Cross-Modality Priming between Odors and Odor-Congruent Words

It is well known that the Stroop effect is subject to influence by same-modality primes, but the possibility of cross-modal priming effects is unclear. Smell is a fundamental sensory system that is assumed to have potent cross-modality priming effects. We might expect the presence of a specific odor to interfere with performance on Stroop cards containing odor-congruent words. Forty participants, half of whom were primed with an unpleasant odor and half with a pleasant odor, were examined with modified Stroop cards containing pleasant and unpleasant descriptive words. A significant Stroop card by odor group interaction was found, indicating that the presence of an odor interferes with the performance on an odor-congruent Stroop card. These findings demonstrate cross-modality priming between olfaction and vision.