A comparison of sniff bottle staircase and olfactometer-based threshold tests

Olfactometers have been gaining popularity as research tools, but they have yet to replace established testing procedures in a variety of laboratory and clinical settings, including absolute threshold tests. In this research, we designed and operated a simple olfactometer with which to assess thresh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavior research methods 2013-03, Vol.45 (1), p.178-182
Main Authors: Hayes, J. E., Jinks, A. L., Stevenson, R. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adult
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Choice Behavior
Cognitive Psychology
Electronic Nose - trends
Equipment Design
Female
Forecasting
Humans
Male
Methods
Odorants - analysis
Psychology
Regression Analysis
Reproducibility of Results
Sensory Thresholds
Smell - physiology
Software
Studies
Young Adult
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Summary:Olfactometers have been gaining popularity as research tools, but they have yet to replace established testing procedures in a variety of laboratory and clinical settings, including absolute threshold tests. In this research, we designed and operated a simple olfactometer with which to assess threshold. To do this, we used a method-of-adjustment test that was compared to the three-alternative forced choice ascending sniff bottle staircase method, which is currently a standard threshold test procedure. We found that the olfactometer threshold test correlated highly with the staircase method, and that it possessed suitable test–retest reliability. The advantages of the olfactometer threshold test include faster test time and reduced cleaning and reassembly demands. Future use of the olfactometer in olfactory identification and/or detection thresholds amongst odors is also outlined.
ISSN:1554-3528
1554-3528
DOI:10.3758/s13428-012-0220-2