The Nose Knows: The Influence of Smell on Memory

Publication Date

Spring 4-16-2025

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Psychological Science, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

SPARK Category

Research

Faculty Advisor

Michael Oliver

Presentation Type

Article

Summary

Smell has been consistently linked to memory and recall, with prior research demonstrating that odors influence emotional processing and cognitive function. This study aims to investigate how exposure to good and bad smells affects short-term word recall. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a good smell, bad smell, or no smell group. They will be presented with a 10-word list to memorize, followed by a five-minute break. Afterward, they will be given a 20-word list and asked to identify the words they previously studied. The number of correctly identified words will serve as the dependent variable. It is hypothesized that participants in the good smell condition will exhibit higher recall accuracy compared to the bad smell and no smell groups, aligning with prior findings that suggest positive odors enhance memory encoding and retrieval. Data will be analyzed using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) to determine significant differences across conditions. The results of this study will contribute to the growing body of research on olfactory influences on cognitive performance and may have implications for environments where memory recall is crucial, such as education and healthcare settings

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