Text Box: Text Box: SENSORY Text Box: Individual Differences in Perceived Sweetness Predict Liking of Sweeteners Text Box: Jenny Kamerud and Dr. Delwiche Text Box: Although recent molecular studies suggest only one receptor and one signaling pathway are involved in the perception of sweetness, this seems to contradict everyday experience that people not only have different likes and dislikes of certain sweeteners, but that they also perceive the sweeteners differently. One possible explanation is that variation in liking of sweeteners is due, in part, to variation across individuals in sensitivity to non-sweet tastes, such as bitterness, which are transduced by a variety of receptors. 50 individuals were asked to rate intensities of several taste attributes of 10 sweeteners and to give hedonic assessments of each sweetener. Additionally, their sensitivity to PROP was determined. Results indicated that when matched for sweetness, the perception of bitterness and the sweetener compound were the two largest factors contributing to overall liking of a sweetener. Sensitivity to PROP did not contribute significantly to the model.