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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on October 1, 2008
Chemical Senses 2009 34(1):85-91; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn057
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Effect of Acute Exposure to a Complex Fragrance on Lexical Decision Performance

Daniel E. Gaygen and Alan Hedge

Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Alan Hedge, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. e-mail: ah29{at}cornell.edu


  Abstract

This study tested the effect of acute exposure to a commercial air freshener, derived from fragrant botanical extracts, at an average concentration of 3.16 mg/m3 total volatile organic compounds on the lexical decision performance of 28 naive participants. Participants attended two 18-min sessions on separate days and were continuously exposed to the fragrance in either the first (F/NF) or second (NF/F) session. Participants were not instructed about the fragrance. Exposure to the fragrance did not affect high-frequency word recognition. However, there was an order of administration effect for low-frequency word recognition accuracy. When the fragrance was administered first before the no-odor control condition, it did not affect accuracy, but when it was administered second after the control condition, it significantly decreased low-frequency word recognition accuracy. Reaction times to low-frequency words were significantly slower than those for high-frequency words, but no effect of either fragrance or order of administration on reaction times was found. The presence of fragrance in the second session apparently served as a distraction that impaired lexical task performance accuracy. The introduction of fragrances into buildings may not necessarily facilitate all aspects of work performance as anticipated.

Key words: complex odor, fragrance, lexical decision

Accepted 27 August 2008


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