of paired cheese samples (some subjects were told that they were smelling cheeses, and the others, body odor samples).

It tastes as good as it looks! The effect of food presentation on liking for the flavor of food.

Diners in a restaurant were served the same meal (composed of a sautéed chicken breast with a fines herbes sauce, brown rice pilaf, and sautéed green beans with toasted almonds served on a round white china plate). The same food was presented in two different arrangements on two different nights. Although the two presentations were judged as equally "neat", one was judged as more attractive.

Beauty beyond compare: effects of context extremity and categorization on hedonic contrast.

Three studies investigated the effects of extreme context stimuli and categorization on hedonic contrast by having subjects judge the attractiveness of faces. Experiment 1 demonstrated hedonic contrast in both directions by using 2 sets of stimuli presented in different orders. Preceding moderately unattractive faces with moderately attractive faces made the unattractive faces more unattractive.

Effects of expectations on loudness and loudness difference.

To determine how expectations affect loudness and loudness difference, in two experiments we induced some subjects to expect loud sounds (condition L), some to expect soft sounds (condition S), and others to have no particular expectations (control). In Experiment 1, all subjects estimated the loudnesses of the same set of three moderately loud 1-kHz tones. Estimates were greatest for subjects in condition S and smallest for subjects in condition L.

Neatness counts. How plating affects liking for the taste of food.

Two studies investigated the effect that the arrangement of food on a plate has on liking for the flavor of the food. Food presented in a neatly arranged presentation is liked more than the same food presented in a messy manner. A third study found that subjects expected to like the food in the neat presentations more than in the messy ones and would be willing to pay more for them.

Increased hedonic differences despite increases in hedonic range.

Viewing hedonically negative paintings increased the hedonic ratings of subsequently viewed test paintings (positive hedonic contrast; Experiment 1) and also increased the degree of preference between the test paintings (Experiments 2 and 3). This result differs from the reduction in hedonic preference (hedonic condensation) that accompanies negative hedonic contrast. It also differs from the reduction in perceived differences that usually accompanies expansion of stimulus range and that is predicted by numerous theories.

Categorization reduces the effect of context on hedonic preference.

When moderately hedonically positive test stimuli are presented following better-liked context stimuli, preferences between the test stimuli are reduced. This reduction in preference, hedonic condensation, occurs in settings that also produce negative hedonic contrast--the phenomenon in which moderately hedonically positive test stimuli seem less positive when they follow better-liked context stimuli. Subjects who were instructed that the context and test stimuli were from different categories exhibited less hedonic condensation.

Masculinity/femininity of fine fragrances affects color-odor correspondences: a case for cognitions influencing cross-modal correspondences.

Four experiments found that the colors people choose as corresponding to the odors of fine fragrances are influenced by the perceived masculinity/femininity of those fragrances. Experiment 1 examined the colors chosen for 3 male and 3 female fragrances. The pattern of colors chosen for female fragrances differed from that for male fragrances.

The effect of stress on men's food selection.

This study investigates the effect of stress on food choice among men. Two groups of men were given either solvable (no-stress) or unsolvable (stress) anagrams to solve. Four bowls of snack foods-two healthy (peanuts and grapes) and two unhealthy (potato chips and M&M chocolate candies)-were available and subjects were invited to snack on them.

Contextual influences on liking and preference.

The paper addresses the topic of how much an individual likes a stimulus and also how much that individual prefers it to other stimuli. Research is reviewed showing that the context in which the stimulus is presented affects both liking and preference judgments. Having subjects think of the context stimuli and the test stimuli as being in different categories reduces the impact of the context stimuli on the ratings of the test stimuli and might be used to avoid such context effects in determining liking of and preferences for stimuli.

The categorization effect in hedonic contrast: experts differ from novices.

Test stimuli are rated as less "good" when they follow very good context stimuli than when they are presented alone. This diminution in rating is called hedonic contrast. Contrast is attenuated if the context and the test stimuli are perceived as being in different categories.

Hedonic contrast and condensation: good stimuli make mediocre stimuli less good and less different.

Loud sounds make soft sounds softer (contrast) and also make them less discriminable (which we call condensation). We report on parallel phenomena in hedonics: Good stimuli reduce the pleasantness of less good stimuli, and also reduce people's preferences among the less good stimuli. In Experiment 1, subjects rated the pleasantness of fruit juices diluted to approximate hedonic neutrality.

Food selection changes under stress.

Two studies investigate the effect of stress on food choice. Experiment 1 demonstrates experimentally that stress causes changes in food choice away from healthy low fat foods (grapes) to less healthy high fat foods (M&Ms), confirming previous survey research. Experiment 2, a survey study, finds that more females than males report increasing food consumption when stressed.

Color enhances orthonasal olfactory intensity and reduces retronasal olfactory intensity.

The effect of color on orthonasal and retronasal odor intensities was investigated. When odorants were smelled orthonasally (i.e.

Disconfirmed hedonic expectations produce perceptual contrast, not assimilation.

In studies of hedonic ratings, contrast is the usual result when expectations about test stimuli are produced through the presentation of context stimuli, whereas assimilation is the usual result when expectations about test stimuli are produced through labeling, advertising, or the relaying of information to the subject about the test stimuli. Both procedures produce expectations that are subsequently violated, but the outcomes are different. The present studies demonstrate that both assimilation and contrast can occur even when expectations are produced by verbal labels and the degree of violation of the expectation is held constant.

Chocolate craving and the menstrual cycle.

Spanish and American female chocolate cravers reported the usual times when they craved chocolate by answering an open-ended question. They also were asked directly if they craved chocolate perimenstrually. American women (40% open-ended, 60% direct) were more likely than were Spanish women (4% open-ended, 24% direct) to report that their chocolate cravings occurred perimenstrually when responding to both questions.

Effect of color on expected and experienced refreshment, intensity, and liking of beverages.

The effect of color on the expected and experienced refreshment, intensity, and liking of lemon, mint, and vanilla beverages was studied. Subjects rated the expected and actual taste of brown lemon and mint solutions as less refreshing than the tastes of differently colored solutions of the same flavor. However, the refreshment ratings (expected and actual) of the brown vanilla beverage were not different from those of the vanilla beverages of other colors.

Compared to what? Effects of categorization on hedonic contrast.

Test stimuli are rated less "good" following very good context stimuli than when presented either alone or following neutral context stimuli. This diminution in rating is called hedonic contrast. In two experiments, the degree of hedonic contrast depended on how subjects were instructed to categorize context and test stimuli.

Protection for the good: subcategorization reduces hedonic contrast.

Stimuli are rated less "good" when compared to very good context stimuli than when presented alone or compared to less good context stimuli. This diminution in rating is hedonic contrast. In two studies, degree of hedonic contrast depended on subjects' categorization of stimuli.