[Implicit and explicit memories of odors].

Abstract

The present experiments explore whether there may be some forms of implicit memory for odors. In the first experiment, the elaborateness of olfactory encoding was varied at presentation. For (explicit) recognition memory testing we found positive effects of labeling responses to odors at encoding. Implicit memory measures (temporal and preference judgments) did not reveal reliable effects of prior odor presentation, however. The second experiment corroborated effects of levels of processing on r recognition memory. Again, perceptual or affective judgments remained insensitive for prior odor exposures. Implicit memory could only be detected with verbal measures at the testing stage (labeling accuracy or latency). These results are consistent with the proposal that odor information is represented at different levels of processing that are even with implicit memory measures only partly accessible.