Academic literature on the topic 'Sensory expectation'

Perception can be described as a process of inference, integrating bottom-up sensory inputs and top-down expectations. However, it is unclear how this process is neurally implemented. It has been proposed that expectations lead to prestimulus baseline increases in sensory neurons tuned to the expected stimulus, which in turn, affect the processing of subsequent stimuli. Recent fMRI studies have revealed stimulus-specific patterns of activation in sensory cortex as a result of expectation, but this method lacks the temporal resolution necessary to distinguish pre- from poststimulus processes. Here, we combined human magnetoencephalography (MEG) with multivariate decoding techniques to probe the representational content of neural signals in a time-resolved manner. We observed a representation of expected stimuli in the neural signal shortly before they were presented, showing that expectations indeed induce a preactivation of stimulus templates. The strength of these prestimulus expectation templates correlated with participants’ behavioral improvement when the expected feature was task-relevant. These results suggest a mechanism for how predictive perception can be neurally implemented.

Abstract Humans perceive expected stimuli faster and more accurately. However, the mechanism behind the integration of expectations with sensory information during perception remains unclear. We investigated the hypothesis that such integration depends on “fusion”—the weighted averaging of different cues informative about stimulus identity. We first trained participants to map a range of tones onto faces spanning a male–female continuum via associative learning. These two features served as expectation and sensory cues to sex, respectively. We then tested specific predictions about the consequences of fusion by manipulating the congruence of these cues in psychophysical and fMRI experiments. Behavioral judgments and patterns of neural activity in auditory association regions revealed fusion of sensory and expectation cues, providing evidence for a precise computational account of how expectations influence perception.

Sensory processing is strongly influenced by prior expectations. Valid expectations have been shown to lead to improvements in perception as well as in the quality of sensory representations in primary visual cortex. However, very little is known about the neural correlates of the expectations themselves. Previous studies have demonstrated increased activity in sensory cortex following the omission of an expected stimulus, yet it is unclear whether this increased activity constitutes a general surprise signal or rather has representational content. One intriguing possibility is that top–down expectation leads to the formation of a template of the expected stimulus in visual cortex, which can then be compared with subsequent bottom–up input. To test this hypothesis, we used fMRI to noninvasively measure neural activity patterns in early visual cortex of human participants during expected but omitted visual stimuli. Our results show that prior expectation of a specific visual stimulus evokes a feature-specific pattern of activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) similar to that evoked by the corresponding actual stimulus. These results are in line with the notion that prior expectation triggers the formation of specific stimulus templates to efficiently process expected sensory inputs.

Mechanisms of motor-sensory prediction are dependent on expectations regarding when self-generated feedback will occur. Existing behavioral and electrophysiological research suggests that we have a default expectation for immediate sensory feedback after executing an action. However, studies investigating the adaptability of this temporal expectation have been limited in their ability to differentiate modified expectations per se from effects of stimulus repetition. Here, we use a novel, within-participant procedure that allowed us to disentangle the effect of repetition from expectation and allowed us to determine whether the default assumption for immediate feedback is fixed and resistant to modification or is amenable to change with experience. While EEG was recorded, 45 participants completed a task in which they repeatedly pressed a button to produce a tone that occurred immediately after the button press (immediate training) or after a 100-msec delay (delayed training). The results revealed significant differences in the patterns of cortical change across the two training conditions. Specifically, there was a significant reduction in the cortical response to tones across delayed training blocks but no significant change across immediate training blocks. Furthermore, experience with delayed training did not result in increased cortical activity in response to immediate feedback. These findings suggest that experience with action–sensation delays broadens the window of temporal expectations, allowing for the simultaneous anticipation of both delayed and immediate motor-sensory feedback. This research provides insights into the mechanisms underlying motor-sensory prediction and may represent a novel therapeutic avenue for psychotic symptoms, which are ostensibly associated with sensory prediction abnormalities.

Recent theoretical work emphasizes the role of expectation in neural processing, shifting the focus from feed-forward cortical hierarchies to models that include extensive feedback (e.g., predictive coding). Empirical support for expectation-related feedback is compelling but restricted to adult humans and nonhuman animals. Given the considerable differences in neural organization, connectivity, and efficiency between infant and adult brains, it is a crucial yet open question whether expectation-related feedback is an inherent property of the cortex (i.e., operational early in development) or whether expectation-related feedback develops with extensive experience and neural maturation. To determine whether infants’ expectations about future sensory input modulate their sensory cortices without the confounds of stimulus novelty or repetition suppression, we used a cross-modal (audiovisual) omission paradigm and used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record hemodynamic responses in the infant cortex. We show that the occipital cortex of 6-month-old infants exhibits the signature of expectation-based feedback. Crucially, we found that this region does not respond to auditory stimuli if they are not predictive of a visual event. Overall, these findings suggest that the young infant’s brain is already capable of some rudimentary form of expectation-based feedback.

Studies examining the formation of melodic and harmonic expectations during music listening have repeatedly demonstrated that a tonal context primes listeners to expect certain (tonally related) continuations over others. However, few such studies have (1) selected stimuli using ready examples of expectancy violation derived from real-world instances of tonal music, (2) provided a consistent account for the influence of sensory and cognitive mechanisms on tonal expectancies by comparing different computational simulations, or (3) combined melodic and harmonic representations in modelling cognitive processes of expectation. To resolve these issues, this study measures expectations for the most recurrent cadence patterns associated with tonal music and then simulates the reported findings using three sensory–cognitive models of auditory expectation. In Experiment 1, participants provided explicit retrospective expectancy ratings both before and after hearing the target melodic tone and chord of the cadential formula. In Experiment 2, participants indicated as quickly as possible whether those target events were in or out of tune relative to the preceding context. Across both experiments, cadences terminating with stable melodic tones and chords elicited the highest expectancy ratings and the fastest and most accurate responses. Moreover, the model simulations supported a cognitive interpretation of tonal processing, in which listeners with exposure to tonal music generate expectations as a consequence of the frequent (co-)occurrence of events on the musical surface.

