Presentation Details
| Response Stability Across Standard and Forced-Choice Formats of the Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT) Shima T.Moein1, Ryan Sharetts1, Ricahrd Doty1, 2. 1Research & Development Division, Sensonics International, Haddon Heights, NJ, USA.2Smell & Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphi, PA, USA |
Abstract
The Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT) includes six response options: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, brothy (umami), and “no taste.” Because excessive endorsement of “no taste” may be used to feign gustatory dysfunction, we examined the effect of removing this option on test performance in healthy individuals and explored implications for detecting atypical responding. Ninety-eight healthy participants (75 women; age range 6–76 years) completed two within-subject administrations of the WETT: (1) standard 6-alternative format and (2) forced 5-alternative format without the “no taste” option. Total and individual taste scores were compared using paired t-tests. Total score was higher in the standard format (34.0 ± 8.9) than in the forced-choice format (25.1 ± 9.0; t(97)=10.08, p<0.001), reflecting frequent selection of “no taste.” However, when “no taste” responses were subtracted from the standard total, adjusted scores (24.1 ± 7.7) did not differ significantly from forced-choice totals (p=0.20). Individual taste scores were largely stable across formats, with only a modest increase in sweet responses under forced choice (p=0.029). These findings demonstrate that healthy individuals show consistent performance across formats when scoring is harmonized. We propose that administering both formats may provide a practical approach for evaluating response validity: substantial discrepancies between standard and forced-choice performance could indicate atypical or non-credible responding. Further research in clinical and simulated malingering populations is warranted.
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