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Olfactory Cognition: From perception and memory to environmental odours and neuroscienceEdited by Gesualdo M. Zucco, Rachel S. Herz and Benoist Schaal
[Advances in Consciousness Research 85] 2012
► pp. 237–268
Edited by Gesualdo M. Zucco, Rachel S. Herz and Benoist Schaal
[Advances in Consciousness Research 85] 2012
► pp. 237–268
Chapter 13. Emerging chemosensory preferences
Another playground for the innate-acquired dichotomy in human cognition
As in many other domains of perception and cognition, two opposite conceptions about the causes of emergence of odor preferences were raised by empirical research in newborn infants, one defending the blank slate view while the other endorsed the innate view. Although these conceptions were expressed some decades ago, they remain still alive in the domain of chemosensory research. The present chapter aims to weigh the evidence for both of these views on human newborns’ hedonic propensities towards odors in the light of current knowledge. It will address first how far we can consider that neonatal responses to odors depend exclusively on learning. Secondly, it will address how far we can consider that infantile responses to odors, or at least some of them, are “innate”. This will lead us to attempt clarifying the meaning of the concept of innateness and how it is applied in theorizing chemosensory abilities. Finally, we will consider whether the concept of innateness can stand the considerable plasticity of the olfactory system that appears to be generalized at all levels of its functioning.
Cited by
Cited by 5 other publications
Coulthard, Helen
2020. Taste, Smell, and Touch. In The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, ► pp. 1 ff. 
Goubet, Nathalie, Daniel D. McCall, Jennifer K. Ducz & Megan L. Bingham
2014. Semantic context facilitates odor identification in children and adults. Developmental Psychobiology 56:3 ► pp. 592 ff.
Schaal, Benoist
2015. Prenatal and Postnatal Human Olfactory Development: Influences on Cognition and Behavior. In Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation, ► pp. 305 ff.
Sorokowska, Agnieszka, Agata Groyecka, Maciej Karwowski, Tomasz Frackowiak, Jennifer E Lansford, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M Alghraibeh, Richmond Aryeetey, Anna Bertoni, Karim Bettache, Sheyla Blumen, Marta Błażejewska, Tiago Bortolini, Marina Butovskaya, Katarzyna Cantarero, Felipe Nalon Castro, Hakan Cetinkaya, Lei Chang, Bin-Bin Chen, Diana Cunha, Daniel David, Oana A David, Fahd A Dileym, Alejandra del Carmen Domínguez Espinosa, Silvia Donato, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Jitka Fialová, Maryanne Fisher, Evrim Gulbetekin, Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Peter Hilpert, Ivana Hromatko, Raffaella Iafrate, Mariana Iesyp, Bawo James, Jelena Jaranovic, Feng Jiang, Charles Obadiah Kimamo, Grete Kjelvik, Fırat Koç, Amos Laar, Fívia de Araújo Lopes, Guillermo Macbeth, Nicole M Marcano, Rocio Martinez, Norbert Mesko, Natalya Molodovskaya, Khadijeh Moradi Qezeli, Zahrasadat Motahari, Alexandra Mühlhauser, Jean Carlos Natividade, Joseph Ntayi, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Mohd Sofian Bin Omar-Fauzee, Ike E Onyishi, Anna Paluszak, John D Pierce, Urmila Pillay, Alda Portugal, Eugenia Razumiejczyk, Anu Realo, Ana Paula Relvas, Maria Rivas, Muhammad Rizwan, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Susanne Schmehl, Oksana Senyk, Charlotte Sinding, Emma Sorbring, Eftychia Stamkou, Stanislava Stoyanova, Denisa Šukolová, Nina Sutresna, Meri Tadinac, Sombat Tapanya, Andero Teras, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Ritu Tripathi, Nachiketa Tripathi, Mamta Tripathi, Olja Uhryn, Maria Emília Yamamoto, Gyesook Yoo & Piotr Sorokowski
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White, Theresa L., Per Møller, E. P. Köster, Howard Eichenbaum & Christiane Linster
2015. Olfactory Memory. In Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation, ► pp. 337 ff.
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