The Role of Learning in Olfactory Sensitivity

INTRODUCTION: In recent years the psychological literature has reflected an increasing interest in the role of learning in perception. On the theoretical level, this interest is expressed principally by the considerable attention given to two current attempts to account for perceptual learning (Gibson & Gibson, 1955a: Postman, 1955). On the empirical level, the problems of industry and the military have generated a multitude of investigations in this area. These problems range in diversity from the training of military personnel in the identification of aircraft to the training of tasters in the food industry.

The remainder of this chapter will be devoted to a critical analysis of the theoretical formulation of perceptual learning and to a review of the empirical findings relevant to the present experiment.