Testing taste sensitivity and aversion in very young children: developmentof a procedure

Taste perception in 45 3- to 6-year-old children was tested using procedure s specifically designed for this age group. Detection thresholds for sucros e and urea were measured by a staircase method and aversion to urea was ass essed hedonically, using drawings of facial expressions. All children under stood the task and could perform the necessary actions. A subgroup of 20 ch ildren participated in a second measurement after a mean interval of 9.5 da ys: there was a satisfactory degree of stability between the sessions. Howe ver, a third measurement, on a subgroup of 13 children after a somewhat lon ger interval, showed a marked drop in the stability of the urea thresholds. This drop was thought to arise from a decrease in the children's motivatio n, leading to increased distractibility. Mean threshold estimates were 31 m mol/l for sucrose detection, 59 mmol/l for urea detection and 134 mmol/l fo r urea aversion, but some children were extremely sensitive to the taste of urea. The findings show that it is possible to study taste perception in v ery young children if their age is taken into consideration in developing t he test procedure. Valid data can be obtained if the procedures are short, easy to understand and intrinsically motivating. (C) 2000 Academic Press.