BRILL Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 brill.

com/msr

Red Hot: The Crossmodal Effect of Color Intensity on

Perceived Piquancy

Devin Z. Shermer and Carmel A. Levitan *

Department of Cognitive Science, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA
90041, USA

Received 16 February 2014; accepted 2 June 2014

Abstract
Color cues can influence the experience of flavor, both by influencing identification and perceived
intensity of foods. Previous research has largely focused on the crossmodal influence of vision upon
taste or olfactory cues. It is plausible that color cues could also affect perceived trigeminal sensation;
these studies demonstrate a crossmodal influence of color on piquancy. In our first two experiments,
participants rated the spiciness of images of salsas that were adjusted to vary in color and intensity.
We found that red was associated with significantly higher ratings of expected spice than blue, and
that darker reds were expected to be spicier than lighter reds. In our third experiment, participants
tasted and then rated the spiciness of each of four salsas (with two levels of color and of piquancy)
when sighted and when blindfolded. Spiciness ratings were unaffected by differing colors when the
salsa was mild, but when the piquancy was increased, a lack of increase in color corresponded to a
depressed spiciness. These results can be explained using a model of assimilation and contrast. Taken
together, our findings show that in our US sample, there is a crossmodal correspondence between
visual and trigeminal senses that can influence perception of spiciness.

Keywords
Flavor, color, trigeminal, piquancy, crossmodal, expectations

1. Introduction

Visual input influences the perception of flavor; visual cues create expecta
tions that can influence identification of flavor, discrimination of flavors, and
perceived pleasantness and intensity of particular flavors (Delwiche, 2012;
Shankar et ah, 2010; Zellner, 2013). Although results have been somewhat
mixed about the effect of color on flavor intensity (Spence et al., 2010), several

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: levitan@oxy.edu

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden. 2014 DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002457

208 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223

studies have shown that color can change ratings of taste and flavor properties
(examples include Dubose et al., 1980; Jantathai et al., 2014; Johnson and
Clydesdale, 1982; Pangbom, 1960). Some of the variation in results may be
due to task and the nature of stimulus presentation; for instance, color en
hances the perceived intensity of odors presented orthonasally, but suppresses
the perceived intensity of odors presented retronasally (Koza et al., 2005).
A recent model of color-odor interactions suggests that color has both direct
and indirect effects on odor perception; color activates a (usually previously-
learned) odor percept directly but also activates labels which in turn can influ
ence perception; depending on the similarities of these activations, a variety of
different effects can be explained (Zellner, 2013); this model can be extended
to flavor perception more generally.
Visual information can influence how chemosensory information is used.
Lelievre et al. (2009) asked novices and trained experts to sort beers while
color information was available and when color differences between beers
were masked. The experts had been trained in making assessments without
color information, and felt that, when visual information was present, they
were primarily using chemosensory information. Despite this impression, both
novices and experts showed the same pattern of results: they sorted beers by
brewery when visual information was unavailable, but by color when they
could see the beers. Lelievre et al. suggested that their result may be due to an
unconscious congruency-seeking effect, in which people seek to confirm the
expectations set by their initial sensory experiences; in this case, rather than
fully attending to the chemosensory information, participants allowed visual
information to dominate their percepts.
Trigeminal perception, though a significant contributor to flavor perception,
has received relatively little study compared to other components of flavor. The
trigeminal system carries information about pain, temperature, chemical irrita
tion, and texture and is a distinct neurological pathway from olfactory and taste
pathways, though the systems may interact. This pathway includes receptors
for capsaicin, the primary ingredient that gives chili peppers their pungency
(Caterina et al., 1997). Capsaicin is typically described as burning or warm;
it typically takes tens of seconds in the mouth to reach maximum perceived
intensity (unlike taste stimuli, which are most intense for the first few sec
onds after consumption) and it can suppress perceived sweetness (Prescott and
Stevenson, 1995). Several factors contribute to individual differences in pref
erences for spicy foods, including prior experience (Ludy and Mattes, 2012),
genetics (Tomwall et al., 2013), and personality factors (Byrnes and Hayes,
2013).
Spicy foods and the color red both are associated with heat, and even pain.
Capsaicin receptors are responsive to spicy pepper extracts as well as to high
heat, so the notion of spicy food as hot or even burning is based in physiology
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 209

