Remembered odors and mental mixtures: tapping reservoirs of olfactory knowledge.

Five experiments explored how (a) perceived and remembered odor intensities relate to concentration; (b) odor intensities integrate in perceptual, memorial, and mentally constructed mixtures; and (c) components vary in intensity in physical versus mental mixtures. Ss estimated the magnitude of unmixed stimuli presented physically (perceptual estimation) or represented symbolically (memorial estimation). Ss also judged mixtures and their components in combinations of perceptual and memorial presentation. Power functions with similar exponents described the relations between both perceived and remembered intensity and concentration. Perceptual, memorial, and mental mixtures all followed much the same interactive rule of integration. Correspondingly, the intensities of components varied similarly in mentally constructed and physical mixtures. The results imply intensive invariance across odor perception and odor memory.

[1]  William S. Cain,et al.  Interaction between chemoreceptive modalities of odour and irritation , 1980, Nature.

[2]  N. Osaka.  Memory psychophysics for pyridine smell scale , 1987 .

[3]  Birgitta Berglund,et al.  Individual psychophysical functions for 28 odorants , 1971 .

[4]  Acquisition of verbal associations to olfactory stimuli of varying familiarity and to abstract visual stimuli. , 1975, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[5]  An investigation of the equiratio-mixture model in olfactory psychophysics: A case study , 1988, Perception & psychophysics.

[6]  Trygg Engen,et al.  The perception of odors , 1982 .

[7]  L. Marks,et al.  Memory psychophysics for taste , 1989 .

[8]  Stephen Michael Kosslyn,et al.  Information representation in visual images , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[9]  D. Leopold.  Olfaction , 1993 .

[10]  D. Algom,et al.  Integration of stimulus dimensions in perception and memory: composition rules and psychophysical relations. , 1985, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[11]  F. N. Jones,et al.  ON THE INTENSITY OF ODOR MIXTURES * , 1964, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[12]  J. Richardson,et al.  The relationship between perceptual and memorial psychophysics , 1980 .

[13]  L. Marks,et al.  Individual differences in loudness processing and loudness scales. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[14]  W S Cain,et al.  Mutual action of taste and olfaction. , 1977, Sensory processes.

[15]  R. Moyer,et al.  Psychophysical functions for perceived and remembered size. , 1978, Science.

[16]  W. Cain,et al.  Bilateral integration in the common chemical sense , 1982, Physiology & Behavior.

[17]  B M Ross,et al.  Long-term memory of odors with and without verbal descriptions. , 1973, Journal of experimental psychology.

[18]  Paul Laffort,et al.  SELECTED AND STANDARDIZED VALUES OF SUPRATHRESHOLD ODOR INTENSITIES FOR 110 SUBSTANCES , 1975 .

[19]  Richard G. Davis.  Acquisition and Retention of Verbal Associations to Olfactory and Abstract Visual Stimuli of Varying Similarity. , 1977 .

[20]  W. Cain.  Odor identification by males and females: Predictions vs performance. , 1982 .

[21]  D. G. Laing,et al.  Quality and intensity of binary odor mixtures , 1984, Physiology & Behavior.

[22]  S. L. Marques,et al.  Individual differences in magnitude estimates of inferred, remembered, and perceived geographical distance , 1987 .

[23]  William S. Cain,et al.  Chapter 10 – THE ODORIFEROUS ENVIRONMENT AND THE APPLICATION OF OLFACTORY RESEARCH* , 1978 .

[24]  W. Wiest,et al.  Stevens's exponent for psychophysical scaling of perceived, remembered, and inferred distance. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[25]  R. Finke.  Levels of equivalence in imagery and perception. , 1980 .

[26]  S. Kosslyn.  Image and mind , 1982 .

[27]  J. Singer,et al.  Interpersonal Influences on Task-Irrelevant Thought and Imagery in a Signal Detection Experiment , 1984 .

[28]  William S. Cain,et al.  Taste and olfaction: Independence vs interaction , 1980, Physiology & Behavior.

[29]  PSYCHOPHYSICAL SCALES OF THE ODOR INTENSITY OF AMYL ACETATE , 1963 .

