Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Living Edition
| Editors: Todd K. Shackelford, Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Odor and Memory

  • Angela Lambrou-LoucaEmail author
Living reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1017-1
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Synonyms

Odor expertise; Odor familiarity; Odor recognition; Olfactory memory; Olfactory perceptual learning

Definition

The improvement through experience of the ability to detect and or/discriminate sensory stimuli.

Introduction

It is widely believed that the sense of smell has minimal impact on the critical aspects of existence. However, research has shown that olfaction is deeply involved in every aspect of our lives. Of all the forms of odor memory, odor recognition is the most common and direct measure of odor memory (Crowder et al. 1995). Odor-evoked memory is responsible for providing us a sense of self, who we are, where we are in time and place, present and past (Herz 2011). The anatomy of olfaction seems to be tied to our emotions, motivations, and associations in a unique way which provides us with our personal and interpersonal experiences.

What Is Odor-Evoked Memory?

Odor memory is used to define both memory of odors and memory evoked by odors (Herz and Engen 1996)....

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of NicosiaNicosiaCyprus

Section editors and affiliations

  • Menelaos Apostolou
    • 1
  1. 1.University of NicosiaNicosiaCyprus