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𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 would go nowhere 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. I am often reminded that some basic principles involving psychological components can appear 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 to many, especially for those new to our field. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱: How to interpret the preference choices in a 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 preference test with a ‘No preference’ option? What if the two items are 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹? 🟰 𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗯𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻�

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 There is no doubt that Large Language Models (LLMs) are 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 our industry. At DSI, we use them daily to automate client-related work and increase efficiency. The speed and potential of these tools are undeniable. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗼𝗿 However, having studied under Michael O’Mahony and Daniel Ennis, my focus and passion have been on 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻" �

In discrimination testing, we often want more than a yes/no on significance: we want to estimate the size of the sensory difference. The 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝙋𝙙) has long been used for that, based on a simple idea: some people 𝘤𝘢𝘯 tell the difference, others 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵, even momentarily. Pd can also be used as a “difference unit” in power and sample-size planning, and is taught in universities and built into software. But is the idea of “detectors

🌍 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱? 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. Back in my grad school days with Prof. Michael O’Mahony, my early research focused on ever more powerful discrimination methods. The motto was simple: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. • The duo–trio and triangle methods lacked power • The 2-AFC improved sensitivity, but required specifying the sensory dimension • Then came the 𝘁𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱, championed b

Back in 1950, 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗺 introduced the 9-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 to replace the cumbersome multiple pairwise comparison approach. Today, most consumer studies rely on 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, making direct preference comparisons rare — yet the interest in both 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 remains strong. What if we could get both — accurate 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 from 𝗺

It's all about sensory relationships! Thank you to the Swedish Sensory Network (SSN Sveriges Sensoriska Nätverk) and Diana Ismael, PhD for hosting last week’s webinar! On October 2, Dr. Benoît Rousseau shared why linking internal panel and consumer opinions is essential, and how Thurstonian modeling can provide valuable insights into investigating and building such relationships, using a variety of methodologies ranging from discrimination to preference testing. You can ac

THURSTONE WAS RIGHT! And so were Jan Frijters, Michael O'Mahony, Daniel Ennis, Hye-Seong Lee, John Ennis, Danielle van Hout, Carla Kuesten, Jian Bi, Michael Hautus, and many others who built on his work. It was a pleasure revisiting this research with so many colleagues in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago. The experimental results provide strong confirmation of Thurstonian predictions in the long-running triangle vs. 3-AFC debate, highlighting the unique power of the Thurst

We were excited to learn that early work on umami taste by our very own Prof. Michael O’Mahony and Dr. Rie Ishii was recently featured in an SAT question — the standardized test used for admission to U.S. universities. It’s not every day that sensory science shows up in a college entrance exam! 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟭 Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami—one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour—was formally classified

Even with all the promises AI brings to sensory and consumer science, our field still relies heavily on high-quality, consistent human data to drive reliable conclusions. This is what research says. What The Research Say: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 • 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 if the product causes 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 (e.g., spicy foods, strong-flavored products). • 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 when im