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More About This Textbook
Overview
Our sense of smell, as Trygg Engen reminds us early in this definitive work, has been neglected as a research area. This neglect belies the very critical role that the sense plays in human adaptation to the environment through the monitoring of odors. Smell is learned through experience and results, Engen maintains, in a schema of memory system that enables individuals to process and categorize odors. There are closer relationships between the individual detecting an odor, the circumstances or environment, and the reaction of pleasure or aversion than with the other senses. When future occasions present the same or similar odors, memory will bring back the early experience and directly affect the reaction to the new stimuli. Engen sees odor perception as mainly psychological, unlike the traditional approach which sees the sense largely as an innate mechanism with a direct physiological basis. The research underlying this book is the most current in sensory cognition, reminding the reader of the importance of the sense of smell through examples of what deprivation entails.
The author develops an appreciation of the odor-sensing ability mankind has and explores the uses to which that sense is applied. The ability to relate past to present perception--odor memory--and the gradations of odor impact are discussed, as well as the engaging questions of fragrances effects on behavior, odors and sexuality, mother-infant bonding, and pollution. This book is essential reading for all who work in areas relating to sensory perception and cognition.
Editorial Reviews
Booknews
Demonstrates that the sense of smell is more closely related to environmental conditions and a person's reaction to them, than any other sense. Argues that smell is largely psychological, rather than an innate physiological mechanism. Accessible to the general reader. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Product Details
Related Subjects
Meet the Author
TRYGG ENGEN is Professor of Psychology at Brown University.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Human Uses of Olfaction
Odor Detection and Discrimination
Arousal
Familiarity
The Persistence of Odor
Odor Exposure and Odor Sensitivity
Odor Processing
Monitoring Odors
Odor Constancy
Keeping Track of Odor Quality
Keeping Track of Odor Intensity
Other Modalities
Smells
The Perception of Pollution
The Psychology of Odor Perception
Sources of Malodor
Deodorization
Fragrances and Perfumes
Theories of Odor Therapy
The Personal Uses of Perfume
The Role of Experience
Body Odors
Kinship Recognition
Synchronization of Menstrual Cycles
Menstrual Cycle and Odor Sensitivity
Odors as Aphrodisiacs
The Effect of Loss of Odor Sensitivity
Mother-Infant Bonding
Odor Memory
Limitations of Odor Memory
The Special Attributes of Odor Memory
The Role of Odor in Encoding Memories
Loss of Odor Sensitivity
The Psychology of Anosmia
The Unity of Perception
Diagnostic Tests
Causes of Individual Differences
Affected Olfactory Mechanisms
Treatments
The Odor Sensorium
Neophobia
False-Alarm Response Bias
Plasticity
Ecological Encoding
Proactive Interference
Recognition Memory
An Epiphenomenal Mnemonic
References
Index