The role of nonolfactory context cues in odor identification

Odors were identified by 141 persons before and after a nonolfactory cue was presented. The context cue was a color concept, either relevant or irrelevant to the odor identity. The color concept was presented as a word or as the color itself. The familiarity of each odor was judged prior to each identification. The relevant color concepts facilitated identification to a slight, but reliable, degree. Irrelevant color concepts evoked an increase in wrong identifications. Relevant cues increased correct second identifications and increased them to an even greater degree if the odors were judged to be highly familiar.