[30]  T. Engen,et al.  Associations to odors: interference, mnemonics, and verbal labeling. , 1977, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[31]  Birgitta Berglund,et al.  On the principle of odor interaction , 1971 .

[32]  H. Lawless.  Recognition of common odors, pictures, and simple shapes , 1978, Perception & psychophysics.

[33]  W S Cain,et al.  Odor recognition: familiarity, identifiability, and encoding consistency. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[34]  S. L. Marques,et al.  Subject differences in exponents of psychophysical power functions for inferred, remembered, and perceived area , 1987 .

[35]  R. Shepard.  Ecological constraints on internal representation: resonant kinematics of perceiving, imagining, thinking, and dreaming. , 1984, Psychological review.

[36]  R. I. Baxter,et al.  Olfactory properties of Amines and n-Butanol , 1978 .

[37]  S. Kemp,et al.  Memorial psychophysics for visual area: The effect of retention interval , 1988, Memory & cognition.

[38]  W S Cain,et al.  SCOPE AND EVALUATION OF ODOR COUNTERACTION AND MASKING * , 1974, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[39]  R. Finke,et al.  Theories relating mental imagery to perception. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[40]  W. Cain.  Bilateral interaction in olfaction , 1977, Nature.

[41]  W. Cain,et al.  RECOGNITION MEMORY FOR ODORS , 1975 .

[42]  J. Singer.  The child's world of make-believe: Experimental studies of imaginative play. , 1974 .

[43]  T. Engen.  Remembering Odors and Their Names , 1987 .

[44]  T. Engen.  Psychophysical analysis of the odor intensity of homologous alcohols. , 1965, Journal of experimental psychology.

[45]  S. S. Stevens.  Sensory scales of taste intensity , 1969 .

[46]  D. Algom,et al.  Perceptual and memorial constructs in children's judgments of quantity: a law of across-representation invariance. , 1987, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[47]  C. A. Weaver,et al.  Rapid, permanent, loss of memory for absolute intensity of taste and smell , 1983 .

[48]  M. Horowitz,et al.  Image formation and cognition , 1970 .

[49]  Drake R Bradley,et al.  Psychophysical Functions for Perceived and Remembered Distance , 1984, Perception.

[50]  D L Butler,et al.  The role of mental computations in judgments of area and volume , 1983, Perception & psychophysics.

[51]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Effects of Encoding Strategy on Long-Term Memory for Odours , 1986 .

[52]  L E Marks,et al.  Range and regression, loudness scales, and loudness processing: toward a context-bound psychophysics. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[53]  J. H. Howard,et al.  Memory psychophysics for visual area and length , 1978, Memory & cognition.

[54]  P D Eimas,et al.  Short-term memory of odors. , 1973, Journal of experimental psychology.

[55]  D. G. Laing.  Perception of complex smells and tastes , 1989 .

[56]  M. Björkman,et al.  ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEPT AND MEMORY; A PSYCHOPHYSICAL APPROACH , 1960 .

[57]  N. Anderson.  Foundations of information integration theory , 1981 .

[58]  Norman H. Anderson,et al.  Methods of information integration theory , 1982 .

[59]  W S Cain,et al.  Odor identification in young and elderly persons: sensory and cognitive limitations. , 1981, Journal of gerontology.

[60]  C. Pfaffmann,et al.  Absolute judgments of odor quality. , 1960, Journal of experimental psychology.

[61]  R. Mcbride,et al.  Perceptual integration of tertiary taste mixtures , 1990, Perception & psychophysics.

[62]  S. S. Stevens,et al.  Voice Level: Autophonic Scale, Perceived Loudness, and Effects of Sidetone , 1961 .

[63]  William S. Cain,et al.  ODOR INTENSITY: MIXTURES AND MASKING , 1975 .

[64]  T Lindvall,et al.  A quantitative principle of perceived intensity summation in odor mixtures. , 1973, Journal of experimental psychology.

[65]  D. Algom,et al.  An Experimental Cross-Validation of Mental Imagery , 1981 .