Olfactory Experiences Flashcards
QCM + Cours
According to your textbook, which of the following is a chemical sense? A. Smell B. Kiesthesis C. Sight D. Hearing
A. Smell
“The process by which we receive, transform, and process stimuli from the outside worldto create sensory experiences of vision, touch, hearing, taste, smell” is _____?______
Sensation
Absolute Threshhold
The point where something becomes noticeable to our senses. Point were a stimulus goes from undetectabl to detectable.
According to the text, Urdapilleta & al. (2006) studied the characteristics ofdenominations used to describe odors by grouping them into semantic classes (i.e.,according to their meaning). Which of the following statements is false according to themain conclusion of her study?
Odors cannot be described through language and no common vocabulary can emerge
According to your textbook, Chrea, & al. (2007) showed that the variability of odors’descriptions are culture related. Which odors were highly consensual for Frenchparticipants, but not for American and Vietnamese participants?
Anise, garlic and lavender
According to your textbook, how many odors exist in the world, in average ?
10 000
According to your textbook, what is the main difference between odor perception andvisual perception?
Odor perception is more global whereas visual perception is more diversified
According to your textbook, which of the following affects our perception of odors? A. Individual physiological differences B. Culture C. The Stimuli D. All E. None
D. All
According to your textbook, which of the following is not a cognitive process associatedwith the perception of odors?
Familiarity of odors
Chrea, Ferdenzi, Valentin and Abdi 2007
The Variability of the description depends on the nature of the odor
- Rely on the notion of codability to revisit reltion between odors and language ;
- Assessed the consensus between French, American and Vietnamese in a free identification task of 40 daily life odors.
- Participants asked to identify odor using single words, and avoiding general terms ;
- Codability related to tis fmiliarity in a culture :
- Some odors more codable than others ;
- Garlic, lavender and anise highly consensual for French participans but not for the others
Difference Threshold
The amount of change needed for us to recognize that a change has occured (Just Noticeable Difference)
Holley (1999) stated that “the perception of a mixture does not correspond to the sum ofits basic compounds”. To what theory does this statement refer ?
Gestalt theory
If you are expecting a telephone call, you may be more likely to notice the telephoneringing while you are in the shower than if you were not expecting a call. This example isan illustration of ___?____
Signal-detection theory
In order to determine your ____?____, you might slowly turn up the volume on thestereo one decibel at a time until you could just hear it…
Absolute Threshold
Individuals can be affected by stimuli that are presented to them so quickly that they arenot able to consciously perceive the stimuli. This phenomenon is known as ____?____
Subliminal perception
Lawless and Engen 1977
Labels available to name odors are limited
- Tip-of-the-nose state
Most people have had the experience of smelling something, maybe a certain perfume orspice, and suddenly experiencing a strong emotional memory. What is this phenomenoncalled?
Proust Phenomenon
Olfaction is another name for the sense of ________?
smell
Psychophysics
The scientific study of the relationship between stimuli and sensations and perceptions evoked by these stimuli
Sensory adaptation
Refers to a stimulus which has become redundant or remains unchanged for an extended perdiod of time. Process of becoming less sensitive to unchanging stimulus.
Signal Detection Theory
We attempt to detect what we want to focus on and ignore or minimize everything else.
Smell
- Chemical
- based on contact between molecules from substances and receptors contained in the olfactory cell membrane
Subliminal perception
Any sensory stimulus below an individual’s threshold for conscious erception. Originally used to discribe situation in which weak stimuli were perceived without awareness. Nowadays, more general.
The minimal difference between two stimuli that people can reliably detect is ___?___
the difference threshold
The perception of odors is :
- VARIABLE :
1. Wide diversity of olfactory receptors (not the same number per individuals) ;
2. Odor detection varies among individuals ;
3. Detection thresholds depend on :- Endogenous factors ;
- Exogenous factors.
- GLOBAL :
1. Ability to discriminte basic compounds of a mixture is limited to 3 or 4 compounds ;
2. Laing 1991 : Even with training, participants cannot recognize olfactory compounds of a mixture in more than 3% of trials ;
3. Holley 1999 : Perception of a mixture does not correspond to the sum of its basic compounds, it’s more global.
The sens of smell
- The least studied sense ;
- Odors differs from other stimuli ;
- Range of olfactor stumuli has not been established ;
- Cognitive processes associated with this sens are highly variable and diverse among individuals.
Tip-of-the-nose state
When we smell an odor, we might know we have experienced it before, but find we cannot precisel reach its exact label
Urdapilleta, Giboreau, Mantta and Richard 2006
- It’s possible to express an olfactory experience verbally
The vocabulary used to describe is based on a variety of classes reffering many dimension : - source
- intensity
- temporality
- use
- hedonistic value
- emotion
Labels vary form person to person BUT they refer to the same semantic dimension and convey the same sort of meanings
When Harold first enters his swimming pool, the water feels uncomfortably cold. Fiveminutes later, the water feels comfortable to Harold. This is an example of ___?___
Sensory adaptation
Which sense has connections with several structures in the limbic system and is especiallyeffective at stimulating emotional memories?
Smell
Wine E adventure
Experiment : Adding red coloring (grape skin extract) to white wine and see if experienced wine testers can tell the difference.
- Participant discribe different aspect of a red wine but they use the right word for the wrong color ;
- None of the participants could tell the difference,
- > Color vital for food, it affects taste.
