Write a 1,250- to 1,500-word paper that addresses the following:

• How do smell and taste affect each other?
• Which would you change to make a meal taste better?
• If you created the most memorable meal of your life, what sensory elements must be present to emphasize the connection between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain?
• Describe the connection created between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain.

 

Include at least two to four peer-reviewed sources.

 

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Object Concepts in the Chemical Senses

Abstract

This paper examines the applicability of the object concept to the chemical senses, by evaluating them against a set of criteria for object‐hood. Taste and chemesthesis do not generate objects. Their parts, perceptible from birth, never combine. Orthonasal olfaction (sniffing) presents a strong case for generating objects. Odorants have many parts yet they are perceived as wholes, this process is based on learning, and there is figure‐ground segregation. While flavors are multimodal representations bound together by learning, there is no functional need for flavor objects in the mouth. Rather, food identification occurs prior to ingestion using the eye and nose, with the latter retrieving multimodal flavor objects via sniffing (e.g., sweet smelling caramel). While there are differences in object perception between vision, audition, and orthonasal olfaction, the commonalities suggest that the brain has adopted the same basic solution when faced with extracting meaning from complex stimulus arrays.
1 Introduction

The study of visual and auditory object perception is well developed, with empirical work driven by numerous competing models and theories (e.g., Biederman, 1987; Bregman, 1990; Cohen, Poldrack, & Eichenbaum, 1997; Kubovy & Van Valkenburg, 2001; Marr, 1982). If the object concept is useful for understanding visual and auditory perception, then it might also be useful for understanding some of the other senses. Indeed, it is already being applied to olfaction (e.g., Gottfried, 2010; Kanan, 2013; Stevenson & Wilson, 2007) and flavor (e.g., Auvray & Spence, 2008; Prescott, 2004; Small, 2008, 2012), but not to other chemosensory modalities such as taste and chemesthesis (chemical irritation). Object perception could represent a basic processing strategy applied to any sensory system that has to extract meaning from a complex stimulus array. While parsimony would imply a similar approach irrespective of modality, there could of course be sense‐specific adaptations that preclude any commonality of processing or indeed any object processing at all. One way to explore this issue is to examine whether object processing occurs outside of vision and audition. The chemical senses are a good place to look. Object processing claims have already been made for some of the chemical senses, but not others, and they differ in many ways from vision and audition (i.e., in stimuli, receptors, neural architecture, and functional importance). The aim then of this manuscript was to examine the applicability of the object concept to the chemical senses.

To accomplish this aim, the first part of the manuscript focuses on developing a set of criteria that attempt to capture “object‐hood” based upon the visual and auditory literatures. This includes the processes that may lead to an object being formed, the characteristics of objects, and other related features. In the second part of the manuscript these criteria are applied to each of the chemical senses—olfaction, gustation, chemesthesis, and their multimodal product flavor—to determine whether object processing exists within each of these systems and, if it does, to identify its nature. The discussion then explores whether differences in object processing across these diverse sensory systems precludes or supports the idea of a minimal common form of object perception.
2 What characteristics do objects have?

There is no generally agreed set of criteria to define what an object is (Feldman, 2003), although a number of different authors have identified one or more features that attempt to capture object‐hood (e.g., Cohen et al., 1997; Kubovy & Van Valkenburg, 2001). Nonetheless, it is apparent on reading the literature (noting that this is more visual than auditory) that certain features are repeatedly identified by different authors, sometimes under different names. Eight such features were identified this way, and these are summarized in Table 1. These features arguably represent the key criteria for object‐hood, with all of them being necessary, but none sufficient, for identifying object perception within a sensory system. Needless to say, any attempt to draw up such a list is likely to be preliminary (and contentious). Aside from anything else this is because the full extent of object processing across all of the senses remains relatively unexplored, making it hard to select the core features (e.g., by analogy the list of features necessary to extract meaning from electromagnetic energy in the 430–790 THz range would narrow as more diverse visual systems were considered)…

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

 

Chemical Senses Paper -Psy/345