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to new insights into how businesses can utilize color cues as a multisensory tool in online ads to evoke positive sensory expectations. An expectation-based approach was used to examine the cross-modal influence of warm relative to cold colored cues. The theory chapter starts with sensory marketing. Later on in the chapter, further theories are discussed, such as cross-modal correspondences and the perceptual process. The methodology used in this study was a deductive research approach, and the thesis has been carried out with a quantitative research study by collecting data through a between-subjects experiment. The outcome from this research study has created a greater understanding in color usage in digital media and how this might trigger other senses. It has shown that online ads with a warm colored background have a stronger cross-modal correspondence to taste, touch, sound and smell relative to cold colored ads. This is proven through strong significant differences in all of the hypotheses of this study. This study has created a better understanding of the impact of color cues on consumer expectations. The importance of using color as a tool when planning out marketing activities and advertising is covered in this study. The findings from this research are highly corresponding with theories of color psychology and cognitive psychology.

Orientador: Maria Aparecida Azevedo Pereira da Silva
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos
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Resumo: Em produtos como o café solúvel, que requerem preparo antes do consumo, o consumidor pode ter sua expectativa prévia influenciada pelos estímulos sensoriais advindos do produto, através da manipulação e contato gradativo que ocorrem durante o processo de preparação. Por sua vez, a Análise Sensorial ainda carece de trabalhos que estudem a validação de análises estatísticas que analisem os dados gerados em estudos com consumidores segmentando-os em função de suas percepções individuais e não em função da média aritmética obtida para o grupo de indivíduos que participou do teste. Assim, o presente trabalho teve como objetivos: i) verificar, especificamente em café solúvel, como os estímulos sensoriais observados durante a preparação, influenciaram a aceitação e percepção dos atributos gosto amargo e riqueza de sabor da bebida pronta e; ii) comparar as metodologias estatísticas tradicionais ANOVA e Teste de Tukey com a Mapa de Preferência, na exploração de dados sensoriais gerados por consumidores. Para atingir este objetivo dois experimentos foram realizados. No primeiro experimento o desempenho do Mapa de Preferência foi estudado e comparado ao desempenho da ANOVA seguida de teste de Tukey, na análise dos dados de aceitação e de intensidade dos atributos gosto amargo e riqueza de sabor de 9 amostras comerciais de café solúvel do mercado inglês, gerados por 178 consumidores ingleses. Para avaliar as amostras, os consumidores utilizaram escala hedônica estruturada de nove pontos e escalas de categoria. Os cafés foram preparados a 17% com adição de 17% de leite pasteurizado semidesnatado. A ordem de apresentação das amostras foi realizada segundo um delineamento de blocos completos balanceados. Os escores gerados pelos consumidores foram submetidos a ANOVA, Teste de Tukey e Mapa de Preferência - modelo vetorial. O Mapa de Preferência demonstrou ser uma técnica útil na análise dos dados, mostrando a segmentação dos consumidores em relação às suas preferências e ainda fornecendo informações que não puderam ser concluídas a partir das análises estatísticas tradicionais, ao identificar a existência de dois grupos de consumidores: i) um grupo menor (23%), que discriminou fortemente as amostras quanto à aceitação e, ii) um grupo maior, constituído pela maioria dos participantes (77%) que a despeito de terem demonstrado preferências similares ao primeiro grupo, utilizaram porção menor da escala hedônica para se expressarem, discriminando menos as amostras em relação à aceitação, comparativamente ao primeiro grupo.o segundo experimento foram avaliados os efeitos do contato com os estímulos sensoriais do café solúvel na expectativa, aceitação e percepção do atributo gosto amargo dos consumidores. Para isso, inicialmente foram formados três diferentes conjuntos embalagem + amostra de café, de forma a confirmar, desconfirmar positivamente e desconfirmar negativamente a expectativa dos consumidores. As avaliações realizadas ocorreram em três etapas: i) avaliação cega, onde os consumidores avaliaram as amostras de café em recipientes codificados; ii) avaliação da expectativa, onde os consumidores avaliaram a expectativa a partir das embalagens e/ou estímulos sensoriais do produto e iii) avaliação informada, onde os consumidores avaliaram as amostras de café na presença das respectivas embalagens. Na avaliação da expectativa os consumidores foram separados em três grupos e cada grupo avaliou a expectativa após adotarem um dos três diferentes procedimentos: 1) manipular a embalagem; 2) manipular a embalagem, abri-Ia e avaliar o aroma do produto e 3) manipular a embalagem, abri-Ia, avaliar o aroma e dosar o produto para o preparo. As amostras e embalagens utilizadas foram adquiridas nos supermercados ingleses. Participaram deste estudo 96 consumidores com perfil similar de preferência de café solúvel. Para gerar os escores de aceitação e intensidade de gosto amargo nas avaliações cega e informada, e aceitação esperada e intensidade de gosto amargo esperada na avaliação da expectativa, os consumidores utilizaram escala hedônica estruturada de 9 pontos e escalas de categoria. A ordem de apresentação das amostras nas três avaliações foi realizada segundo um delineamento de blocos completos balanceados. Os efeitos individuais da expectativa foram identificados através da análise de gráficos (EX - CE) x (IN - CE) plotados para cada amostra, por grupo de consumidores, onde EX representa os escores gerados na avaliação da expectativa, CE na avaliação cega e IN na avaliação informada e das regressões lineares calculadas para cada gráfico. Para avaliar os efeitos da expectativa na aceitação e na percepção de gosto amargo, em cada grupo de consumidores, os escores CE, EX e IN, obtidos para cada grupo, foram expressos como valores de médias e submetidos à ANOVA seguida de Teste de Tukey. Adicionalmente, os dados obtidos para cada grupo nos avaliações cega (CE) e informada (IN) foram submetidos à ANOVA, considerando-se as seguintes fontes de variação: tipo de avaliação (cega ou informada), consumidor e amostra. Para comparação entre as médias CE e IN, obtidas para cada conjunto, nos 3 diferentes procedimentos, foi aplicado o Teste t. