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.