Imagine walking through a garden, inhaling the sweet scent of a rose. As you breathe in, you notice that the vibrant red petals seem to match the aroma perfectly. The phenomenon of odor-color associations has fascinated scientists for years, and a recent study explores whether language plays a role in this intriguing connection. By testing participants’ ability to match odors with colors while inhibiting verbalization, researchers aimed to uncover whether implicit naming of odors influences these associations. Surprisingly, the results showed that interfering with verbalization did not impact participants’ ability to make accurate color associations. However, factors such as odor naming accuracy, familiarity, and pleasantness did predict successful odor-color matches. These findings suggest that while language may play a part in shaping associations during development, it does not actively mediate odor-color associations in real-time. The study paves the way for further research into the complex intertwining of our senses and encourages readers to dive into the fascinating world of multisensory perception.

Abstract
Odor and color are strongly associated. Numerous studies demonstrate consistent odor-color associations, as well as effects of color on odor perception and language. Yet, we know little about how these associations arise. Here, we test whether language is a possible mediator of odor-color associations, specifically whether odor-color associations are mediated by implicit odor naming. In two experiments, we used an interference paradigm to prevent the verbalization of odors during an odor-color matching task. If participants generate color associations subsequent to labeling an odor, interfering with verbalization during the task should affect the ability to make color associations. In Experiment 1, contrary to our hypothesis, verbal interference did not affect odor-color matches. However, since performance accuracy on the verbal interference task was high, it is possible our task did not sufficiently disrupt verbal processing. In Experiment 2, we, therefore, used an active verbal interference task, and still found no difference across interference conditions. Odor naming accuracy, odor familiarity, and odor pleasantness, however, did predict odor-color matches. This suggests that although color associations are related to semantic factors, they are not generated by recruiting odor labels in the moment. Overall, our results do not provide evidence that language plays an online role in odor-color associations, instead, they are consistent with the claim that language may have shaped associations during development.

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