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Measurement of Sensory Thresholds

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Sensory Evaluation of Food

Part of the book series: Food Science Text Series ((FSTS))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the concept of threshold and contrasts the conceptual notion with the idea of threshold as a statistically derived quantity. A simple method for determining detection thresholds based on ASTM method E-679 is illustrated with a worked example. Other methods for determining thresholds are discussed as well as alternative analyses.

A light may be so weak as not sensibly to dispel the darkness, a sound so low as not to be heard, a contact so faint that we fail to notice it. In other words, a finite amount of the outward stimulus is required to produce any sensation of its presence at all. This is called by Fechner the law of the threshold—something must be stepped over before the object can gain entrance to the mind.

—(William James, 1913, p. 16)

An erratum to this chapter can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6488-5_20.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Stocking Hall, Room 106, Ithaca, 14853, USA

    Harry T. Lawless

  2. Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California – Davis, 2003 RMI Sensory Building, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

    Hildegarde Heymann

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  1. Harry T. Lawless
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6.1 Appendix: MTBE Threshold Data for Worked Example

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Lawless, H., Heymann, H. (2010). Measurement of Sensory Thresholds. In: Sensory Evaluation of Food. Food Science Text Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6488-5_6

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