Olfactory abilities in children 4–10 years old. The need for screening tests

Introduction: Odor processing provides a unique window into the interaction between perception, language, and memory during development. Aim: This study investigated how children aged 4-10 identify and name odors, focusing on age-related changes, potential gender differences, and priming effects between recognition and naming. Materials and methods: Using a cross-sectional experimental design, we measured both accuracy and response times for odor identification and naming. Children identified on average 5 odors (17.62 s) and named 4 (13.14 s), with mint and coffee being most reliably recognized and rose and banana least. Age robustly predicted both identification (R = 0.14) and naming performance (R = 0.24), whereas gender exerted no influence. Notably, prior identification facilitated subsequent naming, particularly in older children, consistent with the idea that semantic activation supports lexical access. Discussion: These findings demonstrate that olfactory cognition develops significantly during middle childhood, highlighting odor naming as a sensitive marker of the integration between perceptual and linguistic systems. Conclusions: Beyond descriptive patterns, our results suggest that odor-based paradigms can serve as a powerful tool for probing mechanisms of semantic development and may inform early detection of atypical cognitive trajectories.