One of the most impressive facts that shows us how the senses utilize context is right in front of us all the time. In fact, it is what we do not see: the blind spot. It is well known that the point on the retina where the optic nerve exits has no light receptors, so we should see a black dot every moment we have our eyes open. We do not see this dot because our brain fills this space with the context of the surrounding area. In other words, we are constantly looking at an optical illusion.
A cacophony of smells
The blind spot: These three images allow us to highlight the existence of the blind spot and the phenomenon of perceptual completion. Use one image at a time, starting with the top one. Close your left eye and fix your gaze on the smaller circle (keeping the image at a distance of approximately 40 centimeters from your eye). While keeping your gaze fixed on the smaller circle, slowly bring the image closer. At an approximate distance of 30 cm, the larger circle will "disappear" as it will be projected onto the blind spot. Repeat the procedure with the other images and check that perceptual completion depends on the images projected in the vicinity of the blind spot[1].
The Kanizsa triangle is an optical illusion first described by the Italian psychologist Gaetano Kanizsa in 1955. In the image above, a white equilateral triangle is perceived, but in fact, none is drawn.
A cacophony of smells
But not only vision utilizes context; smell and taste have also proven to be increasingly influenced by the environment. In a recent study[2], researchers from Heriot Watt University in the UK showed that background music influences the taste experience of wine. Four pieces of music were classified by a group of independent people as powerful and strong (Carmina Burana by Carl Orff), subtle and refined (Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky), pleasant and enjoyable (Just Can’t Get Enough by Nouvelle Vague), and soft and smooth (Slow Breakdown by Michael Brook).
The test was conducted by separating people into 5 groups, one with music and one without music, and after a 5-minute tasting to the sound of these pieces, participants filled out a form rating the wines as powerful and strong, subtle and refined, pleasant and enjoyable, or soft and smooth. And indeed, the classification of the same wine leaned towards the type of music each group listened to: those who listened to Carmina Burana rated the wine more as strong, while those who listened to the soft music rated the wine more as smooth, and so on.
The taste of red
In addition to hearing, vision can also influence smell. In [3], also with wines, conducted at the Faculty of Oenology of Talence in France, the simple act of coloring a white wine to make it appear red, without altering its flavor, fooled all 57 tested wine experts, who did not realize it was a white wine. It is important to emphasize that in a blind test, they would have had a much easier time classifying the wine correctly.
If you want to conduct a simpler test, offer blue currant to people, and you can be sure that very few will be able to identify what they are drinking simply because they are not associating the flavor with the expectation of the color – “Well, currant is red, so this blue cannot be currant.” It seems that if there is a contradiction between vision and smell (or taste), vision ends up carrying more weight, and expectation, a product of individuals' previous experiences, is very important in processing the information of these sensations.
Thus, when they come into conflict, vision seems to have more weight and ends up winning over all other senses. Humans are indeed more visual beings, and this is reflected even in marketing. If we focus on the largest company brands in the world, listed by the Fortune 500 magazine ranking, for example, we will see that only 9% of them use sound as a way to establish, strengthen, and facilitate the memorization of their brands, and the use of smells is even less.
Being more visual beings, it is natural that this appeal is the most chosen for branding. But these studies on the ability of music and smell to influence other senses and behaviors show paths that are still little explored and very fertile.
Sources:
[1]-Consciousness as a product of evolution and the functioning of the nervous system
[2]-The effect of background music on the taste of wine
[3]-Chemical object representation in the field of consciousness
[4]- Brand Sense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound- 2005 -Martin Lindstron
