An expectations-based approach to explaining the crossmodal influence of color on orthonasal olfactory identification: Assessing the influence of temporal and spatial factors
Shankar M., Simons C., Levitan C., Shiv B., Mcclure S., Spence C.
In a previous series of experiments, the present authors demonstrated that when people are asked to identify the flavors of various drinks on the basis of orthonasal olfactory cues, a number of experimental variables can modulate whether the color of the drinks influence their judgments. Here we examined two additional variables that we hypothesized might also mediate color's effect on flavor identification behavior: the timing and spatial positioning of color cues with respect to the positioning of olfactory cues. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to color cues before, during/after, or after exposure to the olfactory cues. Color had a significant influence on flavor identification behavior in the latter two conditions, but not in the former condition. In Experiment 2, color cues were spatially separated from the olfactory cues, and no significant effect of color on flavor identification behavior was found. These results therefore reveal that manipulating spatial and temporal factors can have differential effects on crossmodal color-odor interactions.