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Effects of training on odor judges scoring intensity
Author(s) -
Nachnani S,
Majerus G,
Lenton P,
Hodges J,
Magallanes E
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2005.01088.x
Subject(s) - odor , audiology , significant difference , intensity (physics) , psychology , analysis of variance , statistics , medicine , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
Objective: This pilot study was intended to test whether a training protocol improved validity of odor judges (OJs), with or without experience, and whether odorant types differed in error proneness. Methods: The OJs (four experienced, two inexperienced) completed a 4‐phase training protocol based on the American Society of Testing and Materials standards (ASTM): (i) introduction to sensory scales, n‐butanol reference, sniffing techniques; (ii) pretraining measurements; 20 samples of varying intensities of four unpleasant and three pleasant odorants; (iii) exercises assessing quality, intensity, ranking, and matching; and (iv) post‐training measurements. Main outcome measures: Subjects’ intensity scores were analyzed as the absolute difference from the ‘true’ intensity (ASTM n‐butanol standard) using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Training significantly ( P = 0.02) reduced OJ errors. Experienced and novice judges did not differ in average errors ( P = 0.99), or in improvement in error from pre‐ to post‐training ( P = 0.94). Improvement was consistent from pre‐ to post‐training for all odorants except dimethylsulfide for which errors worsened ( P = 0.01). Unpleasant and pleasant odorants differed ( P = 0.006) in error. After removing water the effects of water control scores from the pleasant odorants, the difference was not significant ( P = 0.26). Conclusions: The OJs improved in their ability to assess odor intensity irrespective of previous experience. Training is recommended for all OJs prior to research trials.