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo sugerem que diferentes formas de contato dos consumidores com os estímulos sensoriais do café solúvel, antes da degustação, influenciaram fortemente, e de maneira distinta, a aceitação dos consumidores. O modelo assimilação da expectativa foi predominantemente identificado, sendo significativa (p=0,05) sua ocorrência tanto após desconfirmação negativa da expectativa (produto pior do que o esperado) como após desconfirmação positiva da expectativa (produto melhor do que o esperado). Estes resultados reforçam a importância da embalagem na aceitação e decisão de recompra do produto pelos consumidores
Abstract: In products such as instant coffee, which require preparation before consumption, the expectations of the consumer may be influenced by the sensory stimuli emanating from the product during the manipulation and gradual contact occurring during the preparation process. On the other hand, sensory analysis still lacks research studying the validation of statistical analyses of the data produced in consumer studies in which the consumers are segmented as a function of their individual perceptions and not as a function of the arithmetic mean obtained with the group of individuals who participated in the test. Thus the objectives of this study were: i) verify, specifically with instant coffee, how the sensory stimuli observed during preparation influenced liking and the perception of the attributes bitterness and richness in the final beverage and; ii) compare the traditional statistical methodologies of ANOVA and Tukey with Preference Mapping, in order to explore sensory data generated by consumers. Two experiments were carried out to achieve these objectives. In the first experiment, the performance of Internal Preference Mapping (IPM) was studied and compared with that of ANOVA followed by Tukey's test, in the analysis of the data generated by 178 English consumers for liking and the intensity of bitterness and richness, in 9 commercial instant coffee samples acquired on the English market. The consumers used a 9 point structured hedonic scale and category scales to evaluate the samples. The coffee samples were prepared with a concentration of 17% plus 17% pasteurized semi-skimmed milk. The order of presentation was according to a balanced complete block design. The scores attributed by the consumers were submitted to ANOVA, Tukey's test and the vector model of Internal Preference Mapping (IPM). IPM was shown to be a useful technique in the data analysis, showing the segmentation of the consumers according to their preferences and providing information not available from the traditional statistical analyses, that of identifying two groups of consumers: i) a smaller group (23%), which strongly discriminated the samples with respect to their liking and, ii) a larger group constituted by the majority of the participants (77%), which, despite showing similar preferences to the first group, used a smaller portion of the hedonic scale, discriminating the samples less with respect to their liking as compared to the first group. In the second experiment the effect of contact with the sensory stimulus of the instant coffee was evaluated, with respect to consumer expectation, liking and bitterness perception. Thus initially three different sets of package + coffee sample were prepared, so as to confirm, positively disconfirm and negatively disconfirm consumer expectation. The evaluations occurred in three steps: i) blind evaluation, in which the consumers evaluated the samples from codified containers; ii) expectation evaluation in which the consumers evaluated their expectation from the package and/or sensory product stimulus and iii) informed evaluation, where the consumers evaluated the coffee samples in the presence of their respective packages. In the expectation evaluation, the consumers were divided into three groups, and each group evaluated the expectation after adopting one of three different procedures: 1) manipulate the package; 2) manipulate the package, open it and evaluate product aroma and 3) manipulate the package, open it, evaluate the aroma and dose the product for preparation. The samples and packages used were acquired from English supermarkets. Ninety-six consumers took part in this study, each with a similar preference profile for instant coffee. To evaluate the samples they used a nine point structured hedonic scale and a category scale. In all three evaluations, the samples were presented according to a balanced complete block design. Individual effects of expectation were identified: i) by way of an analysis of the graphs (EX - SE) x (IN - SE), plotted for each sample for each group of consumers, where EX represents the scores generated in the expectation evaluation, SE in the blind evaluation and IN in the informed evaluation and ii) by way of the linear regressions calculated for each graph. To evaluate the effects of expectation on liking and bitterness perception in each consumer group, the scores for SE, EX and IN obtained for each group were expressed as mean values and submitted to ANOVA followed by Tukey's test. In addition, the data obtained for each group in the blind (SE) and informed (IN) evaluations, were submitted to ANOV A, considering the following sources of variation: type of evaluation (blind or informed), consumer and sample. The t test was applied to compare the means for SE and IN, obtained for each set in the 3 different procedures. The results obtained in the present study suggest that different forms of consumer contact with the sensory stimuli of instant coffee before tasting, strongly influence consumer liking, each in a distinct way. The effect assimilation was predominantly identified, its occurrence being significant (p=0,05) after both negative disconfirmation (product worse than expected) and positive disconfirmation (product better than expected). These results reinforce the importance of the package in the acceptance and decision to buy of the product by the consumers
Doutorado
Doutor em Tecnologia de Alimentos

