Abstract
Memory formation for the absolute intensity of taste and smell was investigated in a series of experiments. In Experiment 1, 336 subjects tasted 10 ml of 15% sucrose and were asked to remember the strength of the solution. They were retested with 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% sucrose, at one of four delay intervals (1, 5, or 15 min, or 72 h). They compared the second stimulus with the first stimulus and reported whether the second was “less sweet, ” “the same, ” or “sweeter. ” Subjects reliably reported that 5% sucrose was less sweet and that 20% sucrose was sweeter. However, when the second stimulus was 15% sucrose (i.e., was equal to the standard), approximately 60% of the subjects reported that it was sweeter, regardless of the delay interval between the two stimuli. About 2/3 of those tasting 10% sucrose reported that it was as sweet as or sweeter than the 15% standard. A similar finding from a procedure using magnitude estimation was reported in Experiment 2. The same pattern of results was also found for an olfactory memory test (Experiment 3). When asked to match either a 1.33- or a 5.0-ppm pyridine olfactory stimulus, subjects consistently picked a concentration weaker than the standard. Apparently, olfactory and taste stimuli are remembered as being substantially weaker as soon as the memory for these stimuli can be tested. A memory model that posits a sensory store within which a taste or smell stimulus of a given intensity rapidly fades to a lower level of intensity is suggested. The new memory is then relatively unchanged for at least 3 days.
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Barker, L.M., Weaver, C.A. Rapid, permanent, loss of memory for absolute intensity of taste and smell. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 21, 281–284 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334710
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334710