Sex discriminations made on the basis of ambiguous visual cues can be affected by the presence of an olfactory cue.

Graeme Hacker, Anna Brooks, Rick van der Zwan
Author Information
  1. Graeme Hacker: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour Campus, Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450 Australia.
  2. Anna Brooks: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour Campus, Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450 Australia.
  3. Rick van der Zwan: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour Campus, Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450 Australia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Almost every interpersonal interaction is mediated by the sex of the individuals involved. Visual, auditory, and olfactory cues provide individuals with the opportunity to discriminate the sex of others from a distance and so prepare sex-appropriate behaviours for any impending interaction. The usefulness of that important social skill is mediated by the reliability of the sensory information. Sometimes cues in one domain will be ambiguous, and the perceptual processes mediating sex perceptions will need to integrate information from across the senses for better reliability. With that in mind, the experiment reported here was designed to explore the effect of olfactory-visual interactions on sex perceptions.
METHODS: Observers were presented visually with point-light walkers that were sexually ambiguous (not unequivocally female or male). They were asked to judge, using a two-alternative forced choice paradigm, the sex of each walker. Tested on two occasions, observers unknowingly made sex judgements in the presence or absence of pads soaked in male sweat.
RESULTS: The presence of male sweat was associated with higher proportions of 'male' judgements of both ambiguous female and ambiguous male walkers (F1,19 = 24.11, p < 0.01).
CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that olfactory cues can modulate visual sex discriminations made on the basis of biological motion cues. Importantly, they seem to do so even when the olfactory cue is not consciously perceived, suggesting these effects are mediated by perceptual rather than cognitive processes. These findings suggest that there exist cortical processes mediating sex perceptions that are capable of integrating visual and olfactory information. What is important is that this sensory integration takes place without conscious knowledge and that appropriate behaviour modifications may occur automatically.

Keywords

References

  1. Trends Cogn Sci. 2004 Apr;8(4):162-9 [PMID: 15050512]
  2. PLoS One. 2009 Jul 29;4(7):e6415 [PMID: 19641623]
  3. Biol Psychol. 2005 Dec;70(3):197-204 [PMID: 16242537]
  4. J Vis. 2006 Jul 28;6(8):850-7 [PMID: 16895463]
  5. Neuroreport. 2004 Jun 7;15(8):1275-7 [PMID: 15167548]
  6. Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Nov 7;272(1578):2283-7 [PMID: 16191641]
  7. Brain Res Bull. 2008 Apr 15;75(6):753-60 [PMID: 18394521]
  8. J Neurosci. 2007 Feb 7;27(6):1261-5 [PMID: 17287500]
  9. Horm Behav. 2003 Dec;44(5):395-401 [PMID: 14644633]
  10. Psychol Sci. 2007 Dec;18(12 ):1044-9 [PMID: 18031410]
  11. Psychol Sci. 2009 Feb;20(2):177-83 [PMID: 19170944]
  12. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001 Dec;2(12):920-6 [PMID: 11733799]
  13. J Vis. 2002;2(5):371-87 [PMID: 12678652]
  14. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2001 Aug;11(4):505-9 [PMID: 11502399]
  15. Behav Neurosci. 2003 Dec;117(6):1125-34 [PMID: 14674833]
  16. J Vis. 2007 Mar 21;7(4):6 [PMID: 17461690]
  17. Nat Neurosci. 2006 Jun;9(6):738-9 [PMID: 16715080]
  18. Exp Brain Res. 2009 Sep;198(2-3):373-82 [PMID: 19396433]
  19. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2010 Jul;72(5):1256-60 [PMID: 20601707]
  20. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2010 Oct;72(7):1981-93 [PMID: 20952794]

Word Cloud

Created with Highcharts 10.0.0sexolfactorycuesambiguousmalemediatedsensoryinformationprocessesperceptionsmadepresencevisualinteractionindividualsimportantreliabilitywillperceptualmediatingwalkersfemalejudgementssweatfindingssuggestcandiscriminationsbasiscueSexperceptionBACKGROUND:AlmosteveryinterpersonalinvolvedVisualauditoryprovideopportunitydiscriminateothersdistancepreparesex-appropriatebehavioursimpendingusefulnesssocialskillSometimesonedomainneedintegrateacrosssensesbettermindexperimentreporteddesignedexploreeffectolfactory-visualinteractionsMETHODS:Observerspresentedvisuallypoint-lightsexuallyunequivocallyaskedjudgeusingtwo-alternativeforcedchoiceparadigmwalkerTestedtwooccasionsobserversunknowinglyabsencepadssoakedRESULTS:associatedhigherproportions'male'F119 = 2411p < 001CONCLUSION:modulatebiologicalmotionImportantlyseemevenconsciouslyperceivedsuggestingeffectsrathercognitiveexistcorticalcapableintegratingintegrationtakesplacewithoutconsciousknowledgeappropriatebehaviourmodificationsmayoccurautomaticallyaffectedHumanpheromonesMulti

Similar Articles

Cited By