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Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding
Despite the predominant focus on visual perception in most studies, the role of humans’ sense of smell in navigation has often been neglected. Recent research, however, could show that humans are indeed able to use their sense of smell for orientation, particularly when processed implicitly. In this...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10684750/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38034279 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1285034 |
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author | Schwarz, Mira Hamburger, Kai |
author_facet | Schwarz, Mira Hamburger, Kai |
author_sort | Schwarz, Mira |
collection | PubMed |
description | Despite the predominant focus on visual perception in most studies, the role of humans’ sense of smell in navigation has often been neglected. Recent research, however, could show that humans are indeed able to use their sense of smell for orientation, particularly when processed implicitly. In this study, we investigate whether implicit perception of olfactory landmarks enhanced wayfinding performance compared to explicit perception. Fifty-two people completed a wayfinding and a recognition task in a virtual maze at two times of testing 1 month apart. Participants either received olfactory, visual, or both cues at the intersections. Wayfinding performance was better for olfactory landmarks, which were not correctly remembered in the recognition task. In contrast, wayfinding performance was better when visual landmarks were correctly remembered. In the multimodal condition, wayfinding performance was better with landmarks being remembered at t1 and remained the same at t2. Our results suggest distinct implicit processing mechanisms within the olfactory system and therefore hold important implications for the nature of spatial odor processing extending beyond explicit odor localization tasks. The study highlights the importance for future studies to develop and employ further experimental methods that capture implicit processing across all of our senses. This is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of consciousness, as olfaction strongly influences our behavior, but remains largely latent unless deliberately honed through practice. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10684750 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106847502023-11-30 Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding Schwarz, Mira Hamburger, Kai Front Psychol Psychology Despite the predominant focus on visual perception in most studies, the role of humans’ sense of smell in navigation has often been neglected. Recent research, however, could show that humans are indeed able to use their sense of smell for orientation, particularly when processed implicitly. In this study, we investigate whether implicit perception of olfactory landmarks enhanced wayfinding performance compared to explicit perception. Fifty-two people completed a wayfinding and a recognition task in a virtual maze at two times of testing 1 month apart. Participants either received olfactory, visual, or both cues at the intersections. Wayfinding performance was better for olfactory landmarks, which were not correctly remembered in the recognition task. In contrast, wayfinding performance was better when visual landmarks were correctly remembered. In the multimodal condition, wayfinding performance was better with landmarks being remembered at t1 and remained the same at t2. Our results suggest distinct implicit processing mechanisms within the olfactory system and therefore hold important implications for the nature of spatial odor processing extending beyond explicit odor localization tasks. The study highlights the importance for future studies to develop and employ further experimental methods that capture implicit processing across all of our senses. This is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of consciousness, as olfaction strongly influences our behavior, but remains largely latent unless deliberately honed through practice. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-11-15 /pmc/articles/PMC10684750/ /pubmed/38034279 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1285034 Text en Copyright © 2023 Schwarz and Hamburger. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology Schwarz, Mira Hamburger, Kai Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title | Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title_full | Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title_fullStr | Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title_full_unstemmed | Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title_short | Implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
title_sort | implicit versus explicit processing of visual, olfactory, and multimodal landmark information in human wayfinding |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10684750/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38034279 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1285034 |
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