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a critical role in the organization of goal directed behavior. This role is suggested by the anatomy of mPFC as the region rests at the top of a complex cortical and sub-cortical hierarchy, receives convergent sensory and motor information from multiple modalities, and is the target of modulatory brainstem nuclei that respond to prediction and reward. Given these observations, it was hypothesized that mPFC neurons store associations between stimuli when the stimuli contribute to the prediction of reward. To test this hypothesis, neural ensemble spiking activity was recorded in the mPFC as rats performed a paired-associate discrimination task. In one condition, both elements of the paired-associate stimulus-sequence provided information about reward delivery. In another condition, only the first stimulus contributed to the prediction. As hypothesized, stimulus-selective, prospective delay activity was observed during sequences in which both elements contributed to reward-prediction. Unexpectedly, however, selective delay responses were associated with slight variations in head position and thus were not necessarily generated by intrinsic mnemonic processes. Interestingly, the sensitivity of neurons to head position was greatest during intervals when reward delivery was certain. These result suggest that a major portion of delay activity in the rat mPFC reflects task-relevant sensory-motor activity, possibly related to behavioral strategies rather than to the local storage of stimulus-stimulus associations. These observations agree with evidence suggesting that mPFC neurons are particularly responsive during the performance of actions related to the acquisition of reward. These results also indicate that considerable attention must be given to the monitoring of sensory-motor variables during delay tasks as slight changes in position can produce activity that appears to be driven by intrinsic mechanisms. It is further suggested that such activity may perform an important role in memory guided behavior, although this role may contrast sharply with standard theories of delay activity and short term memory storage. In particular, it is suggested that delay activity observed in the prefrontal cortex may correspond to the maintenance of memories that are 'stored' in the body or in the environment in the forms of embodied or situated behaviors.

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CAPES
The people who consume foods rich in energy and poor in nutrients that contribute positively to health, combined with a sedentary lifestyle can develop obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, stroke and heart attack. On the other hand, some consumers seek a more balanced diet, either because they are health-conscious or because they want to keep a good physical shape. The diet and light products were developed to meet the demand of individuals affected by NCDs and obesity, as well as those who look for fitness. Diet product refers to food for special purposes, and they are for both individuals who need diet with restriction of nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and sodium; as for those who want to control the intake aiming at controlling the weight. The light product refers to the 25% minimum reduction of some ingredient compared to the traditional counterpart. The production of this type of food increases every year in sale volume. The information on the labels of such products still generates doubts to consumers. This project investigated the perception of consumers regarding diet/light products, using a qualitative approach (Focus group sessions) as well as quantitative, from the Focus Group findings. The qualitative study investigated the level of understanding regarding such as products, the consumers perception of the risks and benefits associated with the consumption of diet and light, as well as the negative and the positive points perceived by them. Non- consumers of diet and light were also interviewed and the reasons for the non-consumption were discussed. The quantitative approach focused on calorie-reduced jams (strawberry and guava in the version diet, light, zero sugar) and the control product (traditional) as case study. For that, a questionnaire was developed and applied, in which 102 individuals of different ages, genders and social classes took part. In addition, participants evaluated the acceptance of all versions of the fruit jellies (strawberry and guava) coded with three digit numbers (blind condition), only observing the packages and observing the packaging together with tasting the product. Results suggest that the level of consumer knowledge on diet and light products is deficient. Taking into account the label influence on product evaluation, the results indicated that the information on the version of the jam (diet, light, zero or traditional) affected the consumer product acceptance and sensory characterization. The traditional and diet strawberry jam versions were more liked by consumers when evaluated in blind; however, with information (looking at the jar of the jams) no difference was found among versions. Considering the guava jams, the traditional, light and zero versions reached higher acceptance means under informed condition when compared to blind. Differences on the frequency of mention of the sensory attributes were observed among the three evaluation conditions for the two jam flavors.
As pessoas que consomem alimentos ricos em nutrientes energ?ticos e pobres naqueles que contribuem de forma positiva para a sa?de, aliado ao sedentarismo podem desenvolver obesidade e doen?as cr?nicas n?o transmiss?veis (DCNT), como diabetes, hipertens?o arterial, c?ncer, doen?as respirat?rias cr?nicas, acidente vascular cerebral e infarto. Por outro lado, certos consumidores buscam uma dieta mais equilibrada, pois est?o preocupados com a sa?de e/ou em manter a boa forma. Para atender ? demanda de indiv?duos acometidos por DCNT e obesidade, assim como aqueles que est?o em busca da boa forma foram desenvolvidos os produtos diet e light. O primeiro refere-se aos alimentos para fins especiais, sendo destinados tanto aos indiv?duos que precisam de dietas com restri??o de nutrientes, como os carboidratos, gorduras, prote?nas, s?dio; quanto ?queles que precisam controlar a ingest?o alimentar visando controle de peso. J? o produto light refere-se ? redu??o m?nima de 25% de algum ingrediente em compara??o ao produto tradicional. A produ??o destes tipos de alimentos cresce a cada ano em volume de vendas. As informa??es contidas nos r?tulos de tais produtos ainda geram d?vidas nos consumidores. Este projeto avaliou a percep??o do consumidor a respeito dos produtos diet e light, utilizando uma abordagem qualitativa (sess?es de Grupo focal) e tamb?m quantitativa, planejada a partir dos achados das sess?es de Grupo Focal. No estudo qualitativo foi investigado o grau de entendimento em rela??o a tais produtos, a percep??o dos riscos e benef?cios associados ao consumo de diet e light, bem como os pontos negativos e positivos percebidos pelos participantes, para algumas categorias destes produtos. N?o consumidores de diet e light tamb?m participaram do estudo tendo sido discutido os motivos do n?o consumo. A abordagem quantitativa enfocou geleias reduzidas em calorias (diet, light, zero a??car nos sabores morango e goiaba) e do produto controle (tradicional) como estudo de caso. Para tal, foi desenvolvido e aplicado um question?rio, no qual participaram 102 indiv?duos de distintas idades, g?neros e classes sociais. Al?m disso, os participantes avaliaram a aceita??o das geleias de frutas (morango e goiaba) nas vers?es tradicional, diet, light e zero, ?s cegas, apenas observando as embalagens dispon?veis no mercado e observando a embalagem e degustando o produto. Os resultados sugerem que o n?vel de conhecimento do consumidor sobre alimentos diet e light ? baixo. Em rela??o ? influ?ncia do r?tulo na avalia??o dos produtos, os resultados indicaram que a informa??o sobre a vers?o da geleia (diet, light, zero ou tradicional) afetou a percep??o dos produtos tanto na aceita??o como na descri??o sensorial dos mesmos. As geleias de morango nas vers?es tradicional e diet foram as mais aceitas pelos consumidores quando avaliadas ?s cegas; por?m, com informa??o (olhando os potes) n?o houve diferen?a entre as quatro vers?es. Em rela??o ?s geleias de goiaba, as vers?es tradicional, light e zero alcan?aram maiores m?dias na condi??o com informa??o quando comparada ?s cegas. Diferen?as na frequ?ncia de men??o dos atributos sensoriais foram observadas entre as tr?s condi??es de avalia??o para os dois sabores de geleia.

