Infant visual preference for fruit enhanced by congruent in-season odor.
We explored the ability of infants to recognize the smell of daily foods, including strawberries and tomatoes, by using a preferential-looking-technique. Experiment 1 was conducted while strawberries were in season (from March to June) in order to enhance the frequency of participant exposure to strawberries outside of the laboratory. Thirty-seven infants aged 6-8 months were tested with a stimulus composed of a pair of photos of strawberries and tomatoes placed side by side and accompanied by a strawberry odor, a tomato odor, or no odors. Infants showed a preference for the strawberry picture when they smelled the congruent odor, but no such preference for the tomato picture. These results suggest that even young infants can recognize olfactory-visual congruency. We conducted Experiment 2 while strawberries were out of season (from July to September) to reduce participant exposure to strawberries in their daily life. Twenty-six infants aged 6-8 months were tested with a stimulus composed of a pair of photos of strawberries and tomatoes placed side by side and accompanied by a strawberry odor, or no odors. In Experiment 2, the olfactory-visual binding effect disappeared. This implies that visual-olfactory binding is triggered by an observer's experience.
Sensory and Cognitive Food Science Laboratory, National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-12, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan. yujiwd@affrc.go.jp
Yuji
Y
Wada
Yuna
Y
Inada
Jiale
J
Yang
Satomi
S
Kunieda
Tomohiro
T
Masuda
Atsushi
A
Kimura
So
S
Kanazawa
Masami K
MK
Yamaguchi
D003463:Cues; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D031985:Fragaria; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007858:Learning; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012621:Seasons; D012903:Smell; D014796:Visual Perception