| Abstract
| - Subjects were required to give taste descriptions for eight stimuli: NaCl, sucrose, citric acid, quinine sulphate, monosodium glutamate, sodium benzoate, sodium carbonate and purified water, under various Instructional procedures. When the taste words ‘sweet’, ‘sour’, ‘salty’, ‘bitter’ and ‘tasteless’ were suggested in the instructions, within and between subjects studies demonstrated that a higher proportion of these words were used as descriptions than if their mention was carefully avoided. Prior presentation of primary stimuli, to elicit primary taste responses from subjects and so cause a self suggestion effect, failed to work owing to the lack of primary responses elicited. When these terms were given as limited response categories, some subjects broke these restrictions. It was concluded that instructions given to subjects are an important variable, even suggestions affecting the results. The taste descriptions used were discussed and compared to those in prior studies.
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