Odor quality: Discrimination versus free and cued identification

Eighty-two adults, ranging in age from young to elderly, performed odor-quality discrimination and both free and cued identification on six odorants presented at two intensity levels. The odorants simulated the real-world substances banana, licorice, cherry/almond, wintergreen, clove, and lemon. Performance on all three tasks declined with age, but improved with stimulus intensity. Performance at discrimination benefited from the mere availability of the six names during testing. Performance in cued identification far exceeded that in free identification and, for young and middle-aged adults, fell close to that for discrimination. For elderly adults, however, performance in cued identification fell substantially below that in discrimination. Although not entirely free of cognitive influences, discrimination seems to offer particularly clear resolution of alterations in olfactory functioning.