Olfactory stimuli as context cues in human memory.

Olfactory stimuli were used as context cues in a recognition memory paradigm. Male college students were exposed to 50 slides of the faces of college females while in the presence of a pleasant or an unpleasant odor. During the acquisition phase, ratings of physical attractiveness of the slides were collected. After a 48-hr delay, a recognition test was given using the original 50 slides and 50 new slides. The recognition test was conducted with either the original odor or the alternative odor present. A no-odor control group did not receive olfactory cues. The attractiveness ratings indicated that the odor variations had no effect on these social judgments. Analyses of d' scores, hits, and false alarms for the recognition performance indicated support for the predicted interaction in which presence of the same odor at both sessions led to better overall performance.

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

[2]  J. Eich.  Fragrances as cues for remembering words , 1978 .

[3]  R. Baron.  "Sweet smell of success"? The impact of pleasant artificial scents on evaluations of job applicants. , 1983 .

[4]  Gary K. Beauchamp,et al.  The human capacity to transmit olfactory information , 1974 .

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

[6]  Boyd Gibbons,et al.  The intimate sense of smell , 1986 .

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

[8]  V. Nowlis.  Research with the mood adjective checklist , 1965 .

[9]  R. Baron.  Olfaction and Human Social Behavior: Effects of Pleasant Scents on Physical Aggression , 1980 .

[10]  D. Chute,et al.  Drug discrimination and state dependent learning , 1978 .

[11]  G. Bower,et al.  The Influence of Mood on Perceptions of Social Interactions , 1984 .

[12]  J. J. Cowley,et al.  The effect of two odorous compounds on performance in an assessment-of-people test , 1977, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[13]  J. Rotton,et al.  Air Pollution and interpersonal Attraction1 , 1978 .

[14]  A. Isen,et al.  The influence of affect on categorization. , 1984 .

[15]  Michael Milligan,et al.  The Air Pollution Experience and Physical Aggression1 , 1979 .

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

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

[18]  G. Bower.  Mood and memory. , 1981, The American psychologist.

[19]  N. M. Morris,et al.  Pheromonal influences on human sexual behaviour: an experimental search , 1978, Journal of Biosocial Science.

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

[21]  D C Rubin,et al.  Olfactory cuing of autobiographical memory. , 1984, The American journal of psychology.

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

[23]  J. Eich.  The cue-dependent nature of state-dependent retrieval , 1980, Memory & cognition.

[24]  D. Watson,et al.  The Sociology of Odors , 1972, American Journal of Sociology.

[25]  W S Cain,et al.  To know with the nose: keys to odor identification. , 1979, Science.

[26]  M. Russell,et al.  Human olfactory communication , 1976, Nature.

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

[28]  Steven M. Smith.  Remembering In and Out of Context , 1979 .

[29]  R. Baron.  Olfaction and Human Social Behavior , 1981 .

[30]  R. Doty.  Mammalian olfaction, reproductive processes, and behavior. , 1977 .

[31]  D. Laird,et al.  What Can You Do With Your Nose , 1935 .