There has been wide debate about the degree to which humans are impacted by olfaction. Despite former assumptions that we are dominantly visual/auditory creatures, recent studies suggest that humans are more highly macrosmatic than originally thought. Humans have demonstrated behavioral, physiological, cognitive and affective responses to olfactory stimuli even when the stimuli were perceived unconsciously. The mechanism by which humans perceive these signals is unclear; there is much debate as to whether the vomeronasal organ is functional in humans. Regardless of the mechanism of perception, it is clear olfaction is psychologically impactful for humans. The following literature review summarizes research in the field related to olfactory functioning and perception. The review discusses animals and their interactions with and use of olfactory cues, the human olfactory system, parallels among animals and humans in reactions to odorants, human sensitivity to odorants, and the vomeronasal organ debate. Human research areas included in the review: human-odorant interaction, odor as an identification marker for individual humans, human psychological response to odors, the impact of odor on human affect and sexual behavior, odor production and preference linked to human characteristics, and the effect of odor on human learning.
","abstract_html":"<p>There has been wide debate about the degree to which humans are impacted by olfaction. Despite former assumptions that we are dominantly visual/auditory creatures, recent studies suggest that humans are more highly macrosmatic than originally thought. Humans have demonstrated behavioral, physiological, cognitive and affective responses to olfactory stimuli even when the stimuli were perceived unconsciously. The mechanism by which humans perceive these signals is unclear; there is much debate as to whether the vomeronasal organ is functional in humans. Regardless of the mechanism of perception, it is clear olfaction is psychologically impactful for humans. The following literature review summarizes research in the field related to olfactory functioning and perception. The review discusses animals and their interactions with and use of olfactory cues, the human olfactory system, parallels among animals and humans in reactions to odorants, human sensitivity to odorants, and the vomeronasal organ debate. Human research areas included in the review: human-odorant interaction, odor as an identification marker for individual humans, human psychological response to odors, the impact of odor on human affect and sexual behavior, odor production and preference linked to human characteristics, and the effect of odor on human learning.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kelly, Catherine Jameson Lee"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)","degree_level":"Doctoral Project","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jenkins, Louis","Kirby, Michael","Sonne, Janet"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:27Z","subjects":["Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Humans; Olfactory Perception; Receptors - Odorant; Sense Organs; Smell - Psychology; Pheromones - Human; Follicle Stimulating Hormone; Evoked Potentials - Somatosensory","Olfaction; Psychological Impact; Odorants; Human Sensitivity to Odorants; Vomeronasal Organ Debate"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/273","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jenkins, Louis","Kirby, Michael","Sonne, Janet"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kelly, Catherine Jameson Lee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral Project"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Humans; Olfactory Perception; Receptors - Odorant; Sense Organs; Smell - Psychology; Pheromones - Human; Follicle Stimulating Hormone; Evoked Potentials - Somatosensory","Olfaction; Psychological Impact; Odorants; Human Sensitivity to Odorants; Vomeronasal Organ Debate"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/273"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["There has been wide debate about the degree to which humans are impacted by olfaction. Despite former assumptions that we are dominantly visual/auditory creatures, recent studies suggest that humans are more highly macrosmatic than originally thought. Humans have demonstrated behavioral, physiological, cognitive and affective responses to olfactory stimuli even when the stimuli were perceived unconsciously. The mechanism by which humans perceive these signals is unclear; there is much debate as to whether the vomeronasal organ is functional in humans. Regardless of the mechanism of perception, it is clear olfaction is psychologically impactful for humans. The following literature review summarizes research in the field related to olfactory functioning and perception. The review discusses animals and their interactions with and use of olfactory cues, the human olfactory system, parallels among animals and humans in reactions to odorants, human sensitivity to odorants, and the vomeronasal organ debate. Human research areas included in the review: human-odorant interaction, odor as an identification marker for individual humans, human psychological response to odors, the impact of odor on human affect and sexual behavior, odor production and preference linked to human characteristics, and the effect of odor on human learning.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Human Olfactory Perception: A Literature Review"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jenkins, Louis","Kirby, Michael","Sonne, Janet"],"dc:creator":["Kelly, Catherine Jameson Lee"],"dc:description.abstract":["There has been wide debate about the degree to which humans are impacted by olfaction. Despite former assumptions that we are dominantly visual/auditory creatures, recent studies suggest that humans are more highly macrosmatic than originally thought. Humans have demonstrated behavioral, physiological, cognitive and affective responses to olfactory stimuli even when the stimuli were perceived unconsciously. The mechanism by which humans perceive these signals is unclear; there is much debate as to whether the vomeronasal organ is functional in humans. Regardless of the mechanism of perception, it is clear olfaction is psychologically impactful for humans. The following literature review summarizes research in the field related to olfactory functioning and perception. The review discusses animals and their interactions with and use of olfactory cues, the human olfactory system, parallels among animals and humans in reactions to odorants, human sensitivity to odorants, and the vomeronasal organ debate. Human research areas included in the review: human-odorant interaction, odor as an identification marker for individual humans, human psychological response to odors, the impact of odor on human affect and sexual behavior, odor production and preference linked to human characteristics, and the effect of odor on human learning.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/273"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Humans; Olfactory Perception; Receptors - Odorant; Sense Organs; Smell - Psychology; Pheromones - Human; Follicle Stimulating Hormone; Evoked Potentials - Somatosensory","Olfaction; Psychological Impact; Odorants; Human Sensitivity to Odorants; Vomeronasal Organ Debate"],"dc:title":["Human Olfactory Perception: A Literature Review"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral Project"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:27Z"}