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Related Experiment Videos

A possible protocognitive role for odor in human infant development

S Van Toller1, M Kendal-Reed

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.

Brain and Cognition
|December 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Olfaction, the sense of smell, acts as a semiotic sense by forming learned associations through nonlinguistic metonymic processes. This plays a crucial role in the genesis of cognition, especially in mother-child relationships.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Semiotics
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Semiochemistry and olfaction are increasingly studied.
  • Semiotics utilizes metaphors and metonyms for understanding processes.
  • Olfaction's role in learned associations is well-established in animals and humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose olfaction as a semiotic sense.
  • To explain how olfaction facilitates nonlinguistic transmission of information.
  • To explore the protocognitive role of smell in cognition.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on olfaction and semiochemistry.
  • Extension of the concept of metonymy to non-linguistic transmission.
  • Analysis of olfactory relationships, particularly mother-child dyads.

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Main Results:

  • Olfaction can be understood as a semiotic sense.
  • Nonlinguistic metonymic learning processes are key to olfactory signaling.
  • Biological odors transmit complex information, especially in animal communication.

Conclusions:

  • The sense of smell plays a vital protocognitive role in the development of cognition.
  • In utero and postnatal olfactory learning are crucial mechanisms.
  • Olfaction's capacity for learned associations underpins its role in cognitive genesis.