Le lancement d'un nouveau produit sur le marché est une étape à risque pour l'entreprise qui peut se conclure par un échec. Une raison partielle de cet échec est que le produit ne correspond pas aux attentes des consommateurs. L'enjeu consiste donc à mieux comprendre et intégrer dans le design de produits les attentes des consommateurs. Les théories contemporaines en psychologie cognitive nous permettent d'améliorer les méthodologies actuelles de tests consommateurs et à concevoir les produits sur la base des connaissances des consommateurs. L'objectif de cette recherche est de mieux comprendre l'influence d'une adéquation entre les attentes des consommateurs et leurs perceptions sur leurs jugements affectifs dans le contexte de consommation alimentaire. Dans le champ de la cognition incarnée et située, nous avons utilisé la théorie du Perceptual Symbol System qui suppose une forte relation entre les concepts et les propriétés sensorielles. Trois études ont été menées sur des gammes de produits familiers et non familiers. Les résultats nous permettent de conclure que les attentes des consommateurs sont des catégories ad-hoc dépendantes d'une situation de consommation, c'est-à-dire une motivation à consommer le produit dans un contexte de consommation donné. Les propriétés de la catégorie définissent les attentes de type concepts et les propriétés sensorielles attendues du produit. Ainsi, nous avons mis en évidence que les concepts et les propriétés sensorielles sont associées à travers les catégories réactivées en mémoire. Les résultats de cette thèse ont aussi permis de proposer des améliorations aux méthodologies de tests consommateurs. Plus particulièrement, ces méthodologies permettent d'une part d'expliciter les attentes des consommateurs à travers une tâche de catégorisation et d'autre part de sélectionner les produits les plus adéquats aux attentes des consommateurs à travers l'évaluation de leurs jugements affectifs
One challenge when dealing with the launching of new products is to understand consumers’ expectations towards the product experience. Many innovations fail because they do not address the right expectations, for the right consumers, and for the right product.Theories in cognitive psychology allow us to improve current methodologies of consumer tests and to design food products based on the knowledge of consumers. The objective of this research is to better understand the influence of the discrepancy between consumers’ expectations and perceptions on the affective judgment in the context of food consumption. Within the framework of Grounded and Embodied cognition, we use theories developed on Perceptual Symbol System assuming a strong relationship between conceptual knowledge and sensory properties. Three studies were conducted on familiar and non-familiar product ranges. Results allow us to conclude that consumers’ expectations are defined as ad-hoc categories dependent on a situation of consumption, i.e. a motivation to consume the product in a determined context of consumption.Properties of the category define conceptual expectations and expected sensory properties of the product. Thus, we provide evidence that concepts and sensory properties are strongly related through retrieval of categories.The results of this thesis also provide methodological improvements to elicit consumers’ expectations through categorization tasks and to screen samples fitting the best with consumers’ expectations through affective judgment