(Caterina et al., 1997). Red has been associated with thermal heat; shining a
red laser on an actual or even a rubber hand (when seen as ones own) can
produce a sensation of heat, while a blue laser results in a cooler sensation
(Durgin et al., 2007). Pairing a painful stimulus with a red visual cue leads to
reports that it is more painful and hotter than when the same painful stimulus
is paired with a blue cue (Moseley and Amtz, 2007). Similarly, virtual reality
experiments have shown that viewing a reddened arm decreases thresholds
for heat pain, while viewing a blueish arm increases the heat pain threshold
(Martini et al., 2013). Thus it seems plausible that redness and spiciness have
overlapping representations.
The cross-modal effects of visual input on flavor perception are best under
stood in the context of flavor perception as resulting from a unification across
all of the senses involved in eating, including not only taste and smell, but
also trigeminal and touch stimulation as well as visual and auditory informa
tion (Auvray and Spence, 2008). Olfactory information can modify trigeminal
perception (e.g., mint odor can increase the perception of coolness) as well as
trigeminal/taste interactions (Labbe et al., 2008). Color can induce nasal sen
sations; participants who sniffed a bottle containing distilled water and food
coloring (but no thermal stimulus) reported that green presented to the right
nostril induced a cooling sensation and that red presented to the left nostril
induced a warming sensation, but only when the participants could see the
color of the solution (Michael and Rolhion, 2008). These results are thought
to be trigeminal in nature (rather than due to a more general hemispherical
process), as manipulation of gaze does not lead to thermal effects; color may
be activating the trigeminal system in preparation for anticipated trigeminal
stimulation (Michael et al., 2010). Color-odor-trigeminal interactions can be
learned; exposure to an incongruent (as determined by a questionnaire) mix
ture containing sucrose, a cooling agent, pineapple odor, and purple coloring
or to a congruent mixture containing sucrose, the same cooling agent, melon
odor, and green coloring changed subsequent perception of both flavor and
cooling intensity, though the effect of color intensity was inconclusive (Petit
et al., 2007).
Based on the extensive research on colors influence on the perception of
flavors, and more specifically the relation of color to flavor intensity, we de
cided to see if these cross-modal interactions applied to the perception of
piquancy in a real food item. Our hypothesis was that color would influence
ratings of piquancy; specifically, we expected that salsa that was more in
tensely red would be perceived as spicier than salsa of a less intense red color.
Thus Experiments 1 and 2 looked for evidence that color does in fact create
expectations about piquancy and Experiment 3 was designed to test whether
such expectations would persist to influence perception even when a food was
actually consumed.
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2. Experiment 1
2.1. Methods
2.1.1. Participants
Two hundred and twenty adult participants, ranging in age from 18-67 years,
and residing in the U.S., were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk and
paid $0.25 each. Sixteen participants were excluded for not completing the
survey. The study procedure was approved by the Human Research Review
Committee at Occidental College.
2.1.2. Materials
One 800 x 600 pixel image of a white bowl full of salsa was altered using the
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). The salsa portion of the image
was adjusted to make five images with varied coloration. The colors of the
bars in the electronic version of Fig. 1 depict the actual color at a selected
representative point in the image. RGB values at that point were (176, 85, 54)
for SI, (160,62,33) for S2, (136,44, 18) for S3, (129, 39,11) for S4, and (115,
30, 1) for S5. Qualtrics software was used to administer the survey online.
2.1.3. Design
The experiment focused on the role of color in influencing rated spiciness.
Color was a within-participants variable. There were several other variables
measured as possible modulators of spice ratings: age, gender, and experiences
with and preferences for spicy foods and for salsa.
7 n

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5

Figure 1. Ratings of expected spiciness for salsa images in Experiment 1. Bar chart representing
mean rating and standard error bars of expected spiciness for each of the images of salsa, in
order of increasing red color intensity. The colors of the bars in the online version of this figure
depict the RBG values at the same representative point in each image.
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014.) 207-223 211

2.1.4. Procedure
Participants first gave informed consent to participate in the study. They then
saw the five images of the salsas in random order (one image per page) and
were asked to use a vertical sliding scale bar (ranging from 1-7, with only
integer values, with 1 labeled not very spicy and 7 labeled very spicy) to
indicate how spicy they would rate each salsa. On the final page, participants
were asked to report their age and gender and answered five questions con
cerning their experience with salsa on a scale from 0-10 (0 labeled as not at
all, 10 labeled as very much): How much do you like spicy food? How
frequently do you encounter spicy food? How frequently do you encounter
salsa? How experienced are you with spicy foods? and How experienced
are you with salsa?

