Sensory Perception: Attributes and Characteristics
Visual Attributes
Figure-NMR
- Figure-NMR (e.g., lemon, pear, ball, dog)
- Figure (e.g., round, square, open, closed, triangular)
- TMN (e.g., large, small, thin, thick)
- Shape (e.g., circular, cylindrical, spherical, cubic, pyramidal, tapered, parallelepiped)
- Volume (e.g., very high and very wide, very low and very high, very wide, very tall and very deep)
- Surface (e.g., wrinkled, textured, discontinuous, prickly, fluffy, granular, smooth, shifting, hairy, folded, porous, sharp, slippery)
- Material (e.g., cotton, clay, cardboard, wool, wood, cloth, metal, acrylic, paper bags, cellophane, cloth paper, silk, stone, plastic, mesh, vegetable)
Position
- The Place of (e.g., near, far, up, down, forward, back, side)
- Position: Distance (e.g., far, near, within five feet, six arms)
- Direction (e.g., left, right, up, down, front, back, north, south, east, west)
Color Attributes
- Vividness (thermal quality: red and yellow are considered hot, while blue and green are considered cold)
- Hardness (tactile quality: red, white, and yellow are perceived as hard, while blue and black are perceived as soft)
- Emotional Tone (attractive or not, pleasant or not)
- Force (capacity to stand out)
- Location (red and yellow give the impression of closeness, while blue and green give the impression of distance)
- Polishing (effect produced by the specular and diffuse reflection ratio on the surface of the object)
Auditory Attributes
- Intensity (strong or weak; Tints: gentle, mild, medium piano, medium strong, strong, slightly intense, very strong, and with maximum force)
- Tone (acute, grave, and medium)
- Timbre (differentiating sounds of the same tone and intensity)
- Duration (long or short)
Olfactory Attributes
Qualitative Criteria
- Dominant Fruity (e.g., grapes, lemon, apple, caramel, vanilla)
- Controlling Wild (e.g., menthol, aniseed, lavender, spices, nutmeg, animal)
- Controlling Fat (e.g., lard and dairy)
- Odors (e.g., ammonia, sulfur, animal sweat, putrefaction)
Quantitative Criteria
(strong, medium, and weak)
Chronological Order
(duration of smell, to discriminate between different odors)
Gustatory Attributes
Chevreul Classification
- Substances that act only on the sense of touch of the tongue (e.g., ice, water)
- Substances that act through the sense of touch and smell (e.g., alcohol, resin)
- Substances that act on the sense of touch and taste (e.g., sweets, sugar)
- Substances that act on the sense of touch, taste, and smell (e.g., fruit, meat, fish)
Flavors
- Acids (e.g., oranges, pomegranates, gooseberries, grapefruit, tomatoes, apples, sour grapes, strawberries, pineapples, lemons, and tangerines)
- Semi-acid (e.g., pears, apples, peach, apricot, cherry, and plum)
- Sweets (e.g., bananas, persimmons, grapes, raisins or sweet, prunes, dates, and figs; can present a wide range of degrees)
It is a mixture of rancid taste and odor.
Tactile Sensations of the Tongue
Rough, smooth, juicy, thick, dry, soft, hard, crunchy, spicy, cold, hot.
Taste Sensations
- Direct (at the same instant of food testing)
- Complete (occurs when tasting salad and whole foods)
- Reflections (the view we have after having eaten and the memories they leave us)