Abstract
Perceptual learning in olfactory quality discrimination was investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, it was asked whether training participants to label target odorants would improve subsequent discrimination performance. Four groups participated. Prior to discrimination testing, one group was asked to provide a name for each of seven target odors and received training to ensure that reliable naming occurred (label training). A second group profiled the quality of the target odorants, using an odor-adjective attribute list (profile group). A third group was trained to label seven control odorants, and a fourth received no prior experience. Discrimination performance by each group ranked as follows: [label training on targets] > [profile experience on targets] > [label training on controls = no prediscrimination experience]. Experiment 2 was designed to relate the odor knowledge a participant brought into the experiment to performance on a discrimination task wherein an odorant (the target) was paired either with itself or with a mixture consisting of target odorant plus a familiar or an unfamiliar contaminant (target transform). Six different targets were selected for each participant, to represent three familiar and three unfamiliar odors. Familiar targets and familiar contaminants facilitated discrimination. Taken together, these two experiments demonstrate that olfactory quality discrimination can be improved through training, or via experience naturally accumulated over time.
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This research was supported by a grant from The Fragrance Research Fund and by National Institutes of Health Grant NS 21644. This article is based on a doctoral dissertation presented to the Department of Psychology, Yale University.
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Rabin, M.D. Experience facilitates olfactory quality discrimination. Perception & Psychophysics 44, 532–540 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207487
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207487