University of Sussex
Browse
__smbhome.uscs.susx.ac.uk_ellenaj_Desktop_SRO_after august_InattentionalAnosmiaR2v2.pdf (458.32 kB)

“What smell?” Temporarily loading visual attention induces a prolonged loss of olfactory awareness

Download (458.32 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 13:22 authored by Sophie ForsterSophie Forster, Charles Spence
The human sense of smell is highly sensitive, often conveying important biological signals. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that we commonly fail to notice supra-threshold environmental olfactory stimuli. The determinants of olfactory awareness are, as yet, unknown. Here, we adapted the ‘inattentional blindness’ paradigm, to test whether olfactory awareness is dependent on attention. Across three experiments, participants performed a visual search task with either a high or low perceptual load (a well-established attentional manipulation) while exposed to an ambient coffee aroma. Consistent with our hypothesis, task load modulated olfactory awareness: 42.5% fewer participants in the high (vs. low) load condition reported noticing the coffee aroma. Our final experiment demonstrates that, due to unique characteristics of olfactory habituation, the consequences of inattentional anosmia can persist even once attention becomes available. These findings establish the phenomenon of inattentional anosmia, and have applied implications for predicting when people may miss potentially important olfactory information.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Psychological Science

ISSN

0956-7976

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

10

Volume

29

Page range

1642-1652

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-05-18

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-05-18

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-05-17

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC