Extant studies have revealed enhancing effects of scent on performance. The role of scent, and emission method, in the context of performing repetitive tasks over prolonged duration in promoting alertness, vigilance, and memory was examined. Seventy-three participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (no scent, peppermint scent emitted continuously, or peppermint scent emitted intermittently) while tasked to monitor and identify suspicious cues for close to 2 hr. Pre- and post-intervention surveys, psychomotor vigilance test, and eye tracker were used as study instruments. Results showed that scent directly enhanced information recall and mitigated the deterioration of alertness, especially as subjects became fatigued. Intermittent emission showed stronger effects over continuous emission in marginally enhancing alertness and memory. Scent did not appear to promote greater vigilance. Suggestions for future studies and implications for management of employees in fatigue situations are discussed.
AqrabawiA. J.KimJ. C. (2018). Hippocampal projections to the anterior olfactory nucleus differentially convey spatiotemporal information during episodic odour memory. Nature Communications, 9, 2735.
2.
BadiaP.WesenstenN.LammersW.CulpepperJ.HarshJ. (1990). Responsiveness to olfactory stimuli presented in sleep. Physiology and Behavior, 48(1), 87–90.
3.
BallL. J.ShokerJ.MilesJ. N. V. (2010). Odour-based context reinstatement effects with indirect measures of memory: The curious case of rosemary. British Journal of Psychology, 101(Pt 4), 655–678.
4.
BarkerS.GrayhemP.KoonJ.PerkinsJ.WhalenA.RaudenbushB. (2003). Improved performance on clerical tasks associated with administration of peppermint odor. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97(3Pt 1), 1007–1010.
5.
BaronR.BronfenM. (1994). A whiff of reality: Empirical evidence concerning the effects of pleasant fragrances on work-related behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(13), 1179–1203.
6.
BaronR.KalsherM. J. (1998). Effects of a pleasant ambient fragrance on simulated driving performance: The sweet smell of. . . safety?Environment and Behavior, 30(4), 535–552.
7.
BaronR.ThomleyJ. (1994). A whiff of reality: Positive affect as a potential mediator of the effects of pleasant fragrances on task performance and helping. Environment and Behavior, 26(6), 766–784.
8.
BasevitchI.ThompsonB.BraunR.RazonS.ArsalG.TokacU. (2011). Olfactory effects on attention allocation and perception of exertion. Sport Psychologist, 25(2), 144–158.
9.
BasnerM.DingesD. F. (2011). Maximizing sensitivity of the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) to sleep loss. Sleep, 34(5), 581–591.
10.
CannA.RossD. A. (1989). Olfactory stimuli as context cues in human memory. The American Journal of Psychology, 102(1), 91–102.
11.
CiccarelliS. K.MeyerG. E. (2006). The sense of scents: Olfaction. In Psychology (pp. 103–104). Pearson Education, Inc.
12.
CohenJ. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159.
13.
DaltonP.WysockiC. J. (1996). The nature and duration of adaptation following long-term odor exposure. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 58(5), 781–792.
DiegoM. A.JonesN. A.FieldT.Hernandez-ReifM.SchanbergS.KuhnC.McAdamV.GalamagaR.GalamagaM. (1998). Aromatherapy positively affects mood, EEG patterns of alertness and math computations. International Journal of Neuroscience, 96(3–4), 217–224.
16.
DingesD. P.KribbsN. B. (1991). Performing while sleepy: Effects of experimentally induced sleepiness. In MonkT. H. (Ed.), Sleep, sleepiness and performance (pp. 97–128). Wiley.
17.
DjamasbiS.MhetaD.SamaniA. (2012). Eye movements, perceptions, and performance. In Proceedings of the 18th America’s conference on information systems (pp. 1–7). https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/uxdmrl-pubs/16
18.
DoiS.KamesawaK.WadaT.KobayashiE.KarakiM.MoriN. (2010, July). Basic study on individual preference for scents and the arousal level for brain activity using MNIRS. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Conference on the Complex Medical Engineering, Gold Coast, Australia.
19.
DoucéL.JanssensW. (2013). The presence of a pleasant ambient scent in a fashion store: The moderating role of shopping motivation and affect intensity. Environment and Behavior, 45(2), 215–238.
20.
ElliotA. J.MaierM. A.MollerA. C.FriedmanR.MeinhardtJ. (2007). Color and psychological functioning: The effect of red on performance attainment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(1), 154–168.
GaygenD. E.HedgeA. (2009). Effect of acute exposure to a complex fragrance on lexical decision performance. Chemical Senses, 34(1), 85–91.
23.
GobelH.SchmidtG.SoykaD. (1994). Effect of peppermint and eucalyptus oil preparations on neurophysiological and experimental algesimetric headache parameters. Cephalalgia, 14(3), 228–234.
