By Mr Hegarty, Head of Psychology

Aggy, Carys and Sophia from Year 12 took part in the 2024 GDST Psychology Cup which took place at the GDST offices in Victoria on the 3rd of July. They came away with the prize for the ‘Most Original and Innovative Research Idea’ for their wonderful presentation on the topic, ‘How does colour affect taste?’

Thirteen groups from GDST schools around the country presented research on a broad range of topics, including ‘The influence of Gender Bias: An investigation into leniency towards female criminals,’ ‘How school attire affects concentration in lessons,’ and ‘Hemispheric dominance and attachment type.’

The NHEHS team investigated whether participants’ perception of taste was influenced by the colour of their food. This involved participants eating a range of food types (a cookie, icing, carrots, and mashed potatoes) that were dyed different colours (red, blue, yellow, and green). Initially, participants ate the food samples blindfolded and rated the taste from delicious to disgusting on a scale of 1 to 5. Next, they ate and rated the food samples without a blindfold.

The results indicated that the colour of the food did have an effect on participants’ perception of taste. People preferred foods that were of a similar colour to their favourite colour, sweet foods were rated more positively if dyed red or blue, mash was perceived as less tasty unless presented in its original colour, and finally, all food types were perceived as less tasty when green, except for carrots.