Open AccessMultidimensional scaling of fragrances: A comparison between the verbal and non‐verbal methods of classifying fragrances 1
Author(s) -
Higuchi Takahiro,
Shoji Ken,
Hatayama Toshiteru
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
japanese psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5884
pISSN - 0021-5368
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5884.2004.00232.x
Subject(s) - sorting , adjective , multidimensional scaling , psychology , correlation , nonverbal communication , pattern recognition (psychology) , mathematics , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , statistics , communication , computer science , algorithm , geometry , noun
Higuchi, Shoji, and Hatayama (2002) selected nine sense‐descriptive adjectives (e.g., sweet, clear) to describe the olfactory properties of fragrances. In order to clarify the ability of these adjectives to classify fragrances, the present study used a non‐verbal sorting of fragrances that has been widely accepted in previous studies as a method of classifying fragrance. Interfragrance similarities obtained from the non‐verbal sorting were then compared with those obtained from the adjective rating based on a two‐dimensional spatial configuration of fragrances created by a multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis. The similarities of the two MDS configurations, obtained from the verbal and non‐verbal sorting, were estimated by the correlation of interfragrance distances on the spatial configuration. The correlation coefficient was 0.61, indicating that the ability of the sense‐descriptive adjectives to classify fragrances is nearly the same as that of the non‐verbal sorting.