Ambient odors associated to failure influence cognitive performance in children

We investigated whether odors can become conditioned to emotionally salient experiences such that when later encountered they influence performance co nsistent with a previously associated event. To test this hypothesis, 5-yea r-olds were given the experience of failure/frustration on a cognitive maze in a room scented with fragrance and Inter given another cognitively chall enging test in a different room scented with either the same odor, a differ ent odor, or no odor. Results revealed that subjects who performed the test in the presence of the same odor as the maze task did significantly worse than subjects in any other group. Performance in the different odor and the no odor groups were equivalent. Facial Expressions and verbal remarks made during the maze task indicated a predominant display of negative affect. T hese findings shots that odors can become conditioned to experiential state s and when later encountered have directional influences on behavior. (C) 1 999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.