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Olfactory Imagination and Odor Processing: Three Same–Different Experiments

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Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Do people who claim to have olfactory imagination process odors more efficiently? In three same–different experiments, using all possible combinations of odors and odor names as primes and targets, selected high imagers (n = 12) were faster (±230 ms; P < 0.01) than low imagers (n = 12) on tasks involving the perceptual interpretation of visually presented odor names and in reaching a decision after the presentation of an odor target, but were equally fast as the low imagers after word targets and equally slow in finding odor names. Thus, self-reported claims are based on modality-specific and demonstrable odor processing differences. Independent of this, olfactory same–different judgments are made much faster (±200 ms; P < 0.01) to nonmatched than to matched pairs by all participants, whereas in the visual modality same–different matched judgments are faster (±50 ms; P < 0.05) than nonmatched ones. The results are interpreted in terms of functional and strategic differences between the senses.

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Compliance with Ethics Requirements

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Standards

The present study has been performed according to the general ethical code of conduct of Utrecht University at the time of conduction. Only healthy and informed adult subjects participated. The stimuli that were used in the present study were commercially available products that did not contain any unusual or hazardous substances. No medical/invasive procedures were performed in the present study. This study was therefore exempt from full medical ethical review. In all experiments, all subjects gave their consent to participate in the study and their consent to publish.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3564 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    E. P. Köster, O. van der Stelt, R. R. Nixdorf, M. R. I. Linschoten, R. A. de Wijk & J. Mojet

  2. Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, Denver, CO, USA

    M. R. I. Linschoten

  3. Wageningen-UR, Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    R. A. de Wijk & J. Mojet

  4. Wildforsterweg 4 A, Putten, 3881, NJ, The Netherlands

    E. P. Köster

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  1. E. P. Köster
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  2. O. van der Stelt
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  3. R. R. Nixdorf
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  4. M. R. I. Linschoten
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  5. R. A. de Wijk
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  6. J. Mojet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. P. Köster.

Appendix

Appendix

Extension of the Betts Vividness of Imagery Scale (O. van der Stelt)

figure a

Think of smelling each of the following items. Consider the imagined odor that comes to mind carefully and classify the imagined odor suggested by each item with regard to its clarity and vividness by assigning it one of the seven scale values mentioned above.

figure b

Note for experimenters: Items 7, 15, and 20 are catch items; if they get less than scale value 4, the subject is rejected.

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Köster, E.P., van der Stelt, O., Nixdorf, R.R. et al. Olfactory Imagination and Odor Processing: Three Same–Different Experiments. Chem. Percept. 7, 68–84 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-014-9165-4

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