Multiway comparison of TCATA and TDS: What are the real differences between these methods?
Sensory perception of food and beverages is not static, but changes and evolves during consumption. Temporal sensory evaluation is therefore important for understanding the dynamics of product sensory characteristics during in-mouth manipulation. In this work two methods for temporal multi-attribute sensory evaluations, TDS (temporal dominance of sensations) and TCATA (temporal check-all-that-apply), are compared. These two methods differ in how samples are evaluated. While in TDS assessors should only select the dominant attribute at each time point, in TCATA they can select all the attributes they find relevant for describing the sample concurrently. Previous studies have shown that for complex products and with lasting sensations, both methods give better descriptions than static methods, although they differ in the type of information they provide. However, more research is needed to better understand similarities and differences between TDS and TCATA. What are the advantages/disadvantages of focusing on the dominant attribute versus selecting all attributes that are perceived at a given time point?
In the present work a highly trained panel with 10 assessors (Nofima, Ås) conducted QDA, TDS, and TCATA to evaluate seven samples of wholemeal bread with different fibre contents, types of cereal, and added seeds.
Differences between the methods were strongly affected by product complexity. Visual inspection of the curves, significant attributes, and trajectory plots showed clear differences between the methods for the more complex products, whereas results were more similar when evaluating less complex products. To better understand similarities and differences between the methods, correlations between the data sets obtained with TDS and TCATA were studied using matrix correlations, multiblock PCA and canonical correlation analysis. The discussion will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods and recommendations of use.
Berget, I., Castura, J. C., Carlehög, M., Ares, G., Næs, T., & Varela, P. (2016). Multiway comparison of TCATA and TDS: What are the real differences between these methods? 7th European Conference on Sensory and Consumer Research. 11-14 September. Dijon, France.