24.
GoelN.LaoR. P. (2006). Sleep changes vary by odor perception in young adults. Biological Psychology, 71(3), 341–349.
25.
GofmanA.MoskowitzH. R.FyrbjorkJ.MoskowitzD.MetsT. (2009). Extending rule developing experimentation to perception of food packages with eye tracking. The Open Food Science Journal, 3(1), 66–78.
26.
GouldA.MartinG. N. (2001). ‘A good odour to breathe?’ The effect of pleasant ambient odour on human visual vigilance. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 15(2), 225–232.
27.
HerzR. S. (1997a). Emotion experienced during encoding enhances odor retrieval cue effectiveness. The American Journal of Psychology, 110(4), 489–505.
28.
HerzR. S. (1997b). The effects of cue distinctiveness on odor-based context-dependent memory. Memory & Cognition, 25(3), 375–380.
29.
HerzR. S.CupchikG. C. (1995). The emotional distinctiveness of odor-evoked memories. Chemical Senses, 20(5), 517–528.
30.
HeubergerE.IlmbergerJ. (2010). The influence of essential oils on human vigilance. Natural Product of Communications, 5(9), 1441–1446.
31.
HirataY. (2001). A study of the effective way to release scent to maintain alertness. JSAE Review, 22(3), 331–336.
HolmesA. L.JoyceK.XieH.FalankC.HinzJ. M.WiseJ. P.Sr. (2014). The impact of homologous recombination repair deficiency on depleted uranium clastogenicity in Chinese hamster ovary cells: XRCC3 protects cells from chromosome aberrations, but increases chromosome fragmentation. Mutation Research: Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis, 762, 1–9.
34.
HopkinsC. (1991). Aromatherapy: Remedies for everyday aliments. Parallel Book.
35.
HoultL.LongstaffL.MossM. (2019). Prolonged low-level exposure to the aroma of peppermint essential oil enhances aspects of cognition and mood in healthy adults. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 10(6), 1002–1012.
36.
IlmbergerJ.HeubergerE.MahrhoferC.DessovicH.KowarikD.BuchbauerG. (2001). The influence of essential oils on human attention. I: Alertness. Chemical Senses, 26(3), 239–245.
37.
JohnsonA. J. (2011). Cognitive facilitation following intentional odor exposure. Sensors, 11(5), 5469–5488.
38.
KadowakiA.SatoJ.BannaiY.OkadaK. (2007, November). Presentation technique of scent to avoid olfactory adaptation. Paper presented at the 17th International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence, Esbjerg, Jylland, Denmark.
39.
KatoY.EndoH.KobayakawaT.KatoK.KitazakiS. (2012). Effects of intermittent odours on cognitive-motor performance and brain functioning during mental fatigue. Ergonomics, 55(1), 1–11.
40.
KramerR. M. (1996). Divergent realities, convergent disappointments in the hierarchic relation, trust, and the intuitive auditor at work. In KramerR. M.TylerT. R. (Eds.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research (Vol. 23, pp. 216–245). Sage.
41.
LeeD. S.KimaE.SchwarzN. (2015). Something smells fishy: Olfactory suspicion cues improve performance on the Moses illusion and Wason rule discovery task. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 47–50.
42.
LimJ.WuW. C.WangJ.DetreJ. A.DingesD. F.RaoH. (2010). Imaging brain fatigue from sustained mental workload: An ASL perfusion study of the time-on-task effect. NeuroImage, 49(4), 3426–3435.
43.
LwinM. O.MorrinM. (2012). Scenting movie theatre commercials: The impact of scent and pictures on brand evaluations and ad recall. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11(3), 264–272.
44.
LwinM. O.MorrinM.ChongC. S. T.GohS. X. (2016). Odor semantics and visual cues: What we smell impacts where we look, what we remember, and what we want to buy. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 29(2–3), 336–350.
45.
LykinsA. D.MeanaM.KambeG. (2006). Detection of differential viewing patterns to erotic and non-erotic stimuli using eye-tracking methodology. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35(5), 569–575.
46.
MahachandraM.Yassierli, & GarnabyE. D. (2015). The effectiveness of in-vehicle peppermint fragrance to maintain car driver’s alertness. Procedia Manufacturing, 4, 471–477.
47.
MartinG. N.CooperJ. A. (2007, March21–23). Odour effects on simulated driving performance: Adding zest to difficult journeys. Poster presented at the British Psychology Society Annual Conference, York, UK.
48.
MatsubaraE.FukagawaM.OkamotoT.FukudaA.HayashiC.OhnukiK.ShimizuK.KondoR. (2011) Volatiles emitted from the leaves of Laurus nobilis L. improve vigilance performance in visual discrimination task. Biomedical Research, 32(1), 19–28.
49.
