Odour and Proustian Memory: Reduction of Context-dependent Forgetting and Multiple Forms of Memory

Abstract

In Experiment 1, the reintroduction of the same ambient odour (lemon or lavender) improved performance four weeks later in both free recall and recognition of a word list. This was a cross-over design that allowed direct comparison between congruent and incongruent odour conditions. A further comparison with an additional group showed that memory was not improved by the presence of a different odour. Experiment 2 investigated the effect of two odour cues (lemon and lavender) in the same cross-over design using three learning and memory tests: (1) free recall of a word list; (2) problem solving; and (3) spatial learning. While recall of the word list and spatial learning were best when the same odour was present at both learning and test, there was no such context-dependent effect for the problem-solving task. However, the presence of the lavender odour at test improved performance in the problem-solving task, irrespective of the odour present at the first exposure. Thus although lavender had some effect on problem solving, we saw context-dependent retrieval only in free recall and spatial learning. We discuss the implications of this dissociation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.