Crossmodal perception
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Crossmodal perception is when senses interact in sometimes surprising ways. Some fun examples:
- Coffee tastes better when you don’t have a loud coffee machine near you, and it also tastes more intense and less sweet if the mug is white.
- In the atmosphere of a pressurised cabin when flying, with decreased humidity and air pressure and significant background noise, things taste less sweet or salty.
- If you can’t hear the crunch of, say, a Pringles potato chip, then it tastes less fresh.
- People are prepared to pay more, and may think the food is better, for meals eaten with heavier cutlery.
You might enjoy Nicola Twilley’s super New Yorker article, The Illusion of Taste , which has more of the science and plenty more examples.
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