Does short-term odour memory increase with expertise? An experimental study with perfumers, flavourists, trained panellists and novices

We have examined short-term memory performance for odour recognition as a function of expertise. Experts (perfumers and flavourists), trained panellists, and novices studied three sets of common and uncommon (perfumery and flavour raw materials) odours with intentional encoding instructions. The three sets included three, six and 12 odours, respectively. As expected, recognition performance indicated an expertise effect: hit rates increased with expertise, whereas false alarm rates decreased. This effect, however, is mediated by the type and number of odours. For common odours, the effect of expertise is significant only for the larger odour set. For uncommon odours, the effect of expertise…

Panel performance and memory in visually impaired versus sighted panels

International audience; No abstract

Le rôle des émotions et de la familiarité dans la mémorabilité des parfums