Crossmodal Associations Between Olfaction and Vision: Color and Shape Visualizations of Odors

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Kathrin Kaeppler

Introduction: In the present study, we assessed crossmodal associations between odors and both color and shape, with particular interest in the principles beneath these mappings. We hypothesized that visual associations of odors would primarily reflect observable features of a smelling object and thus vary with different source assumptions of the very same smell. Methods: We asked 30 participants to visualize their odor associations on a drawing tablet, freely deciding on color and shape. Additionally, subjects provided ratings on perceptual and shape-related dimensions as well as a verbal label for each sample. Results: With respect to color selection, the results confirmed a source-based mapping approach: odors rated as familiar were associated with very particular colors that typically resembled the appearance of their source. For less familiar odors, color selection was rather inconsistent but still then went along with assumed odor objects. Shape ratings changed with odor identifications as well, but considerably less than for color associations. Shape ratings and shape drawings produced very different results. While shape ratings were unlikely rooted in the mental imagery of a shape, drawings frequently displayed concrete objects that depended on odor label. Conclusions: Results confirm the existence of stable odor–vision correspondences and suggest that language plays a major part in mediating these mappings. The frequently assumed hedonic foundation of crossmodal matchings could not be confirmed for this stimuli set. Implications: Odor sensations may trigger odor naming spontaneously. Assumptions about an odor’s identity, as well as the multisensory knowledge we have acquired on it, affect the visual associations of an odor.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftChemosensory Perception
Jahrgang11
Ausgabenummer2
Seiten (von - bis)95-111
Anzahl der Seiten17
ISSN1936-5802
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.10.2018

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Mimikbasierte Emotionserfassung anhand von dynamischen Flächen und Streckenveränderung
  2. Ressourcen- oder mitgliederbasiert?
  3. Governing Climate Change by Diffusion
  4. On the Western Narrative of Empowerment Through ICT
  5. Investigation On The Influence Of Remanufacturing On Production Planning And Control – A Systematic Literature Review
  6. Warum Selbstevaluation?
  7. Risk and Security
  8. Pfad einer integrativen Gerechtigkeit
  9. To the unknown reader: Constructing absent readership in the eighteenth-century novel: Fielding, Sterne and Richardson
  10. Martin Warnke. A question of method
  11. Managerial Eco-Control in Manufacturing and Process Industries
  12. Rechenwege-Quartett
  13. Rezension von Jutta Ecarius
  14. Promoting and prolonging the beneficial effects of a vacation with the help of a smartphone-based intervention
  15. "ultraleichte Geste für..."
  16. Range-wide genetic structure and diversity of the endemic tree line species Polylepis australis (Rosaceae) in Argentina
  17. Computerscreen und Tafelbild
  18. Anton Schnack: Werke in zwei Bänden
  19. Generative Bildarbeit
  20. Commentary on Wildmalm
  21. Success Factors of Digital Start-ups
  22. Nachwuchsförderung in Drittmittelprojekten - "untiteled" oder "Writer"?
  23. Grain Structure Evolution Ahead of the Die During Friction Extrusion of AA2024
  24. Klimaschutz
  25. A situational judgment test of personal initiative and its relationship to performance
  26. An in vitro test for corrosion and cytocompatibility of two magnesium alloys
  27. We have Some Calves left! Socially Accepted Alternatives to the Current Handling of Male Calves from Dairy Production
  28. From racist humanitarianism to colonial human rights
  29. Multifunctionality and biodiversity