Oral and Nonoral Perception of Solution Viscosity

Solution viscosity, like many other textural properties of foods, can be perceived by more than one sensory modality or method of sensory exploration. The present study compared judgments of solution viscosity obtained by oral (tactile/kinesthetic) and nonoral (visual and tactile/kinesthetic) modes of sensing. The slopes of the functions describing physical and perceptual viscosity were similar for the different methods but solutions were perceived as more viscous when judged in the mouth.