PERCEIVED INTENSITY OF ODOR AS A FUNCTION OF TIME OF ADAPTATION

Abstract

The perceived intensity of odor under conditions of constant stimulation with hydrogen sulphide was investigated in two experiments. A two‐step scaling method, involving cross‐modality matching and numerical scaling of the matching continuum, was used for measuring intensity of odor. Perceptual intensity was found to decrease exponentially with increase of time of stimulation. Preliminary data concerning the subsequent recovery phase were also obtained.