Herz R S
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 30;855:670-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb10643.x.
To test the claim that odors are the 'best' cues to memory, several cross-modal experiments were conducted in which odors were compared with verbal, visual, tactile and musical stimuli as associated memory cues. Each experiment comprised two sessions (encoding and retrieval) separated by 48 hr. At the encoding session, a series of stimuli were incidentally associated to a set of emotionally arousing pictures. At the retrieval session, memory accuracy and emotionality were assessed. Across experiments, results revealed that odors were equivalent to other stimuli in their ability to elicit accurate recall, but that odor-evoked memories were always more emotional. Notably, emotional responses did not vary as a function of stimulus type at encoding. These data indicate that emotional saliency, rather than accuracy, is responsible for the impression that odors are superior reminders, and that retrieval processes (cf. encoding processes) are responsible for the distinctive emotionality of odor-evoked memories.
为了检验气味是记忆的“最佳”线索这一说法，进行了几项跨模态实验，将气味与言语、视觉、触觉和音乐刺激作为相关记忆线索进行比较。每个实验包括两个阶段（编码和检索），间隔48小时。在编码阶段，一系列刺激被偶然地与一组引起情绪反应的图片联系起来。在检索阶段，评估记忆准确性和情绪性。在所有实验中，结果显示气味在引发准确回忆的能力上与其他刺激相当，但气味引发的记忆总是更具情感性。值得注意的是，情绪反应在编码时并不随刺激类型而变化。这些数据表明，情绪显著性而非准确性导致了气味是更好的记忆提示这一印象，并且检索过程（与编码过程相比）导致了气味引发记忆的独特情感性。