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior
Companies are in direct competition and increasingly use quality programs to try to maintain market share. In this context, the customer becomes a fundamental part of the success of any product launched, being a rich source of ideas. The satisfaction of customer needs is a quality definition. A quality tool that aims to translate the customer's desire is QFD (Quality Function Deployment). This piece of research was motivated by a situation observed in a Dairy Industry located in Cearà in relation to low demand production with negative impact on productivity rates, packet loss and overall efficiency of the processing line for Petit Suisse cheese. Thus, the objective was to study the identification of quality characteristics with regard to Petit Suisse cheese, jointly applying QFD methodologies and Sensory Analysis for product improvement using Matrix of Quality of the final product. Four brands of Petit Suisse cheese were selected, two international (reference top business minds in the industry) and two regional (local reference companies in the Northeast). A focus group technique was applied using questions directed at the characteristics of the product, and in this way it was possible to obtain information about the concept and product quality. Two groups of seven participants, chosen from the young adult segment, formed focus groups. Exploratory research was also used (qualitative questionnaires) with general questions about the product. Sensory acceptance tests and measurement of expectation were applied to verify acceptance and consumer expectations regarding the product were studied. To quantify the data obtained in the qualitative stage, we applied quantitative questionnaires consisting of items concerning required qualities. The data obtained during the previous steps have been inserted in the Matrix Quality, which presented the items of required quality (requirements of consumers) versus the quality characteristics of the final product. In the qualitative questionnaires, the nutritious aspects, those related to the product being healthy, and those meaning it was affordable were highlighted as ideal product. For the consumerâs focus group, it was found that the most striking feature was the consistency of the product followed by the flavor attribute and then the color. The sensory analysis showed that the Petit Suisse product is well accepted and the products of regional and international brands achieved equal acceptance in the blind test, showing the competitive potential of regional brands. The measure of expectations revealed consumer loyalty to brands. Regarding the physicochemical analyses, the international samples (M2 and M3) showed higher protein. The M1 sample showed the highest percentage of fat and the M4 sample had high acidity. The application of the Sensory Analysis and QFD together made it possible to prepare the Quality Matrix for identifying which quality characteristics are most relevant to the Petit Suisse product in the opinion of the 11 consumer, namely: the expiration date, being nutritious, having nutrition information on the la bel, creamy consistency, absence of supernatant liquid, characteristic flavor and sweet taste. The color and aroma attributes had less importance in the Quality Matrix. Thus, it was possible to highlight which features should be considered important when responding to consumersâ wishes regarding the Petit Suisse product.
As empresas estÃo em plena competiÃÃo e cada vez mais utilizando programas de qualidade para tentar manter-se no mercado. Nesse contexto, o cliente torna-se parte fundamental do sucesso de um produto lanÃado, sendo uma fonte rica de ideias. A satisfaÃÃo das necessidades dos clientes à uma das definiÃÃes de qualidade. Uma ferramenta de qualidade que tem o objetivo de traduzir o desejo do cliente à o QFD (Desdobramento da FunÃÃo Qualidade). Esta pesquisa foi motivada por uma situaÃÃo observada em uma IndÃstria de LaticÃnios localizada no Cearà em relaÃÃo à baixa demanda de produÃÃo com impacto negativo nos Ãndices de produtividade, de perda de embalagem e de eficiÃncia global da linha de processamento do queijo Petit Suisse. Dessa forma, objetivou-se estudar a identificaÃÃo de caracterÃsticas de qualidade do queijo Petit Suisse, aplicando conjuntamente as metodologias QFD e AnÃlise Sensorial para melhoria do produto atravÃs da Matriz da Qualidade do produto final. Selecionaram-se quatro marcas de queijo Petit suisse, sendo duas internacionais (empresas de referÃncia top of mind no setor) e duas regionais (empresas locais de referÃncia no Nordeste). Aplicou-se a tÃcnica de grupo focal utilizando roteiro de perguntas direcionadas Ãs caracterÃsticas do produto, em que foi possÃvel obter informaÃÃes sobre o conceito e qualidade do produto. Dois grupos com sete participantes do segmento de consumidores referentes a adultos jovens formaram os grupos de foco. Utilizou-se ainda a pesquisa exploratÃria (questionÃrios qualitativos) com questionamentos gerais sobre o produto. Testes sensoriais de aceitaÃÃo e medida de expectativa foram aplicados para verificar a aceitaÃÃo e a expectativa do consumidor em relaÃÃo ao produto estudado. Para quantificaÃÃo dos dados conseguidos na etapa qualitativa, aplicaram-se questionÃrios quantitativos constituÃdos dos itens de qualidade exigida. Os dados obtidos nas etapas anteriores foram inseridos na Matriz da Qualidade, que apresentou os itens de qualidade exigida (requisitos dos consumidores) versus as caracterÃsticas de qualidade do produto final. Na aplicaÃÃo de questionÃrios qualitativos os aspectos nutritivos, os relacionados ao produto ser saudÃvel e preÃo acessÃvel foram ressaltados como caracterÃsticas de produto ideal. Para os consumidores do grupo de foco, verificou-se que a caracterÃstica mais marcante do produto foi a consistÃncia seguida do atributo sabor e, posteriormente da cor. As anÃlises sensoriais mostraram que o produto Petit suisse à bem aceito e que os produtos das marcas regionais e internacionais alcanÃaram iguais mÃdias de aceitaÃÃo no teste cego, mostrando o potencial competitivo das marcas regionais. A medida de expectativa revelou fidelizaÃÃo dos consumidores Ãs marcas conhecidas. Em relaÃÃo Ãs anÃlises fÃsico-quÃmicas as amostras internacionais (M2 e M3) apresentaram maiores valores de proteÃna. A amostra M1 apresentou maior percentual de gordura e a amostra M4 apresentou acidez elevada. AtravÃs da aplicaÃÃo conjunta da AnÃlise Sensorial e QFD foi possÃvel elaborar a Matriz da Qualidade para identificaÃÃo de quais caracterÃsticas de qualidade sÃo mais relevantes do produto Petit suisse na visÃo do consumidor, sendo elas: data de validade, ser nutritivo, informaÃÃes nutricionais no rÃtulo, consistÃncia cremosa, ausÃncia de lÃquido sobrenadante, sabor caracterÃstico e gosto doce. Os atributos cor e o aroma ficaram com pesos menores na Matriz da Qualidade. Dessa forma, foi possÃvel destacar quais caracterÃsticas devem ser consideradas como relevantes para o atendimento do desejo do consumidor em relaÃÃo ao produto Petit Suisse.

A habilidade de se preparar para futuros eventos é essencial para o comportamento. No presente trabalho, investigamos como diferentes formas de expectativa temporal podem modular o processamento de estímulos sensoriais. Por meio de 4 experimentos psicofísicos, sendo 2 com registro eletroencefalográfico (EEG) concomitante, nós estudamos o efeito da ação motora voluntária e da expectativa temporal em diferentes estágios do processamento sensorial. Nossos resultados sugerem que mecanismos ligados à preparação motora influenciam a percepção temporal das consequências desta ação. Além disso, nossos resultados mostraram que a atenção temporal pode modular estágios motores e sensoriais do processamento. Em conjunto, nossos resultados sugerem que expectativas temporais podem influenciar diferentes estágios do processamento principalmente por meio do controle de excitabilidade cortical de regiões do sistema nervoso central ligadas àquela tarefa.
The ability to anticipate future events is essential for behavior. On the present work, we investigated how different forms of temporal expectations can modulate stimuli processing. In four psychophysical experiments (two of them with EEG) we studied how voluntary action and temporal attention can influence processing at different stages. Our results suggest that mechanisms related to motor preparation can bias the temporal perception of the consequences of this action. Moreover, we found that temporal attention can modulate perceptual and motor stages of stimulus processing. Altogether, our results suggest that temporal expectations can influence different levels of target processing, mainly by controlling cortical excitability of task-relevant regions of the central nervous system.