2.2. Results

A mixed ANOVA was conducted, with a within-participants factor of inten

sity and a between-participants factor of gender. Mauchleys test indicated that
the assumption of sphericity had been violated, (x 2(9) = 83.41, p < 0.0005),
therefore degrees of freedom were corrected using Huynh-Feldt estimates
of sphericity (e = 0.816). There was a significant main effect of intensity
[F (3.26,656.16) = 39.893, p < 0.0005] such that more intense reds were
given higher ratings of spiciness, as shown in Fig. 1. There was a significant
main effect of gender [F (l, 201) = 6.537, p = 0.011], such that women gave
higher ratings on average than men. There was no significant interaction be
tween intensity and gender [F(3.26, 656.16) = 0.473, p = 0.717],
Experience did not correlate consistently with ratings of spice. No con
sistent pattern of response to the questions of experience with spicy food
or with salsa (frequency, liking or experience) arose with ratings of spice
or with age. Age consistently correlated with ratings of spiciness such that
older people tended to rate the images as spicier (SI r = 0.211, p = 0.02; S2
r = 0.262, p < 0.0005; S3 r = 0.255, p < 0.0005; S4 r = 0.185, p < 0.01;
S5 r =0.138, p < 0.05).
Experiment 1 supported our hypothesis that the intensity of red coloring can
influence expected spiciness. But because the study was a within-participants
manipulation, and participants were not asked to rate color, it is possible that
halo dumping could explain the results; participants might be responding
to the only salient attribute using the only available scale (see Auvrey and
Spence, 2008 for further discussion). Thus Experiment 2 was designed to
further probe these results by testing whether the effect would occur in a
between-participants context and by examining additional variables of color
and label.
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3. Experiment 2
3.1. Methods
3.1.1. Participants
Two thousand seven hundred thirty eight unique adult participants, ranging in
age from 18-82 years, and residing in the U.S., were recruited using Amazon
Mechanical Turk and paid $0.20 each. One person did not consent and did not
complete the survey. Of those 2738 participants, 282 participants completed
the survey more than once; only their first responses to the survey were in
cluded in the data analysis. The study procedure was approved by the Human
Research Review Committee at Occidental College.
3.1.2. Materials
Four images of salsa in a white bowl were used. S 1 and S5 (the lightest and
darkest red) from Experiment 1 were used as the red images. Two additional
versions of the picture were made using GIMP: one depicted light blue salsa
(RGB: 50, 98, 152) and the other depicted dark blue salsa (RGB: 32, 62, 96).
Qualtrics software was used to administer the survey online.
3.1.3. Design
This experiment examined the role of color and of label in influencing rated
spiciness and tested whether the effect found in Experiment 1 would also be
found using a completely between-participants design. We were primarily in
terested in three variables: color (red/blue), intensity (light/dark), and label
(whether the participant was asked how spicy would this salsa taste? or how
spicy would this taste?). Age and gender were also measured, as they were
found to be significant factors in Experiment 1.
3.1.4. Procedure
Participants first gave informed consent to participate in the study. They then
saw one of the four images. In the labeled condition, they were asked On
a scale from 1-7 how spicy would this salsa taste? (1 = least, 7 = most)
and in the unlabeled condition, they were asked On a scale from 1-7 how
spicy would this taste? (1 = least, 7 = most); they responded using the same
vertical sliding scale bar from Experiment 1.
3.2. Results
A four-way ANOVA was conducted, with between-participants factors of
color, intensity, label, and gender, with age as a covariate. There was a sig
nificant effect of age [F (l, 2720) = 26.96, p < 0.0005], such that older par
ticipants tended to give higher ratings, so all comparisons are based upon
ANCOVA-adjusted means controlling for age (using mean age of 29.92 years).
Table 1 provides information about the ratings of spiciness for each group.
There was a significant four-way interaction between color, intensity, label,
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 213

Table 1.
Ratings of expected spiciness for salsa images. Mean ratings (evaluated at age 29.92), standard
error, and number of participants for every combination of gender, image, and terminology

