Flashback Friday: Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

Photo: flickr/hendryWhen it comes to smells, apparently there is quite a lot in a name. In this study, the researchers had subjects smell the same odors with either positive names ("parmesan cheese", "countryside farm", "dried cloves"), negative names ("dry vomit", "human feces", "dentist's office"), or neutral names (numbers). As you might have guessed, the smells with negative names were perceived as more intense and sniffed less than those with positive or neutral names. So there you have it; proof that names make things smell different after all. Suck it, Shakespeare!A rose by any other name: would it smell as sweet? "We examined whether presenting an odor with a positive, neutral, or negative name would influence how people perceive it. In experiment 1, 40 participants rated 15 odors for their pleasantness, intensity, and arousal. In experiment 2, 30 participants passively smelled 10 odors while their skin conductance (SC), heart rate (HR), ...