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Tactile sensitivities are common in Autism Spectrum Conditions (autism). Psychophysically, slow, gentle stroking touch is typically rated as more pleasant than faster or slower touch. Vicarious ratings of social touch results in a similar pattern of velocity dependent hedonic ratings as directly felt touch. Here we investigated whether adults and children’s vicarious ratings vary according to autism diagnosis and self-reported autistic traits. Adults’ scoring high on the AQ rated stroking touch on the palm as less pleasant than a Low AQ group. However, in contrast to our hypothesis, we did not find any effect of autism diagnosis on children’s touch ratings despite parental reports highlighting significant somatosensory sensitivities. These results are discussed in terms of underpinning sensory and cognitive factors.

Background: Interpersonal communication is critical for a healthy romantic relationship. Emotional disclosure, coupled with perceived partner responsiveness, fosters closeness and adjustment (better mood and relationship satisfaction). On the contrary, holding back from disclosure is associated with increased distress and decreased relationship satisfaction. Prior studies assessing these constructs have been cross-sectional and have utilized global retrospective reports of communication. In addition, studies assessing holding back or perceived partner responsiveness have not taken advantage of smartphone ownership for data collection and have instead required website access or use of a study-provided device. Objective: This study aimed to examine the (1) usability and acceptability of a smartphone app designed to assess partner communication, closeness, mood, and relationship satisfaction over 14 days and (2) between-person versus within-person variability of key constructs to inform the utility of their capture via ecological momentary assessment using the participants’ own handheld devices. Methods: Adult community volunteers in a married or cohabiting partnered relationship received 2 smartphone prompts per day, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, for 14 days. In each prompt, participants were asked whether they had conversed with their partner either since awakening (afternoon prompt) or since the last assessment (evening prompt). If yes, a series of items assessed enacted communication, perceived partner communication, closeness, mood, and relationship satisfaction (evening only). Participants were interviewed by phone, 1 week after the end of the 14-day phase, to assess perceptions of the app. Content analysis was employed to identify key themes. Results: Participants (N=27; mean age 36, SD 12 years; 24/27, 89% female; 25/27, 93% white and 2/27, 7% Hispanic) responded to 79.2% (555/701) of the total prompts sent and completed 553 (78.9%) of those assessments. Of the responded prompts, 79.3% (440/555) were characterized by a report of having conversed with one’s partner. The app was seen as highly convenient (mean 4.15, SD 0.78, scale: 1-5) and easy to use (mean 4.39, SD 0.70, scale: 1-5). Qualitative analyses indicated that participants found the app generally easy to navigate, but the response window too short (45 min) and the random nature of receiving notifications vexing. With regard to the variability of the app-delivered items, intraclass correlation coefficients were generally <0.40, indicating that the majority of the variability in each measure was at the within-person level. Notable exceptions were enacted disclosure and relationship satisfaction. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the usability and acceptability of the app, with valuable user input to modify timing windows in future work. The findings also underscore the utility of an intensive repeated-measures approach, given the meaningful day-to-day variation (greater within-person vs between-person variability) in communication and mood.

Consumer goods and healthcare companies face significant challenges in effectively marketing their products, particularly in sectors such as food and oral health, where sensory experiences such as taste and smell play a central role in shaping consumer perceptions and purchasing decisions (Purcarea, 2019). One important aspect of product success is understanding how sensory cues influence not only immediate product liking but also long-term preferences and consummatory behaviours (Sagha et al., 2022). However, sensory experiences are not standardised across consumer populations. While cultural factors influence acceptance of certain textures or aromas (Jeong & Lee, 2021), individual differences in taste sensitivity and odour perception, for example, also significantly shape consumer responses to products (Carlson et al., 2018; Cliff & Green, 1996), suggesting a more segmented approach to product development and marketing can be beneficial (Manrique & Zald, 2006).Difficulties arise, however, in establishing research methodologies which effectively capture individual variations in product perception and enjoyment (Spence, 2015). Traditional consumer methods, such as, focus groups and questionnaires, have limitations not only in their susceptibility to cognitive biases and demand characteristics, that lead to socially desirable or consciously filtered responses, but also in the fact they disrupt natural, on-going behaviours. For example, asking someone to consciously reflect on how much they 'like' something while still consuming it can influence their natural responses (Boesveldt & de Graaf, 2017). Moreover, these methods fail to capture spontaneous and automatic emotional responses to sensory stimuli, which can occur outside conscious perception and are central to understanding authentic consumer behaviour (Mastinu et al., 2022; Kaneko et al. 2018).To address these limitations, objective, real-time assessment techniques are needed, which capture unconscious emotional and physiological responses to a product’s sensory cues. For example, in the oral health sector, understanding how variations in taste sensitivity influence responses to menthol can help in the development of more appealing, segment targeted products. Similarly, physiological insights into how sensory cues influence food choices can guide the development of healthier food products while also helping to identify which sensory attributes resonate most strongly with different consumer segments (McCrickerd & Forde, 2016). Therefore, the studies within this PhD use behavioural and physiological methods to increase understanding of 1) how sensory and perceptual differences influence product perception and liking and 2) which real-time measures of consumer experience are the best predictors of product enjoyment.Motivating individuals to purchase or consume certain foods is driven by a complex interplay of psychological and sensory factors. Understanding what drives this motivation is essential for both food manufacturers and marketers, who seek to align their products with consumer desires. However, measuring these motivations presents a significant challenge, as motivation itself is an internal psychological construct that cannot be directly observed. Whilst assessments of the motivational value of food rewards have largely relied on subjective rating scales (Chae et al., 2023; Morquecho-Campos, 2021; Proserpio et al., 2019; Ramaekers et al., 2014; Gaillet et al., 2013; Rolls & Rolls, 1997), these often fail to capture implicit processes and are susceptible to biases (Chong et al., 2016).