Infant visual preference for fruit enhanced by congruent in-season odor

Abstract

We explored the ability of infants to recognize the smell of daily foods, including strawberries and tomatoes, by using a preferential-looking-technique. Experiment 1 was conducted while strawberries were in season (from March to June) in order to enhance the frequency of participant exposure to strawberries outside of the laboratory. Thirty-seven infants aged 6-8 months were tested with a stimulus composed of a pair of photos of strawberries and tomatoes placed side by side and accompanied by a strawberry odor, a tomato odor, or no odors. Infants showed a preference for the strawberry picture when they smelled the congruent odor, but no such preference for the tomato picture. These results suggest that even young infants can recognize olfactory-visual congruency. We conducted Experiment 2 while strawberries were out of season (from July to September) to reduce participant exposure to strawberries in their daily life. Twenty-six infants aged 6-8 months were tested with a stimulus composed of a pair of photos of strawberries and tomatoes placed side by side and accompanied by a strawberry odor, or no odors. In Experiment 2, the olfactory-visual binding effect disappeared. This implies that visual-olfactory binding is triggered by an observer's experience.