The impact of cognitive and noncognitive factors on odor discrimination performance

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate which components among a range of cognitive and noncognitive factors contribute to odor discrimination and to which extent. One hundred sixty participants were assessed for olfactory discrimination considering (a) the sequence of presentation of the detection target and (b) response time taken to perform the discrimination task. Participants were tested with several cognitive tests covering executive functioning, and semantic memory and noncognitive tests measuring optimism, mindset, general self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Hierarchical regression analyses conducted in classic and Bayesian ways demonstrate a strong impact of semantic memory and age on odor discrimination performance. Conversely, executive functions together with noncognitive factors and response time were rather weak predictors of odor discrimination performance. Additionally, the positioning of the target odor, when presented last, facilitated the correct choice in odor discrimination. In conclusion, odor discrimination is related to semantic memory, while noncognitive factors exert only minor influences on odor discrimination scores. Practical Applications: In the present study, we found that the target odor, when presented as the last of the three pens, facilitated the correct choice in odor discrimination process. Even though, the influence of the target odor position was noticed only in case of several trials, it should be considered in the future studies. Moreover, the amount of time taken to respond when performing odor discrimination task did not contribute strongly to the final outcome. Thus, controlling for the response time in this kind of task appears not to be highly significant.