14 blind-folded subjects were requested to give numerical judgments of the perceived intensities of ¼, ½, 1, 2, 4, 8, lily-of-the-valley bunches, according to a naturalistic approach. The psychophysical function conforms to a power law. The exponent, smaller than 1, is in the same range as those commonly found for smell.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CainW. S.Odor intensity after self-adaptation and cross-adaptation. Perception & Psychophysics, 1970, 7, 271–275.
2.
HymanA.Factors influencing the psychophysical function of odor intensity. Sensory Processes, 1977, 1, 273–291.
3.
LaingD. G.Characterization of human behaviour during odour perception. Perception, 1982, 11, 221–230.
MitchellM. J.GregsonR. A.A re-examination of olfactory power law exponent. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970, 22, 301–304.
6.
MoskowitzH. R.DrawnieksA.KlarmanL. A.Odor intensity and pleasantness for a different set of odorants. Perception & Psychophysics, 1976, 19, 122–128.
7.
ProetzA. W.Some intimate studies of nasal function: their bearing on diagnosis and treatment. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 1932, 11, 125–140.
8.
ReeseT. S.StevensS. S.Subjective intensity of coffee odor. American Journal of Psychology, 1960, 73, 424–428.
9.
RehnT.Perceived odor intensity as a function of airflow through the nose. Sensory Processes, 1978, 2, 198–205.
10.
StevensS. S.On the psychophysical law. Psychological Review, 1957, 64, 153–181.
11.
StevensS. S.Psychophysics: introduction to its perceptual, neural and social prospects. New York: Wiley, 1975.
12.
TeghtsoonianR.TeghtsoonianM.Perceived effort in sniffing: the effect of sniff pressure and resistance. Perception & Psychophysics, 1982, 31, 324–329.
13.
TeghtsoonianR.TeghtsoonianM.BerglundB.BerglundU.Invariance of odor strength with sniff vigor: an olfactory analog of size constancy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 1978, 4, 144–152.
14.
ZanuttiniL.Psychophysical scales of odor intensity of linalool and d-carbon. Report dell'Istituto di Psycologia dell'Università di Padova, 1982, 75–86.
