Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Linguistics and Cognitive Science

Reader 1

Laura Johnson

Reader 2

Brian Keeley

Reader 3

Christopher Towse

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2024 Anadel M Ahlvin

Abstract

The investigation into synesthesia and its underlying mechanisms prompts inquiry into the prevalence of cross-modal associations within the general population and their influence on our lives, yet this domain remains relatively unexplored. This study aims to elucidate the impact of odor-color associations on odor recognition utilizing a Stroop-like paradigm. Participants were tasked with establishing odor-color associations, then subsequently recalling the odors paired with congruent, incongruent, or neutral colors. Reaction times and accuracy of odor recognition were recorded, and analysis revealed a significant effect of congruent versus incongruent color condition on odor recognition accuracy, with congruent color and odor having a higher recall identification accuracy than incongruent color and odor. There was no significant relationship found between condition and reaction time. Additionally, this study corroborates findings that odors are non-randomly characterized by colors (Gilbert et al., 1996). Future research should explore the memory effects of odor-color associations on unknown odors, as well as the effects of interference through other sensory modalities.

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