ELECTRICAL CHARGE DISTRIBUTION AND OLFACTORY METHODOLOGY AND THEORY

A STATIC ELECTRICAL CHARGE ON S IS NOT UNUSUAL AND THERE NORMALLY EXISTS A COMPLEX ELECTRICAL FIELD INVOLVING S AND THE SURROUND. AN ODORANT CAN BE EXPECTED TO HAVE AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE ASSOCIATED WITH IT. AN EVALUATION OF THE PHYSICS OF THE SITUATION AND A PHYSICAL MODEL QUESTIONS THE RELIABILITY OF MANY OLFACTORY EXPERIMENTS DUE TO COMPLEX ELECTRICAL INTERACTIONS. IMPLICATIONS FOR OLFACTORY THEORY, PARTICULARLY THE STERIC THEORY, ARE DISCUSSED. SUGGESTIONS ARE MADE FOR MINIMIZING THE EFFECT OF THE STATIC ELECTRICAL CHARGE IN OLFACTORY EXPERIMENTS. 4 OTHER FACTORS WHICH MAY INFLUENCE THE RESULTS OF OLFACTORY EXPERIMENTS ARE DISCUSSED. (23 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.