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Rating a New Hedonic Scale: A Commentary on "Derivation and Evaluation of a Labeled Hedonic Scale" by Lim, Wood and Green
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Chittaway Road, Ourimbah NSW 2258, Australia
Correspondence to be sent to: John Prescott, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Chittaway Road, Ourimbah NSW 2258, Australia. e-mail: j.prescott@newcastle.edu.au
Key words: hedonics, ratio measurement, scaling
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To the extent that our experiences of tastes and odors have underlying dimensions, one can mount a strong case that the expression of those dimensions is via hedonics (Scott and Mark 1987
; Khan et al. 2007). The hedonic dimension is crucial in defining responses in the chemical senses in a way that is not true for other senses, in that all chemosensory stimuli are intrinsically valenced, either at birth (e.g., in the case of sweetness and bitterness) or as a result of our subsequent experiences with them (arguably the case for all odor qualities). Traditional psychophysics, developed primarily for studies in vision, audition or touch, asks questions about stimulus intensity, but this may be of less importance for taste or smell, which derive much of their meaning from their hedonic properties. Moreover, certainly in the case of taste qualities, our hedonic responses may provide crucial clues regarding the