Gender Intensity Color Terminology Mean rating Standard error N

Male light blue salsa 2.132 0.091 228

this 2.145 0.097 198
red salsa 3.335 0.099 193
this 3.195 0.098 195
dark blue salsa 2.356 0.097 201
this 2.123 0.097 200
red salsa 3.665 0.093 219
this 3.449 0.096 204
Female light blue salsa 2.2 0.119 133
this 1.814 0.116 141
red salsa 3.27 0.118 134
this 3.508 0.122 127
dark blue salsa 2.162 0.115 141
this 2.109 0.112 151
red salsa 3.848 0.119 132
this 3.666 0.116 140

and gender [F (l, 2720) = 4.66, p = 0.031]. Both men and women rated dark
red salsas as spicier than light red salsas, regardless of whether a label was
present. But for the blue salsas, men and women differed: men rated dark
salsas somewhat spicier than light salsas when they were labeled as salsa,
but not when they were unlabeled; women, however, rated the dark salsas as
spicier than the light ones when the salsa label was absent but not when it was
present. Thus the effect of intensity identified in Experiment 1 held for red
salsas, but was attenuated for blue salsas.
Figure 2 shows the significant interaction between intensity and color
[F (l, 2720) = 4.06, p = 0.044]. There was a significant main effect of in
tensity [F (l,2720) = 17.25, p < 0.0005], though the interaction between
color and intensity shows that this was predominantly an effect for red sal
sas. There was a significant main effect of label, such that presentation of the
term salsa tended to lead to higher ratings of spiciness, though probing the
four-way interaction shows that this was not consistent in all conditions. There
was a significant interaction between color and gender [F (l,2 7 2 0 ) = 6.85,
p = 0.009], such that, on average, men rated the blue salsas as slightly spicier
than women did, but they rated red salsas as less spicy than women did. There
was no significant main effect of gender [F ( l, 2720) = 0.17, p = 0.681]. The
214 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223

6
o>
c

blue red

Figure 2. Ratings of expected spiciness for salsa images in Experiment 2. Bar chart representing
mean rating (evaluated at age 29.92 as age was a significant covariate) and standard error bars
of expected spiciness for each of the images of salsa.

pattern of women giving red salsas higher ratings of spiciness than men was
consistent with our results in Experiment 1. There was a significant main ef
fect of color, such that blue salsas were rated as less spicy than red salsas
[F (l, 2720) = 648.42, p < 0.0005], and this effect was true for all combina
tions of other factors. All other interactions were not significant (p > 0.05).
Experiment 2 thus further demonstrated that visual information can influ
ence expected spiciness. Experiment 3 was designed to build on the results of
Experiments 1 and 2 by demonstrating that expectations of piquancy created
by color intensity would modulate ratings of spiciness of a real food item that
was actually consumed.

4. Experiment 3

4.1. Methods

4.1.1. Participants
Twenty-four participants from Occidental College completed this study. They
received $5 compensation for their time. The study procedure was approved
by the Human Research Review Committee at Occidental College. The study
complied with the Declaration of Helsinki for Medical Research involving
Human Subjects.
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 215

4.1.2. Materials
Four types of salsas were prepared, altered from store-bought Market Pantry
Chunky Mild Salsa. The types of salsa were: one mild salsa with no addi
tives, one with added red food coloring (McCormick red food color), one
with added capsicum extract (ClearCap Super Soluble Capsicum, of 500 000
Scoville units, provided by Kalsec), and finally one with both color and spice
added. The salsas with color had nine drops of food dye added (approximately
0.45 ml in total) added to two cups of salsa. To create the salsas with spice
added, an aqueous solution was first prepared using two drops of capsicum
extract (0.10 ml) in 1/3 cup water, then 16 drops (0.8 ml) of that solution was
added to four cups of salsa. This resulted in a salsa that was spicier than the
original salsa, but at a relatively low level of spice as we were concerned about
sensory fatigue. All salsa was blended in a food processor to eliminate uneven
chunks and ensure consistency.
4.1.3. Design
We used a repeated measures design, where each participant took part in all
conditions. There were two levels of color intensity, two levels of piquancy,
and two viewing conditions (participants blindfolded and sighted). The inclu
sion of the blindfolded condition was necessary to ensure that there was no
physical effect of the food coloring on the perceived spiciness. Each of the
four types of salsa was tasted once in the sighted and once in the blindfolded
condition. Half of the participants were blindfolded first and half were sighted
first. With these blocks, the order of salsas was randomized. The three-way
relationship between color intensity, piquancy, and visibility was the critical
test of our hypothesis.
4.1.4. Procedure
Participants entered the room, completed the written informed consent form
and then began testing. They sat across a table from the experimenter, with a
divider covering the containers of salsa. The experimenter then administered
the salsa by measuring out 0.5 teaspoons of salsa from a container with a
measuring spoon and then pouring it onto the participants tasting spoon. Thus
the participant saw only one container of salsa at a time, as well as the salsa
on their tasting spoon. The participant then ate the salsa, and if they could
not finish the amount of salsa given the remaining salsa was discarded. The
participant rated the spiciness of each salsa on a scale of 1-7, with 1 indicating
not very spicy and 7 indicating very spicy. Trials were self-paced. The
participant was then given a glass of milk and asked to drink (and swallow) an
unspecified amount of it, being prompted to cleanse the palate for accuracy.
Milk was provided to participants to rinse between each taste as it has been
previously shown to be an effective palette cleanser for spicy food (Lucak and
Delwiche, 2009). Participants who could not drink milk or did not wish to
216 D. Z. Shenner, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223