Regularly consuming caloric beverages has been linked to obesity and weight gain and evidence suggests this is because beverages have a weak impact on satiety responses (behavioural and physiological). Using a series of experimental studies this thesis explored the cognitive and sensory features of caloric beverages that might enhance the anticipated and actual satiating power of their nutrients. Paper one characterised the sensory characteristics associated with expectations of hunger, fullness and thirst, finding that food and beverage products anticipated to be creamier and thicker were expected to be more satiating and less thirst-quenching. Paper two established that people can perceive subtle changes in beverage viscosity and manipulating thick and creamy textural cues strongly influenced the expectation that a beverage would be filling and supress hunger after consumption. This was extended in paper three, which reported evidence suggesting that a sensorially enhanced beverage is selected and consumed in smaller portions. Papers four and five investigated the satiating power of a caloric beverage consumed with satiety-relevant cognitive and sensory information. Paper four reported tentative evidence that a labelled satiety message influenced the satiating effect of caloric beverages when combined with thick and creamy sensory cues. Participants in Paper five reported greater satiety responses to a covert manipulation of beverage energy when consumed as a ‘snack' rather than a drink. However, consuming the same beverage in a subtly thicker sensory context (without extra information) generated the largest satiety response to the different nutrient loads, perhaps because textural characteristics are the most reliable cue for nutrients. Overall these studies suggest that caloric beverages may generate weak satiety responses because their nutrient-generated effects are not expected. Encouraging people to consider caloric beverages as a snack, or adding in nutrient-relevant sensory characteristics, may both help consumers regulate energy intake when consuming these products.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009.
Committee Chair: Ghassan AlRegib; Committee Member: Elliot Moore; Committee Member: Monson H. Hayes; Committee Member: Paul A. Work; Committee Member: Ying Zhang. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

This article explores how the auditory system processes incoming information and generates perceptual representations that allow it to make predictions about future sound events from past context, and how music appears to make use of this general processing mechanism. It focuses on expectation formation in auditory cortex because this is where the most research has been done, but there is also evidence for prediction mechanisms at subcortical levels and at levels beyond sensory areas. The article presents a framework for thinking about the neurological basis of expectation and prediction in musical processing using selected examples.

This chapter reviews formal models of the decision process in humans and other primates, and discusses divergent accounts of how attention might intervene to bias or facilitate judgements about sensory stimuli. The review covers established decision-theoretic models, such as signal detection theory and serial sampling models, and other computational accounts that draw upon psychophysical and neurobiological mechanisms of early vision. It considers whether such decisions are limited by attentional capacity, or by noise, as suggested by normative models of choice. The authors revisit a debate concerning whether attention acts to boost inputs, enhance activity, or reduce noise. Finally, the authors consider the relationship between attention and expectation in perceptual decision-making.

No part of philosophy is as disconnected from its history as is epistemology. After Certainty offers a reconstruction of that history as the story of an epistemic ideal first formulated by Plato and Aristotle, later developed throughout the Middle Ages, and then dramatically reformulated in the seventeenth century. In watching these debates unfold over the centuries, we come to understand why epistemology has traditionally been embedded within a much wider sphere of concerns about human nature and the reality of the world we live in. We also come to see why epistemology has become today a much narrower and specialized field, concerned with the conditions under which it is true to say, in English, that someone knows something. Looking back to earlier days, this study makes its way through the various and changing ideals of inquiry that have been pursued over the centuries, from the expectations of certainty and explanatory depth to the rising concern over evidence and precision, as famously manifested in the new science. At both the sensory and the intellectual levels, the initial expectation of infallibility is seen to give way to mere subjective indubitability, and in the end it is unclear whether anything remains of the epistemic ideals that philosophy has long pursued. All we may ultimately be left with is hope.

AbstractThe trigeminal nerve constitutes the largest sensory cortex representation in the brain compared to any other sensory nerve. This is likely due to the fact that the trigeminal nerve underpins our very existence, as it protects, sensorially, our senses including the organs that provide sight, smell, taste, hearing, speech and meninges protecting our brain.Neurophysiologically, our affective and limbic systems in our brains are alerted before we even set foot in the dental surgery and the patient’s brain is anticipating and aligned for pain experience. Thus, when trigeminal nerve injuries occur, which in the main are preventable, the majority of patients experience mixed symptoms including ongoing and elicited neuropathic pain, numbness and altered sensation. These neuropathic features cause significant impact on the patients’ ability to function, for example, cold allodynia prevents the patient enjoying cold foods and drinks and undertaking outdoor activities or elicited pain on touch frequently interferes with sleep. The resultant chronic symptoms and functional impedance often result in significant psychological morbidity.There is no magic bullet to resolve these sensory nerve injuries, and our specialty is beholden to prevent nerve injuries where possible. The patient must have the appropriate consent, and their expectation is managed with understanding the potential benefits and risks for their chosen interventions.Prevention and management of nerve injuries related to local anaesthesia, implants and third molar surgery are outlined in this chapter. There is insufficient capacity to go in-depth for each area, but the author has provided up to date evidence base where it exists and some strategies to minimize and manage optimally these unfortunate complications.

