The Effect of Incongruent Background Color on Odor Perception The olfactory perception is the one sense that is the most difficult to describe in words. It is also a rather personal sense since people connect scents with certain memories or images of their lives. When people are asked to imagine the scent of lavender, some might think about their mother’s laundry detergent that smelled like lavender, which she used when they were younger. But to imagine scent without thinking of an actual image is rather difficult. Scent is also highly connected to colors. Especially the scents of vegetables and fruits are strongly associated with colors. Most people thinking about the smell of strawberries will instantly have an image of strawberries that
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All participants who were enrolled in a General Psychology course received course credit for their participation. They provided informed consent before taking part in this study.
Materials
For this experiment, five scented vials from a game for children named Follow Your Nose manufactured by the company Sentosphere USA were used. The scents were strawberry, lavender, lemon, blueberry, and mint. The vials were in separated little cloth pouches that had either a color that is congruent or incongruent to the scented object. The pouches were red, violet, yellow, blue, and green. After the task, the participants had to fill out a questionnaire. The first question they had to answer was what they thought the vial smelled like. The last two questions were how much they liked it and how strong they perceived the scent. They were answered with a rating scale from 1 to 10, in which 1 stands for "did not like the scent" respectively "not at all" and 10 stands for "very much" respectively "very …show more content…
The color-odor congruency will be randomized in a within-subject design, therefore participants are subjected to both conditions. One condition is the congruent color to the scent and the other is the incongruent color to the scent.
Procedure
First, the participants had to sign the consent form. Then they were given the vials in randomized order in either a congruent or incongruent colored cloth pouch. The participant’s task was to unpack the vial out of the pouch and then smell it. After the completion of the task, the participants had to answer a questionnaire about their perception of the odors. The filled out questionnaires were put into a box to assure the anonymity of the participants.
Results
The means of the answered questionnaire about the liking and the strength of the perceived odor were measured. A within-subject t-test was computed to evaluate the relationship between background color and odor perception, more specific the difference between the odor’s perception if a congruent or an incongruent background color was present. There was no exclusion of any collected data. The results of the experiment indicate that the perceived odor, both in strength and liking, is increased if a congruent background color is
All participants who were enrolled in a General Psychology course received course credit for their participation. They provided informed consent before taking part in this study.
Materials
For this experiment, five scented vials from a game for children named Follow Your Nose manufactured by the company Sentosphere USA were used. The scents were strawberry, lavender, lemon, blueberry, and mint. The vials were in separated little cloth pouches that had either a color that is congruent or incongruent to the scented object. The pouches were red, violet, yellow, blue, and green. After the task, the participants had to fill out a questionnaire. The first question they had to answer was what they thought the vial smelled like. The last two questions were how much they liked it and how strong they perceived the scent. They were answered with a rating scale from 1 to 10, in which 1 stands for "did not like the scent" respectively "not at all" and 10 stands for "very much" respectively "very …show more content…
The color-odor congruency will be randomized in a within-subject design, therefore participants are subjected to both conditions. One condition is the congruent color to the scent and the other is the incongruent color to the scent.
Procedure
First, the participants had to sign the consent form. Then they were given the vials in randomized order in either a congruent or incongruent colored cloth pouch. The participant’s task was to unpack the vial out of the pouch and then smell it. After the completion of the task, the participants had to answer a questionnaire about their perception of the odors. The filled out questionnaires were put into a box to assure the anonymity of the participants.
Results
The means of the answered questionnaire about the liking and the strength of the perceived odor were measured. A within-subject t-test was computed to evaluate the relationship between background color and odor perception, more specific the difference between the odor’s perception if a congruent or an incongruent background color was present. There was no exclusion of any collected data. The results of the experiment indicate that the perceived odor, both in strength and liking, is increased if a congruent background color is