were given water instead, although there were only two participants who did
so. The order of the salsa presentation was determined using a random number
generator, and the study was run double blind.
4.2. Results
A mixed ANOVA was performed with within-participants factors of color
intensity (plain or enhanced), piquancy (mild or spicier), and visibility (blind
folded or sighted) and a between-participants factor of block order (blind
folded first or sighted first). There was a significant main effect of color
intensity [F (l,2 2 ) = 5.957, p = 0.023] such that the enhanced salsa was
rated as spicier (M = 3.87, SE = 0.22) than the plain salsa (M = 3.52, SE =
0.19). There was also a significant effect of piquancy [F (l,2 2 ) = 42.411,
p < 0.0005] such that the spicier salsa was rated as spicier (M = 4.38, SE =
0.22) than the mild one (M = 3.01, SE = 0.22). There was no main effect
of visibility [F (l, 22) = 1.067, p = 0.313] or block order [F (l, 22) = 1.213,
p = 0.283].
Figure 3 shows the significant interaction [F (l, 22) = 10.200, p = 0.004]
between color intensity, piquancy, and visibility, which demonstrated that
color intensity (when visible) influences perceived piquancy, but only for the
higher piquancy salsa. For both sighted and blindfolded conditions in the mild
piquancy level, color intensity did not significantly influence participants rat
ings of spiciness (though note the four-way interaction explained below). Re
gardless of color intensity, participants rated the mild salsas similarly. When

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Lower-level Piquancy Higher-level Piquancy

Actual Piquancy Level

Figure 3. Rated spiciness of tasted salsas in Experiment 3. Bar chart representing mean value
ratings and standard error bars of spiciness as a function of piquancy levels for sighted and
blindfolded conditions at different coloring levels.
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 217

the piquancy was increased, however, color intensity impacted the ratings of
spiciness such that the plain-colored salsa was rated less spicy in the sighted
condition than in the blindfolded condition.
There were two other significant interactions: between piquancy, visibility,
and block order [F (1,22) = 6.994, p = 0.015] and between color inten
sity, piquancy, visibility, and block order [F (l, 22) = 5.348, p 0.030]. The
piquancy, visibility, and block order interaction reflects that when the blind
folded condition was first, the difference in rating between mild and spicy
salsas was larger than when the blindfolded condition was second. The four
way interaction shows that the difference in spiciness rating between mild and
spicy salsas was, in the sighted condition, larger for dark salsas than for light
salsas, and this difference was larger when the sighted condition was first.
There were no other significant interactions (all other p > 0.05).

