Mother-daughter olfaction identification

Author

Linda N. Johnson, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

2

Number

2

Page Numbers

pages 13-17

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

1994

Abstract

Research was undertaken to see if it is possible for females to identify their mother or daughter by olfactory cues alone. Twenty-two females, 11 daughters and 11 mothers, participated in the experiment. Mothers ranged in age from 37 to 46 and daughters ranged in age from 11 to 21. Each subject was blindfolded and asked to smell (hairline level) the necks of two different individuals. The individuals consisted of one relative (a mother or a daughter) and one control subject. Each subject, of course, was asked to identify her relative. Seventeen of the 22 subjects correctly identified her relative (p < .01, 2-tailed binomial test). A second experiment was administered to determine if subjects could correctly distinguish between cotton pads that had been placed, for the duration of experiment one, under the arm of another subject and under that of a relative. Fifteen of the 22 subjects correctly identified the cotton pad of their relative, (p <.05, 2-tailed binomial test). The null hypothesis that there would not be a statistically significant difference in the number of females able to recognize their mother or daughter and those who could not was rejected.

Subject

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

5 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

BF1 .M63 v. 2 no. 2 1994

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Linda N. (1994) "Mother-daughter olfaction identification," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol2/iss2/4