Herz Rachel S
Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
Chem Senses. 2004 Mar;29(3):217-24. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjh025.
The emotional and content qualities of autobiographical memories evoked by three memory cue items (campfire, fresh-cut grass, popcorn) presented in olfactory, visual and auditory form were examined using a new repeated measures paradigm. Results revealed that memories recalled by odors were significantly more emotional and evocative than those recalled by the same cue presented visually or auditorily. However, there were no differences in the content features (vividness, specificity) of memories as a function of cue-form. These findings support previous research in both laboratory and naturalistic settings and is the first comparative sensory memory study to include auditory variants of memory cues. The present data contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that there is a privileged relationship between olfaction and emotion during recollection. Various subject factors such as age, sex and region of residence were also examined and some were found to affect the quality of memories in interaction with the specific memory cue items, indicating that prior experience is a primary influence in autobiographical memory. Questions for future investigation regarding how odor-evoked memories may be different from other memory experiences are suggested.
使用一种新的重复测量范式，研究了以嗅觉、视觉和听觉形式呈现的三个记忆线索项目（篝火、刚割的草、爆米花）所唤起的自传体记忆的情感和内容特质。结果显示，气味唤起的记忆比视觉或听觉呈现相同线索所唤起的记忆在情感上更强烈且更能引发联想。然而，记忆的内容特征（生动性、具体性）在线索形式上并无差异。这些发现支持了之前在实验室和自然情境中的研究，并且是首个包含记忆线索听觉变体的比较性感觉记忆研究。目前的数据为越来越多的证据提供了支持，表明在回忆过程中嗅觉与情感之间存在特殊关系。还研究了各种个体因素，如年龄、性别和居住地区，发现其中一些因素在与特定记忆线索项目相互作用时会影响记忆的质量，这表明先前的经历是自传体记忆的主要影响因素。文中还提出了关于气味唤起的记忆与其他记忆体验可能存在何种差异的未来研究问题。