5. Discussion
In Experiments 1 and 2, color intensity had a substantial effect on ratings of ex
pected spiciness, such that people expected darker red salsas to be spicier than
lighter red salsas and red salsas to be spicier than blue salsas. In Experiment 3,
we demonstrated that these expectations could influence perceived spiciness in
a real food item. When blindfolded, participants gave the spicier salsa similar
ratings with and without added coloring. But when they could see the salsas,
ratings for the salsa without added coloring were depressed relative to ratings
of the salsa with coloring. For the milder salsa, all of the ratings were sim ilar
when the blindfolded condition was first, though when the sighted condition
was first, added coloring led to a more intense rating of spiciness.
The effect of color on spiciness ratings can be understood in terms of as
similation and contrast. A sensory cue, such as color, leads to an expectation
about flavor. Assimilation occurs if the flavor seems plausibly congruent with
the expectation. When the expectation set up by color is incongruent with the
flavor, however, contrast can occur and the resulting percept will not be bi
ased in favor of the expectation (Cardello and Sawyer, 1992; Zellner et al.,
2004). This model has been applied successfully to explain colors influence
on aspects of olfactory and flavor perception, such as intensity and identifica
tion (Koza et al., 2005; Shankar et al., 2010; Zellner, 2013). In Experiments 1
and 2, we demonstrated that the darker red creates an expectation of a spicier
salsa, whereas the lighter red is associated with a milder salsa.
Given that color creates these expectations, we initially predicted that
darker salsas would be perceived as spicier than lighter ones. Such a finding
would be consistent with assimilation. However, our actual finding was more
nuanced. The four-way interaction that we found in Experiment 3 suggests that
visual cues may have had a larger effect earlier on in the experiment; it might
218 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223

be that added experience with the salsas reduced the ambiguity about the level
of spice. Thus, repeated violations of expectations may have led to contrast,
if, for instance, participants became aware that the mild salsa is clearly lack
ing in spice. When the salsa had added capsicum, participants assimilated: the
lighter color could have led to an expectation of less piquancy, which would
depress ratings relative to the darker color, but only when participants could
actually see the salsas. These results are consistent with findings that expecta
tions about taste intensity could change both perceived and neural responses
to orange juice, but only when the discrepancy between expectation and taste
was not too large (Woods et al., 2011). It may be that participants initially do
seek congruency (Lelievre et al., 2009), but visual information does not fully
dominate chemosensory information, and so violations of expectations can be
detected. Intriguingly, a recent finding that red objects must be physically hot
ter than blue objects to be judged as warm suggests that a contrast illusion for
color and temperature can be induced when expectations are violated (Ho et
al., 2014).
Our overall pattern of results suggests that, at least within our US samples,
there is a crossmodal correspondence between color and piquancy. Cross-
modal correspondences can be statistical, structural, and/or semantically-
modulated (Spence, 2011). Statistical correspondences arise when two cues
are correlated in the world and their relationship is learned via experience.
Salsas are commonly red and never blue, and the large differences we ob
served in Experiment 2 in ratings of red and blue salsa likely reflect this
learned correspondence. However, the tendency for darker salsas to be rated
as more intense could be statistical, structural, or both. Structural correspon
dences emerge due to neural organization; for instance, magnitude seems to
be represented similarly in the brain across modalities (e.g., for brightness and
loudness) and it is plausible that intensity of color and intensity of piquancy
could share structural similarities. Shades of gray can be matched to tastes of
different intensities (Marks et al., 1988), and a brightly-lit room leads to se
lection of spicier sauces than a dimly-lit room (Xu and Labroo, 2014); thus
a structural correspondence between brightness and spiciness is plausible. In
Experiment 1, we did not find evidence that experience with salsa or spicy
foods modulated the ratings, which would be initially seem to be suggestive
of a structural correspondence. However, it may be that even participants who
consider themselves relatively inexperienced are aware of the typical corre
spondence. Future research could attempt to disentangle these possibilities, for
instance by having participants rate a number of taste and flavor dimensions,
to see if there is a general effect of intensity or if only correspondences that
are likely to have been learned show a crossmodal relationship. Semantically-
mediated correspondences, such as when the same words are used to describe
features in different modalities, also likely contribute to our results. Red hot
 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 219

