Self-reported Olfactory Imagery Ability is neither related to Odor Identification nor Episodic Recognition Performance

Sammanfattning: Participants claiming to be good at evoking vivid olfactory images are assumed to have better access to odor memory. It was hypothesized that this would be reflected in better odor naming and recognition task performance. Two extreme groups of participants high and low in self-reported olfactory imagery ability were exposed to familiar and unfamiliar odors in an incidental learning session. This was followed by an episodic odor recognition and odor naming task 20 minutes later. Imagery ability was unrelated to naming and recognition. This might indicate that if high imagers have a better access to odor memory, it is not due to a stronger link between language and odor memory or better incidental encoding.