title: Evidence that phenomenal olfactory content exceeds what can later be accessed.
abstract: Visual experience is information rich, but only a small proportion is available for later access. We tested for this distinction in olfaction. In two experiments (E1&2), participants undertook trials rating an odor's features (e.g., how banana-like?), the during-smelling-profile, followed by an after-smelling-profile, upon the odor's removal. On some trials during and after-smelling-profiles were identical and on others they were different. Each trial with a particular odor was repeated. For half the odors both trials were identical (congruent) and for the remainder, one was different and the other identical (incongruent). Crucially, the after-smelling-profile was always the same for each odor, allowing reliability to be measured. E1&2 revealed that incongruent profiles were the least reliable. Attempting to access particular odor features in an odor's absence is harder if those features were not attended during smelling. This suggests more information is available during smelling, than can be accessed after the odors removal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. Electronic address: dick.stevenson@mq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmut
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Access consciousness; Olfaction; Phenomenal consciousness