McCombsK.RaudenbushB.BovaA.SappingtonM. (2011). Effects of peppermint scent administration on cognitive video game performance. North American Journal of Psychology, 13(3), 383–390.
50.
MillotJ. L.BrandG.MorandN. (2002). Effects of ambient odors on reaction times in humans. Neuroscience Letters, 322(2), 79–82.
51.
MorrinM.RatneshwarS. S. (2000). The impact of ambient scent on evaluation, attention, and memory for familiar and unfamiliar brands. Journal of Business Research, 49(2), 157–165.
52.
MorrinM.RatneshwarS. S. (2003). Does it make sense to use scents to enhance brand memory?Journal of Marketing Research, 40(1), 10–25.
53.
MossM.CookJ.WesnesK.DuckettP. (2003). Aromas of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults. International Journal of Neuroscience, 113(1), 15–38.
54.
MossM.HewittS.MossL.WesnesK. (2008). Modulation of cognitive performance and mood by aromas of peppermint and ylang-ylang. International Journal of Neuroscience, 118(1), 59–77.
PietersR.WarlopL. (1999). Visual attention during brand choice: The impact of time pressure and task motivation. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 16(1), 1–16.
57.
PietersR.WedelM. (2007). Goal control of visual attention to advertising: The Yarbus implication. Journal of Consumer Research, 34, 224–233.
58.
PlitnickB.FigueiroM. G.WoodB.ReaM. S. (2010). The effects of red and blue light on alertness and mood at night. Lighting Research & Technology, 42(4), 449–458.
59.
RaudenbushB.GrayhemR.SearsT.WilsonI. (2009). Effects of peppermint and cinnamon odor administration on simulated driving alertness, mood and workload. North American Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 245–256.
60.
RaudenbushB.MeyerB.EppichB. (2002). The effects of odors on objective and subjective measures of athletic performance. International Sports Journal, 6(1), 14–27.
61.
RaynerK. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 372–422.
62.
RaynerK.MillerB.RotelloC. M. (2008). Eye movements when looking at printed advertisements: The goal of the viewer matters. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22(5), 697–707.
63.
RaynerK.RotelloC. M.StewartA. J.KeirJ.DuffyS. A. (2001). Integrating text and pictorial information: Eye movements when looking at print advertisements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 7, 219–226.
64.
Reinerman-JonesL. E.MatthewsG.LangheimL. K.WarmJ. S. (2011). Selection for vigilance assignments: A review and proposed new direction. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 12(4), 273–296.
65.
RibyL. M. (2013). The joys of spring: Changes in mental alertness and brain function. Experimental Psychology, 60(2), 71–79.
66.
RodionovaE.MinorA. (2017). Effect of ambient odor on cognitive functions in children. Biology Bulletin, 44, 425–429.
67.
SakamotoR.MinouraK.UsuiA.IshizukaY.KanbaS. (2005). Effectiveness of aroma on work efficiency: Lavender aroma during recesses prevents deterioration of work performance. Chemical Senses, 30(8), 683–691.
68.
SchabF. R. (1990). Odors and the remembrance of things past. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16(4), 648–655.
69.
SchmittJ.FelbaumD.KovalK.RaudenbushB. (2008, March). Differential effects of chocolate and coffee scents on cognition, physiology, and clerical office work. Presented at the Eastern Psychological Association Conference, Boston, Massachusetts.
ShimizuK.GyokusenM.KitamuraS.KawabeT.KozakiT.IshibashiK.IzumiR.MizunoyaW.OhnukiK.KondoR. (2008). Essential oil of lavender inhibited the decreased attention during a long-term task in humans. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 72(7), 1944–1947.
72.
SmithD. G.StandingL.de ManA. (1992). Verbal memory elicited by ambient odor. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 74(2), 339–343.
73.
WarmJ. S.DemberW. N.ParasuramanR. (1991). Effects of olfactory stimulation on performance and stress in a visual sustained attention task. Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, 42, 199–210.
74.
WilsonD.A. (2008). Neurobiology of a simple memory. Journal of Neurophysiology, 100(1), 2–7.
75.
WilsonD. A.SullivanR. M. (2011). Cortical processing of odor objects. Neuron, 72(4), 506–519.
76.
YarbusA. L. (1967). Eye movements and vision. Plenum.
77.
YoderW. M.StratisK.PattanaikS.MolinaA.NguyenJ.WeisbergS.SmithD. W. (2013). Time course of perceptual adaptation differs among odorants. Journal of Sensory Studies, 28(6), 495–503.
78.
YoshidaM.KatoC.KakamuY.KawasumiM.YamasakiH.YamamotoS.NakanoT.YamadaM. (2011, June13–15). Study on stimulation effects for driver based on fragrance presentation. Paper presented at the MVA2011 IAPR Conference on Machine Vision Applications, Nara, Japan.
