The comparison of hedonic contrast between olfaction and vision

Abstract

When a stimulus is preceded by a more pleasant stimulus, its pleasantness is rated lower (negative contrast), whereas when a stimulus is preceded by a less pleasant stimulus, its pleasantness is rated higher (positive contrast).In this study, we investigated the occurrence of the contrast effect during sequential evaluation of odor/picture pleasantness. As a result, although contrast effect occurred clearly in vision, only negative contrast was seen in olfaction. These results reflect that, in olfaction, sensitive responses to unpleasant odors presented after pleasant stimuli are more important.