title: A comparison of sniff bottle staircase and olfactometer-based threshold tests.
abstract: Olfactometers have been gaining popularity as research tools, but they have yet to replace established testing procedures in a variety of laboratory and clinical settings, including absolute threshold tests. In this research, we designed and operated a simple olfactometer with which to assess threshold. To do this, we used a method-of-adjustment test that was compared to the three-alternative forced choice ascending sniff bottle staircase method, which is currently a standard threshold test procedure. We found that the olfactometer threshold test correlated highly with the staircase method, and that it possessed suitable test-retest reliability. The advantages of the olfactometer threshold test include faster test time and reduced cleaning and reassembly demands. Future use of the olfactometer in olfactory identification and/or detection thresholds amongst odors is also outlined.
authors: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors: J E
authors: JE
authors: Hayes
authors: A L
authors: AL
authors: Jinks
authors: R J
authors: RJ
authors: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D062609:Electronic Nose / Q000639:trends; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D012984:Software; D055815:Young Adult