Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA): Overview and recent developments

Sara King/ May 16, 2016/ Workshop/ 0 comments

Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) was recently proposed as a temporal sensory method. It extends Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) by permitting assessors to select and continuously update the attributes that characterize products over time. The method has been applied to a wide range of food and beverage products of varying complexity, as well as non-food products, and has permitted characterization of products using sensory and emotion terms.

TCATA data can be investigated using TCATA curves. Methods for determining product differences are discussed. Product trajectories are used to provide a multivariate summary of product characterization over time.  Recent developments enable the uncertainty associated with each product trajectories to be visualized via contrails. Results can be supplemented further with data concentration ellipses at individual time slices. Animation provides an excellent sense of dynamic product changes, and can be used to further hypothesis generation and learning.

TCATA shares many features with other temporal sensory methods that do not capture intensity data, such as Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS), as well as older, less well known methods. A key difference is that TDS has assessors indicate and update the attribute perceived as dominant. Comparative TCATA and TDS studies help to cross-validate both methods, and the differences in results obtained from each method help to illuminate the meaning of the data arising from the respective methods. Benefits and limitations of each method are discussed based on results obtained from empirical comparative studies.

Recent methodological advancements related to TCATA are also discussed. The used of trained assessors vs. consumers is reviewed. “Attribute fading” has been proposed as a mechanism for passively encouraging assessors to update their responses. Results from a recent investigation into its effectiveness in TCATA studies relative to project objectives are also discussed.

Castura, J. C. (2016). Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA): Overview and recent developments. In: Check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions: Methodological best practises and recent developments (Jaeger, S. R., Giacalone, D., Worch, T., Castura, J. C.). SenseAsia 2016: 2nd Asian Sensory and Consumer Research Symposium. 15-17 May. Shanghai, China.

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