As a traveller in India looking for the myth of a natural purity and the utopia of an alternative to neo-capitalistic society, Pasolini felt the burning clash between expectation created by images of an ancient culture and the painful discovery of a world that has lost much of its past due to the spread of Western models. In L’Odore dell’India, the genre of reportage departs from a purely documentary pursuit and becomes a subjective and lyrical experience. Acute and original interpretation of reality experienced by the author as a coded system of sensory signs, Pasolini’s view of India reveals the mythical dimension of his perception and his disillusion confronted with a world whose ‘innocence’ is full of contradictions.

The chapter outlines the tension between readers’ explorative inferences and the constraints of the text’s probability design. It foregrounds the ways in which the artificial nature of the designed sensory flow of the literary text, as conceived through predictive processing, invites readers to pursue multiple configurations of precision while reading. Furthermore, it suggests that these explorative inferences also account for different reading experiences when readers take up a text multiple times. The chapter then turns to discussions of readers’ horizons of expectation and the hermeneutic circle. In conversation with these earlier models of reader response in historical contexts, the chapter discusses probability designs’ invitation to flexibility, but also the resistance that they offer to readers’ sense-making efforts.

A surface texture is a common design factor that affects a customer’s sensory perception of product quality. Customers perceive a surface quality using multiple sensory modalities, for example, vision and touch, and switch them through an interaction with a product, for example, a transition from vision to touch. Between such sensory modality transitions, human beings often predict subsequent modal perceptions using a prior modality, for example, predicting the tactile quality of a product from its appearance before actually touching it. We believe that a disconfirmation between prediction using a modality and an experience using another modality affects a perceived quality. In this paper, we propose a method to evaluate the quality of a surface texture with attention to the effects of a disconfirmation between a prior visual prediction and posterior tactual experience. To identify the textural factors contributing to such an effect, we conducted a sensory evaluation experiment with combinations of visual and tactile texture samples that were synthesized using a half-mirror. We demonstrate the appropriateness of the method with analysis of the results of an experiment using fourteen plastic texture samples having different textures that are commonly used in a product design.

In the user’s perception of a product’s qualities, the state of their sensory modality may shift from one state to another. For example, users see and then touch a product to perceive its texture. Between such state transitions, users have expectations regarding their subsequent states based on their experience of a current state event. Expectation effect is a psychological effect in which prior expectation changes posterior perception itself. The effect is a key factor to design user’s emotions induced by expectation disconfirmation as well as designing a perceived quality based on prior expectations. Although experimental findings on the expectation effect exist in a variety of research disciplines, general and theoretical models of the effect have been largely neglected. The present authors previously found out the visual expectation effect on tactile perceptions of surface texture. The causes of the expectation effect, however, remain largely unexplored. To intentionally design the expectation effect, general and theoretical models that estimates conditions of the effect is needed. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model of the expectation effect using information theory and an affective expectation model (AEM). We hypothesize that Shannon’s entropy of the prior subjective probability distributions of posterior experience determines the occurrence of the expectation effect and that the amount of information gained after experiencing a posterior event is positively correlated with the intensity of the expectation effect. We further hypothesize that a conscious level of expectation discrepancy distinguishes between two types of expectation effect, namely, assimilation and contrast. To verify these hypotheses, we conducted an experiment in which participants responded to the tactile qualities of surface texture. In the experiment, we extracted the visual expectation effect on tactile roughness during a sensory modality transition from vision to touch and analyzed the causes of the effect based on our hypotheses. The experimental results indicated the appropriateness of the proposed model of the expectation effect.

Human perception of sensory stimuli is affected by prior prediction of the sensory experience. For example, perception of weight of an object changes depending on weight predicted with size of the object appearance. We call such psychological phenomena expectation effect. The expectation effect is a key factor to explain a gap between physical variables and their perceptions. In this paper, we propose a novel computational model of human perception involving the expectation effect. We hypothesized that perceived physical variable was estimated using a Bayesian integration of prior prediction and sensory likelihood of a physical variable. We applied efficient coding hypothesis to form a shape of sensory likelihood. We formalized the expectation effect as a function of three factors: expectation error (difference between predicted and actual physical variables), prediction uncertainty (variance of prior distributions), and external noise (variance of noise distributions convolved with likelihood). Using the model, we conducted computer simulations to analyze the behavior of two opposite patterns of expectation effect, that is, assimilation and contrast. The results of the simulation revealed that 1) the pattern of expectation effect shifted from assimilation to contrast as the prediction error increased, 2) uncertainty decreased the extent of the expectation effect, 3) and external noise increased the assimilation.

A deviation of reality from our prior expectation causes positive or negative emotions such as unexpected pleasure or disappointment depending on the condition. Although recognition of this psychological phenomenon has much potential in the design of a product’s emotional quality, i.e., that which evokes the customer’s specific feelings, impressions, or emotions, this factor is largely unexplored. In the transition from prior expectation to posterior experience, we often observe switching sensory modalities, such as from vision to touch. In this paper, we discuss the differences in emotional quality between different sensory modalities in the context of shifting from visual expectation to somatosensory experience. As a case study, we investigate the effects of an object’s surface characteristics on the deviation from visual expectation in the context of “lifting an object”. In this context, the sensory modality shifts from vision to touch and vision, i.e., we see and then lift a target object. We conducted an experiment using cylinder-shaped objects of equal weight with different surface characteristics such as brightness, roughness and gloss. The experiment consists of three phases. 1) We asked eight participants to give their impressions by only looking at the object using adjectives and onomatopoeias, 2) we asked them to lift the objects and recorded their grip force, and 3) we conducted the same evaluation as the first phase except that the participants were allowed to pick up the objects. The results show that the deviation from visual prediction regarding object massiveness and surface roughness can be observed using redundant grip force differences, and that this deviation affects a posteriori tactile emotional qualities such as tactile feelings. With the result, we discuss the need to consider such deviations in emotional quality design.