The acquisition of taste properties by odors

The acquisition of odor taste qualities is a result of associative learning in humans. Three experiments pairing six taste and flavor stimuli reveal that the ratings of sweetness increase postconditioning for the odors paired with sucrose and decrease for the odors paired with citric acid. Awareness of the contingencies is unnecessary for the observations of changes in the target odors. Odors presented without exposure to sucrose or citric acid show constancy in the perception of sweetness or sourness, indicating that stimulus exposure alone is an insufficient explanation.