is a common metaphor, and spicy foods are often referred to as hot. Thus there
could be a role of language in mediating this particular correspondence. Con
sistent with this idea, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the term salsa led to
slightly higher ratings of expected spiciness when it was present than when
it was absent, though this effect was most consistent for the dark red salsa.
Spence points out that the mechanisms of correspondences are non-exclusive;
in this case, it is likely that all play a role. Cross-cultural studies allow for
investigation of similarities in crossmodal associations (e.g., Jantathai et al.,
2014; Levitan et al., 2014; Palmer et al., 2013; Wan et al., 2014); in cases
where cultures differ in terms of statistical and/or semantic associations be
tween modalities, such studies have the potential to help differentiate between
types of crossmodal correspondences.
Crossmodal correspondences can also be influenced by emotion. Emotion
mediates crossmodal correspondences between color and music; participants
make consistent matches between colors and musical selections, between
color and emotionally-expressive faces, and between music and emotionally-
expressive faces. Ratings of the emotional aspects of the different stimuli are
predictive of the crossmodal associations, and thus it likely that stimuli are be
ing matched based upon common emotional associations (Palmer et al., 2013).
Bright light can also change peoples emotional states. Xu and Labroo (2014)
suggest that it intensifies emotional reactions, whether positive or negative.
In their spicy sauce experiment, they found that the brighter room increased
participants affective ratings of spicy foods in general, and suggest that this
reaction resulted in the selection of spicier sauces. Thus in studies of cross-
modal correspondences, it may be important to consider the multisensory
context in which stimuli are presented.
The finding of a positive relationship between age and ratings of expected
spiciness was initially surprising to us. Past research with older participants
is mixed on whether trigeminal sensitivity worsens with age (Fukunaga et al.,
2005; Kremer et al., 2007; Wysocki et al., 2003). However, our participants
in Experiments 1 and 2 were not rating the actual spiciness of the salsas, as
they did not taste them. Instead, they were indicating their expectations of
spice. As older participants do typically experience reduced olfactory sensi
tivity (Stevens et al., 1984), it is possible that other cues such as vision
take on an increasingly important role in perception of flavor (see Spence,
2012 for a review), which could lead to relatively high ratings when just visual
information is available.
In Experiment 3, there was no main effect of block order (whether the salsas
were tasted with or without a blindfold first), but block order interacted with
other variables. These interactions reflect that there was a greater disparity
of ratings in piquancy in whichever condition the participant experienced first.
This could be due to familiarization with the stimuli, or fatigue (e.g., after con-
220 D. Z. Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223

suming multiple salsas, the ability to discriminate may be reduced). Because

Experiment 3 was a within-participants study, we required each participant to
consume only eight spoonfuls of salsa, but a between-participants design, in
which each participant makes one or very few judgments, minimize the risk of
carryover effects and thus would better facilitate further probing of these ef
fects in real items (e.g., Levitan et al., 2008; Sester et al., 2013; Velasco et al.,
2013). This would be particularly useful for studying the effects of salsas with
incongruencies in color or label. Alternately, a perceptual learning approach
(e.g., Goldstone, 1998), could be used to systematically study the results of
exposure to see the effects upon crossmodal correspondences.
Whether expectations created by vision are truly part of flavor perception
is still an open question. Odors can quickly acquire properties of tastants,
even when participants are not consciously aware of the contingency that they
are meant to learn (Stevenson et al., 1998). Work on conditioning with tri-
modal mixtures (color, odor, coolant) found that congruent mixtures (green
color/melon odor/coolant) led to significant interactions between smell and
cooling, but incongruent mixtures (purple color/pineapple odor/coolant) did
not (Petit et al., 2007). In that study, color intensity did not have a clear ef
fect. It may be that while vision does create expectations, it is not as tightly
bound with odor, taste, and trigeminal information, perhaps due to the differ
ence in time course of the signals. However, when olfactory cues are presented
in advance of taste cues, they generate expectations, which can lead to facil
itation or interference with taste identification depending on the congruency
of the odor and taste, and may be a high-level cognitive effect (White and
Prescott, 2007). Similarly, the role of vision may be largely cognitive rather
than perceptual (Stevenson and Oaten, 2008; Zampini and Spence, 2012).
Beliefs about the meaning of color have been shown to influence flavor dis
crimination (Levitan et al., 2008), and color and label information seem to
have similar effects on flavor identification (Shankar et al., 2009). Taken to
gether, our findings demonstrate that color can create expectations about the
intensity of the spiciness of a food and that these expectations in turn can in
fluence perception.

Acknowledgements

Support for this project was provided by an Academic Student Project award
from Occidental College and by gifts to the Occidental College Undergraduate
Research Center. Nadia Kulenovic assisted in collecting the data in Experi
ment 3. Kalsec, Inc. (Kalamazoo, MI, USA) provided the capsicum extract.
 D. Z Shermer, C. A. Levitan / Multisensory Research 27 (2014) 207-223 221

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