Citation

Cain WS, Gent JF. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 1991; 17(2): 382-391.

Affiliation

John B. Pierce Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06519.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1830082

Abstract

Thirty-two Ss between 22 and 59 years of age yielded detection thresholds for 4 odorants over 4 sessions. The thresholds decreased and reliability increased over the course of testing. High intercorrelations between odorants and the stability of an S's relative position within the threshold distributions showed that a general factor of sensitivity dominated the outcome. Age contributed strongly to intersubject variation. Even among these nonelderly individuals, it accounted for up to 2 orders of magnitude in threshold performance. Other important factors included superiority of the right nostril and a negative correlation between the mean and variance of threshold distributions. Scant attention to the correlation may have contributed to overestimation of the frequency and specificity of specific anosmia. A clinically relevant outcome was that measurement of threshold for diagnostic purposes can generally rely on just 1 odorant.

Language: en