The mental representation elicited by smelling an odor often consists of multiple sensory and affective dimensions, yet, the richness of this elaboration is difficult to capture using methods to rate the intensity of these factors in isolation. Attempts to use language descriptors for olfactory experience have also been shown to be rather limited; among non-specialists, there is no universally accepted system for describing odors, leading to greater reliance on specific item associations. In this study we explored the utility of semantic differential scaling for illustrating the various dimensions of olfactory experience. 300 volunteers rated thirty distinct odorants using 50 SDS adjectives. Three factors emerged from the analysis (based on 17 adjective-pairs) accounting for 53% of the variance, and corresponding to the evaluation, potency and activity dimensions identified for other stimulus types. SD scaling appears to be a viable method for identifying the multiple dimensions of mental representation evoked when smelling an odorant and may prove a useful tool for both consumer and basic research alike. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Although numerous methods of classifying odors have been developed, little agreement has been achieved on the dimensions that are useful to both basic and consumer research. The identification of a set of Semantic Differential adjectives which are relevant to olfactory experience can become a useful tool for classifying the qualitative and affective basis on which odorants differ.. In particular, the degree to which odorants evokes multi-dimensional representations from other sensory modalities (visual, auditory, somatosensory or gustatory), can be usefully applied in the arena of product development both within and across cultures.

中文翻译：

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使用语义差分缩放来定义气味的多维表示

由闻气味引起的心理表征通常由多个感官和情感维度组成，然而，使用单独对这些因素的强度进行评级的方法很难捕捉到这种阐述的丰富性。尝试将语言描述用于嗅觉体验也被证明是相当有限的。在非专业人士中，没有普遍接受的描述气味的系统，导致更多地依赖特定的项目关联。在这项研究中，我们探索了语义差异标度的效用，以说明嗅觉体验的各个维度。300 名志愿者使用 50 个 SDS 形容词评价了 30 种不同的气味。分析中出现了三个因素（基于 17 个形容词对），占方差的 53%，对应于评估，为其他刺激类型确定的效力和活动维度。SD 标度似乎是一种可行的方法，用于识别闻气味时引起的心理表征的多个维度，并且可能证明对消费者和基础研究都是有用的工具。实际应用：虽然已经开发了多种气味分类方法，但在对基础研究和消费者研究有用的维度上几乎没有达成一致。识别一组与嗅觉体验相关的语义差异形容词可以成为对气味不同的定性和情感基础进行分类的有用工具。特别是气味从其他感官模式中唤起多维表征的程度（视觉、听觉、体感或味觉），