Comparison of the ability of wine experts and novices to identify odorant signals: a new insight in wine expertise

Background and Aims: The ability to identify odours is important in wine ă tasting. Contradictory results have emerged from studies comparing the ă olfactory identification ability of experts and novices. The aim of this ă study is to extend the characterisation of olfactory capacity of wine ă professionals and to discuss the effect of practice and training on ă odour identification. ă Methods and Results: We used an original method to explore odour ă identification as a function of a semantic and perceptual task: visual ă images of odour sources, forced-choice olfactory identification and ă response time measurements. The performance of 39 wine experts and 41 ă novices was compared. The experts were more accurate than novices in ă olfactory identification; however, their response time was significantly ă longer. ă Conclusions: As a part of their expertise, wine professionals acquire a ă better capacity for identifying wine defects or everyday odorants. ă Significance of the Study: Experts apply a more complex cognitive ă process than novices when confronted with olfactory identification ă tasks. The mechanisms by which experts acquire their superior skill ă probably involve memory and olfactory mental representations, but their ă precise nature remains unclear.

[1]  Jonas K. Olofsson,et al.  A Time-Based Account of the Perception of Odor Objects and Valences , 2012, Psychological science.

[2]  K. Geoffrey White,et al.  Exploring the nature of wine expertise: what underlies wine experts' olfactory recognition memory advantage? , 2004 .

[3]  Linguistic Expressions of Odors in French , 2002 .

[4]  H. Sakaida,et al.  Influence of visual information and test paradigm on clinical olfactory test results. , 2008, Auris, nasus, larynx.

[5]  G. Sicard,et al.  Learning Odors: The Impact of Visual and Olfactory Mental Imagery Training on Odor Perception , 2014 .

[6]  W. Cain,et al.  Olfactory testing: rules for odor identification. , 1979, Neurological research.

[7]  T. Sørensen,et al.  Is threat the only modulator of attentional selectivity? Redefining the Easterbrook hypothesis , 2014, Front. Psychol..

[8]  A. Holley,et al.  Role of verbal encoding in shortand long-term odor recognition , 1997, Perception & psychophysics.

[9]  K. Engel,et al.  Identification of new sulfur-containing volatiles in yellow passion fruits (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa) , 1991 .

[10]  O. Koenig,et al.  Evidence for separate perceptive and semantic memories for odours: a priming experiment. , 2000, Chemical senses.

[11]  Reaction time for the recognition of odor quality , 1992 .

[12]  D. G. Laing,et al.  The capacity of humans to identify odors in mixtures , 1989, Physiology & Behavior.

[13]  Richard S. Frackowiak,et al.  The appreciation of wine by sommeliers: a functional magnetic resonance study of sensory integration , 2005, NeuroImage.

[14]  Chantal Delon-Martin,et al.  Perfumers' expertise induces structural reorganization in olfactory brain regions , 2013, NeuroImage.

[15]  Jonathan H. Mueller.  Au cœur des odeurs , 2006 .

[16]  P. Chatonnet,et al.  The origin of ethylphenols in wines , 1992 .

[17]  G. Sicard,et al.  The Training Level of Experts Influences their Detection Thresholds for Key Wine Compounds , 2011 .

[18]  Jonas K. Olofsson.  Time to smell: a cascade model of human olfactory perception based on response-time (RT) measurement , 2014, Front. Psychol..

[19]  T. Engen,et al.  The effect of expectation on judgments of odor. , 1972, Acta psychologica.

[20]  K. White,et al.  Demystifying wine expertise: olfactory threshold, perceptual skill and semantic memory in expert and novice wine judges. , 2002, Chemical senses.

[21]  S. Markison,et al.  Psychophysical Assessment of Chemosensory Disorders in Clinical Populations , 1994 .

[22]  R. Dolan,et al.  The Nose Smells What the Eye Sees Crossmodal Visual Facilitation of Human Olfactory Perception , 2003, Neuron.

[23]  J. Schmid,et al.  Identification of Odoriferous Sulfanylalkanols in Human Axilla Secretions and Their Formation through Cleavage of Cysteine Precursors by a CS Lyase Isolated from Axilla bacteria , 2004, Chemistry & biodiversity.

[24]  W. Cain,et al.  Odor identification: perceptual and semantic dimensions. , 1998, Chemical senses.

[25]  D. Dubourdieu,et al.  Identification of new volatile thiols in the aroma of Vitis vinifera L. var. Sauvignon blanc wines , 1998 .

[26]  D. Perl,et al.  Olfactory dysfunction in three neurodegenerative diseases. , 1991, Geriatrics.

[27]  W. Parr,et al.  Representation of complexity in wine: Influence of expertise , 2011 .

[28]  P. Dalton,et al.  Development of a test to evaluate olfactory function in a pediatric population , 2011, The Laryngoscope.

[29]  S. Nordin,et al.  Perceptual Learning in Olfaction Professional Wine Tasters versus Controls , 1997, Physiology & Behavior.

[30]  Rohani Omar,et al.  Flavour identification in frontotemporal lobar degeneration , 2012, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

[31]  Yoshihiro Hasegawa,et al.  Identification of New Odoriferous Compounds in Human Axillary Sweat , 2004, Chemistry & biodiversity.

[32]  G. Solomon.  Psychology of novice and expert wine talk , 1990 .

[33]  I Alobid,et al.  Smell training increases cognitive smell skills of wine tasters compared to the general healthy population. The WINECAT Study. , 2010, Rhinology.

[34]  D. G. Laing,et al.  Influence of training and experience on the perception of multicomponent odor mixtures. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[35]  W. Cain,et al.  Latency and accuracy of discriminations of odor quality between binary mixtures and their components. , 2000, Chemical senses.

[36]  H. Paugam-Moisy,et al.  Levels-of-Processing Effects on a Task of Olfactory Naming , 2004, Perceptual and motor skills.

[37]  R. Boakes,et al.  The knowing nose: the role of knowledge in wine expertise , 2002 .

[38]  C. Dacremont,et al.  Semantic and perceptive organisation of Sauvignon blanc wine characteristics: Influence of expertise , 2011 .

[39]  R. Rouseff,et al.  Aroma composition changes in early season grapefruit juice produced from thermal concentration. , 2002, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[40]  N. Goubet,et al.  Semantic context facilitates odor identification in children and adults. , 2014, Developmental psychobiology.

[41]  Danièle Dubois,et al.  Olfaction, Taste, and Cognition: Names and Categories for Odors: The Veridical Label , 2002 .