“Three experiments with a total of 113 college students showed that, in a paired-associate paradigm using odors as stimuli and pictures for multiple-choice responses, the 1st of 2 associations to an odor was retained far better than the 2nd over a 2-wk period. Results suggest that the persistence of first-learned associations may be responsible for the long-lasting nature of odor memories. Ss reported constructing mediational schemes for mnemonic devices to link the odors and pictures. Latencies for a task of naming odors indicated that although naming odors is difficult, labels could be generated sufficiently fast that they could be employed as mediators in the paired-associate task. A 3rd task investigated the phenomenon of knowing that an odor was familiar but being unable to name it. Ss in this “tip-of-the-nose” state were questioned about the odor quality and the name of the odor and were given hints about the name. These Ss were found to have information available about the odor quality but none for the name as found in the tip-of-the-tongue state. However, as in the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, hints given to the Ss in the tip-of-the-nose state often led to the correct name.” – (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
I never really payed attention to it much, but your sense of smell can actually be an extremely powerful tool in triggering and retaining memories. As this study shows, in the population tested subjects’ memory retention was far greater when linked to particular odors than pictures. As a primarily visual learner, I didn’t pay much attention to the idea of smells and memories, but the other day while I was walking along the road, I suddenly felt this incredibly relaxed, homey sensation, completely out of the blue. I didn’t notice it at first, this sudden feeling of belonging, but then I noticed that something felt…different. It was only then that I realized there was the smell of tropical fruits and Caribbean spices in the air, and looking to my right I saw the answer to my phenomenon – I was walking right next to a Caribbean Food Truck. Soon after, various childhood memories came flooding into my mind, memories I hadn’t recalled in a long time from when I was a child, all because I happened to walk through a cloud of tropical smells. It was at that moment I realized that olfactory mnemonics were far more potent than I thought and could be something to look into in the future if I ever need to retain information, such as studying for exams or preparing a presentation.
firestyle12 